Vicki Cherkas Joins Picturehouse as Senior Executive Vice President of Operations

Continuing to build on the successes of the past year and expanding the production and acquisitions slate, Vicki Cherkas has been named Senior Executive Vice President of Operations at Picturehouse, it was announced today by Bob Berney, President.

Cherkas, who will report directly to Berney, will be responsible for the operations of the company, including overseeing productions and acquisitions deals, liaising and maximizing opportunities for Picturehouse within New Line and HBO and running the day-to-day business operations.

“Vicki is the perfect fit for Picturehouse, especially at this time when we are aggressively expanding into the global marketplace in all ways,” says Berney. “Her diverse background in both production and international operations rounds out our already great Picturehouse team.”

She joins the company on April 1, after six years at GreeneStreet Films where she was responsible for business affairs, business development and new ventures, playing a major role in all the business, financial and legal aspects of the company’s operations. She orchestrated the deals on such projects as Tenderness, A Prairie Home Companion, Uptown Girls, Swimfan, Pinero and In The Bedroom, among others.

Prior to GreeneStreet Cherkas was Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Miramax Films, where she constructed the deals for such high profile films as the Academy Award-winning Chicago, Frida, Shakespeare In Love, The English Patient and Pulp Fiction. Cherkas also has an extensive background in film production having been executive producer on Once In A Lifetime, and co-executive producer on Uptown Girls, as well as a DGA Trainee on such films as Scent Of A Woman and Scenes From A Mall.

“I am excited to work hand-in-hand with Bob and the Picturehouse team to further the distinctiveness of this already successful and dynamic company,” says Cherkas. “I have been fortunate to have worked with John Penotti, Fisher Stevens and Tim Williams on an impressive GreeneStreet Films slate of projects, and will use this experience to complement the remarkable track record of Bob, New Line and HBO.”

Picturehouse is a theatrical marketing and distribution company launched in 2005 as a joint venture between New Line Cinema and HBO. Currently in release is Guillermo del Toro’s triple Oscar-winning gothic fairy tale Pan’s Labyrinth, which has currently grossed a record-breaking $34 million in North America. Up next is Gracie, directed by Academy Award-winner Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) and starring Oscar Nominee Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue and Carly Schroeder (Firewall, Mean Creek); La Vie En Rose, the highly acclaimed film about the extraordinary life of Edith Piaf; and El Cantante, a music-infused biography of Puerto Rican salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.