Susan Margolin has built a reputation as a pioneer of home entertainment and digital distribution and a dedicated supporter of the independent filmmaking community. Her company, New Video, launched in 1992 with partner Steve Savage, became a leading global force in independent home entertainment. New Video’s library of films, television and web content, featured programming from leading brands including A+E, History Channel, Monty Python, Thames Television, Sundance Institute, Tribeca films, Major League Baseball and Scholastic.
Through Docurama Films, a subsidiary of New Video, Margolin championed more than 400 award-winning non-fiction films, from Academy Award nominees including Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s The Invisible War, Joe Berlinger’s Paradise Lost Trilogy, Danfung Dennis’ Hell and Back Again, Nancy Buirski’s The Loving Story to D.A. Pennebaker’s Dont Look Back.
In 2006 New Video pivoted to digital distribution becoming the exclusive provider of independent films for the launch of Apples iTunes movie store. After quickly on-boarding other digital platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Microsoft’s Xbox, Hulu and others, the company became the largest independent digital aggregation company in North America. Margolin and Savage sold New Video/Docurama Films to Cinedigm in 2012.
As Co-President of Cinedigm Entertainment Group, Margolin released many critically acclaimed independent films including Daniel Destin Crettin’s groundbreaking Short Term 12 starring Brie Larsen, Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever and Lakeith Stanfield.
In 2016 Margolin launched St. Marks Productions LLC, a production and distribution services company. She recently produced Nancy Buirski’s A Crime on The Bayou, (The Shout! Factory), Trish Adlesic’s A Tree of Life, Alexandra Codina’s feature documentary, Paper Children, (YouTube Originals) and award-winning novelist Anne Landsman’s documentary feature debut Daughters of the Wind. Other recently completed productions include Buirski’s critically acclaimed feature documentary, The Rape of Recy Taylor, (The Orchard) and Cheryl Miller Houser and Cynthia Wade’s documentary feature Generation Startup (Netflix). She is also an Executive Producer of Judith Helfand’s upcoming feature documentary Love and Stuff, and of Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl’s Obsessed with Light.
Margolin serves on the Board of Directors of Chicken & Egg Pictures, the Hamptons DocFest, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the Advisory Board of New York Women in Film and Television and served on the board of BAFTA New York for over a decade. She is a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America, and BAFTA, and was honored by the PGA as one of the “Digital 25: Leaders in Emerging Entertainment.” Margolin lives in NYC with her husband and two children. She is a graduate of Brown University.
The Summit was more than empty words – it made clear that a solution-driven approach is the only way to fight hate. That’s why the working group activities, which are results driven are going to be critical in defeating violent extremism. The Summit brought together the best minds in government, private sector, academia, and civil society. Being surrounded by these experts sparked new ideas – some of which I’ve already implemented or have written about.
