F&ME pushes 7 films into completion
by Annika Pham
Five-year old production company Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) is proudly launching The Border Post by Croatian filmmaker Rajko Grlic this Friday in San Sebastian’s official competition, while pushing seven other European films with a total budget of $32m into completion before the end of the year.
This is very tight but important deadline for the production company if it wants to dip into the old Section 42 and 48 film tax relief initiatives prior to the implementation of the new ones in January 2007.
Among the seven European co-productions are two completed films: Finnish filme Mystery of the Wolf by Raimo O Niemi, co-produced with Kinoproduction Oy (Finland) and Filmlance International (Sweden); and the Spanish supernatural drama Anastezi by Miguel Alcantud, co-produced by Sintra (Italy) and Mate Production (Spain).
Three films are now in post-production: period drama Bathory by Juraj Jakubisko, produced by Jakubisko Films (Czech Republic and Slovakia) and Eurofilm (Hungary); Finnish animated film Quest For a Heart by Pekka Lehtosaari, co-produced by Matila Röhr Productions (Finland) with Greenlight Media (Germany) and Producers Center Kontakt (Russia); and the Icelandic drama Astropia by Gunnar Guðmundsson, co-produced by IFC (Iceland) and Solar Films(Finland).
Two other films are in production: Mirror Gaze by Spanish director Guillermo Groizard, co-produced by Rioja Audiovisual (Spain), and Dark Side of Earth by Damjan Kozole, co-produced by Emotionfilm (Slovenia) and Pro.ba-SCCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
However, in 2007, the second most prolific UK production company (after Working Title) will move away from Europe and look towards the US, South Africa and Australia, according to Co-Managing Director Mike Downey (see interview).
Three major productions scheduled for 2007 will indeed require US shoots and cast: the $15m drama Fake! by Michael Kalesniko, co-produced in the UK by Lunar Films; the $2m drama White Lightnin’ by advertising maverick Dominic Murphy, co-produced by Canada’s Vice Films; and the docudrama The Turtle Song by Nick Stringer, co-produced in the UK by Big Wave and sold by Beyond Films.
Other major plans for 2007 include the setting up of F&ME’s own distribution arm in the UK.
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