Christine Vachon is partnered with Pamela Koffler and Katie Roumel in Killer Films, which Vachon and Koffler founded in 1996.
Her early films as producer included Todd Haynes' controversial first feature, Poison, which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival; and video artist Tom Kalin's first feature, Swoon, which was based on the infamous Leopold/Loeb murder case, and which received the coveted Caligari Award at the 1992 Berlin International Film Festival.
Her partnership with Pamela Koffler grew out of a collaboration that began in 1993 with Tom Kalin's documentary Geoffrey Beene 30, the first of several Vachon projects on which Koffler was line producer.
Vachon's subsequent credits as producer included Todd Haynes' second feature, Safe; and Steve McLean's Postcards From America, which premiered at the 1994 New York Film Festival. She also executive-produced Rose Troche's Go Fish and co-produced Larry Clark's Kids.
She next produced Nigel Finch's Stonewall, which premiered at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival; and Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol, for which star Lili Taylor won a special acting prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.
Killer Films' first production was Cindy Sherman's Office Killer, starring Carol Kane. With Redeemable Features, Killer then produced Tony Vitale's Kiss Me, Guido, which was shown as part of The American Spectrum program at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival.
Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine followed, world-premiering in competition at the 1998 Cannes International Film Festival, where Todd Haynes received a Special Jury Prize for Artistic Contribution for the film.
Also that year at Cannes, Killer's production of Todd Solondz' Happiness had its world premiere in the Directors Fortnight section and was awarded the prestigious Fipresci Critics' Prize.
Vachon and Koffler next produced I'm Losing You, Bruce Wagner's adaptation of his best-selling novel, which premiered at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival.
The next feature Vachon produced, Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry, based on the true story of Brandon Teena, was featured in the 1999 Venice, Toronto, and New York Film Festivals and released that fall. The film went on to receive a number of honors. For her performance in the lead role, Hilary Swank earned an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe Award. In addition, Chloë Sevigny's performance brought her Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations.
Killer's Crime + Punishment in Suburbia, directed by Rob Schmidt, screened in competition at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Series 7, writer/director Daniel Minahan's feature directing debut, world-premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
In May 2001, Katie Roumel was named partner in Killer Films, joining Vachon and Koffler. Roumel had met the latter duo while working on Kids as a casting assistant. She went on to be the assistant coordinator on Stonewall and I Shot Andy Warhol; line producer on Kiss Me, Guido; and producer of Series 7 and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (directed by and starring John Cameron Mitchell).
Killer's production of the latter film, based on the Off-Broadway rock musical, premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where Mitchell won the audience Award and Director Award. He also later earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance.
Killer projects include Todd Solondz' Storytelling, which world-premiered at the 2001 Cannes International Film Festival, and went on to screen at the New York and Sundance Film Festivals; Mark Romanek's One Hour Photo, starring Robin Williams, which world-premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival; Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone, starring Harvey Keitel and Mira Sorvino, which premiered at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in the fall of 2002; and Rose Troche's The Safety of Objects, starring Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, and Patricia Clarkson, which premiered at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival.
In 1994, Christine Vachon was awarded the Frameline Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lesbian and Gay Media. In 1996, she was honored with the prestigious Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement by New York Women in Film and Television. She received the Independent Feature Project's 1999 Gotham Award for her work as producer.
She was serving on the Producers Council board of governors for the Producers Guild of America.
Her book, Shooting to Kill: How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies that Matter, was published in the fall of 1998 by Avon and was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.
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