Mister Smith Entertainment will sell DreamWorks’ films in Europe, the Middle East and Africa per a new all-media licensing deal, the two companies announced on Wednesday.
Mister Smith, a London-based financing and sales company, will begin the deal with “Need for Speed” and an untitled Ken Scott Project, the remake of “Starbuck” that will star Vince Vaughn.
David Garrett, co-founder of Summit Entertainment, launched Mister Smith this year at the Cannes Film Festival in conjunction with Germany’s Constantin Film. He moved on to Mister Smith after Summit merged with Lionsgate.
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“David has a proven track record, and his years of experience in building Summit International will help us in this next step of growing our business,” Jeff Small, President and COO of DreamWorks, said in a statement. “This partnership allows us to best capitalize on the expanding global marketplace and generate foreign sales as a revenue source.”
Disney will still distribute DreamWorks’ films domestically and in other territories not covered by the deal. 20th Century Fox will handle foreign distribution for DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg’s next two films, “Lincoln” and “Robopocalypse.”
Reliance, a partner in DreamWorks, will continue to distribute its films in India.
Reliance agreed earlier this year to continue financing DreamWorks, providing roughly $200 million.
According to an individual with knowledge of the Mister Smith deal, DreamWorks believes this grants them greater financial flexibility. Mister Smith will enter multi-picture deals that come with minimum guarantees, giving the studio more upfront money.
This could enable them to produce more films, though the current plan is to make three or four films a year.