Emil Elmer Tapped As International Sales Senior Veep At Focus

LONDON, March 19th, 2012 – Emil Elmér is joining Focus Features as senior vice president, international sales. Focus Features International (FFI) co-president Alison Thompson made the announcement today.

Mr. Elmér will report to Ms. Thompson at the FFI offices in London, where he will be based beginning this week. FFI is readying for the Cannes International Film Festival world premiere, as the opening-night film, of Moonrise Kingdom, the new feature from Wes Anderson, starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Jason Schwartzman; as well as overseas sales at the Festival for several new movies, including the untitled international suspense thriller starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall for director John Crowley, which begins production in the U.K. next month.

Ms. Thompson said, “Having first-hand experience of working with Emil, I’ve long been impressed by his outstanding knowledge and thorough approach to the international business. He has the wealth of experience that is an absolute necessity in our business, and his expertise and valuable relationships will bolster the company as we celebrate Focus’s 10-year anniversary and field a particularly exciting slate of movies this year.”

Mr. Elmér added, “Over the last decade, Focus has built an outstanding reputation as one of the world leaders in independent global cinema. They continue to be at the cutting edge of the creative and financial evolution of the business, and I’m proud to be joining the team to work with their incredible roster of films and filmmakers.”

The executive began his career at Miramax Films, where he spent over eight years and was variously part of the company’s acquisitions, production, and marketing and publicity departments. Long based in the U.K., he was involved in the company’s acquisitions of the multi-Academy Award-nominated Amélie and Les Choristes (The Chorus) and the Oscar-winning The Barbarian Invasions, among other titles.

More recently, he was for three years head of acquisitions for Pathé Distribution, where he tracked projects worldwide for distribution in the U.K.; and was a full-time consultant for a film financing company, working on projects from the production phase through the world sales process. A native of Sweden, Mr. Elmér holds a BA in Social Science from Lund University.