There are several producers and distributors who are true Movie Catholics — who really believe in movies as a delivery device for excitement, opening minds, spreading wisdom, spiritual transportation, etc. Two of the best, surely, are producers Scott Rudin (Inside Llewyn Davis, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Captain Phillips, Frances Ha, Margaret, Moneyball, The Social Network) and Annapurna’s Megan Ellison (Her, American Hustle, Foxcatcher, Zero Dark Thirty, Killing Them Softly, Spring Breakers, The Master). These two have to be regarded as Kings of the Hill.

Down half a notch are Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner (Rush, Les Miserables, Anna Karenina, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, A Serious Man, United 93).

Production and distribution-wise, of course, there’s the Weinstein Company (August: Osage County, Killing Them Softly, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, 20 Feet from Stardom, Fruitvale Station, The Butler) and Fox Searchlight (Birdman, 12 years A Slave, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Sessions, The East, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Dom Hemingway), Sony Classics, IFC Films, Magnolia and so on.

But who else should be taking credit for injecting the marketplace with quality-level fare and generally making moviegoing more than just something to endure…makers of more than, you know, Jerry Bruckheimer-level, splash-around flicks that you can tolerate if the popcorn tastes good? Who else should be at the top of the list? Occasional good-guy distributors include Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney (but not really with Saving Mr. Banks and Lincoln), Universal. Other right-minded producers would be Relativity, Millennium, Imagine, Skydance, New Regency, Legendary Pictures. But this is generic. Who else should be mentioned? Who are the newbies? We need a couple more Megan Ellisons on the block — who might they be down the road?