CANNES: Molinare, the TV and Film Facilities Village, concluded a major deal with Indian media giant Century Communications on 2 May. Chief executive Steve Milne and managing director Mark Foligno agreed the multimillion pound transaction with Century to sell a majority shareholding in Molinare.
Century Communications is committed to an intensive investment program that will see Molinare, based just off Carnaby Street, emerge with overhauled buildings, renewed infrastructure and greater capacity.
Having rescued Molinare back in September 2003 from the then Television Corporation (subsequently bought by Tinopolis), they have invested over £4.5m in the very latest technology, grown turnover from £5m in 2003 to over £11m in 2007 and strongly entered the feature film market, working on over 80 movies in the last three years.
Last week at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, four films Molinare had worked on were screened, including Wall to Wall’s first feature and critically acclaimed Sundance 08 Winner, Man on Wire.
The Molinare directors first traveled to Mumbai in mid-2006 to begin talks with Century and tour their facilities. The two organizations have worked on a number of projects together since then. Milne says, "Having sought to rebuild this iconic company, which this year celebrates its 35th anniversary, we believe we’ve found the right partner for Molinare’s next phase of growth."
In December 2007 Century purchased the film visual effects company, Men from Mars, based at Ealing Studios. Its post production arm, Pixion, is one of India’s fastest growing facilities and will have over 1000 staff by the end of 2008.
Pixion CEO Naresh Malik commented, "We are delighted with our new partner because we both have a similar dream, and we were very impressed with what Steve and Mark have achieved over the last four years. With Century Communications’ backing, I am sure Molinare will have a very exciting future."
Both Steve and Mark remain substantial shareholders and there will be no change in the operational management of the company. With its main theme ‘Believe in Storytelling’ Molinare remains committed to its three core specialties of Drama, Documentary and Feature Film.
