EXCLUSIVE: Jessica Switch has joined indie studio MRC as SVP, Film, with Hannah Levy joining as Director of Development, Film.
Switch joins from Picturestart; Levy, from Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media. In their new roles, the duo will look to identify and develop emerging and established writer and director relationships and source new film projects for MRC. Both report into co-presidents Brye Adler and Jonathan Golfman.
“We are thrilled and lucky to have Jessica and Hannah joining us at this exciting time for the company,” Adler and Golfman said. “In addition to their great eye for talent and indefatigable work ethic, they are both principled and thoughtful and fun to be around. We are looking forward to the infectious energy and fresh, new ideas they will bring to the group.”
Switch worked at Picturestart for seven and a half years, quickly jumping into the role of executive producer on the teen road trip film Unpregnant, which premiered on HBO Max in 2020, after joining in August of 2018. During her time there, as EVP of Production & Development, she went on to produce films including the 2022 Sundance Audience Award winner Cha Cha Real Smooth from Cooper Raiff, which sold to Apple for $15M; Sharper starring Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan with Apple and A24; Josh Greenbaum’s Strays, starring Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, for Universal; Jordan Weiss’ New Line pic Sweethearts, starring Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga, which went straight to Max; and Bad Genius, starring Callina Liang, Jabari Banks and Benedict Wong.
During her time at Picturestart, Switch also worked on Frankie Shaw’s forthcoming 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, starring Liam Neeson, for Orion. She will remain a producer on both Yeti, written by Peter Gaffney and to be directed by Michael Chaves, and the Fifth Season-financed Nightwatching starring Mila Kunis.V
Switch began her career at Lionsgate, joining as a receptionist in December 2010 before working her way up to Director of Development over five years. She then spent two years at Studio 8 before joining Picturestart.
“MRC is THE destination for bold filmmakers and stories, and they have a long-standing history of taking real chances on new voices,” she said. “I feel so lucky to be part of this team, and I’m excited to make many movies here.”
Levy is coming off of nearly three years as Director of Development at Proximity, where her mandate was to identify and help shepherd event-driven features involving often-overlooked subject matters, with a particular focus on emerging voices. She was on the film team throughout the development, production and release of Coogler’s Warner Bros. cultural phenomenon Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan, which has grossed over $365M globally to date and earned a record-setting 16 Academy Award nominations.
Prior to her time at Proximity, Levy rose from assistant to executive at A Stern Talking To Productions, the production shingle of filmmaker and producer Jared Stern under his overall deal at WBTV. While there, she worked on television and film projects including Green Eggs & Ham (Netflix) and DC League of Super-Pets (Warner Bros.), among numerous others, shepherded emerging voices onto animated movies produced by the company at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation.
Levy told us, “I can’t believe my good fortune to be joining Jessica and the team at MRC. There’s no better place for filmmakers to bring their original ideas and eventually I’ll stop pinching myself that I get to be here to help make them.”
Currently in theaters with Emerald Fennell’s Warner Bros. adaptation of Wuthering Heights, which has grossed over $156M worldwide since releasing earlier this month, MRC’s upcoming slate includes Sundance titles The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (to be released by Sony Pictures Classics) and The Gallerist, as well as A Place in Hell, The Best Is Yet to Come, Unabomer, and Eloise. Most recently, they announced They Know, a horror film to mark the feature directorial debut of Barry‘s Bill Hader.
English (US) ·