Germany’s Beta Cinema has taken a minority stake in Cornerstone Films, the London- and L.A.-based sales outfit run by Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder.
The deal, unveiled Wednesday, will see Beta and Cornerstone partner on the financing, production and sale of English-language features for the global marketplace. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
“In the fast-changing landscape, vertical integration is key to creating robust and successful enterprises and we’re delighted to unite with Beta Cinema and X-Filme who share similar goals,” Thompson and Gooder said. “Our combined expertise and resources will create great opportunities for all three companies.”
Beta is on an acquisitions binge, having recently taken a stake in Tom Tykwer’s production company X Filme, the producer of Cloud Atlas and TV series Babylon Berlin, and in November bought a majority stake in MR Film, one of Austria’s leading TV production companies.
In Berlin, Beta is selling three competition titles: Emily Atef’s 3 Days in Quiberon, Thomas Stuber’s In the Aisles and Milko Lazarov’s closing night title Aga. It is also selling Rupert Everett’s directorial debut, the Oscar Wilde biopic The Happy Prince.
Cornerstone is coming to the Berlin market with the recently announced remake of Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding, in which Julianne Moore will star, Gurinder Chadha’s Blinded by the Light and Florence directed by Jeremy Lovering. The company also will screen promos of Mike Leigh’s historical epic Peterloo and Dan Krauss’ The Kill Team, starring Alexander Skarsgard.
