Plan B Entertainment is launching a new micro budget film finance initiative to produce lower cost films.
The company has tapped veteran film producer and acquisition/production executive Caddy Vanasirikul to lead the effort. In her new role, Vanasirikul will oversee Plan B’s forthcoming slate of micro budget films.
The first film under Plan B’s micro budget initiative is “Olmo,” from Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke. Recently wrapping production in New Mexico under an interim agreement, the bilingual coming-of-age story follows 14-year-old Olmo, who cares for his father suffering from multiple sclerosis.
When Olmo’s beautiful neighbor Nina Sandoval invites him to a party, his world is turned upside down. “Olmo” was co-written by Eimbcke and Vanesa Garnica, and produced by Erendira Núñez Larios of Teorema along with Michel Franco. Eimbcke also directs.
Eimbcke made his feature directorial debut with “Temporada de patos (Duck Season),” which premiered at Cannes and won the Ariel Award for Best Film. His follow-up, “Lake Tahoe,” took home multiple prizes at the Berlin International Film Festival.
The micro budget film finance initiative was established through Plan B’s recent partnership with Mediawan, an independent European entertainment studio.
“By raising the facility, we can now offer a form of additional support to filmmakers throughout the process of seeing their vision make it to the screen,” Plan B Entertainment’s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner said in a statement. “With the very talented Caddy leading our micro budget efforts, and with Fernando Eimbcke who we have wanted to work with since ‘Temporada de patos,’ we are off to a strong start.”
Pierre-Antoine Capton, CEO and Co-Founder of Mediawan added: “Mediawan is delighted to accompany and support this new strategic development of Plan B. The heart of our strategy is to bring to life a multitude of stories told by talented artists and to support their vision by creating the best conditions to keep our Ips within the group. This micro-budget financing initiative, carried out with the expertise of the Plan B team and Caddy Vanasirikl, is an important concrete expression of this strategy,”
Deadline first reported the news.
