River Road Names Kim Roth As Co-President & Chief Creative Officer; Promotes Christa Zofcin Workman To Co-President & COO

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Pohlad‘s River Road Entertainment has hired veteran producer Kim Roth as Co-President and Chief Creative Officer and promoted Christa Zofcin Workman to Co-President and Chief Operating Officer, Deadline has learned.

Roth and Workman will work alongside each other to implement the vision and drive the overall strategy for the Oscar-lauded 12 Years a Slave and The Tree of Life studio, including developing and nurturing strategic partnerships within the industry. Roth will oversee the development and production of projects, while providing management and direction to the creative team. Workman will continue to oversee business operations, legal affairs and management of the company’s intellectual property.

“I am incredibly excited to re-energize River Road and its mission as a filmmaker-friendly home to extraordinary creative projects as well as a developer and producer of its own home-grown material,” said Pohlad. “So much is changing in the industry and in the world, but we remain optimistic and excited to have Kim and Christa leading River Road into the future.”

Roth comes to River Road from MACRO, Charles D. King’s Warner Bros. based media company which is focused on the African American, Latino and multicultural market. Roth is also a 16-year vet of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Throughout her career, she has overseen such films as Dee Rees’ 4x Oscar nominee Mudbound; American Made starring Tom Cruise; Alan Yang’s Tigertail for Netflix; The Good Lie starring Reese Witherspoon, and Spike Lee’s Inside Man. Roth also executive produced and co-produced Denzel Washington’s Oscar winner Fences, Three Kings starring George Clooney and Mark Walhberg, and Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia, among others.

“I have long admired the filmography of River Road Entertainment and Bill Pohlad’s passionate support of filmmakers and artists. Bill is deeply committed, as am I, to tell stories about people whose perspectives and experiences expand our own. I look forward to joining Bill, Christa and the tremendous team at River Road to build on the brand and legacy with bold content from diverse voices,” said Roth.

Workman joined River Road in 2011 as EVP/Head of Business and Legal Affairs and was instrumental in helping to guide the company through recent changes. Formerly, she was Head of Business and Legal Affairs for Tom Cruise’s United Artists. She began her career working in finance at MGM Studios.

“It has been an honor to be part of a company, led by Bill Pohlad, who creates quality filmmaking with depth and artistry,” said Workman. “Kim brings a unique set of assets which are a critical step towards fulfilling the company’s vision, and I’m inspired and thrilled to work alongside Bill, Kim and our talented team to take River Road to the next level.”

River Road is currently producing Dreamin’ Wild alongside Oscar-winning Green Book producer Jim Burke of Innisfree Pictures. The film, which Pohlad wrote and will direct, is based on an article by Steven Kurutz about the real-life story of musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson. River Road is also producing Unfollow alongside Participant Media and Bruna Papandrea, and the Spike Lee-directed film adaptation of American Utopia based off of David Byrne’s stage show of the same name.