Mumbai: Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures will cease operations; it was announced by Warner Bros president and COO Alan Horn.
"With New Line now a key part of Warner Bros., we’re able to handle films across the entire spectrum of genres and budgets without overlapping production, marketing and distribution infrastructures," said Horn. "After much painstaking analysis, this was a difficult decision to make, but it reflects the reality of a changing marketplace and our need to prudently run our businesses with increased efficiencies."
Bob Berney has served as President, Picturehouse and Polly Cohen as President, Warner Independent Pictures. The management teams from both companies will be meeting in the weeks ahead with executives from the Warner Bros. Pictures Group to determine the status of projects in various stages of development and acquisition, as well as distribution of already-dated films.
"Working with Polly and her team at Warner Independent has been great for me personally and a valuable experience for the company," said Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov. "I’d like to thank everyone at Warner Independent for their passion and dedication to independent films and filmmakers. They were involved with some very important films and helped further the talents and careers of a number of writers and directors, and between Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line, we’ll continue to nurture those relationships and produce those types of films."
"Bob is an incredibly talented film executive and made Picturehouse an important player in the world of independent film in a relatively short time," said Horn. "I’m extremely grateful to Bob and the entire team at Picturehouse. Their accomplishments and the films they created speak volumes about their dedication to and understanding of the art of film."
Upcoming Picturehouse films include Mongol (6 June), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (in limited release 20 June; wide release on 2 July) and The Women (12 September). Warner Independent’s upcoming releases include Towelhead (8 August) and Slumdog Millionaire (in limited release starting 7 November).
