Developer Charles Cohen is eyeing two trophies — and they aren’t class A office towers.
Cohen, CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, co-produced two movies, “Faces Places” and “The Insult,” which were respectively nominated for best documentary feature and best foreign language film Oscars. In addition to overseeing a portfolio that spans 12 million square feet across New York, Texas, South Florida and Southern California, Cohen runs an independent theatrical distribution and production company, Cohen Media Group.
He also owns Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village, which is showing both movies. Another movie he produced in 2008, “Frozen River,” was nominated for best actress and best original screenplay. Cohen told Crain’s that he’s looking to increase his involvement in the film industry.
“It’s not dissimilar to real estate in that I’m creating an asset, in this case an intellectual asset, that throws off ancillary income for years,” Cohen said. “There’s so many ways now to make money from film—from video on demand to DVD sales to showings on college campuses, cruise ships and airplanes. For me it’s about building a library of film assets that I can be proud of.”
He also indicated that he may try his hand at writing a movie on a subject he knows well: Manhattan real estate. [Crain’s] — Kathryn Brenzel