Producers Nicky Weinstock and Andrea Bucko have partnered to launch a new production outfit that will be known as Sweetheart Entertainment. 

The company launches at Cannes as both Weinstock and Bucko have films in Competition strands. Weinstock was a producer on Clarissa, which screens in Directors’ Fortnight, and Bucko was a producer on James Gray’s Paper Tiger. Both films have been acquired by Neon. 

Weinstock is an industry vet. He founded Invention Studios and previously served as creative head of Red Hour Films in partnership with Ben Stiller, and was Executive Vice President of Chernin Entertainment. His credits include the acclaimed Apple TV+ series, Severance, Dinner in America, Thelma, and Escape at Dannemora. Bucko’s recent credits include serving as executive producer on Osgood Perkins’s buzzy feature Longlegs, Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, and Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, starring Rooney Mara and Kate Mara. 

“At a time when the entertainment industry — and frankly the world — are in such urgent need of creativity, boldness, and joy, we are thrilled to provide a home for writers and filmmakers of uncommon courage and excellence,” Weinstock said in a statement. 

“I have had the great luck to work with brilliant creators from across the creative spectrum and across the globe, but I’ve never before had the ability or the funding to race right out and make things.  Andrea and I are so grateful for that privilege and for our teamwork; this should be wildly fun.”

Bucko added: “Through Sweetheart Entertainment, we’re striving to champion films that stay with people after the credits roll — stories that are emotionally honest, visually bold, and grounded in real human experience. Whether it’s a thriller, a drama, or something more unconventional, we’re drawn to projects that challenge audiences, spark conversation, and create a lasting emotional connection globally.”