Producer Andrew Kosove is co-CEO and co-founder of Alcon Entertainment, which is one of the longest running independent film finance and production companies in the world. The Los Angeles-based wholly independent company develops, finances, produces and markets theatrical motion pictures exclusively for distribution by Warner Bros.
Kosove ironically became interested in film production while double majoring in economics and politics as a Princeton undergraduate. Although he and college friend Broderick Johnson shared a mutual interest in film and the business of entertainment, neither committed to pursuing a career as filmmakers. Kosove graduated a few years later and intended to enroll in law school when he heard about Richard Kirkland, a basketball player and gangster, and thought his story would make a good movie. Kosove enlisted Johnson and together they spent three years working with a producer on the project. The project was never made, but they ultimately moved to Los Angeles to pursue filmmaking careers.
Soon after, the two were introduced to FedEx Chairman and Founder Frederick W. Smith. Kosove and Johnson took the opportunity to present Smith with a 221-page proposal suggesting that an independent film company, backed by a well-capitalized individual or company, and aligned with a major studio for an exclusive distribution arrangement would, applying their reasoned methods, reap profits on copyrighted assets over a set period of time. Smith liked what he read, and Alcon Entertainment was launched in 1997.
Alcon has financed and produced 30 films to date, including both Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films starring Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrera, Blake Lively and Alexis Bledel; P.S. I Love You, the hit romantic comedy starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler and directed by Richard LaGravenese; the critical favorite My Dog Skip; the hit comedy Dude, Where’s My Car? starring Ashton Kutcher; Insomnia, starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank and directed by Chris Nolan; 16 Blocks starring Bruce Willis; and inspiring true story The 33, a firsthand account of the of the 33 survivors who lived through the 2010 Chilean mine collapse starring Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche, among others.
In 2009 Kosove produced, alongside co-CEO Broderick Johnson, Alcon’s critically acclaimed box office hit, The Blind Side, which was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and earned Sandra Bullock the Oscar for Best Actress. The Blind Side has grossed more than $309 million worldwide and broke box office records by being the first film with a female lead to surpass the $200 million mark, earned in its seventh week.
Alcon followed up the success of The Blind Side with the hit action thriller The Book of Eli, directed by Albert and Allen Hughes and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis. The film grossed more than $157 million in worldwide box office. It was Denzel Washington’s second biggest opening ever.
Alcon additionally produced the critically acclaimed dramatic thriller Prisoners from director Denis Villeneuve starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Terrance Howard and Paul Dano as well as the family hit Dolphin Tale 2, a sequel to its original starring Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd and Kris Kristofferson.
Alcon’s upcoming projects include the road trip comedy Bastards, now in production starring Owen Wilson and Ed Helms, and a sequel to Blade Runner, currently in pre-production with Ryan Gosling starring alongside Harrison Ford. Denis Villeneuve is directing with Ridley Scott Executive Producing.
Alcon Television Group recently produced a four-hour Emmy nominated documentary mini-series for HBO about the life and times of Frank Sinatra, directed Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and the new series The Expanse, a space thriller for Syfy Network, which was recently picked up for a second season.
In November of 2015, Alcon Entertainment extended its long-standing output distribution agreement with Warner Bros. through 2019. Alcon’s distribution partnership with Warner Bros. was initiated in 1998 and is one of the industry’s most enduring arrangements between an independent company and a major studio.
Kosove is an accomplished marathon runner and ironman distance tri-athlete. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, producer Kira Davis, and their two children.