Press Releases

CULVER CITY, CA, BERLIN, GERMANY, August 31, 2009 - Deutsche Columbia Pictures Film Produktion, the local German production arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment and SPE's European headquarters for local production, has announced Isabel Hund will join the company as Director of Production, International Motion Picture Production on October 1st, 2009. Hund will report directly to Deborah Schindler, President of Sony Pictures International Motion Picture Production Group.

Hund has been consulting for Deutsche Columbia Pictures Film Produktion for the last 17 months liaising with the local creative community and working on the daily production and post-production of FRIENDSHIP, the company's first feature since re-establishing a production office in Berlin in 2008.

Deborah Schindler stated: "Isabel has already been an integral part of our team on FRIENDSHIP and we are delighted to be solidifying that relationship in her new role at Sony Pictures. This is a very exciting time for us as we continue to create new local production relationships internationally, and with Berlin now as our center of production in Europe, Isabel is the natural choice to help guide this key office."

Martin Bachmann, Managing Director, Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH, who will oversee the theatrical release of FRIENDSHIP in Germany commented: "Isabel is an extremely talented creative production executive with great relationships in the German film world. We are very happy to welcome her to our team and look forward to a very productive collaboration with her on FRIENDSHIP and future productions with the talented and creative filmmakers in Germany."

Hund was previously head of development and creative production for Senator Film Production from 2001 - 2005. Most recently, she worked as an independent agent representing a number of film and literary clients for the German market.

Throughout her career, Hund has been an acquisitions and development consultant for a number of top distributors in Germany including Buena Vista Germany, Studio Hamburg, and Neue Kinowelt. She has also worked as a scriptwriter on a German television series for Constantin Entertainment, and recently held a teaching post at the Berlin's scriptwriting school, Ars Dramatica. Hund holds a Masters degree in New German Literature, Journalism and Philosophy from Freie Universitat, Berlin.

FRIENDSHIP, a buddy comedy with rising star Matthais Schweighöfer, is produced by Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann, of the Academy Award® winning feature, THE LIVES OF OTHERS and Barefoot films' Til Schweiger and Tom Zickler, producers of the box office hit RABBIT WITHOUT EARS. The film was directed by the prolific commercial director, Markus Goller (UNDER THE MASK) from a screenplay by Oliver Ziegenbalg (U 900, 1 1/2 RITTER).

Deutsche Columbia Pictures Film Produktion is the European headquarters of SPE's local production group. In addition to Germany, Sony Pictures International Motion Picture Production Group is currently in active production on local features for SPE in East-Asia, India, Russia, the U.K., and Mexico.

Sony Pictures International Motion Picture Production Group's most recent release was the critically acclaimed U.K. feature DAMNED UNITED, about the infamous soccer manager Brian Clough, starring Michael Sheen ("The Queen," "Frost/Nixon") from a screenplay by Academy Award® nominee Peter Morgan ("The Queen," "Frost/Nixon"). The film, which was produced and shot on location in the U.K. was released in March of this year and will have its North American premiere at the upcoming 2009 Toronto Film Festival. The company's most recent production to complete principal photography is CEMETERY JUNCTION, the first motion picture written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the multi-award winning team behind The Office and Extras starring Ralph Fiennes, Ricky Gervais, Emily Watson, Matthew Goode with a line-up of stars-of-the-future including Christian Cooke, Felicity Jones, Tom, Hughes and Jack Doolan. CEMETERY JUNCTION tells the funny, touching and universal story of being trapped in a small town and dreaming of escape. Sony Pictures Entertainment has worldwide rights and will be releasing CEMETERY JUNCTION in cinemas in 2010.

The company has led the way on international local productions in East-Asia including CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE, as well as European productions including SNATCH (UK) and DI QUE SI (SPAIN). SPRI also released Stephen Chow's CJ7 and Sony's first local Indian production SAAWARIYA (Beloved), in addition to the Mexican local hit feature NIÑAS MAL.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment

Deutsche Columbia Pictures Film Produktion, Sony Pictures International Motion Picture Production Group, Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) and Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (CTMPG), are Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) companies. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 130 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

For more information:

Steve Elzer
Senior Vice President, Media Relations
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group
(p) 310.244.7142
steve_elzer@spe.sony.com