Moving to Los Angeles, Pfeiffer formed Alive Films with Shep Gordon. They produced "Roadie" starring Meat Loaf and "Return Engagement", a feature documentary on the Timothy Leary/G. Gordon Liddy debates (both directed by Alan Rudolph) before joining Chris Blackwell to form Island Alive, a groundbreaking independent production/distribution company. Films produced and/or released during Pfeiffer's presidency include "Choose Me", "El Norte", "Koyaanisqatsi", "Stop Making Sense", "Insignificance", "The Hit", "A Private Function" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman", for which William Hurt won the Best Actor Award at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and as well as being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.