A Cut Above

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF KILLER FILMS

Independent-film pioneer Christine Vachon, 43, knew making movies was her calling when she saw Todd Haynes's experimental 43-minute film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, depicted with Barbie dolls. "It was so funny and heartbreaking and provocative and so unlike anything I'd ever seen, it kind of showed me what was possible. I pretty much told Todd, 'I want to be your producer.'" In 1995, Vachon partnered with fellow producer Pamela Koffler to form Killer Films, and in 2001, Katie Roumel, a former unpaid intern, joined them as a third partner. The dynamic trio has worked with auteurs as diverse as Haynes, Robert Altman, Todd Solondz, Mary Harron, and John Waters, and has produced the award-winning films Velvet Goldmine, Boys Don't Cry, and Far from Heaven. This month, Killer Films will be honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. Over the past decade, the company has stayed true to its manifesto—to produce visionary independent films—making Vachon as synonymous with Sundance as Robert Redford is. "First-time films tend to be the culmination of an insane amount of passion and drive," explains Vachon, a champion of ingenue writer-directors. "Watching a firsttime director finally get their vision put on celluloid reminds me why this whole process issogreat."

KRISTA SMITH