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Susan Senk, who spent decades in film publicity and marketing across domestic and international divisions, died on April 5 in New York City. She was 75.

Senk worked on more than 400 film campaigns throughout her career. She started in the music industry before transitioning to film, joining Vestron Video during its early years. She later moved to London, where she became Vice President of Creative Services for Vestron International. Her responsibilities included overseeing the company’s international marketing as it expanded its presence in global markets.

Returning to the United States, she served as Vice President of Publicity and Promotion at Vestron Pictures. There, she led publicity efforts for theatrical releases, including Dirty Dancing in 1987. The film brought in $213 million worldwide and became the highest-grossing independent film at the time of its release.

Senk moved on to Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International, part of Sony Pictures, where she worked as Vice President of International Publicity and Promotion.

Susan Senk, a publicist and marketing executive who worked on more than 400 films during her decades-long career, died April 5th in New York City. She was 75.

A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a former member of the Recording Academy, Senk began her career in the music industry before transitioning into film, where among other things she was part of the original Vestron Video startup team. She went on to serve as Vice President of Creative Services for Vestron International, based out of London, and ultimately became VP of Publicity and Promotion for Vestron Pictures.

She shepherded the release and awards campaigns for all of the company’s theatrically released films, most notably for the surprise sleeper hit “Dirty Dancing” in 1987. A massive hit both in theaters and for its soundtrack, it earned $213 million worldwide, the most of any independent film ever at that time.

Susan Senk, a veteran entertainment publicist and marketing executive who worked on more than 400 film campaigns, died April 5 in Manhattan.

She was a 17½-year heart-transplant survivor.

Senk started out in the music industry before moving into film publicity, where she became a respected figure in both domestic and international markets.

Part of the original startup team at Vestron Video, she later relocated to London as VP of Creative Services for Vestron International, where she oversaw the company’s expansion into overseas markets and directing international marketing for its video releases.

Senk returned to the U.S. where she served as VP of Publicity and Promotion at Vestron Pictures, developing release and awards campaigns for the company’s theatrical titles, including 1987’s “Dirty Dancing,” the highest-grossing independent film of its time with $213 million worldwide.

She went on to serve as VP of International Publicity and Promotion for Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (Sony) in Los Angeles,...

A wannabe hip-hop star is kidnapped into slavery in a film that beats a well-trodden path around LA’s scuzzy underbelly

Apart from Google Street View employees’ driveways, the LA “underbelly” must be the most filmed place on the planet, from Kiss Me Deadly to Training Day. That capital of spiritual degradation is where this scratchy low-budget drama is bound, as Angeleno wannabe Mandy (Wittie Hughes) meets-cute with a white-boy rapper on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and gets wrecked with him at a pool party.

Mandy’s hopes of stardom take a nosedive when she wakes up on a plastic-sheathed mattress in an anonymous low-rise, apparently delivered into human slavery. She has become the “property” of Shadow, a tooth-grilled pimp who appears to have taken James Franco’s “Look at all my shit” soliloquy in Spring Breakers as sound career advice. His sidekick is a mute never seen without a gold Anonymous mask.