Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 2, 2026

Killer Films

Killer Films is a New York City-based independent film production company founded in 1995 by film producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler. The company has produced many acclaimed independent films over the past two decades including Far From Heaven, Boys Don't Cry, One Hour Photo, Kids, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, Velvet Goldmine, Safe, I Shot Andy Warhol, Swoon, I'm Not There, Kill Your Darlings, Still Alice and Carol. Killer Films also executive produced Todd Haynes' five episode HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, which went on to win five Emmys, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

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Killer Films
Industry
  • Film
  • Television
Founded1995
Founder
Headquarters
New York City, New York
,
United States
WebsiteKiller Films

Killer Films is a New York City-based independent film production company founded in 1995 by film producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler. The company has produced many acclaimed independent films over the past two decades including Far From Heaven (nominated for four Academy Awards), Boys Don't Cry (Academy Award winner), One Hour Photo, Kids, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, Velvet Goldmine, Safe, I Shot Andy Warhol, Swoon, I'm Not There (Academy Award nominated), Kill Your Darlings, Still Alice (Academy Award winner) and Carol (nominated for six Academy Awards). Killer Films also executive produced Todd Haynes' five episode HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, which went on to win five Emmys, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

In 2014, Killer Films merged with Glass Elevator Media to form Killer Content, Inc.1 Their logo consists of a rabbit with a dartboard for a body.

Awards and recognition

Killer Films productions have received multiple awards and nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Emmy Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Independent Spirit Awards. On the occasion of Killer's 10th anniversary in 2005, the company was feted with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.2

Christine Vachon's first feature production, Poison, directed by Todd Haynes, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. Poison was one of the defining films of the emerging New Queer Cinema.345 For her work on Far From Heaven, another Todd Haynes collaboration, Vachon was honored by the New York Film Critics Circle, and received the Producer of the Year Award from the National Board of Review.6

Vachon produced the Showtime television adaptation of the public broadcasting radio program, This American Life, for which she won an Emmy. In 2011, Christine was invited to give the State of Cinema Address at the San Francisco Film Society's 54th San Francisco International Film Festival.

Vachon has also written two books on her life and career, Shooting to Kill (1998),7 and A Killer Life (2006).8

One of Killer's most recent films, Kill Your Darlings, directed by John Krokidas, and starred Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan, was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and went on to be nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.9 After producing Magic Magic, which debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to wide acclaim, Killer re-teamed with writer-director Sebastián Silva on his new feature, Nasty Baby.10

In 2015, Julianne Moore won the Best Performance by an Actress Oscar for her part in the 2014 Killer film Still Alice, directed by Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer, based on the novel of the same name, written by Lisa Genova.11 That same year, Killer re-teamed with director Todd Haynes on Carol, based on the 1952 romance novel, The Price of Salt, written by Patricia Highsmith. The film stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.12

In 2017, the company produced Janicza Bravo's Lemon starring Brett Gelman and Judy Greer;13 Beatriz at Dinner starring Salma Hayek and Chloë Sevigny;14 and Dina directed by Dan Sickles & Antonio Santini, the latter of three winning the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.1516

In May 2017, the company signed a two-year first look deal with Amazon Studios.17

Filmography

Film

Year Title Worldwide box office Notes
1991 Poison $787,28018
1992 Swoon N/a
1994 Go Fish $2.4 million19
Postcards from America N/a
1995 Safe $512,24520
Kids $7.4 million21
Stonewall $692,40022
1996 Plain Pleasures N/a
I Shot Andy Warhol $1.9 million23
1997 Bad Bosses Go to Hell N/a Short film
Office Killer $76,05424
1998 Happiness $2.8 million25
Velvet Goldmine $1.1 million26
I'm Losing You $13,99627
Dark Harbor N/a
1999 Boys Don't Cry $11.5 million28 Won one Academy Award
2000 Crime + Punishment in Suburbia $26,39429
2001 Series 7: The Contenders $195,06530
Women in Film N/a
The Safety of Objects $319,29931
Storytelling $2 million32
Hedwig and the Angry Inch $3.6 million33
The Grey Zone $517,87234
Chelsea Walls $60,90235
2002 One Hour Photo $52 million36
Far From Heaven $29 million37 Nominated for four Academy Awards
2003 Party Monster $742,89838
Camp $2.6 million39
The Company $6.4 million40
2004 A Home at the End of the World $1.5 million41
A Dirty Shame $1.9 million42
2005 The Notorious Bettie Page $1.8 million43
2006 Infamous $2.6 million44
2007 An American Crime $1.3 million45
Savage Grace $1.4 million46
I'm Not There $11.7 million47 Nominated for one Academy Award
Then She Found Me $8.4 million48
2008 Gigantic $165,88849
2009 Motherhood $726,35450
Cracks $29,68351
Cairo Time $2 million52
2010 Lulu at the Ace Hotel N/a Short film
Loop Planes N/a Short film
Virginia $12,72853
Dirty Girl $55,12554
2011 Dragonslayer N/a
2012 Shut Up and Play the Hits $629,10755
At Any Price $380,59456
2013 Magic Magic N/a
Kill Your Darlings $2.1 million57
Dealin' with Idiots $17,90958
Deep Powder N/a
The Last of Robin Hood $288,54559
WildLike N/a
Bluebird N/a
2014 Young Bodies Heal Quickly N/a
Electric Slide N/a
Still Alice $44 million60 Won one Academy Award
Mala Mala $10,76161
2015 Nasty Baby $80,82862
Carol $40.3 million63 Nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards
Nominated for six Academy Awards
Nominated for five Golden Globe Awards
Big Sky N/a
2016 Woman in Deep N/a Short film
Goat $23,02064
Wiener-Dog $716,6336566
White Girl $200,24267
Frank & Lola $9,18868
A Kind of Murder $89,89969
London Town $1,12670
2017 Dina $96,52471
Lemon $29,52872
Where Is Kyra? $59,71773
Beatriz at Dinner $7.4 million74
Wonderstruck $3.3 million75
My Days of Mercy $18,76676
First Reformed $3.9 million77 Nominated for one Academy Award
2018 Colette $13.8 million78
Vox Lux $1.4 million79
2019 American Woman $245,41680
Inside the Rain $8,14081
Dark Waters $23.1 million82
2020 Zola $4.5-5 million83
Shirley $305,8058485
The World to Come $204,79786
Brothers by Blood $104,74487
2021 The Velvet Underground N/a
2022 Under the Influence N/a
Anything's Possible N/a
2023 Past Lives $42.5 million88 Nominated for two Academy Awards
She Came to Me $1.2 million89
Bleeding Love $7,04290
A Good Person $3.1 million91
May December $5.3 million92 Nominated for one Academy Award
2024 A Different Man $1.5 million93 Nominated for one Academy Award
2025 Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) TBA
Materialists $108 million94
Late Fame TBA
2026 Barbara Forever TBA
TBA De Noche TBA
The Exiles TBA
Fleur TBA
The Last Day TBA
Lone Wolf TBA

Television

Year Title Notes
2005 Mrs. Harris TV movie
Nominated for twelve Emmy Awards95
2007–2009 This American Life TV series
Won three Emmy Awards96
2010 The Neistat Brothers TV series
2011 Mildred Pierce TV miniseries
Won five Emmy Awards97
2015–2017 Z: The Beginning of Everything TV series
2018–2019 This Close TV series
2021 Halston TV miniseries
2021 Pride TV miniseries
See also

See also

Further reading

Further reading

  • Vachon, Christine. Shooting to Kill: How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies that Matter, Avon Books, 335 p., 1st ed., 1998, ISBN 0380798549.
  • Vachon, Christine. A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond, Simon & Schuster, 279 p., 1st ed., 2006, ISBN 0743256301.
References

References

  1. "Killer Films Merges With Glass Elevator Media to Form Killer Content". The Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  2. "Swoon: Ten Years of Killer Films". MoMA. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  3. "Killer Films' Co-Founders Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler on Lesbian Romance 'Carol' and Indie Resilience". The Hollywood Reporter. September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  4. Levy, Emanuel (June 27, 2015). "Gay Pride 2015: Celebrating Todd Haynes' Poison". EmmanuelLevy. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  5. Dillard, Clayton (April 3, 2013). "Hearth of Darkness: Rob White's Todd Haynes". Slant Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  6. "Christine Vachon Bio". HBO. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  7. "Shooting to Kill". HarperCollins. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  8. "Christine Vachon's 'A Killer Life'". NPR. December 21, 2006. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  9. "'Kill Your Darlings' slays Venice". Cornell Chronicle. September 9, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  10. Sneider, Jeff (August 14, 2013). "Kristen Wiig in Talks for Indie 'Nasty Baby' With TV on the Radio Singer Tunde Adebimpe (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  11. Dove, Steve (February 26, 2015). "Julianne Moore Wins Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role". The Oscars. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  12. McGovern, Joe (July 30, 2015). "Todd Haynes' Carol changes its release date". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  13. Hipes, Patrick (August 17, 2016). "Brett Gelman-Starring Indie 'Lemon' Wraps; Janicza Bravo's Feature Directorial Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  14. Jafaar, Ali (August 1, 2016). "Chloe Sevigny, Salma Hayek & Jay Duplass Join 'Beatriz At Dinner'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  15. Patten, Dominic (December 5, 2016). "Sundance 2017: Robert Redford, New Rashida Jones Netflix Series, 'Rebel In The Rye' & More On Premiere, Docu, Midnight & Kids Slates". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  16. Billington, Alex (January 29, 2017). "Sundance 2017 Awards: 'Dina' & 'Chasing Coral' Are Big Doc Winners". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  17. Lang, Brent (May 2, 2017). "Amazon Signs First Look Deals with Bona Fide Productions, Killer Films, and Le Grisbi Productions (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  18. Poison at Box Office Mojo
  19. Go Fish at Box Office Mojo
  20. Safe at Box Office Mojo
  21. Kids at Box Office Mojo
  22. Stonewall at Box Office Mojo
  23. I Shot Andy Warhol at Box Office Mojo
  24. Office Killer at Box Office Mojo
  25. Happiness at Box Office Mojo
  26. Velvet Goldmine at Box Office Mojo
  27. I'm Losing You at Box Office Mojo
  28. Boys Don't Cry at Box Office Mojo
  29. "Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000)". The Numbers.
  30. Series 7: The Contenders at Box Office Mojo
  31. The Safety of Objects at Box Office Mojo
  32. "Storytelling (2002)". The Numbers.
  33. Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Box Office Mojo
  34. The Grey Zone at Box Office Mojo
  35. Chelsea Walls at Box Office Mojo
  36. One Hour Photo at Box Office Mojo
  37. Far From Heaven at Box Office Mojo
  38. Party Monster at Box Office Mojo
  39. Camp at Box Office Mojo
  40. The Company at Box Office Mojo
  41. A Home at the End of the World at Box Office Mojo
  42. A Dirty Shame at Box Office Mojo
  43. The Notorious Bettie Page at Box Office Mojo
  44. Infamous at Box Office Mojo
  45. An American Crime at Box Office Mojo
  46. Savage Grace at Box Office Mojo
  47. I'm Not There at Box Office Mojo
  48. Then She Found Me at Box Office Mojo
  49. Gigantic at Box Office Mojo
  50. Motherhood at Box Office Mojo
  51. Cracks at Box Office Mojo
  52. Cairo Time at Box Office Mojo
  53. Virginia at Box Office Mojo
  54. Dirty Girl at Box Office Mojo
  55. "Shut Up and Play the Hits (2012)". The Numbers.
  56. At Any Price at Box Office Mojo
  57. "Kill Your Darlings (2013)". The Numbers.
  58. Dealin' With Idiots at Box Office Mojo
  59. The Last of Robin Hood at Box Office Mojo
  60. Still Alice at Box Office Mojo
  61. Mala Mala at Box Office Mojo
  62. "Nasty Baby (2015)". The Numbers.
  63. Carol at Box Office Mojo
  64. Goat at Box Office Mojo
  65. "Wiener-Dog (2016)". The Numbers.
  66. "Wiener-Dog". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  67. White Girl at Box Office Mojo
  68. Frank and Lola at Box Office Mojo
  69. A Kind of Murder at Box Office Mojo
  70. London Town at Box Office Mojo
  71. Dina at Box Office Mojo
  72. Lemon at Box Office Mojo
  73. Where is Kyra? at Box Office Mojo
  74. Beatriz at Dinner at Box Office Mojo
  75. Wonderstruck at Box Office Mojo
  76. My Days of Mercy at Box Office Mojo
  77. First Reformed at Box Office Mojo
  78. Colette at Box Office Mojo
  79. Vox Lux at Box Office Mojo
  80. American Woman at Box Office Mojo
  81. "Inside the Rain (2019)". The Numbers.
  82. "Dark Waters". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  83. "Zola (2021)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  84. "Shirley". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  85. "Shirley". The Numbers. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  86. "The World to Come (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  87. "Brothers by Blood (2021)". The Numbers.
  88. "Past Lives (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  89. "She Came to Me (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  90. "Bleeding Love (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  91. "A Good Person (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  92. "May December (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  93. "A Different Man (2024)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  94. "Materialists (2025)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
  95. "Mrs. Harris". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
  96. "This American Life". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
  97. "Mildred Pierce". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
External links