EXCLUSIVE: Yvette Zhuang and Zach Glueck, former sales executives at Miramax and WME Independent, respectively, are opening the doors to Manifest Pictures, a new international sales agency based in Los Angeles.
The co-CEO’s are joined by former WME executive Cory Lynch as EVP Finance. Manifest will be launching their slate at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.
Manifest is backed by notable production and financing company QC Entertainment and its principal financier Edward H. Hamm Jr.
Additionally, Manifest has teamed with Gramercy Park Media to provide a pipeline of premium feature films in all stages of production and development for the Manifest sales slate. Gramercy Park is the film equity and full production company owned by Nathan Klingher, Ford Corbett, Mark Fasano and Joshua Harris, who alongside with his company The Peachtree Group has been instrumental in the indie cinema sphere. In just under five years, the teams at Gramercy Park and Peachtree have collectively bankrolled more than 50 films including The Surfer with Nicolas Cage which premiered at Cannes 2024, the upcoming Angelina Jolie-led crime thriller Sunny, and the Zac Efron-starrer Famous which is being distributed by A24.
Manifest will also work with other third-party producers, financiers, and filmmakers to bring a further mix of titles from edgy genre fare to star-driven franchises.
Zhuang and Glueck said, “We are lovers of storytelling first and foremost. We created this company to amplify the voices of great creatives and help them manifest their vision. We feel privileged to have Ted Hamm, Ray Mansfield and Sean McKittrick at QC backing us in this venture, and the team at Gramercy Park as our strategic partners. Together with them and our broader network of filmmakers and producers, we hope to offer a nimble and client-forward approach, bringing the kind of top-level films the marketplace needs.”
Hamm and his partners at QC added: “Investing in Manifest was a logical next step in executing our vision of becoming a mini major studio. It’s important to maximize all revenue streams to facilitate growth, and the team at Manifest have a track record of doing just that for some of the most prolific filmmakers and companies that have operated in the indie space. Their reputation for being highly driven and great collaborators precedes them, and we look forward to working with them across a great number of our titles.”
QC has produced over 35 films and series earning close to a billion dollars at the box office, as well as awards across the Oscars, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, AFI, and Critics Choice, with credits spanning from box office triumphs Get Out and Academy Award winner BlacKkKlansman, to streaming hit The Wrong Missy and the series Poacher which was acquired by Amazon.
Further added Gramercy, “This is an exciting moment for Gramercy Park to form a strategic relationship with Manifest. They are a proven leadership team with broad experience ranging from global studios to indie startups and come armed with combined decades of representing big-budget franchises to boutique upmarket fare and everything in between. They’re an incredible fit for our ambitious production slate and poised to be able to lean into the market disruption and convert on the opportunities ahead.”
“It has been incredibly rewarding to work alongside Zach and Cory at WME Independent and we are excited to support them and continue our work together in this next chapter,” said Deborah McIntosh and Alex Walton, co-heads of WME Independent.
Zhuang most recently led global sales and distribution on Miramax’s slate of feature films including Jason Statham starrer The Beekeeper, the highest-grossing independent movie of 2024, Oscar winner The Holdovers, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, the acclaimed Strange Darling, as well as Wrath of Man and The Gentlemen from Guy Ritchie. She is also producing Miramax’s adaptation of Thailand’s box office hit and Oscar entry How to Make Millions when Grandma Dies, which she brought to the company.
Prior to Miramax, Zhuang was SVP International at STX, where she sold franchise-starters Bad Moms, Den of Thieves and Greenland and films from directors including Ridley Scott, Lorene Scafaria and Neil Burger. Zhuang was an entertainment lawyer in Australia before starting her Hollywood career at Sierra Affinity.
Glueck was co-head of international sales at WME Independent before launching Manifest. He has packaged and sold over 100 independent films, most recently including Nuremberg in release by SPC, starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek; the upcoming Power Ballad from John Carney with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas; Row K’s debut release Dead Man’s Wire from Gus Van Sant; and Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood, starring Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer, set for release via A24 later this year.
Prior to WME, Glueck held posts at Lionsgate, Bloom and eventually Endeavor Content where he was VP International Sales & Distribution. Over that time, he handled projects from The Nice Guys with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe to the Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton romp Book Club and the three-time Academy Award nominee The Lost Daughter starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley.
Lynch most recently led business and financial operations at WME Independent, working with the agency’s leadership team. Prior to WME, she held senior roles at MGM and AIG.