Black Bear Pictures, LLC is an American media company that develops, produces, distributes and finances original film and television content. The companyâÂÂs slate blends premium drama with commercial action and genre titles. Past films include Train Dreams, Sing Sing, Nyad, A Working Man, and The Imitation Game. Black Bear is based in Santa Monica, California, with additional offices in London.
Since its 2011 launch, Black Bear's slate has been nominated for 22 Academy Awards and 13 BAFTAs, and premiered at film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Venice, Telluride, Toronto, New York, and London.
Black Bear was founded in 2011 by Teddy Schwarzman, a film producer and former corporate lawyer who left Cinetic Media to establish his own production company.
In 2013, Black Bear financed the launch of Elevation Pictures, an independent film and TV distribution company in Canada, with the two companies entering an output deal. Black Bear later fully acquired Elevation, which now operates as a subsidiary of Black Bear. Elevation has distributed films including Anora, Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, and Everything Everywhere All at Once.
In 2022, Black Bear launched an international sales division (Black Bear International) led by John Friedberg. In addition to its own productions, Black Bear has sold third-party titles including Longlegs, The Monkey, and Afterburn. Also in 2022, Black Bear partnered with New Regency to launch a documentary production unit entitled Double Agent to produce & finance premium documentaries, with Dana OâÂÂKeefe appointed president.
In 2023, Black Bear was launched as a primary distributor (Black Bear UK) in the United Kingdom, starting with Dumb Money (2023). In 2025, they launched a U.S distribution division led by Benjamin Kramer to release between ten and twelve films per year. Christy was the division's first release, followed by Shelter.