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Protagonist Pictures, the UK-based sales, finance, and production outfit behind independent films that have won awards, unveiled a boutique label, Protagonist Picks. The new label was launched shortly before the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and will introduce distinctive, globally relevant storytelling through a responsive, nimble strategy. Isabel Ivars, a seasoned industry executive, has been promoted to Director of Sales, overseeing both Protagonist Picks and the company’s extensive library.
Designed to operate alongside Protagonist’s current feature slate and library, Protagonist Picks is focused on non-theatrical high-end platforms with the objective of connecting forward-thinking creators with broader global audiences. Protagonist describes the new division as a “nimble and bespoke” response to an increasingly dynamic marketplace with a concentration on genre-bending voices in features, documentaries, and episodic programming. The Cannes debut of the label is a bold step into new territory, backed by full in-house capabilities in legal, finance, operations, and marketing.
Leading the slate are five films that showcase the label’s adventurous and eclectic vision. Heading the documentary slate is Vice Is Broke, directed by Eddie Huang, creator of Fresh Off the Boat. The film is a raw, first-hand account of Vice Media’s dramatic rise and fall after it went bankrupt in 2023. The remaining documentaries included in the festival are Bigger Than Art by Alvaro Porras and Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova. The film features cameos by some of the world’s most renowned artists, including Marina Abramović, Jeff Koons, David Hockney, and Julian Schnabel, with a foreword by artist Gottfried Helnwein and actor Sean Penn.
In the filmmaking arena, the label launches Racewalkers, a sports comedy by Kevin Claydon and Phil Moniz, starring Robbie Amell and Milton Barnes. The film follows an unlikely duo — a racewalking coach and a former pro baseball player — trying to find redemption in the most unlikely sport. Another standout is The Luckiest Man in America by Samir Oliveros, starring Paul Walter Hauser and Walton Goggins. It dramatizes the notorious true story of Michael Larson, an Ohio ice cream vendor who took advantage of the 1980s game show Press Your Luck to win big. Rounding out the slate is This Time Next Year, Nick Moore’s romantic comedy with Lucien Laviscount and Sophie Cookson, based on Sophie Cousens’ best-selling novel.
CEO Dave Bishop described the new brand as a “dynamic strategic growth initiative,” and attributed its success to Ivars’ worldwide network and in-depth content understanding. Ivars, in turn, referred to Protagonist Picks as a home for “fresh, fearless storytelling” in formats and on platforms.
