Indie Distributor Bleecker Street Sold to Firm Backed By Billionaire Pierre Omidyar

Bleecker Street, the indie distribution label behind awards season hopefuls and audience-loved horror, is being acquired by Outerlight Entertainment (formerly First Look Entertainment).

Bleecker will remain under the leadership of CEO Kent Sanderson, as well as president and CMO Tyler DiNapoli, and will operate independently from Outerlight’s other assets. Along with Bleecker, Outerlight‘s portfolio includes Club Kid producer-financier Topic Studios and Puzzle Pictures. (There is no deal with Bleecker and Topic; Topic will continue to take its projects out to the open market to other distributors.)

The capital from the acquisition will allow Bleecker to continue to operate its film business and build out its event label, Crosswalk. The backer behind the newly titled Outerlight Entertainment is eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar.

Bleecker is a presence at every film festival and market, known as a main player in the specialty space. Recent and upcoming releases exemplify Bleecker’s varied slate, from the RuPaul-fronted comedy Stop! That! Train! to the thriller Victorian Psycho to The Liberation, the Carrie Coon starring drama that broke out at the Telluride Film Festival.

Currently, the company is in theaters with Alex Gibney‘s Elon Musk doc, Musk, which will be expanding its theatrical release this weekend. Ironically, Bleecker’s new owner Outerlight backs streamer Passionflix, which is run by Elon Musk’s sister Tosca.