Susanne Mei is a vice president of business development at the IFC Films division of AMC Networks where she manages the digital distribution strategy and operations for all IFC Films and Sundance Selects product on transactional platforms. Susanne is also responsible for adding new digital partners and expanding the territories and products available on existing partners. She works closely with the each partner to identify promotional and merchandising opportunities for IFC Films’ and Sundance Selects’ current and library titles and has successfully grown the digital business each year that she has been part of the IFC Films team.
Among the more than 200 films that Susanne has worked on are a number of the top performing documentaries including Cave of Forgotten Dreams from the legendary director Werner Herzog, Buck, a film that profiled the real horse whisperer, and Pina, which celebrated the work of renowned contemporary dance choreographer Pina Bausch. Pina was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar in 2012.
When she first came to IFC Films, Susanne oversaw the development and launch of the direct-to-consumer SundanceNOW.com website where the entire Sundance Selects and IFC Films library is available for rent or purchase and she continues to run the day-to-day operations of that site. Last year she managed the launch of a subscription service on the site – SundanceNOW Doc Club – which offers a selection of the best documentaries curated around a monthly theme.
Prior to joining IFC Fims Susanne spent several years at Showtime Networks, first as a director in the business development group working primarily on opportunities in new media and then as the vice president of digital media for newly launched Smithsonian Channel HD, a joint venture of Showtime and the Smithsonian Institution. Before that Susanne spent several years at ABC News where she began as a production assistant in the Breaking News unit and later was a part of the team that developed and launched the original abcnews.com.
Susanne earned her BA at Tufts University in Economics and International Relations. After college she studied in France for a year and worked in the office of a member of the Assemblee Nationale. She earned her MBA in finance, with honors, from The Stern School of Business at NYU where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Stern Opportunity newspaper. She lives in New York City with her husband Ron, her son Julian and her daughter Lucia.