Washington Square Films

Washington Square Films (WSF) is an American production and management company based in New York City and Los Angeles. It was founded in 1995 by Joshua Blum.^[1]

The company's debut project was United States of Poetry,^[2] a five-part series for PBS, created and produced by Joshua Blum and Bob Holman and directed by Mark Pellington. The program featured sixty poets performing in stylized poetry videos, including Paul Beatty, Joseph Brodsky, Jimmy Carter, Sandra Cisneros, Leonard Cohen, Rita Dove, Allen Ginsberg, Czesław Miłosz, Lou Reed, Johnny Depp, and Amiri Baraka. The series was accompanied by a book of the same name published by Abrams Books^[3] and a soundtrack album from Mercury Records.^[4][5]

The USOP also produced a live touring component, which was booked and managed by Kathleen Russo and Mary Shimkin. In 1996, Russo and Shimkin joined Washington Square Films to book and manage performers and spoken word acts, naming the division Washington Square Arts.^[6] The roster included Spalding Gray, Eric Bogosian, Danny Hoch, David Sedaris, Sandra Bernhard, and many others. The company discontinued booking from its host of services in 2010. In 1998, manager Katherine Atkinson^[7] joined the division and built a roster of then unknown talent including Kerry Washington,^[8] Dulé Hill,^[9] Sarita Choudhury,^[10] Victor Rasuk,^[11] Adepero Oduye,^[12] Alex Désert,^[13] and others, all who are still represented by Atkinson and Washington Square Films.

Washington Square Films has worked with and produced films for Steven Soderbergh,^[14] Abel Ferrara,^[15] and Sally Potter.^[16] The company is perhaps best known for supporting and producing the early work of filmmakers including J. C. Chandor,^[17] Kelly Reichardt,^[18] Alex Ross Perry, and others.^[19] The company's projects have been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards (winning one), sixteen Independent Spirit Awards (winning three), three Golden Globes (winning one), and one Peabody Award (won).^[20] The company has had fourteen films premiere at Sundance and others at every major film festival including Cannes,^[21] Berlin,^[22] Toronto,^[23] Tribeca,^[24] and New York.^[25] In 2024, Washington Square Films served as the NY production company for Pedro Almodóvar's first US production and first English-language feature film The Room Next Door. WSF's Joshua Blum and Han West served as Executive Producers in New York.^[26]

In 2023, Washington Square Films produced a live musical based on the 1972 Jamaican film The Harder They Come,^[27] with music by Jimmy Cliff and a book and additional songs by Suzan-Lori Parks. The show was developed by Blum and Bruce Miller, and its executive producers included Carmelo Anthony and Asani Swann.^[28] It premiered in New York at The Public Theater and was nominated for nine Off-Broadway Awards and won the Outer Critics award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical.^[29] On September 3, 2024, Stratford East announced that a stage adaptation of The Harder They Come will be a part of their 140th anniversary season lineup with a book and additional new songs by Suzan-Lori Parks. Blum and Miller return as producers and Matthew Xia is set to direct. The musical will run from September 13, 2025 to October 25, 2025.^[30]

• Official website