The Belgium production and finance company Corsan, which recently released details on its new Paul Haggis film “Third Person,” announced a new production fund to invest in up to five new films a year, backed by a total production commitment from Corsan of $100 million.
Corsan will operate the fund as a third-party production investment vehicle, financing films that have been developed and will be produced out-of-house.
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Corsan has been active in the film industry since 1989, first raising investments through sales and international tax incentives for European foreign-language films, later moving into English-language features, such as Chris Newby’s “The Anchoress” and Dominique Deruddere’s “Suite 16.”
Corsan set up its own fund in 2003 to invest exclusively in projects developed and produced in-house, including Lee Tamahori’s “The Devil’s Double”; “The Hessen Affair”; Mark Steven Johnson’s “Killing Season,” which was co-produced with Nu Image and stars Robert De Niro and John Travolta; Roland Joffe’s “Singularity,” and “Third Person,” which goes into production on Oct. 17.
Four years ago, Corsan set up an international sales arm, Corsan World Sales.
“Setting up our own production financing has enabled Corsan to develop, finance and greenlight two to three films a year in-house without being dependent on third-party funding,” Corsan CEO Paul Breuhls said in a statement. “However, we have grown the company to the point that we now want to branch out in setting up new types of funding partnerships. We are one of the few independent producers and financiers that have the financial capacity to invest in third-party films and our track record with our own productions demonstrates that when we make a commitment to a production, we deliver.
Pascal Borno, president of Corsan World Sales, has concluded deals with the following distributors for “Killing Season,” which was co-produced by Corsan and Millennium Films: Ablo Inc (Eastern Europe), California Filmes (Latin America), Cinesky Picture, Eagle Films (Middle East), Lusomundo (Portugal), Media Vyzion (Turkey), M Pictures (Thailand), Platinum Pictures (Malaysia), Pt Amero Mitra Film (Indonesia), Splendid (Germany), Take One (Scandinavia), Top Film (CIS) and VVS Films (Canada). Nu Image handled the deals for Lionsgate (U.K.), Metropolitan (France), Roadshow (Australia), Sabido Productions (South Africa) and Showgate (Japan).