MJ Peckos – President, Dada Films
MJ Peckos has many years of experience in all phases of marketing and distribution in both the commercial and specialized film sector, including theatrical marketing, distribution, acquisitions; home video marketing; television licensing; and non-theatrical sales.
For the past eight years, Peckos has owned and operated her own distribution and consulting company, Dada Films. Dada is a full-service distribution, marketing and publicity agency specializing in quality narrative and documentary films for the U.S. marketplace. She has handled the marketing and distribution campaigns for the Oscar winning film Antonia’s Line directed byMarleen GorrisandOscar nominated Theeb directedbyNaji Abu Nowar, Omar directedbyHany Abu-Assadand War Witch directed byKim Nguyen. Other films that made the Academy of Motion Picture short-listed documentaries were The Price of Sugar and The Last Mountain directed by Bill Haney and Blindsight directed by Lucy Walker as well as Academy Award foreign language short-listed films It’s Only the End of the World directed by Xavier Dolan, Corn Island directed by Giorgi Ovashvili and Accused directed by Paula van der Oest. A few other highlights were award-winning film Ballast directed by Lance Hammer, Dori Berinstein’s Gotta Dance, Tomboy directed by Céline Sciamma, Return directed by Liza Johnson, Union Square directed by Nancy Savoca, Golden Globe/Spirit Award nominated The Maid directed by Sebastian Silva, Golden Globe nominated The Club directed by Pablo Larrain, The Romantics directed by Galt Niederhoffer, Sympathy for Delicious directed by Mark Ruffalo, C.O.G. directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez and Reaching for the Moon directed by Bruno Barreto. She is currently releasing Emil Ben-Shimon’s film The Women’s Balcony, In Search of Israeli Cuisine directed by Roger Sherman and The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki directed by Juho Kuosmanen.
Dada’s first release was the highly-acclaimed documentary Broadway: The Golden Age winner of over a dozen film festival awards.
Dada also works with partner company required viewing and consults for Cohen Media Group, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Brainstorm Media, Menemsha Films and Shout! Factory.
Prior to starting Dada Films Peckos served as CEO of Tartan Films USA managing the theatrical and home entertainment divisions. While at Tartan she oversaw the start-up of the company and launched the DVD label named Asia Extreme. Many of the films in this label are currently being remade into Hollywood remakes. Some of the critically acclaimed and award-winning films she released while at Tartan were Bush’s Brain, Greg Araki’s Mysterious Skin, Park Chan Wook’s Oldboy, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and Lady Vengeance also directed by Park Chan Wook.
Prior to launching Dada and Tartan U.S.A., Peckos spent ten years at First Look Pictures, where she oversaw global marketing, domestic theatrical distribution and the home video label. In that capacity, she strategized and implemented the theatrical releases of such films as Golden Globe nominated Map of the World, starring Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore; John Sayles’s The Secret of Roan Inish; Noel Coward’s Relative Values, directed by Eric Styles, and starring Julie Andrews; Franco Dragone’s Alegria, featuring the world-famous Cirque du Soleil; Silvio Soldini’s Italian comedy, Bread and Tulips; Marleen Gorris’s Antonia’s Line, winner of the 1995 Academy Award© for Best Foreign Language Film; Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (also directed by Marleen Gorris), starring Vanessa Redgrave; Wallace Shawn’s The Designated Mourner, directed by Sir David Hare, with a virtuoso Mike Nichols (the director) in his only acting role on film; Jerusalem and A Song for Martin, both directed by Bille August; Damien Pettigrew’s documentary Fellini: I’m a Born Liar; Anna Maria Tatò’s documentary Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember; Autumn Spring by Czech director Vladimír Michálek; Julie Walking Home, directed by Agnieska Holland; Party Girl starring Parker Posey; Chopper directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Eric Bana and Lawless Heart, directed by Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter, starring Bill Nighy.
Prior to that, she served as senior vice president of theatrical and video marketing & distribution for Academy Entertainment, where she oversaw the theatrical releases of Romper Stomper starring Russell Crowe and Jamon Jamon starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
Peckos has been responsible for the start-up of theatrical operations at three entertainment companies. While at Vestron, serving as its senior vice president for marketing & distribution, she oversaw the release of over 75 films, including Dirty Dancing, Oscar nominated Anna and John Huston’s The Dead, all of which received Academy Award nominations.
Prior to joining Vestron, Peckos performed similar functions for The Samuel Goldwyn Company, MGM-UA Classics and Warner Bros. Classics. She was responsible for restoring many studio classics, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder in 3-D.
Maggie Cohen – Director of Marketing & Distribution
Maggie Cohen joined DADA Films in 2014 and is responsible for all elements of film distribution, marketing and PR for foreign language, indie, and doc films; focusing on theatrical/ancillary releases, and awards campaigns. As the third generation in distribution, Cohen continues to carry on her family’s legacy by bringing meaningful films to screens across the country.