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Searchlight Pictures Elevates Taylor Friedman to SVP of Production, Richard Ruiz to VP of Production (EXCLUSIVE)

Searchlight Pictures has promoted Taylor Friedman to senior vice president of production and elevated Richard Ruiz to vice president of production.

Friedman, who has been with Searchlight since 2009, previously served as vice president of production, and Ruiz, who joined the indie label in 2015, previously served as director of production. Both executives will continue reporting into Katie Goodson-Thomas and DanTram Nguyen, heads of film production at Searchlight

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During her time at Searchlight, Friedman has overseen films such as Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit,” Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” all of which were nominated for or won Oscars. Friedman is currently working on Waititi’s upcoming film “Next Goal Wins,” Eva Longoria’s feature directorial debut “Flamin’ Hot” and McDonagh’s next film “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Prior to Searchlight, she worked at Paramount Vantage and di Bonaventura Pictures after graduating from Brown University.

Ruiz started as a creative executive. He has worked on such films as Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” Dome Karukoski’s “Tolkien,” and Radio Silence’s “Ready or Not.” He also oversaw this fall’s “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” which is expected to be in the thick of the awards race. He is currently overseeing Andrew Ahn’s “Fire Island” starring Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang. Prior to Searchlight, Ruiz worked with director Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry”) on a number of film and TV projects including the 2013 version of “Carrie” starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. He is a graduate of Harvard University’s Department of Visual and Environmental Studies.

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