Focus Features International and German Production House UFA Cinema form strategic partnership

05.10.09 18:03

 

Focus Features International’s co-CEO Christian Grass (FFI), Universal Pictures International’s President David Kosse (UPI), and German film production and distribution house UFA CINEMA’s CEO Thomas Peter Friedl, today announced a new strategic partnership between the three companies which will see Universal Pictures International become the exclusive theatrical and home entertainment distributor for UFA CINEMA productions in German-speaking territories. And, under a separate agreement, FFI will partner with UFA on key co-productions identified for the global marketplace. FFI will also have an option to handle international sales on selected UFA CINEMA titles. All UFA titles will be distributed theatrically by UPI in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and on home video via Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPIE) under the UFA CINEMA label. A minimum of six to eight films per year is expected to flow through the deal over the next three years.

FFI serves as a one stop shopping organization for international filmmakers looking to develop films for local or commercial distribution. FFI’s German operations will continue to develop German language films for the company based in Berlin under the direction of Andrea Willson and Grass. FFI and UFA CINEMA plan to work together on some of these local productions.Commenting on the new partnership, UFA Cinema’s CEO Thomas Peter Friedl said: “We are really looking forward to this new partnership with Universal Pictures. The German team under Paul Steinschulte and Doris Wolf has already created milestones in terms of the extensive bandwidth of different genres and types of movies they’ve distributed over the years. This gives UFA a great foundation for the distribution of our wide portfolio of German and English language films. Universal Pictures and Focus Features International are ideal partners for us because they have such strength and expertise in the German and international marketplace. Their globally minded business approach, production partnerships and filmmaker relationships worldwide make them unique amongst the U.S. studios. We’re sure they are the right team to build our company with and are really looking forward to working with them in this new venture.” Added FFI Co-CEO Christian Grass: “The importance of German cinema has grown in recent years as German films are enjoying an increasingly large audience share in Germany and abroad. We’re delighted to be in partnership with UFA as it’s exactly the type of deal Focus Features International is looking for. It allows us to make commercial movies with talented local producers and filmmakers which can appeal to a local and global audience, and create a significant and lasting production and distribution presence in this key market.” Said Paul Steinschulte, MD, UPI Germany: “We are thrilled to be starting a new era with this exciting partnership. As the German-speaking market continues to grow, the quality of talent and great variety of projects that UFA Cinema’s line-up offers will enhance and complement Universal’s upcoming release schedule, whose highlights include Public Enemies by Michael Mann, The Wolfman, starring Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, the new Nancy Meyers comedy, Ridley Scott’s Untitled Robin Hood Adventure and the CGI blockbuster Despicable Me by Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment.

”The first films to be released under the new Universal/UFA deal will be:Dschungelkind (Jungle Child) – an adventure movie based on the bestselling novel by Sabine Kuegler, about a child who grew up in the jungle of Western New Guinea. It stars Nadja Uhl and Thomas Kretschmann, and is being directed by Roland Suso Richter.Hanni und Nanni ( The O’Sullivan Twins) – a family movie based on Enid Blyton’s bestselling series of children’s books about identical twins Patricia and Isabel Sullivan (in Germany Hanni and Nanni), whose mischievous ways result in their parents packing them off to a private boarding school where to shorten their stay they embark on a serious of pranks. Tauben auf dem Dach (Pigeons on the Roof) – A screwball comedy by writer/director Otto Alexander Jahrreiss, which tells the story of five different but interrelated inner-city couples whose lives are all shaped by love.Teufelskicker (Devil’s Kickers) – A family adventure movie, written by Christoph Silber (Goodbye Lenin) to be directed by Granz Henman Harte Jungs, Knallharte Jungs, Kein Bund fürs Leben, based on the eponymous book and radio play series by Frauke Nahrgang. One million print and audio books have already been sold across Germany (published by Random House and Sony Music).The FFI/UPI/UFA CINEMA pact announced today represents another strategic alliance between Universal Pictures and top international film companies and filmmakers around the world. Universal has relationships with Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro’s cha cha cha, Russian director/producer Timur Bekmambetov and his Moscow-based company Bazelevs Productions and Bill Kong’s Hong Kong-based Edko Films and Italian production leader, Cattleya.

UFA Cinema, which was founded at the beginning of 2008 to create commercial movies for the German and international marketplace, aims to make between six to ten films a year. It is also currently developing screenplay adaptations of Noah Gordon’s bestselling novel Medicus (The Physician), Robert Harris’ Vaterland (Fatherland), Leonie Swann Glennkill (Three Bags Full) and Bernhard Schlinks latest novel Das Wochenende (The Weekend).

About UFA CINEMA

UFA CINEMA is a new player in the European production and distribution market. Their up-coming production portfolio covers a wide range of projects, from elaborate screen adaptations of novels and bestsellers to comedies for various target audiences, from family entertainment to high-brow political cinema. In addition, UFA CINEMA will also devote particular attention to collaborating with young, talented filmmakers and writers.With Wolf Bauer, Thomas Peter Friedl, Prof. Nico Hofmann and Dr. Jürgen Schuster as managing directors, a successful and experienced team runs UFA CINEMA. Out of more than 80 movies in active development, the company has picked more than 20 projects to be produced in the next three years. UFA CINEMA is part of UFA, one of Germany’s longest-standing film and TV companies and the country’s largest producer of audiovisual content. With the reactivation of the legendary theatrical brand UFA, one of the most successful and best established labels within the film production market worldwide, Bertelsmann, RTL Group and FremantleMedia are invested in creating high quality cinema for the digital age. With offices in Berlin, Munich, Potsdam and Cologne UFA CINEMA is represented in all the major media markets in Germany.UFA Cinema is part of FremantleMedia, RTL Group’s content production arm and one of the largest international producers outside the US. Each year, it produces more than 10,000 hours of programming. RTL Group is the leading European entertainment network, with interests in 42 television channels and 32 radio stations in ten countries and content production throughout the world. RTL Group is a division of the international media group Bertelsmann AG encompassing television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), media services (Arvato), and media clubs (Direct Group) in more than 50 countries.