Corporate / Various
July 29, 2014
Producer Karel Dirka passes away
Academy Award nominated Producer Karel Dirka unexpectedly passed away on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 at the age of 67. Philipp and Stefan Menz mourn the loss of a friend and longtime business partner. Our hearts go out to his family and his friends.
January 20, 2013
Steffen Kuchenreuther passes away
Steffen Kuchenreuther, Producer, Theatre Owner, Organizer of the Munich Filmball and long time President of SPIO, the head organization of the German Motion Picture Industry, passed away on Sunday, January 20, 2013, at the age of 65. Kuchenreuther, who had been decorated with the German Federal Cross of Merit and the Bavarian Medal of Merit, was suffering from Lung Cancer.
The Menz Family mourns the loss of an old friend and colleague. Our hearts go out to his wife, his family and his friends.
July 12th, 2012
Philipp Menz, President of atlas international re-elected to the Board of Directors of VDFE
On July 12th, 2012, the Verband deutscher Film Exporteure - aka VDFE (the German Film Exporters Association), held its annual election for the Board of Directors during its General Assembly in Munich.
Andreas Rothbauer (Beta Cinema) and Philipp Menz (atlas international Film GmbH) were both re-elected to second consecutive terms on the Board of Directors.
September 8th, 2011
Philipp Menz becomes jury member for the selection of the German entry to the 2012 Academy Awards
Philipp Menz, President of atlas international, has been invited to the 9 people expert jury that selected the German entry to the 84th Academy Awards for best foreign language film. The jury, under the chairmanship of SPIO President Steffen Kuchenreuther, selected the film PINA by Wim Wenders, making it the first documentary feature to compete for Germany in this category for the coveted prize.
July 1st, 2011
Stefan Spendier joins atlas international
Stefan Spendier is the latest addition to the atlas team. Mr. Spendier has studied Business Administration and has worked as an accountant, production accountant and controller in various positions in the film industry.
January 24, 2011
Bernd Eichinger passes away
Bernd Echinger, passed away January 24, 2011, much too early at the age of 61, as the result of a sudden heart attack. Eichinger, who had founded German independent Major Constantin Film in 1977, went on to become not only one of Constantin Film's most important producers, but arguably the most internationally minded and successful film-producer in post-war Germany.
Dieter, Philipp and Stefan Menz of atlas international have lost a long-time friend and the film industry looses one of it's most visionary and creative movie producers. Our hearts go out to his family and his friends.
October 1st, 2010
Philipp Menz, President of atlas international elected to the Board of Directors of VDFE
The Verband deutscher Film Exporteure (VDFE), the German Film Exporters Association, elected its new Board of Directors during its General Assembly held on September 30th, 2010 in Munich:
Andreas Rothbauer (Beta Film GmbH) and Philipp Menz (atlas international Film GmbH) were elected as the new Board of Directors.
May 20th, 2010
Philipp Menz, President of atlas international elected to the Board of Directors of EFEA
The European Film Export Association (EFEA) elected its new Board of Directors during its General Assembly held on 20 May 2010 in Cannes:
Jacques-Eric Strauss (Plaza Production International) and Adriana Chiesa di Palma (Adriana Chiesa Enterprises) were both unanimously reelected to their former functions: Mr Strauss as President, and Mrs Chiesa Di Palma as Vice President.
Jean-Paul de Vidas (Les Films 26) and Kevin Williams (KWA) are Co-Vice Presidents, and Frederik Stege (TrustNordisk) is Treasurer.
Michael Werner (NonStop Sales) and Philipp Menz (Atlas International) complete the roll of Directors of the Board.
May14th, 2010
Glenn Kendrick Ackermann joins atlas international
Former head of sales for Capitol Films, Glenn Kendrick Ackermann has relocated from Los Angeles to Munich to join Atlas International Film GmbH. At Capitol, he was responsible for overseeing and selling a library of around 1000 titles from the Capitol and Intermedia libraries as well as selling larger budget first run feature films.
No stranger to Munich, he served as Head of Distribution for VIP Medienfonds as well as Vice President of International Sales for Helkon International Pictures, the international distribution arm of Helkon Media AG. He also recently executive produced a $25M feature film, „Ironclad“, starring James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti. He attended UCLA School of Law and UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
March 25th, 2010
atlas international and Constantin Film renew their cooperation
atlas international and Constantin Film have renewed their deal for a library of 23 titles which atlas is handling outside German speaking territories for the Munich based production and distribution company.
Stefan Menz, who signed the deal for atlas, says: "This year marks the 18th aniversary of our cooperation with Constantin. We are very proud of our long-lasting relationship with one of the most successful and creative German media companies."
January 1st, 2010
Michel J. Vandewalle joins atlas
Michel J. Vandewalle, a twenty four-year industry professional with an international experience gained through senior positions at leading media companies such as Cannon Films, The Kemps Group and Bertelsmann, has joined atlas international as Head of Development.
In his new position, Mr. Vandewalle will focus on the newly created co-production operations of atlas. In addition, he will also oversee acquisitions of product for foreign sales.
December 7th, 2009
Menz Brothers buy back atlas' shares.
Philipp and Stefan Menz, Co-Presidents of atlas international announced today that they have completed their repurchase of 50,96% of atlas' shares which were sold to Munich based EVA Finance GmbH in the 2007 merger.
November 10th, 2008
A2 Racer scores at the Chinese Boxoffice
The action movie A2 Racer is enjoying a very successful theatrical release in China and currently ranks number 7, with a total boxoffice of $1,255,566.
Based on the extremely successful videogame "A2 RACER" by Dutch software company Davilex, which has sold millions of copies in Germany and other countries, Constantin Film, in cooperation with MOOVIE – the art of entertainment and Delux Productions, produced this Action-Comedy about a group of young speed-freaks with supercharged cars, who organize secret high-speed races on the autobahn.
atlas international is selling A2 Racer outside German speaking territories.
November 2nd, 2008
Cheeky Girls are on a roll
Cheeky Girls, the Constantin Film production based on the bestselling book series for young girls has so far sold over 1 Million tickets at the German box office.
Cheeky Girls is a turbulent romantic comedy about the life of three young girls, whose friendship is put to the test as they fall in love for the first time.
atlas international is handling the movie outside German speaking territories.
October 6th, 2008
Paul Verhoevens World War II Drama "Black Book" ("Zwartboek") has just been voted "Best Dutch Film of all Time".
"The 50 best Dutch Films" is an initiative by Dutch broadcaster Nederland 2 and organized in collaboration with VPRO, the Nederlandse Film Festival and Cinema.nl.
Every 10 years, the audience votes for the 50 "Best Dutch Films" and this year, "Black Book" tops the list, voted as "Best Dutch Film of all Time". In the this year's list of 50 films, Paul Verhoeven is also represented with two other titles, "Turkish Delight" ("Turks Fruit") which was voted 5th and "Survival Run" ("Soldaat van Oranje"), which came out 3rd.
At the last event in 1999, "Turkish Delight", Verhoevens controversial drama won the prestigious "Best Dutch Film of all Time".
atlas international is proud to represent both "Turkish Delight" and "Survival Run" as part of the "Paul Verhoeven Collection", a set of five of his biggest Dutch success films, including "The Fourth Man", "Keetje Tippel" and "Wat Zin Ik", all remastered and with director's commentaries.
December 28th, 2007
POLISH DIRECTOR KAWALEROWICZ DIES AT 85.
Warsaw - According to news released by Polish Radio, famous Polish director Jerzy Kawalerowicz died on December 27, 2007 at the age of 85, in Warsaw.
Kawalerowicz was one of the founding fathers of Poland's Film Industry after World War II. Since 1956, he headed the important and influential production company Kadr, which worked with such great talents as Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Munk or Kazimierez Kutz.
In his career, Kawalerowicz directed a total of 17 movies, which won prizes in Cannes, Venice and Berlin. His most famous works include "Mother Joan of the Angels" (Matka Joanna od aniolow, 1961), which was awarded a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the monumental "Pharaoh" (Faraon, 1965), which was based on the famous novel by Boreslaw Prus and received an Academy Award Nomination.
atlas international has been working with and for Jerzy Kawalerowicz since 1967, selling the epic "Pharaoh" all over the world. The award winning movie, which was recently restored and remastered, continues to be a great example of Kawalerowicz' exceptional directing skills and remains one of the most expensive Polish movies ever made.
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