Columbia TriStar officially announced its new German production arm Deutsche Columbia TriStar film Production GmbH on Thursday, making it the first Hollywood major to go the whole hog and open up a film production company in Germany.
The legendary Babelsberg studios, which produced such classics as Metropolis and The Blue Angel, will, it was confirmed, be the centre of much of the action: the company will be producing at Babelsberg, with offices there as well as in Munich. "Our primary interest is the human talent available in this area," said Kenneth Lemberger, president of Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures. "We are here to express our commitment to the German market place and in particular to the area of Brandenburg."
According to Lemberger, Sony alone will be investing DM100 million in the company. It was also announced that the Brandenberg government has entered into a support and investment agreement with Sony, Columbia TriStar's parent company, the extent of which is unclear.
New managing director Andrea Willson said that the company would produce one movie this year, building up to four per year with budgets of DM4 million plus. "We want to produce commercial workable projects primarily for the German market," she said. "We absolutely don't intend to start making American versions of German movies... that doesn't work here."
To ruurs that Julia Roberts' next stop is Babelsberg, Lemberger said:
"We are certain that over the next few years some of our films will be made here, but not the four mentioned in the press." Liza Foreman