Actualités

Universal Pictures International has appointed longtime Studiocanal Germany CEO Kalle Friz as managing director for Germany and Austria.

Friz will join Universal in July 2025, reporting to Paul Higginson, executive vice president, Emea for Universal Pictures International. Friz will manage day-to-day operations in the territory, which is one of Upi’s biggest theatrical markets.

He will work with Higginson to drive box office revenues and set strategic goals and objectives for Germany and Austria, overseeing sales, distribution, acquisitions, marketing, publicity and finance.

Studiocanal Germany is promoting Hooman Afshari and Lutz Rippe from co-managing directors to co-CEOs, to replace Friz.

Afshari and...

Former StudioCanal executive Kalle Friz is joining Universal Pictures International as Managing Director for Germany and Austria.

Friz will report to Paul Higginson, Executive Vice President, Emea for Universal Pictures International and will be managing day-to-day operations in the territory, which is one of Upi’s biggest theatrical markets.

Karel De Vries, who successfully led the teams in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands during the recruitment process for the German MD position, will be transitioning to the role of Netherlands MD upon Kalle’s arrival.

Friz, who will join Universal in July 2025, “will work with Higginson to drive box office revenues and set strategic goals and objectives for the Germany and Austria operating companies overseeing sales, distribution, acquisitions, marketing, publicity and finance,” according to a Upi announcement.

At StudioCanal Friz over the past 16 years held several prominent positions, most recently serving as EVP International Operations and CEO Germany where he...

Veteran executive Kalle Friz is set to join Universal Pictures International as Managing Director for Germany and Austria. Friz, who takes up the post in July, will report to Paul Higginson, Executive Vice President, Emea at Universal Pictures International, and will manage day-to-day operations in the territory, which is one of Upi’s biggest theatrical markets.

Friz will work with Higginson to drive box office revenues and set strategic goals and objectives for the Germany and Austria operating companies overseeing sales, distribution, acquisitions, marketing, publicity and finance.

Friz moves to Upi after 16 years at Studiocanal where he held several notable positions, most recently serving as EVP International Operations & CEO Germany. In this role, he was responsible for shaping the strategy of Studiocanal in Germany, Austria and Poland and worked closely with the other CEO’s across the studio’s distribution units.

He has a track record of growing Studiocanal’s...

Veteran German film executive Kalle Friz will join Universal Pictures International as managing director for Germany and Austria in July.

He will report to Paul Higginson, executive vp, Emea, and oversee day-to-day operations in the territory, one of Upi’s largest theatrical markets. His remit will include sales, distribution, acquisitions, marketing, publicity, and finance.

Friz joins Upi from Studiocanal, where he served for the past 16 years, most recently as EVP International Operations & CEO Germany. During his tenure, he was closely involved in the theatrical and marketing campaigns for English-language releases such as the Paddington trilogy, The Hunger Games and Saw franchises, La La Land and Back To Black, along with local titles including Heidi, The Little Witch, Woodwalkers and Balloon.

Before his time at Studiocanal, Friz led Fox Searchlight and local acquisitions from 2002 to 2009, overseeing the German releases of Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, 28 Days Later, and Black Swan.

“Kalle...

Veteran distribution and marketing executive Kezia Williams has been named Managing Director for the UK and Ireland at Universal Pictures International, and will take up the post at the end of February. This marks a return to Universal for Williams who previously spent five years on the UK marketing team. Most recently, she was Managing Director at Entertainment One, overseeing the company’s UK film business.

Williams will report to Paul Higginson, Executive Vice President, Emea for Universal Pictures International and will manage day-to-day operations in the territory, which is one of Upi’s biggest theatrical markets. Williams will work with Higginson to drive box office revenues and set strategic goals and objectives for the UK and Ireland operating companies — overseeing sales, marketing, publicity and finance, and working closely with the heads of marketing, finance, legal, acquisitions and human resources. She replaces former Universal Pictures UK MD Rob Huber who...

Kezia Williams is set to join Universal Pictures International as its managing director for the U.K. and Ireland.

Williams will report to Paul Higginson, executive Vice President, Emea for Universal Pictures International and will manage day-to-day operations in the territory when she joins at the end of February. She replaces former Universal Pictures UK MD Rob Huber, who left the company at the end of 2024.

With more than 20 years of experience in distribution and marketing, Kezia was most recently at Entertainment One, initially as head of marketing & distribution and then as managing director, overseeing the company’s U.K. film business and leading integrated, event-driven campaigns to record-breaking results, including “1917,” “The Bfg,” “The Girl on the Train” and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.”

This appointment marks Williams return to Universal, having previously spent five years on the U.K. Marketing team, where she contributed to the successful...

Senior figures from Warner Bros, Universal, Studiocanal, Vue, Odeon all participated.

Premium cinema experiences hold the key to the continued recovery of the international box office, according to senior exhibition executives on a panel held on the first day of CineEurope (October 4-7) in Barcelona.

“People are searching out quality and a premium experience,” said Mark Way, managing director at Odeon Cinemas and president of AMC Europe, on the CineEurope session titled ‘2021: A Different Cinema Landscape?’.

Way cited AMC-owned Odeon’s investment in its premium Luxe brand, with 47 of its 340 European venues now converted to Luxe sites.

“These...

What does the international box office and cinema landscape look like in an emerging post-pandemic world? That was the gist of an executive roundtable at CineEurope in Barcelona today. Among the key takeaways: the relationship between exhibition and distribution and a need for more collaboration in terms of reaching consumers. With so much content available in-home, the bar has been raised for returning people’s habits to the theatrical experience.

Andrew Cripps, Warner Bros President of International Theatrical Distribution commented, “We have to recognize how the world has dramatically changed… Getting the consumer out of the house to consume entertainment is a challenge, and God knows it was a challenge before. The bar is higher, and collectively between exhibition and distribution, we have to do better.”

He continued, “We have more data at our fingertips collectively than we have ever had. The data is available… We have to collectively act on that.

Exclusive: As Universal solidifies the transition of Universal Pictures International’s headquarters to Los Angeles, the studio has now made some final executive shifts. Niels Swinkels, EVP International Distribution, has been promoted to EVP and MD for Upi. At the same time, a new Emea hub has been established to lead the UK-based team and the European theatrical organization with Paul Higginson joining as Executive Vice President, Emea for Upi, reporting to Swinkels.

Swinkels, who will report to President of International Distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, will oversee all day-to-day operations of the Upi business in his expanded role. He will further deliver strategic direction for the studio’s international theatrical distribution efforts, and lead business development to include regional partnerships, productions and market expansion.

Swinkels began his tenure with Universal in 2004 as a Marketing Director. He was then appointed Vice President of Sales & Distribution for the Emea region in 2006 before...

Topics ranged from emerging markets, digital challenges, and the combined might of Disney and Fox.

Emerging markets, digital challenges, and the combined might of Disney and Fox dominated the conversation between distributors and exhibitors at CineEurope, the annual exhibition form held in Barcelona this week (June 17-20).

The Disney/Fox mega-slate

For the first time at CineEurope these two iconic studios presented together after Disney’s acquisition of Fox was confirmed earlier this year. Clocking in at around two hours, it showcased the unprecedented amount of IP the company now controls; Disney Live action, Marvel, Star Wars, Fox, Blue Sky and Fox Searchlight.

Fox International Productions is teaming in an exclusive first-look deal with film industry veterans Paul Heth and Michael Schlicht for Russian-language movies. The arrangement encompasses both co-productions and acquisitions and adds to Fox’s continuing co-production and acquisitions relationships and activities in Russia and Cis. Russia remains a powerhouse market with $1.25B in 2014 box office and locally made films accounting for $215M of the total. Although the ruble has taken a hit against the dollar, Russia this year continues to regularly feature in the Top 10 offshore plays for the studios.

Longtime producing partners Heth and Schlicht have collaborated on such titles as Stalingrad, the highest-grossing film in Russian history; the Very Best Movie franchise; Vysotsky: Thank God I Am Alive; and this year’s Battalion. Heth is a Moscow-based media entrepreneur who is widely credited with the revitalization of the Russian theatrical exhibition sector. He also is an owner and serves as CEO of Karo,...