In Berlin celebrating his export company Atlas International's 30th anniversary, German distributor Dieter Menz admitted that although the EFM is not his most profitable beat, it still provides sale openings for his product.
'My best deal ever was concluded during the Berlinale, when I licensed worldwide video rights for Mad Mission III to EMI,' recalled Menz, who has this year clinched a seven-picture deal for German comedian Didi Hallervorden comedies with Russia's ACG Videofilm.
Seceded from German distributor Atlas Film, Menz's Munich-based operation made its debut by touting two Polish films, Jerzy Kawalerowicz's 1966 Cannes opener, Pharaoh, and Andrzej Wajda's Lost Army.
Young German Cinema entered the slate, mainly from the former parent company, and he went on to pick up French, Italian and American features, among the latter Wes Craven's Last House on the Left.
For 17 years, Atlas International represented the 60-title catalogue of German classics, including Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), Nosferatu, Dr Mabuse and Metropolis, which Menz licensed for the Giorgio Moroder musical version.
Invited to Hong Kong to see the first Mad Mission outing, then called Aces Go Places, he suggested the change of name, and for the third instalment, he had US actors Peter Graves and Richard Kiel included in the cast.
'We have won a reputation for adjusting difficult productions to the market place, and supplying trailers and publicity designs that are not always similar to the national original, but which work efficiently internationally,' he added.
Today Atlas International represents foreign sales for all Bernd Eichinger-Constantin domestic product, including Eichinger's own directorial debut, Das Mädchen Rosemarie (The Girl Rosemarie), recently aired by Sat1.
The remake of Luggi Waldtleitner's 1950s' classic - an Oscar nominee - is one of four updated versions of earlier German box-office attractions, produced by Constantin for the commercial broadcaster.
The current line-up also comprises Peter F Bringmann's adaption of Drei Mädchen an der Tankstelle (Three Girls at the Gas Station), and Ralf Hueltner's thriller, Der Kalte Finger, to be international launched as 1-900.
After the success of Roland Emmerich's Independence Day, Atlas International picked up rights for the director's debut, The Noah's Ark Principle, immediately purchased by Japan's New Select, with several Asian and Far East deals pending. JRJ
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