Paul Cohen

Paul Cohen is a veteran independent motion picture executive, and businessman who, for more than 5 decades, has founded several successful distribution and production companies, including Moonbeam Productions, Analysis Film Releasing Corporation, Manhattan Pictures International, and Stratosphere Entertainment LLC. He acquired, marketed, and distributed numerous award-winning independent motion pictures, including Oscar-winning Mephisto (1982), Oscar-nominated My Brilliant Career (1979), Oscar-nominated The Thief (1997), and L’Innocente (1976), selected as the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Classic.

He has worked with auteur directors Abel Ferrara, Luchino Visconti, Jean-Luc Godard, and István Szabó, along with producers including Mick Jagger, Lorne Michaels, Edward R. Pressman, and Alain Sarde, among many others. Paul executive-produced or was otherwise credited on more than a dozen independent theatrical feature films before 2006.

In 2006, Cohen shifted his focus to producing, film marketing, and social media. In association with CMPA, the Red Hills Motion Picture Releasing Co. LLC, has mentored over 750 university students and marketed over 185 independent, live-action, theatrical documentaries, and animated feature films.

In addition to marketing and distribution, Cohen continues professionally as a member of the production teams for award winning movies including Good Fortune (2016), Life and Nothing More (2017), Kiss the Ground (2020), Common Ground (2023), Rachel Hendrix (2023), and Groundswell (2026), which premiered at the 79th Cannes Film Festival and won the 2026 Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary.

A Filmmaker in Residence at CMPA, he is an esteemed teaching faculty member and Director of its Torchlight Studios & Cinematheque.