Vicky Eguia, Public Relations Executive at Amazon Studios, Dies at 48

Vicky Eguia, a public relations executive at Amazon who helped create Oscar-winning campaigns for “Manchester By the Sea” and “The Salesman,” died Saturday at the age of 48. The cause was cancer, her family said on social media.

Eguia most recently served as director of PR, diversity, equity and inclusion and community relations at Amazon. She joined the company in 2015 to head publicity for its original movies arm and played a critical role in helping the streaming service forge into the world of awards seasons and theatrical distribution as it was looking to compete more aggressively in the film business.

In a note to staff, Amazon Studios head Jen Salke and public relations chief Cory Shields wrote, “As many of you know so well, Vicky was a consummate team player – always ready to pitch in with complete commitment and dedication. We will all miss her charm and sense of humor.”

In 2017, Amazon became the first streaming service to earn an Oscar nomination for best picture with “Manchester by the Sea.” After Amazon bought the film at the Sundance Film Festival, Eguia helped design the publicity strategy for the movie, a searing drama that became both a critical and commercial hit. At Amazon, Eguia showed a flare for getting attention for foreign language films and arthouse releases, such as “The Salesman,” “Cold War” and “Les Misérables,” all of which scored Oscar nominations. She also worked on the campaigns for such Amazon releases as “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Brittany Runs a Marathon,” “The Big Sick,” “One Night in Miami” and “Coming 2 America.”

Whip-smart, wickedly funny and tireless, Eguia was widely respected by the Hollywood trade reporters who blew up her phone at all hours of the day and night in the hunt for information about festival acquisitions or casting. She also had a deep love for movies and the artists who make them, forging many close friendships with the filmmakers whose projects she helped introduce to the world.

In her decades-long career in publicity, Eguia worked at Millennium Entertainment, Apparition, Picturehouse, and Newmarket Films. She played a key part in the publicity efforts for such films as “Bernie,” “Bright Star,” “A Prairie Home Companion,” “The Passion of the Christ” and “Monster.” At Picturehouse, she also helped design awards campaigns for “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “La Vie en Rose.”

Eguia began her career in 2000 as an account executive at Rogers & Cowen in the film department.

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