Dave Jesteadt Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

Los Angeles, California, United States

Over the past 15 years, GKIDS has served as the preeminent distributor of animation for families and adults, receiving four Golden Globe nominations and twelve Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature including WOLFWALKERS, MIRAI, THE BREADWINNER, MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI, BOY AND THE WORLD, WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE, THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA, ERNEST & CELESTINE, A CAT IN PARIS, CHICO & RITA, and THE SECRET OF KELLS.Executive Producer on two Academy Award-nominated films, Wolfwalkers and The Breadwinner. Oversee all day to day operations, business development, and management of GKIDS, including Distribution, Acquisitions, Marketing, Awards, and Home Entertainment departments.GKIDS releases 8-12 features per year. Highlights include BELLE ($4m+ US Box Office), WEATHERING WITH YOU ($8m US BO), PROMARE ($2.5m US BO), MARY AND THE WITCH'S FLOWER ($2.5m US BO), EVANGELION 3.0+1.01 THRICE UPON A TIME, SONG OF THE SEA, and Studio Ghibli Fest, a nationwide theatrical event program highlighting one of the world's most renowned and beloved animation studio catalogs, which has successfully run for 5+ years.Producer of the English language dubbed versions of BELLE, MIRAI, WEATHERING WITH YOU, A CAT IN PARIS, ERNEST & CELESTINE, APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD, PHANTOM BOY, MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI, and many others, featuring the voices of Riz Ahmed, Lauren Bacall, Alison Brie, John Cho, Will Forte, Paul Giamatti, Whoopi Goldberg, Anjelica Huston, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, Matthew Modine, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Patton Oswalt, Elliot Page, Amy Sedaris, Wallace Shawn, Forest Whitaker, James Woods and Jeffrey Wright.Continued oversight over GKIDS' key ancillary and home entertainment partnerships, with 12+ home video product releases a year, including the acclaimed Studio Ghibli library, available on digital, physical media and streaming platforms.

Joined independent distributor GKIDS as first employee in Fall 2007. Curated and maintained video and editorial content at GKIDS.tv, an early short film showcase and "broadband website" concept from GKIDS, featuring titles curated from the New York Int'l Children's Film Festival, the largest and most prestigious children's film festival in North America. Oversaw two early theatrical releases - Michel Ocelot's Azur & Asmar and Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues - from theatrical booking, to press and marketing, as GKIDS transformed from an early focus on short films and children's media to becoming a full-service distributor focused on animated features.

RIP to a great video store, foundational to so many NYC cineastes.