Iconoclast, StickUp Films Launch German Film and TV Joint Venture

Worldwide function movie and industrial content material group Iconoclast and Berlin-based StickUp Movies have established a brand new three way partnership to supply function movies and collection for the home and worldwide markets.

Represented by Artistic Artists Company (CAA), the brand new shingle, Iconoclast Movies Germany, is aiming to supply a minimal of three movie or collection initiatives yearly inside a five-year ramp-up interval.

The corporate is headed by Luis Singer and Dennis Schanz of StickUp Movies – the creators and co-producers of Netflix’s award-winning collection “Skylines” — in addition to Iconoclast government producer Swantje Rummel.

Iconoclast sees the brand new enterprise as a part of its worldwide content material technique and a logical extension of its model. Along with producing current works by the likes of Gus Van Sant (“Don’t Fear, He Gained’t Get Far on Foot”), Julian Schnabel (“At Eternity’s Gate”), Concord Korine (“The Seaside Bum”) and Romain Gavras (“The World Is Yours”) by means of its firms within the U.S. and France, Iconoclast additionally boasts a powerful worldwide footprint in music movies, promoting and branding content material.

Established in 2011 in Paris and Los Angeles, Iconoclast additionally has places of work in London, Berlin, Sau Paulo and Dakar.

The three way partnership is ready to strengthen Iconoclast’s presence within the wider European market, Rummel mentioned. “The mixing and inventive pressure between Europe’s cultures and kinds has traditionally been the best power of its creative manufacturing. In all our actions, Iconoclast has at all times been actually worldwide in its expertise pool. Including one other nationwide entity to the community makes us extra versatile to make use of one of the best individuals wherever and nonetheless make native manufacturing frictionless.”

Iconoclast Movies Germany is likewise anticipated to spice up StickUp Movies’ worldwide prospects.

“With StickUp Movies, Dennis and I’ve at all times pushed an excellent of movie that begins with artistic concerns,” Singer mentioned. “After all, we would like our movies and TV collection to succeed in a large viewers past conventional arthouse niches, and naturally all initiatives must make sense economically, however we’ve got at all times been pushed by content material and creative imaginative and prescient. Becoming a member of forces with Iconoclast offers us the chance to scale up our convictions in a world setting.”

The managing companions are aiming to develop the corporate organically over the approaching years whereas sustaining its boutique character, Schanz added, stressing that Iconoclast Movies Germany would “maintain on to the content- and talent-driven, development-oriented strategy that has served us properly up to now.”

He added: “Constructing on the trade relations we’ve got established with StickUp and making use of the deep expertise pool and audiovisual manufacturing expertise of Iconoclast’s worldwide community will guarantee we are able to convey related tales to world-wide audiences with out compromising on creative requirements.”

Iconoclast Movies Germany’s first initiatives embrace the eight-part comedy collection “Doppelhaushälfte” (“Semi-Indifferent”), which premiered March 15 on German pubcaster ZDF Neo. ZDF has already greenlit improvement funding for a second season.

Additionally within the works is Schanz’ new upcoming restricted collection “Recht und Freiheit” (“Regulation and Freedom”), a four-part political thriller in co-production with Berlin’s Studio Zentral.

Different initiatives in improvement embrace new works by such administrators as Christian Zübert (“Dangerous Banks”), Maryam Zaree, Maximilian Erlenwein (“Skylines”), Jan-Eric Mack (“Wilder”) and Gustav Johansson.

Along with Schanz, Singer and Rummel, the brand new firm’s shareholders embrace Iconoclast managing administrators Jan Dressler (whose producing credit embrace Sebastian Schipper’s 2015 award-winning hit “Victoria”) and Nils Schwemer (who co-produced Iranian-German director Faraz Shariat’s Berlinale Teddy Award-winning 2020 queer coming-of-age drama “No Arduous Emotions”) in addition to Paris-based Iconoclast France, represented by Nicolas Lhermitte.

“We have now adopted Dennis and Luis’ work for years and know we share the same strategy to producing content material that’s content-driven and depends on versatile, non-corporate buildings to get issues accomplished,” Dressler mentioned. “There’s a lot compatibility between us that it actually appeared an apparent match, and Dennis and Luis convey a confirmed monitor document within the German TV and movie market to the desk that can speed up Iconoclast’s elevated consideration to function content material.”

Pictured from left: Jan Dressler, Swantje Rummel, Luis Singer, Dennis Schanz