Stephane Celerier, a veteran French film executive whose former banner Mars Films co-produced “La Famille Belier,” is joining forces with Pgs Entertainment to create a new production company.
Celerier is launching Gemma Pictures with Philippe and Guillaume Souter, the founders of Pgs Entertainment, a thriving family-owned business specialized in financing and licensing worldwide youth entertainment.
The new Paris-based company will look to produce French and English-language films, TV series and TV movies and is already developing a slate of 10 projects with well-known French and international talent. A resourceful and deep-pocketed company, Pgs Entertainment will fully finance the development of Gemma Pictures’ roster over the next three years and will handle the back office, while giving Celerier the full reins of the company.
One of France’s most respected and passionate industry figures, Celerier acquired and distributed locally a flurry of critically-acclaimed U.K. and U.S. movies, including “Billy Elliot,...
Celerier is launching Gemma Pictures with Philippe and Guillaume Souter, the founders of Pgs Entertainment, a thriving family-owned business specialized in financing and licensing worldwide youth entertainment.
The new Paris-based company will look to produce French and English-language films, TV series and TV movies and is already developing a slate of 10 projects with well-known French and international talent. A resourceful and deep-pocketed company, Pgs Entertainment will fully finance the development of Gemma Pictures’ roster over the next three years and will handle the back office, while giving Celerier the full reins of the company.
One of France’s most respected and passionate industry figures, Celerier acquired and distributed locally a flurry of critically-acclaimed U.K. and U.S. movies, including “Billy Elliot,...
- 2/15/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Nadezda Motina’s new outfit grows slate with an upcoming war drama starring Omar Sy.
Nadezda Motina’s Moscow-based distributor Arna Media has made a raft of appointments ahead of the EFM, and acquired an upcoming war drama starring Omar Sy and pagan horror from director William Brent Bell.
The firm, which was launched by Russian media executive Motina in October, has named Olga Tarasova as head of theatrical distribution and Irina Antonova as head of marketing.
Tarasova was formerly head of sales at Volga Films and worked on the release of titles including The Gentlemen, Wrath Of Man and The Queen’s Corgi among others.
Nadezda Motina’s Moscow-based distributor Arna Media has made a raft of appointments ahead of the EFM, and acquired an upcoming war drama starring Omar Sy and pagan horror from director William Brent Bell.
The firm, which was launched by Russian media executive Motina in October, has named Olga Tarasova as head of theatrical distribution and Irina Antonova as head of marketing.
Tarasova was formerly head of sales at Volga Films and worked on the release of titles including The Gentlemen, Wrath Of Man and The Queen’s Corgi among others.
- 2/7/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Greece’s Argonauts Productions has boarded “Forough: A Lonely Woman,” a biopic about iconoclastic Persian poet Forough Farrokhzad by BAFTA-nominated director Tina Gharavi (“I Am Nasrine”), ahead of its presentation in the co-production forum of Rome’s Mia market.
The film follows the short and controversial life of Farrokhzad, a feminist icon who in the 1950s and ‘60s found a way to tell her story in an Iranian society not yet ready for the uncomfortable truths of female desire and ambition.
Gharavi described the modernist poet as “our Sylvia Plath” and drew a comparison to another feminist artist and icon, calling Farrokhzad “as important [to Iranian culture] as Frida Kahlo is to Mexico.”
“Like her, she was a revolutionary,” she said. “Culturally, Forough was this luminary, an independent woman, very advanced for her times, an exquisite poet.” Farrokhzad challenged the traditional norms and structures of Persian poetry while also living an openly promiscuous life,...
The film follows the short and controversial life of Farrokhzad, a feminist icon who in the 1950s and ‘60s found a way to tell her story in an Iranian society not yet ready for the uncomfortable truths of female desire and ambition.
Gharavi described the modernist poet as “our Sylvia Plath” and drew a comparison to another feminist artist and icon, calling Farrokhzad “as important [to Iranian culture] as Frida Kahlo is to Mexico.”
“Like her, she was a revolutionary,” she said. “Culturally, Forough was this luminary, an independent woman, very advanced for her times, an exquisite poet.” Farrokhzad challenged the traditional norms and structures of Persian poetry while also living an openly promiscuous life,...
- 10/12/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Orange Studio, the Paris-based film and TV arm of France’s leading telco operator Orange, has poached Charlotte Boucon, Snd’s longtime international sales topper.
Boucon will be head of world sales for Orange Studio starting on Sept. 1 and will report to Kristina Zimmermann, managing director of the French studio.
Under the newly-created role, Boucon will spearhead all of the commercial activities of Orange Studio’s film branch, notably international sales, video, VOD and TV. The department’s staff includes Emilie Serres, the deputy head of sales at Orange Studio. Boucon will also work with David Marquet, a veteran sales executive who ran the department for a number of years.
Boucon joined Snd, the commercial division of the French TV network M6, in 2008 after graduating from the Edhec Business School and headed the group’s international distribution since 2015. While at Snd, Boucon sold a number of hit movies around the world,...
Boucon will be head of world sales for Orange Studio starting on Sept. 1 and will report to Kristina Zimmermann, managing director of the French studio.
Under the newly-created role, Boucon will spearhead all of the commercial activities of Orange Studio’s film branch, notably international sales, video, VOD and TV. The department’s staff includes Emilie Serres, the deputy head of sales at Orange Studio. Boucon will also work with David Marquet, a veteran sales executive who ran the department for a number of years.
Boucon joined Snd, the commercial division of the French TV network M6, in 2008 after graduating from the Edhec Business School and headed the group’s international distribution since 2015. While at Snd, Boucon sold a number of hit movies around the world,...
- 8/24/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Mars Films, the Paris-based distribution company that released Oscar winners “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight,” has finalized its restructuring plan with minority shareholder Vivendi Content, a branch of Universal Music Group and Canal Plus Group’s parent company.
Founded by Stephane Celerier and Valerie Garcia in 2007, the once thriving company has been in the process of financial restructuring and monitoring since Aug. 2019.
Vivendi, which had acquired a 30% stake in the company back in 2015, will convert its €11.2 million ($13 million) debt into equity and is acquiring Mars Films’ library of more than 200 titles for all rights in France.
The Mars catalogue includes hit French co-productions such as “La Famille Belier,” the hit French heart-warming comedy that was remade into “Coda,” “Two is a Family” with Omar Sy, Fred Cavayé’s “Le jeu”; and award-winning indies such as Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” Asif Kapadia’s “Amy,...
Founded by Stephane Celerier and Valerie Garcia in 2007, the once thriving company has been in the process of financial restructuring and monitoring since Aug. 2019.
Vivendi, which had acquired a 30% stake in the company back in 2015, will convert its €11.2 million ($13 million) debt into equity and is acquiring Mars Films’ library of more than 200 titles for all rights in France.
The Mars catalogue includes hit French co-productions such as “La Famille Belier,” the hit French heart-warming comedy that was remade into “Coda,” “Two is a Family” with Omar Sy, Fred Cavayé’s “Le jeu”; and award-winning indies such as Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” Asif Kapadia’s “Amy,...
- 8/20/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based Le Pacte has closed a raft of sales on Olivier Peyon’s “Tokyo Shaking” and Nadine Loiseau’s “Three Times Nothing,” both of which are screening at the Berlin Festival’s virtual European Film Market.
A hot title on Le Pacte’s slate, “Tokyo Shaking” sold to Germany and Austria (Zdf), Israel (New Cinema), Canada (Axia Films), Spain (Alfa Pictures) and the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Mediasquad).
“Tokyo Shaking” is set on March 11, 2011, when Japan was hit by the biggest tsunami it had ever experienced, leading to the Fukushima disaster. While risks are being officially downplayed, the foreign community in Tokyo is terrified by this tragic event and no one is capable of assessing its scope.
The film stars Karin Viard (pictured) as Alexandra, a French executive newly arrived from Hong-Kong to work in a bank, who has to face this nuclear crisis amid pervading terror and chaos.
“Tokyo...
A hot title on Le Pacte’s slate, “Tokyo Shaking” sold to Germany and Austria (Zdf), Israel (New Cinema), Canada (Axia Films), Spain (Alfa Pictures) and the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Mediasquad).
“Tokyo Shaking” is set on March 11, 2011, when Japan was hit by the biggest tsunami it had ever experienced, leading to the Fukushima disaster. While risks are being officially downplayed, the foreign community in Tokyo is terrified by this tragic event and no one is capable of assessing its scope.
The film stars Karin Viard (pictured) as Alexandra, a French executive newly arrived from Hong-Kong to work in a bank, who has to face this nuclear crisis amid pervading terror and chaos.
“Tokyo...
- 3/2/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: When Netflix chief Reed Hastings recorded an audio essay for the BBC last month, one comment stood out within his message of solidarity for an industry besieged by virus disruption: “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen our members watching more content from other countries or cultures.”
The streamers and their global reach have evidenced over recent years that audiences will consume film and TV from outside their immediate experiences, and that the language barrier is no longer as pronounced as once thought. Hastings name-checked Spanish show Money Heist, Italian drama Summertime, and the German-American show Unorthodox as three series that have broken across national boundaries to be watched by a varied viewership.
And it’s not just series. The success of Korean arthouse drama Parasite, which racked up box offices records in markets around the world, grossing $250M+ before storming the Oscars earlier this year, reaffirmed that the bridge...
The streamers and their global reach have evidenced over recent years that audiences will consume film and TV from outside their immediate experiences, and that the language barrier is no longer as pronounced as once thought. Hastings name-checked Spanish show Money Heist, Italian drama Summertime, and the German-American show Unorthodox as three series that have broken across national boundaries to be watched by a varied viewership.
And it’s not just series. The success of Korean arthouse drama Parasite, which racked up box offices records in markets around the world, grossing $250M+ before storming the Oscars earlier this year, reaffirmed that the bridge...
- 7/22/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Mars Films, a leading French distribution company that released American indie films such as Oscar winners “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight” in France, has been put under financial restructuring and monitoring for six months by a business court in Paris.
The company, which has 23 employees, went into receivership Aug. 1 after it stopped paying creditors. Mars Films has an annual revenue of €36.8 million and a debt of €78.6 million, including more than €20 millions in current liabilities, according to court documents filed earlier this month. Headed by Stephane Celerier and Valerie Garcia, Mars Films was rescued from financial struggles once before, in 2015, by Vivendi, which took a 30% stake in the company.
In spite of its large debts, Mars boasts a strong library of more than 200 films among its assets, which together are worth a total of €107.3 million, according to the court documents. While it’s under financial restructuring, the company will proceed...
The company, which has 23 employees, went into receivership Aug. 1 after it stopped paying creditors. Mars Films has an annual revenue of €36.8 million and a debt of €78.6 million, including more than €20 millions in current liabilities, according to court documents filed earlier this month. Headed by Stephane Celerier and Valerie Garcia, Mars Films was rescued from financial struggles once before, in 2015, by Vivendi, which took a 30% stake in the company.
In spite of its large debts, Mars boasts a strong library of more than 200 films among its assets, which together are worth a total of €107.3 million, according to the court documents. While it’s under financial restructuring, the company will proceed...
- 8/26/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Studiocanal has sold near all of the world outside the U.S. on Hugo Gélin’s “Love at Second Sight.” The European production-distribution-sales giant, part of Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group, has also kicked off promising sales on a panoply of new foreign-language titles, such as Yvan Attal’s “My Dog Stupid,” Cedric Klapisch’s “Someone Somewhere” and animated feature “Samsam.”
“Our mission at Studiocanal is to ensure we make high-quality European cinema with strong global potential,” said Anna Marsh, Studiocanal Evp, international distribution.
Described by Marsh as a “key title, a high concept movie which really appeals.” “Love at Second Sight” stars François Civil as a young best-selling novelist who forgets the love of his life in one world to wake up in another where she’s a world-famous pianist who’s never met him.
Combining large ambition, a questioning take on gender equality in relationships, and a director whose 2017 debut,...
“Our mission at Studiocanal is to ensure we make high-quality European cinema with strong global potential,” said Anna Marsh, Studiocanal Evp, international distribution.
Described by Marsh as a “key title, a high concept movie which really appeals.” “Love at Second Sight” stars François Civil as a young best-selling novelist who forgets the love of his life in one world to wake up in another where she’s a world-famous pianist who’s never met him.
Combining large ambition, a questioning take on gender equality in relationships, and a director whose 2017 debut,...
- 2/14/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Jean Paul Gautier model Alex Wetter set to star.
Other Angle Pictures is launching sales on French-Portuguese actor Ruben Alves’s upcoming comedy Miss, starring androgynous model Alex Wetter as a young man who sets his heart on winning the Miss France contest.
It is Alves’ second feature after 2013’s well-travelled The Gilded Cage about a Portuguese caretaker couple working in a Paris apartment block, which drew 1.2m spectators in France and sold well internationally.
Wetter is a well-known model on the Paris fashion scene who has walked the catwalk for the womenswear collections of Jean-Paul Gautier and others. He...
Other Angle Pictures is launching sales on French-Portuguese actor Ruben Alves’s upcoming comedy Miss, starring androgynous model Alex Wetter as a young man who sets his heart on winning the Miss France contest.
It is Alves’ second feature after 2013’s well-travelled The Gilded Cage about a Portuguese caretaker couple working in a Paris apartment block, which drew 1.2m spectators in France and sold well internationally.
Wetter is a well-known model on the Paris fashion scene who has walked the catwalk for the womenswear collections of Jean-Paul Gautier and others. He...
- 2/8/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Kicking off on Jan. 17 with the world premiere of Philippe de Chauveron’s “Serial Bad Weddings 2,” the 21st edition of the UniFrance Rendez-Vous in Paris will showcase a flurry of French comedies, biopics and a raft of documentaries.
The Rendez-Vous in Paris, organized by the promotion org UniFrance, will take place over five days and will bring together 481 buyers from 56 countries, as well as 45 French sales companies.
Besides “Serial Bad Weddings 2,” the sequel of the smash hit film which grossed over $148 million, the anticipated comedy highlights set to have their market premieres at the Rendez-Vous include Hugo Gelin’s “Love at Second Sight,” Philippe Lacheau’s “City Hunter,” Eric Lavaine’s “No Filter,” Lisa Azuelos’s “Sweetheart,” Louis-Julien Petit’s “Invisibles” and Bertrand Blier’s “Heavy Duty.”
Sold by Studiocanal, “Love at Second Sight” is a romantic comedy which marks Gelin’s follow-up to the Omar Sy starrer “Two is a Family.
The Rendez-Vous in Paris, organized by the promotion org UniFrance, will take place over five days and will bring together 481 buyers from 56 countries, as well as 45 French sales companies.
Besides “Serial Bad Weddings 2,” the sequel of the smash hit film which grossed over $148 million, the anticipated comedy highlights set to have their market premieres at the Rendez-Vous include Hugo Gelin’s “Love at Second Sight,” Philippe Lacheau’s “City Hunter,” Eric Lavaine’s “No Filter,” Lisa Azuelos’s “Sweetheart,” Louis-Julien Petit’s “Invisibles” and Bertrand Blier’s “Heavy Duty.”
Sold by Studiocanal, “Love at Second Sight” is a romantic comedy which marks Gelin’s follow-up to the Omar Sy starrer “Two is a Family.
- 1/10/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Lack of EuropaCorp hit sees number dip below 100m.
The international box office for French films recovered some of its élan in 2017 after a difficult 2016, although the absence of a big hit from Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp meant admissions remained well below the 100m of recent years.
According to preliminary annual figures released by export body UniFrance on Friday evening (January 19) as part of its Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris programme, French films drew 80.5m spectators internationally in 2017 for a total box office of €468m ($572m).
The international box office also generated more admissions for French cinema than France, where local pictures sold 78.2m tickets in 2017. Unifrance said the 2017 international box office figure represented a 98% rise on 2016 figures, when French films drew 34m spectators worldwide.
Breaking the box office figure down, majority French productions accounted for 60.7m, or 76%, of these admissions. French-language productions generated 38m entries, accounting for 47% of the international box office.
UniFrance noted that French-language...
The international box office for French films recovered some of its élan in 2017 after a difficult 2016, although the absence of a big hit from Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp meant admissions remained well below the 100m of recent years.
According to preliminary annual figures released by export body UniFrance on Friday evening (January 19) as part of its Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris programme, French films drew 80.5m spectators internationally in 2017 for a total box office of €468m ($572m).
The international box office also generated more admissions for French cinema than France, where local pictures sold 78.2m tickets in 2017. Unifrance said the 2017 international box office figure represented a 98% rise on 2016 figures, when French films drew 34m spectators worldwide.
Breaking the box office figure down, majority French productions accounted for 60.7m, or 76%, of these admissions. French-language productions generated 38m entries, accounting for 47% of the international box office.
UniFrance noted that French-language...
- 1/20/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
EuropaCorp tops list despite ‘Valerian’ woes.
Source: EuropaCorp
‘Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets’
EuropaCorp was France’s top film exporter in 2017 in terms of the international box office achieved by French majority and minority French productions on its slate, the country’s cinema export agency UniFrance has revealed.
According to a report by the body looking at preliminary figures for the 2017 international box office, titles on the EuropaCorp sales slate - led by Luc Besson’s sci-fi tale Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets - achieved some 31.4m admissions worldwide in 2017.
EuropaCorp also topped the international box office chart for majority French productions as well as for the best performing producers.
In the backdrop, however, the Unifrance figures come amid a difficult time for the company as it retrenches due to the overall poor performance of the big budget Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets in relation to its past English-language...
Source: EuropaCorp
‘Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets’
EuropaCorp was France’s top film exporter in 2017 in terms of the international box office achieved by French majority and minority French productions on its slate, the country’s cinema export agency UniFrance has revealed.
According to a report by the body looking at preliminary figures for the 2017 international box office, titles on the EuropaCorp sales slate - led by Luc Besson’s sci-fi tale Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets - achieved some 31.4m admissions worldwide in 2017.
EuropaCorp also topped the international box office chart for majority French productions as well as for the best performing producers.
In the backdrop, however, the Unifrance figures come amid a difficult time for the company as it retrenches due to the overall poor performance of the big budget Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets in relation to its past English-language...
- 1/8/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Lionsgate’s local-language venture that launched in May last year has added Paris Filmes and Cine Colombia to 11-strong consortium of production and distribution partners.
The network already includes Televisa, Gaumont, Nordisk, Kadokawa, Lotte, Tobis, Tme and Belga. Globalgate launched on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival 2016 and is led by co-founders Paul Presburger, the Pantelion Films CEO, Lionsgate senior advisor William Pfeiffer and former president of Worldview Entertainment motion pictures group Clifford Werber.
Paris Filmes is the number-one Brazilian distributor of local-language films with an 81% market share and is a leading Brazilian distributor of English-language films including those of Lionsgate.
Recent releases include Os Dez Mandamentos, Loucas Pra Casar, Minha Mae E Uma Peca and Meu Passado Me Condena 1 & 2.
Cine Colombia is the top distributor in Colombia on 46% market share and distributes studio, independent and local-language films.
It is joined in the Globalgate venture by Dynamo Productions, the country’s leading producer behind Netflix show Narcos...
The network already includes Televisa, Gaumont, Nordisk, Kadokawa, Lotte, Tobis, Tme and Belga. Globalgate launched on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival 2016 and is led by co-founders Paul Presburger, the Pantelion Films CEO, Lionsgate senior advisor William Pfeiffer and former president of Worldview Entertainment motion pictures group Clifford Werber.
Paris Filmes is the number-one Brazilian distributor of local-language films with an 81% market share and is a leading Brazilian distributor of English-language films including those of Lionsgate.
Recent releases include Os Dez Mandamentos, Loucas Pra Casar, Minha Mae E Uma Peca and Meu Passado Me Condena 1 & 2.
Cine Colombia is the top distributor in Colombia on 46% market share and distributes studio, independent and local-language films.
It is joined in the Globalgate venture by Dynamo Productions, the country’s leading producer behind Netflix show Narcos...
- 2/2/2017
- ScreenDaily
Lionsgate’s local-language venture that launched in May last year has added Paris Filmes and Cine Colombia to 11-strong consortium of production and distribution partners.
The network already includes Televisa, Gaumont, Nordisk, Kadokawa, Lotte, Tobis, Tme and Belga. Globalgate launched on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival 2016 and is led by co-founders Paul Presburger, the Pantelion Films CEO, Lionsgate senior advisor William Pfeiffer and former president of Worldview Entertainment motion pictures group Clifford Werber.
Paris Filmes is the number-one Brazilian distributor of local-language films with an 81% market share and is a leading Brazilian distributor of English-language films including those of Lionsgate.
Recent releases include Os Dez Mandamentos, Loucas Pra Casar, Minha Mae E Uma Peca and Meu Passado Me Condena 1 & 2.
Cine Colombia is the top distributor in Colombia on 46% market share and distributes studio, independent and local-language films.
It is joined in the Globalgate venture by Dynamo Productions, the country’s leading producer behind Netflix show Narcos...
The network already includes Televisa, Gaumont, Nordisk, Kadokawa, Lotte, Tobis, Tme and Belga. Globalgate launched on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival 2016 and is led by co-founders Paul Presburger, the Pantelion Films CEO, Lionsgate senior advisor William Pfeiffer and former president of Worldview Entertainment motion pictures group Clifford Werber.
Paris Filmes is the number-one Brazilian distributor of local-language films with an 81% market share and is a leading Brazilian distributor of English-language films including those of Lionsgate.
Recent releases include Os Dez Mandamentos, Loucas Pra Casar, Minha Mae E Uma Peca and Meu Passado Me Condena 1 & 2.
Cine Colombia is the top distributor in Colombia on 46% market share and distributes studio, independent and local-language films.
It is joined in the Globalgate venture by Dynamo Productions, the country’s leading producer behind Netflix show Narcos...
- 2/2/2017
- ScreenDaily
The plot description of the new, French feel-good-ish dramedy Two Is Family (Demain tout commence)? A womanizer gets stuck with a baby daughter he didn’t know he had, goes abroad, where he improbably becomes a stuntman and the best father ever, and then gets into a custody battle when his kid’s mother turns up again eight years later. Sound familiar? That’s because this is a direct remake of the 2013 Spanish-language dramedy Instructions Not Included, which was a huge box-office success both at home in Mexico and the U.S., with the film making about $45 million on each side of the...
- 12/10/2016
- by Boyd van Hoeij
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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