Have you ever seen the award-winning documentary film March of the Penguins? Laura Kim ’85 was central to making that happen. While at SHS she was a member of the Quiz Team and the symphonic choir, played tennis and was a Scarlet S staff editor.
Laura earned a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications at Boston University with a minor in sociology. Throughout college, she worked for Warner Bros. as a New England area college rep, served on the Minority Affairs Council, and was treasurer, then president of the Asian Student Union.
Upon graduation, Laura moved to Los Angeles and began working immediately at Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, a unit of Walt Disney Studios. After a few years, she joined MPRM where she ran the film group and for over a decade focused on many award-winning independent, documentary and international films.
In 2003, Laura joined the new subsidiary of Warner Bros., Warner Independent Pictures as Executive Vice President of Marketing. Her work there included overseeing films such as the award-winning films Before Sunset, Good Night, and Good Luck., Paradise Now, and the blockbuster documentary March of the Penguins. Her work was honored by Advertising Age, a marketing trade publication, with its Marketer of the Year Award. When Warner Independent was shuttered in 2008, Laura ran her own marketing consultancy working on Margin Call, Restrepo, All is Lost, Stories We Tell, The Act of Killing to name a few. In 2014, she joined Participant Media the company behind titles such as Beasts of No Nation, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, American Factory, Spotlight, RBG (former Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), Dark Waters, Green Book and Roma. Since Participant’s closure in 2024, Laura has been working for MUBI on campaigns for films like The Substance, which brought MUBI their first Oscar nominations.
She has served on the jury at various festivals, including Sundance, and was elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, has served as chair of her branch, and also serves on the board of Film Independent, a non-profit that champions independent filmmakers.
Over her decades in the industry, she has worked to elevate the stories of others, an effort toward making sure attention is given to stories that reflect the world we live in, and has worked on dozens of films that expose some of the most pressing issues of our time.
Laura has taught a masters level marketing class for producers at the American Film Institute in addition to guest lecturing at University of Southern California, New York University, The New School, Emerson and Chapman film programs. She co-wrote and published with John Anderson I Wake Up Screening, a guide for aspiring filmmakers.
A fellow alum says, “As busy as Laura is, she often flies back to Shelby to visit classmates.” In Laura’s free time, she enjoys gardening, traveling – and of course, movies!