VarietyLA DVFLA052312 : Page 2

2 V ARIETY .COM/CANNES WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 ALLIANCE BUY BINGE Distrib nabs 13 new titles By Diana Lodderhose Despite rumors of a takeover from Canadian rival Entertainment One, Alliance Films has reported a robust Cannes and flexed its acqui-sition muscle at the market, snap-ping up around 13 titles for its three territories. Distrib recently nabbed U.K. rights to Scandinavian sci-fi thriller “Frost,” from TrustNordisk. Pic, helmed by Icelandic di-rector Reynir Lyngdal, is about a young couple who arrive at a gla-cier drilling camp only to find it mysteriously abandoned. Ingvar Thordarson and Julius Kemp produce. Alliance Films’ U.K. distribu-tion arm Momentum Pictures has a history of picking up Nordic titles at markets: distrib released the orig-“Frost” inal Swedish-language “The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo” and recently enjoyed Blighty box office success with “Headhunters,” which grossed $2.2 million in the territory. Additionally, Alliance snapped up Spanish rights to Hude Park Intl.’s untitled Elmore Leonard project starring Jennifer Aniston, Dennis Quaid, John Hawkes and Ty Burrell, and helmed by Daniel Schechter. These titles are added to its previously announced pickups of “American Bullshit” and Kathryn Bigelow’s Navy SEALs pic for Canada, both sold through Megan Ellison’s new sales outfit Panorama, and Lee Daniel’s “The Butler” for Spain, shopped by IM Global. It also nabbed Sofia Coppola’s “Bling Ring” for Canada and Tay-lor Lautner starrer “Tracers” for U.K. and Spain, both shopped by FilmNation Entertainment. Alliance picked up Owen Wil-son starrer “The Coup” from Nick Meyer’s Sierra/Affinity for U.K. and Spain, and is in negotiations for a multi-territory buy . Tenembaum taps ‘Water’ omnibus By John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy Edgard Tenembaum, Paris-based producer of Walter Salles’ “The Motorcycle Diaries,” has boarded “Water — Between Imagi-nation and Reality,” an omnibus feature of nine shorts made by Israel-based Palestinian and Jewish filmmakers plus Palestinian helmers from the West Bank’s Ramallah and Bethlehem. Now in post, pic mixes fiction and documentary shorts. “Water” is an initiative of the Film and TV Dept. of Tel Aviv U, headed by Reuven Hecker. Project initiator and artistic director is Yael Perlov, a Tel Aviv U lecturer. Many “Water” directors are current or former TAU students. “Water” is the second in a projected trilogy of pics from young Palestinian-Israeli filmmakers and theps. Tenembaum is producing “Water,” now in post, via his Paris shingle Tu Vas Voir. He has also taken worldwide rights to both “Water” and “Coffee,” the trilogy’s first movie. Maya de Vries and Kobi Mizrahi also produce “Water.” A French theatrical distribution deal for the trilogy is now under negotiation, Tenembaum said at Cannes. Pic’s backers include the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Office in Tel Aviv, Israel’s French Institute and the Rabinovich Institution. “In ‘Water,’ the Palestinian filmmakers make documentaries, the Israelis fiction. But they all deal with the same problem: How to live together,” Tenembaum said. The motif linking pics in the third portmanteau feature is cur-rently being chosen by the young filmmakers, the university and Tu Vas Voir, he added. More coin to Brazil pix By John Hopewell Its economic growth may be slowing but in film terms Brazil, the subject of a Cannes Tribute, is still bulking up. In the latest move, RioFilme, Rio de Janeiro’s municipal film investor, has hiked 2012 funding to 50 million reals ($25 million), a historical high. The increase comes as govern-ment investments — tax incentives plus Audiovisual Fund subsidies — stand at $200 million in 2012, said Manoel Rangel, prexy of the Ancine film board, Brazil’s na-tional film body. RioFilme backed many of the most significant titles now being made in Brazil. Its first 3D venture is $20 million Amazon jungle adven-ture “Amazonia,” helmed by Thierry Ragobert and produced by France’s Biloba and Brazil’s Gullane Filmes. RioFilme will co-produce and finance “Amazo-nia’s” P&A spend on its Brazilian release, handled by Imovision. Another RioFilme coin re-cipient is “E ai … comeu,” (lit-erally, “Have You … Scored”), a spiced-up romantic comedy being released June 22 by Downtown Filmes, RioFilme and Paris Filmes on 400 to 500 screens, per Rio-Filme’s Sergio Sa Leitao. “Therese D,” helmed by the late Claude Miller, has sold widely. Fox Intl. steps on ‘Floor’ By John Hopewell Fox Intl. has acquired rights to North America, Latin America and Spain on “The 7th Floor,” starring Ricardo Darin. Patxi Amezcua’s followup to edgy crime thriller “25 Carat,” “7th Floor” was written by Amezcua and Alejo Flah. A November shoot is scheduled . Pic teams Telecinco Cinema (“The Impossible,” “Pan’s Laby-rinth”), El Toro Producciones (“Tad, the Lost Explorer”) and Ikiru Films (“Lope,” “Ghost Grad-uation”) out of Spain and K&S (“The Last Elvis,” “Buenos Aires 1977”) and Cepa Audiovisual in Argentina.” Deal for “7th Floor” was nego-tiated by Film Factory’s Vicente Canales and Matias Mosteirin from K&S Films, both repping the producers, and Fox exec VP of ac-quisitions Tony Safford. “We have a very close collabo-ration record with the producers involved, and the strength of the script along with the potential of the talent involved make a fan-tastic opportunity for us,” said Griselda Fortunato, general man-ager of Fox Theatrical, Argentina. TF1 peddles pic pair By Elsa Keslassy Gaul’s TF1 Intl. has been having a dynamic Cannes market under the new leadership of Sabine Chemaly, inking high-profile sales deals on a pair of titles screening in Cannes’ Official Selec-tion: Brandon Cronenberg’s feature debut “Antiviral,” and late French helmer Claude Miller’s “Therese D.” Cronenberg’s Un Certain Regard-preeming “Antiviral” has sold to Momentum (U.K.) and CCC (Japan). A U.S. deal is in negotia-tions. Produced by Canada’s Rhombus Media, pic stars Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell and Douglas Smith. UGC will distribute in France; Alliance Films will release in Canada. TF1 Intl. has closed all-rights distribution deals on Cannes fest closer “Therese D” with Mongrel (Canada), Icon (Australia), Golem (Spain), Imovision (Brazil), Pathe (Switzerland), Lusomundo (Por-tugal), Word of Mouth (Greece), Bir Film (Turkey) and HBO (Latin America). Chemaly said her team is in advanced negotiations to ink the U.K. and U.S. sales. Another buzz title on their slate, the Australian surfing drama “Drift,” sold to Koch Media for Italy. Chemaly also announced that the next Philippe Claudel film, “Avant l’hiver,” starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Daniel Auteuil, has already pre-sold to various territories. Submarine launches label By Dave McNary and Diana Lodderhose Submarine Entertainment and Dakota Group are launching Tor-pedo Pictures, a fund and label to develop, finance, produce, and dis-tribute a slate of low-budget, high-concept films in the sci-fi, horror and thriller genres. Deal was announced Tuesday at Cannes by David Koh, Dan Braun and Josh Braun of Submarine En-tertainment along with Stanley Bu-chthal of Dakota Group. Torpedo plans to focus on “auteur-driven” directors with Dakota Group financing pictures along with foreign partners in the $500,000 to $1.5 million range. Submarine will represent domestic and foreign rights and will find partners to distribute. The venture plans to announce its first slate shortly along with output and foreign partners. Submarine has been active in documentaries (“Bill Cunningham New York,” “Buck,” “Cave of For-gotten Dreams,” “Man on Wire”) along with selling, representing and finding distribution partners for such movies as “Black Rock,” “Winter’s Bone” and “Your Sister’s Sister.” It also represents the comic-book properties Creepy and Eerie. Dakota’s projects include “Mari-lyn Monroe’s Fragments,” “Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present” and “Sketches of Frank Gehry.”

Alliance Buy Binge

Diana Lodderhose

Distrib nabs 13 new titles Despite rumors of a takeover from Canadian rival Entertainment One, Alliance Films has reported a robust Cannes and flexed its acquisition muscle at the market, snapping up around 13 titles for its three territories. Distrib recently nabbed U.K. rights to Scandinavian sci-fi thriller “Frost,” from TrustNordisk. Pic, helmed by Icelandic director Reynir Lyngdal, is about a young couple who arrive at a glacier drilling camp only to find it mysteriously abandoned. Ingvar Thordarson and Julius Kemp produce. Alliance Films’ U.K. distribution arm Momentum Pictures has a history of picking up Nordic titles at markets: distrib released the original Swedish-language “The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo” and recently enjoyed Blighty box office success with “Headhunters,” which grossed $2.2 million in the territory. Additionally, Alliance snapped up Spanish rights to Hude Park Intl.’s untitled Elmore Leonard project starring Jennifer Aniston, Dennis Quaid, John Hawkes and Ty Burrell, and helmed by Daniel Schechter. These titles are added to its previously announced pickups of “American Bullshit” and Kathryn Bigelow’s Navy SEALs pic for Canada, both sold through Megan Ellison’s new sales outfit Panorama, and Lee Daniel’s “The Butler” for Spain, shopped by I'm Global. It also nabbed Sofia Coppola’s “Bling Ring” for Canada and Taylor Lautner starrer “Tracers” for U. K. and Spain, both shopped by FilmNation Entertainment. Alliance picked up Owen Wilson starrer “The Coup” from Nick Meyer’s Sierra/Affinity for U.K. and Spain, and is in negotiations for a multi-territory buy.

More Coin To Brazil Pix

John Hopewell

Its economic growth may be slowing but in film terms Brazil, the subject of a Cannes Tribute, is still bulking up. In the latest move, RioFilme, Rio de Janeiro’s municipal film investor, has hiked 2012 funding to 50 million reals ($25 million), a historical high. The increase comes as government investments — tax incentives plus Audiovisual Fund subsidies — stand at $200 million in 2012, said Manoel Rangel, prexy of the Ancine film board, Brazil’s national film body. RioFilme backed many of the most significant titles now being made in Brazil. Its first 3D venture is $20 million Amazon jungle adventure “Amazonia,” helmed by Thierry Ragobert and produced by France’s Biloba and Brazil’s Gullane Filmes. RioFilme will co-produce and finance “Amazonia’s” P&A spend on its Brazilian release, handled by Imovision. Another RioFilme coin recipient is “E ai … comeu,” (literally, “Have You … Scored”), a spiced-up romantic comedy being released June 22 by Downtown Filmes, RioFilme and Paris Filmes on 400 to 500 screens, per Rio- Filme’s Sergio Sa Leitao.

TF1 Peddles Pic Pair

Elsa Keslassy

Gaul’s TF1 Intl. Has been having a dynamic Cannes market under the new leadership of Sabine Chemaly, inking high-profile sales deals on a pair of titles screening in Cannes’ Official Selection: Brandon Cronenberg’s feature debut “Antiviral,” and late French helmer Claude Miller’s “Therese D.” Cronenberg’s Un Certain Regard-preeming “Antiviral” has sold to Momentum (U.K.) and CCC (Japan). A U.S. deal is in negotiations. Produced by Canada’s Rhombus Media, pic stars Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell and Douglas Smith. UGC will distribute in France; Alliance Films will release in Canada. TF1 Intl. Has closed all-rights distribution deals on Cannes fest closer “Therese D” with Mongrel (Canada), Icon (Australia), Golem (Spain), Imovision (Brazil), Pathe (Switzerland), Lusomundo (Portugal), Word of Mouth (Greece), Bir Film (Turkey) and HBO (Latin America). Chemaly said her team is in advanced negotiations to ink the U.K. and U.S. sales. Another buzz title on their slate, the Australian surfing drama “Drift,” sold to Koch Media for Italy. Chemaly also announced that the next Philippe Claudel film, “Avant l’hiver,” starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Daniel Auteuil, has already pre-sold to various territories.

Tenembaum Taps 'Water' Omnibus

John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy

Edgard Tenembaum, Paris-based producer of Walter Salles’ “The Motorcycle Diaries,” has boarded “Water — Between Imagination and Reality,” an omnibus feature of nine shorts made by Israel-based Palestinian and Jewish filmmakers plus Palestinian helmers from the West Bank’s Ramallah and Bethlehem. Now in post, pic mixes fiction and documentary shorts. “Water” is an initiative of the Film and TV Dept. of Tel Aviv U, headed by Reuven Hecker. Project initiator and artistic director is Yael Perlov, a Tel Aviv U lecturer. Many “Water” directors are current or former TAU students. “Water” is the second in a projected trilogy of pics from young Palestinian-Israeli filmmakers and theps. Tenembaum is producing “Water,” now in post, via his Paris shingle Tu Vas Voir. He has also taken worldwide rights to both “Water” and “Coffee,” the trilogy’s first movie. Maya de Vries and Kobi Mizrahi also produce “Water.” A French theatrical distribution deal for the trilogy is now under negotiation, Tenembaum said at Cannes. Pic’s backers include the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Office in Tel Aviv, Israel’s French Institute and the Rabinovich Institution. “In ‘Water,’ the Palestinian filmmakers make documentaries, the Israelis fiction. But they all deal with the same problem: How to live together,” Tenembaum said. The motif linking pics in the third portmanteau feature is currently being chosen by the young filmmakers, the university and Tu Vas Voir, he added.

Fox Intl. Steps On 'Floor'

John Hopewell

Fox Intl. Has acquired rights to North America, Latin America and Spain on “The 7th Floor,” starring Ricardo Darin. Patxi Amezcua’s followup to edgy crime thriller “25 Carat,” “7th Floor” was written by Amezcua and Alejo Flah. A November shoot is scheduled. Pic teams Telecinco Cinema (“The Impossible,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”), El Toro Producciones (“Tad, the Lost Explorer”) and Ikiru Films (“Lope,” “Ghost Graduation”) out of Spain and K&S (“The Last Elvis,” “Buenos Aires 1977”) and Cepa Audiovisual in Argentina.” Deal for “7th Floor” was negotiated by Film Factory’s Vicente Canales and Matias Mosteirin from K&S Films, both repping the producers, and Fox exec VP of acquisitions Tony Safford. “We have a very close collaboration record with the producers involved, and the strength of the script along with the potential of the talent involved make a fantastic opportunity for us,” said Griselda Fortunato, general manager of Fox Theatrical, Argentina.

Submarine Launches Label

Dave McNary and Diana Lodderhose

Submarine Entertainment and Dakota Group are launching Torpedo Pictures, a fund and label to develop, finance, produce, and distribute a slate of low-budget, highconcept films in the sci-fi, horror and thriller genres. Deal was announced Tuesday at Cannes by David Koh, Dan Braun and Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment along with Stanley Buchthal of Dakota Group. Torpedo plans to focus on “auteur-driven” directors with Dakota Group financing pictures along with foreign partners in the $500,000 to $1.5 million range. Submarine will represent domestic and foreign rights and will find partners to distribute. The venture plans to announce its first slate shortly along with output and foreign partners. Submarine has been active in documentaries (“Bill Cunningham New York,” “Buck,” “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” “Man on Wire”) along with selling, representing and finding distribution partners for such movies as “Black Rock,” “Winter’s Bone” and “Your Sister’s Sister.” It also represents the comicbook properties Creepy and Eerie. Dakota’s projects include “Marilyn Monroe’s Fragments,” “Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present” and “Sketches of Frank Gehry.”

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