Vincent Maraval‘s Insiders and Marc Butan’s MadRiver Pictures are consolidating their foreign sales operations to form IMR Intl., a Los Angeles-based joint venture whose operations will be run by Kim Fox. IMR will handle international sales across all MadRiver and Insiders films. IMR plans to offer 12-16 films per year to buyers.
MadRiver and Insiders will continue to exist and operate as separate independent production and financing companies. The deal was brokered by CAA. Separately, Fox will continue to run the Annapurna Intl. label and represent all of Annapurna Pictures titles for the international marketplace.
Insiders’ slate includes Jeff Nichols’ “Loving,” starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, which made its world premiere last night at the Cannes Film Festival; the recently introduced David Robert Mitchell’s “Under the Silver Lake,” starring Andrew Garfield, which was acquired for the U.S. by A24; Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie,” starring Natalie Portman; and Lynn Ramsey’s “You Were Never Really Here,” starring Joaquin Phoenix.
MadRiver’s Cannes slate includes Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s “Home Again,” starring Rose Byrne, Taran Killam’s comedy “Why We’re Killing Gunther,” and James Gray’s sci-fi epic “Ad Astra.”
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Butan said: “Vincent has been a fixture at the highest end of the foreign sales marketplace for the past 20 years, working on some of my personal favorite films, such as ‘The Wrestler,’ ‘The Orphanage’ and ‘City of God.’ Our tastes are fully compatible, and having the benefit of his expertise and relationships throughout Europe and the world will be invaluable for us.”
MadRiver is a film finance, production and international sales company, which launched in early 2015. It finances and produces two to four director- and star-driven films per year in the $15-50 million budget range for global wide release. The MadRiver slate also includes Peter Landesman’s “Felt,” starring Liam Neeson and Diane Lane, and James Gray’s “The Lost City of Z,” starring Charlie Hunnam and Sienna Miller. Vendian Entertainment has made a strategic investment in MadRiver, alongside other private investors, and the company has an overall co-financing arrangement with Riverstone Pictures, a joint venture of Ingenious and Reliance.
Insiders is an international sales company that was formed just before the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, which is headed by Maraval, also CCO of Wild Bunch. Bliss Media acquired a stake in Insiders in February, alongside Wild Bunch and Cine France.
