Happy New Year. We had a super busy fall with the releases of The Librarians running for four weeks at Film Forum and going on to play at over 150 theaters earning over $250,000 at the box office – putting us at the higher reaches of the documentary box office charts.
Save the date: we’ll be hosting a case study on The Librarians with director Kim A. Snyder on February 11 at 12 noon ET / 9am PT.
Also this fall, we released Among Neighbors opening at The Quad for three weeks and expanding to over 40 theaters and over 70 festival and community screenings to date. With our eventized approach to theatrical, both films continue to sell out across the country.
In addition, we launched the fourth cohort of the 8 Above Distribution Lab in November with ten documentary projects and ten fiction projects. I’m very excited that more than half of the fiction projects and a number of the doc projects are in the script or development stage. This indicates that filmmakers are realizing more and more that they need to conceptualize their connection with audiences at inception.
Chris Horton Joins 8 Above
The demand for consulting work and campaigns has increased many fold. To help us expand our work with filmmakers I am super excited to announce that we have brought on Chris Horton to work with me on distribution and strategy.
Chris is not only one of the wisest people in the industry when it comes to distribution and marketing – he is one of the nicest as well. I’ve had the pleasure to know and occasionally work with him since 2007, when he was at FilmBuff and advised me on distribution strategy for my documentary Bomb It. (The distribution journey of that film is what started me on this crazy journey helping other filmmakers – the basis for Think Outside the Box Office etc). We collaborated over the years, including when he moved to LA and joined Sundance to launch its Artist Services and Creative Distribution initiatives.
Chris is also loved in our industry – when I mentioned I was considering bringing him into 8 Above – I wasn’t surprised by the enthusiasm. He has worked tirelessly with filmmakers helping them connect with audiences across a wide range of films and has been an instrumental part of the growth of independent distribution over the past two decades.
Chris joins our expanding team that includes our incredible booker Cindy Banach who is one the key pillars in our ability to create event theatrical releases. Our team also includes our invaluable Distribution and Lab Manager Grace Kihumba and Distribution and Marketing Manager Nick Kochmann.
About Chris Horton
Chris Horton is an entertainment executive and advisor with deep expertise in film distribution, marketing, and acquisitions. He recently joined 8 Above, bringing two decades of experience working with filmmakers and film organizations across the independent distribution landscape.
Horton spent nearly a decade at the Sundance Institute, where he led the Creative Distribution Initiative and Artist Services programs. During his tenure, he worked with hundreds of filmmakers to market and release their work through a pioneering distribution model, brokering novel deals with partners including Amazon, Apple, Hulu, and Netflix. Notable films released under his leadership include Columbus, BURN, Thunder Road, and Unrest.
In addition to his work with 8 Above, Horton consults with select film and media organizations, including ongoing advisory work with Gathr.
Previously, he served as head of acquisitions and was the first employee at FilmBuff, and earlier worked in film sales at John Sloss’ Cinetic Media.
He lives in Eugene, Oregon with his wife and two children, and is a graduate of the University of Colorado. Outside of work, he enjoys beer league hockey and listening to the Grateful Dead.https://jonreiss.substack.com/p/chris-horton-joins-8-above-reflections
Join us at Sundance
Chris and I will be at Sundance – I’ll be on the Distribution Revolution Panel at the Impact Lounge. Joining will be Amy Hobby, Dan Mirvish and many more. If you’re heading to the festival, I’d love to see you there.
Sunday, 1/25 @ 10am
Register Once for access to the lounge all week – including this great event. Registration link here: https://events.humanitix.com/til-at-sundance-2026
