Larry Meistrich

Larry Meistrich (born October 14, 1966) is an American film producer and streaming executive. He founded The Shooting Gallery, an independent film production company that rose to prominence during the 1990s American independent film boom, and later founded Red Coral Universe, an artist-focused streaming platform.

Early life and education Meistrich was born Lawrence Steven Meistrich on October 14, 1966, in The Bronx, New York City. He attended Horace Mann School in the Bronx before enrolling at Johns Hopkins University, graduating in 1989 with a degree in Writing Seminars. While at Hopkins, he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.

Career

The Shooting Gallery (1990–2001) Meistrich founded The Shooting Gallery in 1990, operating from offices on Broadway in Manhattan, where it also rented production space to outside filmmakers. The company produced several films.

The Shooting Gallery's breakthrough came with Nick Gomez's Laws of Gravity (1992), followed by a string of critically acclaimed independent films. As CEO, Meistrich oversaw producing Sling Blade (1996) with Billy Bob Thornton, which received the highest advance ever paid for an independent film at the time—$10 million from Miramax Films—and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Meistrich received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature for Laws of Gravity in 1993, and was awarded the Crain's Small Business Award in 1998 and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1999.

In the late 1990s, The Shooting Gallery expanded beyond film production into web content and branded merchandise. The company collapsed in 2001.

Film Movement Following The Shooting Gallery's closure, Meistrich served as chief executive officer of Film Movement, LLC, an independent film distribution company, from 2002 onward, helping to bring international and independent cinema to American audiences.

NEHST Studios and DigiNext Films In 2007, Meistrich launched Nehst Media Enterprises, a production, financing, and distribution company focused on features, television, and direct-to-Web content. The company subsequently became NEHST Studios and later merged with another production entity to form DigiNext Films, through which he continued producing independent features and documentaries.

Red Coral Universe Meistrich is the founder and CEO of Red Coral Universe, an artist-first AVOD OTT streaming platform dedicated to independent film, television, and music. He founded the company with a team comprising his children Quinn Meistrich and Jamen Meistrich and founding members Steven C. Young and Fisnik Bizati. Young serves as Head of Content and Bizati as Head of Acquisitions.

The platform features a catalog of over 7,000 titles from more than 600 artists and offers creators a greater share of revenue compared with other streaming services. Red Coral Universe also finances, produces, and distributes original films and series. In 2024, the platform reacquired streaming rights to Sling Blade, one of Meistrich's productions.

Filmography

As producer (The Shooting Gallery era) Year Title Notes 1992 Laws of Gravity 1995 New Jersey Drive 1996 Sling Blade Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1997 Henry Fool 1997 Niagara, Niagara 1998 Belly 1998 Strangeland 1998 Frogs for Snakes 1999 The Minus Man 1999 The 24 Hour Woman 1999 The Bumblebee Flies Anyway 2000 You Can Count on Me Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature; Academy Award nomination, Best Original Screenplay 2000 The Tic Code 2000 Chinese Coffee 2001 Daddy and Them

As producer (NEHST / DigiNext era) Year Title Notes 2003 The Song of the Little Road 2005 The Numbers 2005 Mechina: A Preparation 2007 41 2007 Intervention 2007 Running the Sahara 2009 Faded Glory 2009 Article 32 2009 Running America 2010 The 904: Shadow on the Sunshine State 2010 Cut Poison Burn 2011 Standing Silent 2011 Lilith 2011 Thank You For Judging 2012 The Standbys 2012 Kinderblock 66: Return to the Buchenwald 2013 The United States of Football 2013 A Miracle in Spanish Harlem 2013 Mr. Sophistication 2014 The American Nurse 2014 Anita B. 2014 Drunktown's Finest 2014 African Exodus 2014 Elephant Blues 2015 Pass the Light 2016 Leaves of the Tree