MUMBAI: Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group have extended their partnership to create a strategic alliance with Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA).
Under the deal, Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Hyde Park will fund three to four films a year, worth an estimated production value of $75 million over the next five years. The multi-party venture will commence with an English language cross-cultural production to be named in the coming weeks.
In addition, the new venture will soon open an office in Singapore, which will serve as the Asian headquarters and will hire a management team. Hyde Park International president Mimi Steinbauer is handling foreign sales for films produced by the company, Hyde Park EVP Patrick Aiello will be supervising creative affairs and Imagenation Abu Dhabi COO Stefan Brunner will oversee business affairs.
"Abu Dhabi and Singapore are collaborating on multiple levels – both political and economic. This new venture solidifies our ties and commitment to the region," said Imagenation Abu Dhabi chairman H.E. Mohamed Khalaf Al Mazrouei.
Amritraj added, "Hyde Park and Imagenation’s activities in Hollywood and throughout Asia are further strengthened by this new relationship with Singapore. We look forward to working closely with the MDA and being a leading force in the global media growth in Asia."
Imagenation Abu Dhabi CEO Edward Borgerding said, "Our continued relationship with Hyde Park and new partnership with Singapore’s MDA truly embodies our ethos of focusing on global cinema and establishing strong alliances to create quality commercial feature films. This deal brings us one step closer to achieving that goal."
MDA CEO Dr. Christopher Chia said, "Connecting partners from three different continents to produce international films through an Asian headquarters in Singapore, the Hyde Park-Imagenation-MDA alliance is the latest transnational industry collaboration that fulfills Singapore’s promise as a trusted global capital for media businesses. Through this new venture, we hope to see stronger ties between media companies and professionals from the Middle East, United States and Singapore — as they collaborate to create compelling content for audiences worldwide."
Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Hyde Park Entertainment first partnered in November 2008 on a $250 million financing deal to develop, produce and distribute up to 20 feature films over seven years – with additional financing for the production of local language and cross-cultural films. Their partnership with MDA follows Hyde Park’s 2008 announcement of its plans to set up a multi-million dollar fund based in Singapore.
