Furthering her reach in into the film business, Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures is backing a new production, financing and international sales entity Panorama Media that will be run by company president Marc Butan and international sales chief Kim Fox.
The company, based in Los Angeles, will launch at the Cannes film market in May, shopping a number of high-profile titles to foreign buyers, including Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming Navy SEALs film and Spike Jonze and Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher (Sony is distributing Bigelow’s movie domestically).
By moving into the international sales arena, Ellison can expand her scope and and take advantage of using foreign presales to cover some production costs.
“I fully believe in Marc and Kim’s ability to develop and expand this business,” Ellison said. “I consistently see projects I would like to support in addition to my current slate. Panorama will provide the extra bandwidth which will allows us the opportunity to get involved with these films.”
“I am looking forward to building an operation which suits the needs of both filmmakers and distributors worldwide while living up the high standards set by Annapurna and its films,” said Butan, whose previous stints including serving as president of 2929 Productions and as executive vice president of Lionsgate.
Fox — a widely respected foreign sales chief — noted that there is a great opportunity in international markets for the sorts of titles that Panorama will pursue. She’s held top positions at Inferno, QED International and KMI.
Ellison will have a heavy presence at Cannes between the launch of Panorama and festival titles Lawless and Brad Pitt starrer Killing Them Softly, both of which Annapurna produced and financed.
