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2929 productions 

2929 Productions develops, produces, and supports compelling, thought-provoking feature films and streaming & television series for both specialized and mainstream audiences. Though there is no prescribed mandate, 2929’s films can align with one or more of the following criteria: 

  • Filmmaker-driven: Projects of all genres that are elevated by the presence of a director with a singular vision.

  • Inspirational and socially conscious: Life-affirming stories with the potential to provoke new ways of thinking about entrenched issues and challenge a status quo.

  • True stories: Previously untold historical or contemporary non-fiction stories about ordinary individuals facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Recent projects have been distributed by Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Dimension, Paramount, and Fox. 2929 is one of a group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban which includes Magnolia Pictures and Spotlight Cinema Networks.

History

In 2003, entrepreneurs Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban founded 2929 Productions to develop, finance and produce independent feature films outside of the Hollywood studio system. 

The company found early success in 2005 with the release of two Oscar®-nominated films: Good Night, and Good Luck and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

Good Night, and Good Luck, from writer-director George Clooney and starring David Strathairn, Clooney, and Patricia Clarkson, grossed more than $30 million at the domestic box office and racked up a slew of awards including the National Board of Review's Best Picture of the Year honor and six Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. 

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, written and directed by Alex Gibney, won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Feature-Length Documentary. 

Also in 2005, Wagner and Cuban made headlines when they pioneered the practice of releasing films simultaneously in theaters, on DVD and digitally with the release of director Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble. 

In 2006, 2929 co-financed and produced the Lionsgate release Akeelah and the Bee, starring Academy Award nominees Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett. The film opened to ecstatic reviews and won numerous awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Chicago Film Critics Association, and the NAACP, among others.

In 2007, 2929's film We Own the Night, starring Oscar nominees Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg, along with Oscar-winner Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes, made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the prestigious Palm D'Or. The film went on to gross nearly $30 million. 

2929’s production of The Road, based on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller starring Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron, was released in 2009. Directed by Australian John Hillcoat, the film has garnered widespread critical acclaim and a “Best Actor” nomination for Mortensen from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. 

The 2929-produced film Deadfall was released by Magnolia Pictures in 2012. Starring Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Kate Mara, Sissy Spacek, and Kris Kristofferson, the winter-set thriller explores issues of greed, kin, and desire. Deadfall is directed by Stefan Ruzowitsky, whose 2007 film The Counterfeiters took home the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.

In 2014, 2929 unveiled Serena, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, directed by Academy Award winner Susanne Bier. 

In 2018, 2929 released family feature Please Stand By, starring Dakota Fanning and Toni Collette. 2929 also partnered again with Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney on The China Hustle, directed by Jed Rothstein and produced in partnership with The Kennedy/Marshall Company.

Additional 2929 films include:

  • The Burning Plain, starring Charlize Theron and John Corbett; directed by Guillermo Arriaga.

  • Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw; directed by James Gray.

  • The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Daniel Craig; directed by John Maybury.