Edward Pressman is generally considered the one young Hollywood producer today who consistently focuses on giving “new talent” a chance: hiring first-time directors, bringing underground filmmakers to the Hollywood forefront, and giving directors having difficulty finding work the chance to direct again. Pressman's films are virtually a catalogue of these decisions: Brian de Palma's Sisters and Phantom of the Paradise; Terrence Malick's Badlands; Paul Williams' Out Of It, The Revolutionary, Nunzio and Dealing; Sylvester Stallone's Paradise Alley, Joan Tewkesbury's Old Boyfriends, and John Byrum's Heart Beat. Pressman's current productions reflect that this is more than a trend - it is, for Pressman, a way of making films: Oliver stone, the Oscar-winning writer of Midnight Express, is now directing his first film, The Hand; New York City experimental filmmaker Lewis Jackson has just completed shooting a $2 million feature, Santa, to be released at Christmas; and, John Milius returns to directing - the first time he has done so in over two years - with Conan, in January.
In addition to all this, Ed Pressman has initiated a program to distribute foreign films which would otherwise have little chance of being seen in the U.S.: last year he presented Fassbinder's Despair; later this year he will do the same for Bo (Elvira Madigan) Wideberg's Victoria, as well as for the British hit of this year's Filmex, The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle.
