Ira Deutchman has been making, marketing and distributing films since 1975, having worked on over 150 films including some of the most successful independent films of all time. He was one of the founders of Cinecom and later created Fine Line Features-two companies that were created from scratch and in their respective times, helped define the independent film business. Deutchman is a consultant in marketing and distribution of independent films. Among his clients is Istituto Luce Cinecitta, for which he promotes Italian cinema in the U.S. He is also a Professor of Professional Practice in the School of the Arts at Columbia University, where he was the Chair of the Film Program from 2011-2015. Among the over 60 films he acquired and released at Fine Line were Jane Campion's "An Angel at My Table," Gus van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho," Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth," Robert Altman's "The Player" and "Short Cuts," Roman Polanski's "Bitter Moon" and "Death and the Maiden," Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, " Mike Leigh's "Naked," and the award-winning "Hoop Dreams," which in its time was the highest grossing non-music documentary in history. Other films Deutchman has worked on were "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," "To Sleep with Anger," "Metropolitan," "A Room with a View," "Stop Making Sense," "El Norte," and "The Brother from Another Planet." His screen credits include Associate Producer of John Sayles' "Matewan;" Executive Producer of Jonathan Demme's "Swimming to Cambodia," Gary Sinise's "Miles From Home," Paul Bartel's "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills," Matty Rich's "Straight Out of Brooklyn," Stephen Gyllenhaal's "Waterland," Maggie Greenwald's "The Ballad of Little Jo," Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker & the Vicious Circle," Paul Auster's "Lulu On the Bridge," Wayne Wang's "Center of the World," Daniel Noah's "Twelve," Anthony Jaswinski's "Killing Time," Loren-Paul Caplin's "The Lucky Ones," Amy Wadell's "Brothel" and Georgia Lee's "Red Doors;" and Co-Producer of David Anspaugh's "The Game of Their Lives." Deutchman was the Producer of Tony Vitale's "Kiss Me, Guido," Sarah Kernochan's "All I Wanna Do," Mark Christopher's "54," Adam Davidson's "Way Past Cool," Bob Gale's "Interstate 60," Tanya Wexler's "Relative Evil," Ann Hu's "Beauty Remains" and Ed Radtke's "Speed of Life." He was also Consulting Producer on the CBS sitcom "Some of My Best Friends." In 2017, Deutchman was awarded the Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sundance Art House Convergence for his service to independent film marketing and distribution. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, with a major in film.
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Biography from IMDb.
- March 24, 1953 (73)
- Producer, also director and actor
- 20 on MovieCove · 24 credits in all
What are Ira Deutchman's films like?
Across their 20 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 1 · Earnest 18
A split, not a type: Light 10 · Serious 5 · Dark 5
Grounded 14 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 2
Gentle 6 · Charged 12 · Intense 2
A split, not a type: Steady 10 · Shifting 9 · Whiplash 1
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 10 · Some laughs 6 · Funny 4
Slow burn 13 · Even-paced 7 · Relentless 0
Casual 8 · Engaged 11 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 7 · Affecting 9 · Heavy 4
A split, not a type: Resolved 12 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 4
Moods and endings
- Happy7
- Bittersweet6
- Ambiguous7
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Ira Deutchman's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 20 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (7).
- Interstate 60 (2002) · producer · free
- Searching for Mr. Rugoff (2019) · actor, director, producer · free
- Gimme the Loot (2012) · stunts · free
- Red Doors (2005) · producer · free
- The Game of Their Lives (2005) · producer · free
- The Center of the World (2001) · producer · free
- Brothel (2008) · producer · free
Subscription and free streaming for Ira Deutchman's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
24 credits, 20 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Searching for Mr. Rugoff(2019)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Gimme the Loot(2012)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
Brothel(2008)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films
Honeydripper(2007)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
The Speed of Life(2007)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
The Game of Their Lives(2005)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
Red Doors(2005)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
Way Past Cool (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
The Lucky Ones(2003)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Interstate 60(2002)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Relative Evil (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
The Center of the World(2001)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films
Lulu on the Bridge(1998)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
54(1998)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
All I Wanna Do!(1998)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Kiss Me, Guido(1997)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
The Ballad of Little Jo(1993)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Waterland(1992)
Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all films
Straight Out of Brooklyn (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Miles from Home(1988)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
Matewan(1987)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Swimming to Cambodia (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Career shape
A full career of 20 titles from 1987 to 2019.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Ira Deutchman's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 61st percentile, the median of all 20; across their 20 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 54th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th10
- 25th to 49th6
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
8 of their 20 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Cult Classic2
- Crowd Pleaser8
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed7
Reviewers score the atmosphere 67/100 and the pacing 36/100 in their films, across 17 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Ira Deutchman's work okay for kids?
Across up to 6 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity runs heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Ira Deutchman work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ira Deutchman's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Peter Newman shares the most, 5.
Directors
- John SaylesShared titles: Honeydripper (2007), Matewan (1987)See all 2 shared titles with John Sayles
Writers
- Paul AusterShared titles: The Center of the World (2001), Lulu on the Bridge (1998)See all 2 shared titles with Paul Auster
Actors
- Terry KinneyShared titles: The Game of Their Lives (2005), Miles from Home (1988)See all 2 shared titles with Terry Kinney
- Chris CooperShared titles: Interstate 60 (2002), Matewan (1987)See all 2 shared titles with Chris Cooper
- Sam RobardsShared titles: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Sam Robards
- Wallace ShawnShared titles: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989)See all 2 shared titles with Wallace Shawn
Composers and editors
- Mason DaringShared titles: Honeydripper (2007), Matewan (1987)See all 2 shared titles with Mason Daring
- Lee PercyShared titles: The Center of the World (2001), 54 (1998)See all 2 shared titles with Lee Percy
- Graeme RevellShared titles: All I Wanna Do! (1998), Lulu on the Bridge (1998)See all 2 shared titles with Graeme Revell
Producers
- Peter NewmanShared titles: The Game of Their Lives (2005), Interstate 60 (2002), The Center of the World (2001), All I Wanna Do! (1998), Lulu on the Bridge (1998)See all 5 shared titles with Peter Newman
- Greg JohnsonShared titles: The Game of Their Lives (2005), The Center of the World (2001), Lulu on the Bridge (1998)See all 3 shared titles with Greg Johnson
- Amir Jacob MalinShared titles: Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), Miles from Home (1988), Matewan (1987)See all 3 shared titles with Amir Jacob Malin
- Maggie RenziShared titles: Honeydripper (2007), Matewan (1987)See all 2 shared titles with Maggie Renzi
Mixed roles
- Sarah KernochanShared titles: Searching for Mr. Rugoff (2019), All I Wanna Do! (1998)See all 2 shared titles with Sarah Kernochan
- Robert AltmanShared titles: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), Cinefile: Made in the USA (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Robert Altman
- Maggie GreenwaldShared titles: Cinefile: Made in the USA (1993), The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Maggie Greenwald
- Paul BartelShared titles: Cinefile: Made in the USA (1993), Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989)See all 2 shared titles with Paul Bartel
