Peter Kujawski
Chairman, Focus Features Focus FeaturesPeter Kujawski was appointed Chairman of Focus Features in February 2016. As the award-winning specialty division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG), Focus Features develops, produces, acquires, and distributes films for the global market. The studio boasts a library of iconic movies, which have garnered 156 Academy Award® nominations and 27 wins in just over 20 years since its launch. In 2018, two years after Kujawski was named chairman, The Hollywood Reporter named Focus Features distributor of the year.
Under Kujawski’s leadership, Focus Features has released Academy Award® winners Phantom Thread from Paul Thomas Anderson, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman and Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, as well as Academy Award®-nominated TÁR from director Todd Field, Harriet directed by Kasi Lemmons, Morgan Neville’s acclaimed documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris from Anthony Fabian, and the film adaptation of Downton Abbey, which went on to become the highest-grossing Focus Features film to date. Continuing Focus’ tradition of producing thought-provoking films that ignite cultural conversations, Kujawski’s tenure has seen Joel Edgerton’s conversion therapy drama Boy Erased, Sofia Coppola’s female-led cast of The Beguiled, Jeff Nichols’ Loving about the fight for interracial marriage, Stephen Frears’ Victoria & Abdul, Tom Ford’s thriller Nocturnal Animals, along with distributing films like Todd Haynes’s environmental thriller Dark Waters and the biopic On the Basis of Sex about the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Prior to becoming chairman of Focus Features, Kujawski served as Managing Director of Universal Pictures International Productions (UPIP), which was absorbed into Focus’ operations in 2016. At UPIP, he was responsible for expanding Universal Pictures’ worldwide presence through local production, financing partnerships, and acquisitions. He oversaw the acquisition of English-language films for Universal in all international territories. Kujawski joined Universal in 2011 as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Acquisitions for Universal and Focus. He oversaw acquisitions of key international rights for celebrated films including Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, and Richard Linklater’s Boyhood.
Kujawski has a long history with Focus, joining the studio back in 2002 at its inception and having a hand in many of its titles including Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Joel and Ethan Coen’s Burn After Reading and A Serious Man; Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation; Gus Van Sant’s Milk; Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardner; David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises; and Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution and Brokeback Mountain.
Kujawski received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Film Studies from Columbia University. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He and his wife Stefanie Azpiazu reside in Los Angeles with their two children.
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Peter Kujawski
Chairman, Focus Features Focus FeaturesPeter Kujawski was appointed Chairman of Focus Features in February 2016. As the award-winning specialty division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG), Focus Features develops, produces, acquires, and distributes films for the global market. The studio boasts a library of iconic movies, which have garnered 156 Academy Award® nominations and 27 wins in just over 20 years since its launch. In 2018, two years after Kujawski was named chairman, The Hollywood Reporter named Focus Features distributor of the year.
Under Kujawski’s leadership, Focus Features has released Academy Award® winners Phantom Thread from Paul Thomas Anderson, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman and Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, as well as Academy Award®-nominated TÁR from director Todd Field, Harriet directed by Kasi Lemmons, Morgan Neville’s acclaimed documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris from Anthony Fabian, and the film adaptation of Downton Abbey, which went on to become the highest-grossing Focus Features film to date. Continuing Focus’ tradition of producing thought-provoking films that ignite cultural conversations, Kujawski’s tenure has seen Joel Edgerton’s conversion therapy drama Boy Erased, Sofia Coppola’s female-led cast of The Beguiled, Jeff Nichols’ Loving about the fight for interracial marriage, Stephen Frears’ Victoria & Abdul, Tom Ford’s thriller Nocturnal Animals, along with distributing films like Todd Haynes’s environmental thriller Dark Waters and the biopic On the Basis of Sex about the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Prior to becoming chairman of Focus Features, Kujawski served as Managing Director of Universal Pictures International Productions (UPIP), which was absorbed into Focus’ operations in 2016. At UPIP, he was responsible for expanding Universal Pictures’ worldwide presence through local production, financing partnerships, and acquisitions. He oversaw the acquisition of English-language films for Universal in all international territories. Kujawski joined Universal in 2011 as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Acquisitions for Universal and Focus. He oversaw acquisitions of key international rights for celebrated films including Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, and Richard Linklater’s Boyhood.
Kujawski has a long history with Focus, joining the studio back in 2002 at its inception and having a hand in many of its titles including Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Joel and Ethan Coen’s Burn After Reading and A Serious Man; Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation; Gus Van Sant’s Milk; Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardner; David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises; and Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution and Brokeback Mountain.
Kujawski received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Film Studies from Columbia University. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He and his wife Stefanie Azpiazu reside in Los Angeles with their two children.
