Lewis Tice: the festival publicist behind Danger After Dark and Autonomy Pictures

Overview

Lewis Tice is an American genre-film publicist and festival programmer best known as the curator of Danger After Dark — the horror, fantasy and genre strand of the Philadelphia Film Festival presented by the TLA Entertainment Group — and as a co-founder of Autonomy Pictures (Filmfestivals.com; Bloody Disgusting). After years on the festival publicity circuit — including the Sundance Film Festival publicity staff and the publicity directorship of the Chicago International Film Festival — he joined TLA Entertainment Group in 2003 as its National Press Liaison for TLA Releasing (Filmfestivals.com). In March 2012 he co-founded Autonomy Pictures with Derek Curl and David Gregory; the label’s launch title was the US release of Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game (Bloody Disgusting).

Tice keeps a smaller public footprint than his Autonomy co-founders, so this profile draws on the documented professional record — the industry announcements and festival materials that named him — and is explicit about what those sources do not cover.

A festival publicist’s path to TLA Releasing

Tice’s early career ran through the North American festival circuit. According to TLA Entertainment Group’s own 2003 appointment announcement, he had spent the previous three years on the publicity staff of the Sundance Film Festival, served as publicity director of the Chicago International Film Festival, and since 2000 had worked events including the IFP/West Los Angeles Film Festival, the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and the National Queer Arts Festival, alongside PR work in Chicago for New Yorker Films’ Trembling Before G-D (Filmfestivals.com). In April 2003 TLA named him to the newly created position of National Press Liaison, focused on TLA Releasing — the division bringing independent, international and gay/lesbian films to theatrical and home-entertainment markets (Filmfestivals.com). His brief there included spearheading publicity for the label’s new International Film Festival Collection DVD/VHS series, launching April 29, 2003, and managing the campaigns for the theatrical releases of Miles Swain’s The Trip and Yolanda García Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra’s KM.0 (Filmfestivals.com).

Curating Danger After Dark

Tice’s signature programming work was Danger After Dark, the genre program he curated at the 17th Philadelphia Film Festival (April 3–15, 2008), presented by the TLA Entertainment Group and dedicated to horror, fantasy, science fiction, animation, dark comedies and adventures (Filmfestivals.com). The 2008 edition expanded to 19 films from 11 countries — including Chile, Italy, South Korea, Thailand, Canada, Sweden and Denmark — plus the Phantasmagoria Award for Frank Henenlotter, who presented the world premiere of his film Bad Biology on April 4 (Filmfestivals.com). The lineup Tice assembled mixed world and regional premieres: Stuart Gordon’s Stuck, Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes, Jon Knautz’s Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, and the Tsui Hark–Ringo Lam–Johnnie To omnibus Triangle all screened in the strand (Filmfestivals.com). That festival-curating pedigree is exactly what made him a natural partner for a filmmaker-driven distribution venture four years later: in March 2012 he co-founded Autonomy Pictures with Derek Curl (TLA Releasing) and David Gregory (Severin Films), a label aimed at releasing “uncompromising cinema on a worldwide scale,” whose first acquisition was all US rights to The Bunny Game (Bloody Disgusting).

Lewis Tice’s career at a glance

Period	Role	Detail
2000–2003	Festival publicist	Sundance publicity staff; publicity director, Chicago International Film Festival
2003	Press liaison	Named National Press Liaison for TLA Releasing
2008	Festival curator	Curates Danger After Dark at the 17th Philadelphia Film Festival — 19 films, 11 countries
2012-03	Label co-founder	Co-founds Autonomy Pictures with Derek Curl and David Gregory; launch title The Bunny Game

Frequently asked questions

Who is Lewis Tice? Lewis Tice is an American genre-film publicist and festival programmer. He worked festival publicity — including Sundance and the Chicago International Film Festival — before joining TLA Entertainment Group as its National Press Liaison in 2003. He curated the Philadelphia Film Festival’s Danger After Dark genre strand in 2008 and co-founded the US horror label Autonomy Pictures in 2012.

What was Danger After Dark? Danger After Dark was a genre program at the Philadelphia Film Festival, presented by the TLA Entertainment Group and dedicated to films exploring extreme storytelling — horror, fantasy, science fiction, animation, dark comedies and adventures. Tice curated the 2008 edition, which expanded to 19 films from 11 countries and honored Frank Henenlotter with its Phantasmagoria Award.

What was Lewis Tice’s role in Autonomy Pictures? Tice was one of three co-founders of Autonomy Pictures, launched in March 2012 alongside Derek Curl (TLA Releasing) and David Gregory (Severin Films). The label’s first acquisition was all US rights to Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game. The sources document Tice as a co-founder but do not specify a title, responsibilities, or how long the role lasted.

What did Lewis Tice do at TLA Releasing? In April 2003 TLA Entertainment Group named Tice its National Press Liaison, focused on TLA Releasing. He spearheaded publicity for the label’s International Film Festival Collection DVD/VHS series and managed campaigns for the theatrical releases of The Trip and KM.0, per the company’s appointment announcement.

Timeline

• 2000–2003 — festival-circuit publicity work (Sundance, Chicago International, others) per TLA’s appointment announcement.
• 2003-04 — named National Press Liaison for TLA Releasing (Filmfestivals.com, republishing TLA’s announcement).
• 2008-04 — curates Danger After Dark at the 17th Philadelphia Film Festival (Tice’s own program announcement).
• 2012-03 — co-founds Autonomy Pictures with Curl and Gregory; first acquisition The Bunny Game (Bloody Disgusting, per Screen Daily).

What we could not verify

• Everything about Tice’s pre-2003 career comes from TLA Entertainment Group’s own 2003 announcement; no independent biographical source was located in this pass.
• Tice’s specific title, responsibilities and tenure at Autonomy Pictures are not documented in the full-read sources; the profile asserts only co-founder status.
• No source covers Tice’s activities after the 2012 Autonomy launch; no current role is asserted. As a living person, only his documented professional record is stated.

Sources

• Filmfestivals.com (TLA Entertainment Group announcement) — TLA Releasing Adds New Press Liaison (first-party; career background and 2003 appointment)
• Filmfestivals.com (announcement by Lewis Tice) — The 17th Philadelphia Film Festival is coming up (first-party; 2008 Danger After Dark curation)
• Bloody Disgusting — Autonomy Pictures Comes Out Playing ‘The Bunny Game’ (tier2; Autonomy co-founding)