For more than 20 years, Deborah Gilels has been a trusted publicist and media consultant in the independent film and entertainment industry, helping filmmakers, producers, writers, and actors build visibility, find audiences, and bring their projects successfully to market.
Through her Los Angeles-based PR and media consulting company, Gilels has spearheaded campaigns encompassing theatrical, television, digital and VOD releases; film festival publicity; awards and FYC campaigns; distribution and marketing strategy; and project development. Her work spans narrative features, documentaries, shorts and animation, with a particular expertise in positioning independent films within an increasingly competitive entertainment landscape.
Gilels has promoted films at many of the industry’s leading festivals, including Tribeca, Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Dances With Films, Austin Film Festival, Heartland, Indy Shorts, Beverly Hills Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles and New York, and Cannes, among others.
She serves as publicist for the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival, as well as SEEfest and LA Femme International Film Festival, where she is also a member of the Board of Directors.
Her international industry experience extends to major film and television markets and conventions, including Cannes, the American Film Market (AFM), Berlin, MIP-TV and Anime Expo, where she has represented feature films, documentaries and animation.
Among the films Gilels has represented are The World Without You, starring Radha Mitchell, Chris Mulkey and James Tupper; Hajji, starring Ross Marquand; Pooling to Paradise, starring Taryn Manning and Jonathan Lipnicki; Violet is Blue: A Tale of Gibbons and Guardians; Echoes From the Attic; and the Los Angeles Emmy-winning documentary To Climb a Gold Mountain.
Her feature-film campaigns have also included Not Another Church Movie, starring Jamie Foxx, Mickey Rourke, Vivica A. Fox and Kevin Daniels; Jane Spencer’s South of Hope Street, starring Judd Nelson, Michael Madsen and William Baldwin; The Long Game, starring Kathleen Turner and Jackie Earle Haley; All There Is, starring Jason Priestley and Mena Suvari; and Fractured, starring Julia Ormond, Bruce Dern and Elissa Shay.
Her documentary work includes Blind Logic: The Ralph R. Teetor Story, narrated by Mike Rowe and featuring Jeff Daniels as the voice of automotive innovator Ralph R. Teetor; The Window on Death Row, directed by Linda Freund and executive produced by Mike Farrell; and Where We Played: Voices From the Fire, directed by Nat Wolff and Austin Cauldwell and produced by Mina Sundwall.
A Passion for Anime
Gilels has also carved out a distinctive niche in anime publicity, leading campaigns for some of the most acclaimed animated films released theatrically in the United States.
She served as lead publicist for the Fathom Events theatrical release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro and led publicity for nationwide theatrical releases including Liz and the Blue Bird, a Satellite Award nominee; Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms; A Silent Voice; Millennium Actress; Penguin Highway; and Sound! Euphonium.
Her television and streaming anime campaigns have included Lupin the 3rd Part IV on Adult Swim, Lupin the 3rd Part V, and MEGALOBOX on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. She has additionally overseen publicity for numerous anime DVD and VOD releases and was invited to participate as a panelist at Project Anime in Los Angeles in 2019.
With more than two decades spent at the intersection of filmmaking, publicity, festivals, distribution, and audience development, Gilels has built her career around a simple goal: helping distinctive films and filmmakers cut through the noise, attract attention, and connect with the audiences who need to discover them.
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