Private company

Warner Independent Pictures

Logo: Warner Independent Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

American independent film division of Warner Bros

Warner Independent Pictures was an independent film division of the American film studio Warner Bros. Established on August 7, 2003, its first release was 2004's Before Sunset, the sequel to the 1995 film Before Sunrise. The division financed, produced, acquired and distributed feature films largely budgeted under $20 million.2 It was founded by Polly Cohen Johnsen.1 It is headquartered in Burbank.1 It is part of Warner Bros. Entertainment.1 It ceased to exist in 2008.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

Aug 2003Founded1

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Warner Independent Pictures was an independent film division of the American film studio Warner Bros.. Established on August 7, 2003, its first release was 2004's Before Sunset, the sequel to the 1995 film Before Sunrise. The division financed, produced, acquired and distributed feature films largely budgeted under $20 million. The division closed on November 12, 2008.2

Corporate structure

Warner Independent Pictures is part of a group headed by Skydance Corporation. 1,254 entities, 16 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Polly Cohen Johnsen on Aug 2003.1

Warner Independent Pictures was established on August 7, 2003, at Burbank, California. Mark Gill was the division's first president. After a controversial departure, Gill was replaced by former Warner Bros. production executive Polly Cohen, who served as president of this division until fall 2008, when the division was officially shut down. While well versed in big-budget motion picture production, it was widely believed Cohen did not have strong enough backgrounds in independent film, or in the marketing/publicity aspects of film distribution, to hold that role. This led to a lackluster slate and output, after a successful initial run under Gill.

In February 2008, Time Warner announced that it would merge New Line Cinema into Warner Bros. New Line's "independent" group Picturehouse was expected to be merged into Warner Independent as part of this process. On May 8, 2008, however, it was announced that both of these specialty divisions would be shut down.

In 2013, Picturehouse was relaunched under separate ownership.

In December 2025, Warner Bros. would re-enter the independent filmmaking space, with former Neon executives Christian Parkes, Jason Wald, and Spencer Collantes spearheading the creation of a new specialty label within the studio. At the 2026 CinemaCon in April 2026, the label's name was revealed to be Warner Bros. Clockwork, with Sean Baker's Ti Amo! announced as its maiden release.

From Wikipedia’s article on Warner Independent Pictures, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led Warner Independent Pictures, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. May 8, 2008Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. Aug 2003Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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