Berlin: Focus Features Pacts With Sales Outfit Sierra/Affinity

Amid last year’s shake-up at Focus Features, the group’s international sales arm was shuttered. Focus is now turning to Nick Meyer’s Sierra/Affinity to handle rights outside North America on select titles from the company. The formalized relationship will complement the activities of Universal Pictures International, which distributes Universal and Focus movies internationally. The new tie-up had been expected, notably after Sierra/Affinity took over Mike Flanagan’s Oculus and follow-up, Somnia, at the AFM, both of which were previously with Focus Features International. The relationship with Focus and Sierra/Affinity kicks off at this EFM where the latter will service existing licensing and distribution agreements on Kevin Macdonald’s Black Sea and Jeremy Renner-starrer Kill The Messenger, a hot property for FFI last Berlin. Click over for more details on the new pact:

Berlin/Los Angeles February 5, 2014 – Focus Features and leading international sales entity Sierra/Affinity announced today a sales relationship in which Sierra/Affinity will represent the rights to select Focus Features films outside of North America. The newly forged relationship will complement the activities of Universal Pictures International, a sister company to Focus Features, which distributes Universal and Focus filmed entertainment in the international marketplace. The announcement was made today by Focus Features COO Adrian Alperovich in conjunction with Nick Meyer, CEO of Sierra/Affinity, and Marc Schaberg, Sierra/Affinity’s Co-President and COO.

The Sierra/Affinity and Focus Features relationship will formally commence at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin at which Sierra/Affinity will service the existing international licensing and distribution agreements previously made on the two Focus films BLACK SEA and KILL THE MESSENGER, both of which have been sold throughout the world.

“Nick and Marc and the outstanding team at Sierra/Affinity have the sales strength, global expertise and creative savvy that make them a perfect partner for Focus Features as we progress into a new era,” said Adrian Alperovich. “We’re extremely pleased to be in business with them moving forward.”

Nick Meyer and Marc Schaberg added, “We look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with Peter, Adrian and the entire Focus team. The Focus Features brand is powerful around the globe and we look forward to supporting the new leadership’s activities in the international marketplace.”

BLACK SEA is an adventure thriller directed by Kevin Macdonald and written by Dennis Kelly. The film stars Jude Law, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, and Konstantin Khabensky, and centers on a rogue submarine captain (Law) who after being laid off from a salvage company, pulls together a misfit crew to go after a sunken treasure rumored to be lost in the depths of the Black Sea. As greed and desperation take control onboard their claustrophobic vessel, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival.

KILL THE MESSENGER is directed by Michael Cuesta from a screenplay by Peter Landesman. Jeremy Renner (THE BOURNE LEGACY) leads an all-star cast in a dramatic thriller based on the remarkable true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb. The reporter stumbles onto a story which alleges that the crack epidemic on the nation’s streets is no accident…and further alleges CIA involvement in smuggling cocaine into the U.S., using the profits to arm rebels fighting in Nicaragua. Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications. His journey takes him from the prisons of California to the villages of Nicaragua to the highest corridors of power in Washington, D.C. – and draws the kind of attention that threatens not just his career, but his family and his life.