The recent amendments to Germany's Media Ruling on the running of private media funds (ScreenDaily.com, August 2003) have claimed their first victim with the Ludwigsburg-based CP Medien fund undertaking a corporate restructuring.

In a press statement, the fund, which has supported such projects as Jean-Jacques Annaud's Enemy At The Gates and Robert Altman's The Company in the past, explained that it would be concentrating in future on the management of the existing funds and stop being involved in the marketing of the placements.

"The regulated active involvement of investors as well as the financial authorities' unresolved interpretation of the requirements needed for keeping the producer status is leading to a series of still unanswered questions. In the light of the Media Ruling, CP Medien also sees certain difficulties at the moment in negotiating with the studios about interesting co-productions. Here the partners first have to develop new concepts of collaboration corresponding to the requirements of the Ruling's amendments."

As part of the restructuring, board member Roland Pellegrino left CP Medien on September 30 to set up his own fund marketing outfit to be mainly involved in the organisation of private placements for the international film industry.

He will nevertheless still be linked to CP Medien through a contract as consultant. A second board member Ehrhard van Straaten has also stepped down from the board and terminated his consultant's contract, leaving Horst Benzing as CP Medien/Copro Media's sole board member.

In addition, the subsidiary CP International Film Productions, which has managed CP Medien's production activities in Europe and internationally , will be moving its headquarters from Munich to Ludwgsburg, and talks are currently underway with LA-based subsidiary Capella Films on how it will have to adapt to the group's new structure.