Article: Reel marketing genius; `Greek Wedding' makes Bob Berney celluloid hero. (News).(IFC Films vice president devised successful promotion plan)(Biography)

Byline: miriam kreinin souccar

When the hit romantic comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding was finished, most Hollywood insiders didn't think it would even make it to theaters.

The $5 million independent film with an unknown actress was spurned by Lions Gate, its original distributor, and passed over by every other film company that saw it. So the producers decided to release it themselves, and called in an expert to help plot the strategy.

The specialist was Bob Berney, then senior vice president of New York-based IFC Films, a unit of Rainbow Media Holdings Inc. And as Greek Wedding passes the $200 million mark with no signs of stopping, he is ...

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