BN Films Launches Operations in U.S. and Latin America
SANTA MONICA, Calif. and
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Alex Garcia and
Lucas Akoskin, two of Latin
America's most prolific young producers, announced today the
formation of BN Films, a well-funded international production
company based in Santa Monica, CA
and Mexico City. Offering a slate
of films in all languages, aimed at both the domestic U.S. and
international markets, BN Films will self-finance six to twelve
films per year, working initially off of a $150-million production fund. The
$150-million is intended to be used
over five to six years.
Garcia, a well-known Mexican banker turned film financier and
producer (Elite Squad, The Burning Plain, The House of My
Father), and Argentinian producer Akoskin (The Doorman, The
Second Bakery Attack) also announced the hiring of industry
veteran Katrina Wolfe as BN Films'
President of Production. A longtime casting chief and
production executive for Dimension Films, Wolfe will be based in
Santa Monica and focus on the
development and production of BN's English-language
features.
Garcia and Akoskin stated, "Our goal is to transcend race,
culture and geography through passionate storytelling and
compelling entertainment, and speak to essential truths common
among all of us. We are fortunate to be working with some of the
top international filmmakers in the world, and we look forward to
sharing our multilingual films with audiences worldwide."
Oscar nominee and acclaimed writer, director and producer,
Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams,
Babel, Amores Perros,)
stated, "I'm producing 'The Heartbeat of the World' concept
with Alex and Lucas, both of which have shown immense taste and
talent as producers, as well as a lot of guts. They're
incredibly hardworking and it's been a true pleasure collaborating
with them. I'm certain that BN Films will enjoy a tremendous level
of success. In the end, producing requires a combination of
talent and hard work; both of which Alex and Lucas possess a great
deal of."
BN Films comes out of the gate with twenty-three feature
projects in the pipeline. Seven of its films are already completed,
including El Cartel de los Sapos (The Snitch Cartel),
Colombia's official entry for the
2013 Best Foreign Film Oscar; and Words With Gods, the first
installment in BN's groundbreaking The Heartbeat of the
World series. The Heartbeat of the World
series will include four feature-length anthologies, each
consisting of several short films on a unifying theme -- religion,
sex, politics, drugs -- by some of the world's most exciting
directors, among them: Mexico's
Guillermo Arriaga (also producer of
The Heartbeat of the World), Iran's Bahman
Ghobadi, Israel's
Amos Gitai, Japan's Hideo
Nakata, Australia's Warwick
Thorton, Serbia's Emir Kusturica,
India's Mira Nair and more. The Jesuit,
written by Paul Schrader (Taxi
Driver, Raging Bull) is currently in production in
Mexico.
In addition to its own deep pockets, the unparalleled expertise
and contacts of BN's founders give it unique access to production
subsidies throughout Latin
America. A portion of the company's films will be shot in
Mexico to utilize the Mexican
government's Article 226 tax initiative program, which provides
generous incentives to Mexican companies that invest in
locally-produced films.
Described as "one of the busiest dealmakers coming out of
Latin America today," Alex Garcia has financed or produced more than
thirty films over the last five years. A highly successful
international banker for 16 years before entering the film
business, Garcia inherited his love for film from his grandfather,
Mexican film legend Arturo de
Cordova, who appeared in 102 U.S. and Mexican films from
1936 to 1971, including co-starring alongside Gary Cooper in Sam
Wood's classic 1943 adaptation of Hemingway's For Whom
the Bell Tolls. In addition to frequent collaborations with
Warner Bros. and Lionsgate, Garcia has been a principal in NALA
Film Partners, Costa Films and Lemon Films and has also worked with
many of the top production and distribution companies in Latin
America. His film credits include Tropa de Elite
(Elite Squad), winner of more than 30 awards, including the
prestigious Berlinale Golden Bear; Guillermo Arriaga's acclaimed The Burning
Plain, starring Charlize Theron,
and Kim Basinger; Shelter,
starring Julianne Moore;
Ceremony, starring Uma Thurman; The House of My
Father, starring Will Ferrell,
Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal; and Saluda al Diablo, starring Édgar
Ramirez.
Argentinian producer Lucas Akoskin has made films and television
programs in both North and South
America, including the critically acclaimed feature comedy
The Doorman, The Second Bakery Attack, with Kirsten Dunst and based on a story by
Haruki Murakami who is critically
acclaimed as one of the world's greatest living novelists; and the
Latin American version of the TV series Iconoclasts.
In 2005, he and Garcia were instrumental in creating the Latin
American Film Co. with Bob and Harvey
Weinstein – a fund that has brought relevant Latin American
films to new audiences worldwide. More recently, Akoskin
founded Surdream Productions, which created TerraShorts – an
innovative shorts package for Terra Networks comprised of films by
top Latin American filmmakers.
Katrina Wolfe is a film industry
veteran who worked for Bob and Harvey
Weinstein for over a decade and served as Senior Vice
President of Production and Casting for the Dimension Films
division of The Weinstein Company (formerly Miramax), reporting
directly to Bob Weinstein.
While at Dimension, Wolfe worked on a wide variety of films
including Bad Santa, 1408, the Scary Movie series,
Frank Darabont's The Mist,
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's Grind House,
Robert Rodriguez's Sin City,
Rob Zombie's Halloween,
Todd Phillips' School For
Scoundrels, The Road, Youth In Revolt, and many
others.
SOURCE BN Films