Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp assigns US acquisitions team to Toronto

Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp has launched an acquisitions division based in Los Angeles, which will be headed by Federica Sainte-Rose. As global acquisitions director, he will report to EuropaCorp CEO Christophe Lambert. Former FilmNation executive John Zois will also join the division as director of global acquisitions. The decision to establish a new branch is part of Europe’s deeper entry into the domestic American market. This follows Europa’s deal with Relativity, under which Europa bought the Red joint venture, giving it access and greater control over the distribution of its films. In Cannes, Studio Euro also made available a five-year, $450 million credit facility led by JPMorgan to finance production, expenses and acquisitions of eight English-language commercial films released through the jv. This was a few months after Lisa Ellzey was hired as vice president of US film production. The new acquisitions team will focus on films for domestic distribution through Red, as well as film rights covering multiple territories, including France. They will be on site in Toronto.

Prior to joining EuropaCorp, Sainte-Rose was part of Universal’s global acquisitions team and was previously Director of Acquisitions at Studiocanal. Lambert said today: “We are thrilled to welcome this incredible acquisitions team to the studio. EuropaCorp is emerging as a new distribution alternative for filmmakers who will benefit from close collaboration with world-class acquisitions and production executives, as well as a solid marketing and distribution infrastructure both domestically and internationally.