UPDATED with statement from Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski: Bleecker Street Media founder and CEO Andrew Karpen died Monday from glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer that upended his life when it was discovered in January 2024. He was 59.
Karpen has been a fixture in the independent film space for decades, and went from co-CEO of Focus Features to form Bleecker Street Media in 2014. Bleecker has released more than 75 films since then, theatrical releases across all genres. That includes films from auteurs like Steven Soderbergh (Logan Lucky), Debra Granik (Leave No Trace), andOscar-nominated films including Captain Fantastic and Trumbo. He was known as the epitome of class; an executive you could look in the eye and trust what he told you. He turned 59 on April 18.
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Deadline detailed the ordeal that Karpen and his wife Pam went through, a piece I wrote to spur donations to help the work of Dr. John Boockvar, a neurosurgeon at the Brain Tumor Center at Lenox Hill Hospital, and the pioneering work they do to combat glioblastoma. It went against his penchant for spurning the spotlight, but Andrew and Pam’s revelations helped raise a significant sum for a worthy cause and a doctor who prolonged his life and gave him precious time.
Karpen was feeling robust when he headed to his office on January 2, 2024, getting a start on a year that would see 11 film releases over the next 12 months. He had been experiencing unusual feelings; stumbling while he and Pam played pickleball with friends over the holiday and some numbness in his right leg. When he got to the office, he had difficulty typing with his right arm. He called his doctor and was told to come home immediately. A CAT scan and MRI revealed the fatal brain cancer. A first brief surgery revealed the depths of the problem. The first surgeon could not get deep enough into the brain to remove much of the tumor. Karpen was losing dexterity quickly because the tumor was sitting on and putting pressure on the part of the brain that controls those motor skills.
That led Andrew and Pam to Boockvar, who attacked the cancer aggressively. The doctor and his work has been featured in two Netflix documentaries. Karpen underwent a full craniotomy, a four-hour procedure that excised most of the tumor. While there was danger of paralysis or worse, Karpen pulled through. After a course of chemotherapy and radiation, the Karpens got news that the tumor was gone.
While they knew that the glioblastoma could reassert itself in other ways, which it did, this was a miracle reprieve. It allowed Andrew to be able to see his oldest son, Josh, get married last July in Colorado, something that meant the world to him. Josh and wife Kristen are now expecting their first child.
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I’ve known Andrew for years. We bonded quickly over three things: a passion for independent theatrical film and all the challenges that come with toiling in that space; being able to be part of Hollywood and live on the East Coast, he in Connecticut and me from Long Island. Also, there was our mutual passion for the New York Football Giants. Pam’s family has been season-ticket holders since 1938, and Andrew stayed in proximity to be a tailgating fixture at most home games.
The season opener always fell during the start of the Toronto Film Festival, and we made it a point to catch the game at some bar, usually surrounded by other execs and agents. One year, Karpen had to beg out because he was obliged to go to a premiere of a female-driven acquisition title which he didn’t buy. I gave him good-natured abuse for years, mindful he was doing his job.
As Karpen dealt with brain cancer, Bleecker Street was held together by a team of execs headed by his longtime friend and colleague Kent Sanderson.
“Our industry has lost a giant,” Sanderson told me. “Andrew taught us all so much, foremost of which is the value of kindness, honesty, and family above all else. His leadership and courage will inspire all of us at Bleecker Street for the rest of our lives, and we are dedicated to continuing his passion for and legacy of championing cinema.”
Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski told Deadline: “Andrew’s passing is not only a loss for the filmmakers he spent his career championing, but for all of us who had the privilege of working with him and calling him a friend. His humanity, kindness and gentle spirit were an inspiration to anyone who spent time with him, and they are forever a part of Focus and our whole film community. We are all better off having had him in our lives.”
Karpen is survived by wife Pam; his sons Josh and Zack; his daughter Sloan; and Josh’s wife Kristen. The family would appreciate donations made in Karpen’s name to the Lenox Hill Brain Tumor Center, or Fairfield County Hospice House.