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    nordmedia Talk Hannover 2007

    By Ron Holloway | January 1, 2009

    New concepts by today’s producers were aired at the 2007 nordmedia Talk Hannover. Away from television and total buy-out of rights to freely financed cinema coproductions – this fundamental position was keynoted in the formation of S.H.I.P. and X Filme International. The managing directors of both of these newly formed companies in Lower Saxony discussed with Jochen Coldewey at the nordmedia Talk Hannover in Enercity Expo Café about low budget productions, new financing stategies, and business models.

    Sytze van der Laan explained the strategy of S.H.I.P. (Studio Hamburg International Production GmbH, Hannover). With film adaptations – for example, the international youth bestseller classic The Three Investigators – the company aims to tap the economically attractive markets in Japan and the USA. In Germany the cinema release of the international coproduction The Secret of Skeleton Island, directed by Florian Boxmeier, is scheduled for 8 November 2007. This autumn, shooting begins on its sequel, The Mystery of the Silver Spider.

    According to van der Laan, the example of The Conclave, directed by Christoph Schrewe, is another new model to reckon with. This lavish historical drama, produced in Canada on HD, describes in imposing imagery how the conclave following the death of Pope Calixtus III in the 15th century unfolded as a murderous game of intrigue for power, religion, and the future of the Borgia dynasty. The film will be released this autumn in the cinemas and is planned as the start of an 8-part cinema series about the Spanish-Roman family clan.

    Also, X Filme International GmbH, a subsidiary of X Filme Creative Pool GmbH, is concentrating on international coproductions. According to Andro Steinborn, the managing director of the new subsidiary, the concentration is oriented towards productions with budgets between 5 and 10 million Euros. Consequently, existing partnerships with producers, world distribution companies, and project development professionals will be deepened and expanded. For its office X Filme International has chosen Hannover. The first project is an English-language remake of Michael Haneke’s 1997 psycho-thriller Funny Games. The director of the remake is again Michael Haneke, with Naomi Watts (King Kong, The Ring) and Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Planet of the Apes) in the main roles. The German-French-Italian coproduction was shot in 2006 in New York and the Hamptons.

    At the closing Get Together there was an opportunity to continue the discussion and exchange ideas on current projects, developments, and other news of mutual interest.

    Topics: German Film, nordmedia | Comments Off on nordmedia Talk Hannover 2007

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