Hedmans depart UK's Koch Media

UK distributor Koch Media today confirmed to Screendaily the departure of father and son duo Thomas and Nik Hedman from the company.

The outfit is now planning to hire a new head of acquisitions but Hedman père will consult on a couple of existing slate titles.

Koch Media bought the Hedman-owned distribution company G2 in 2012 after which industry veteran Thomas Hedman became Koch’s business development director - film (Northern Europe), based in London.

In November Screen announced the addition of Ben Luxford, formerly head of theatrical distribution at Curzon Artificial Eye, to the company as head of distribution from January 2014.

Chriscilla Philogene, who formerly headed up LoveFilm’s brand marketing division, joined the expanding and ambitious distributor as head of theatrical marketing.

MD of Koch Media Northern Europe, Craig McNicol, commented on the departures: “We are grateful to Thomas and Nik for their support and guidance in setting up Koch Media as a new and successful theatrical film distributor. The end of their consultancy contract means we are sourcing a new head of acquisitions, and hope to make an announcement about the new appointment very shortly.”

At launch in January 2013, Hedman père told Screen that the company wanted to eventually release 25 films a year into UK cinemas.

Early Koch acquisitions included Arbitrage, Red Dawn and Parkland. Upcoming on the slate are psychological horror Magic Magic, black comedy Cheap Thrills and UK pre-buy Hector and the Search for Happiness.

Koch UK is a subsidiary of entertainment group Koch Media, one of German’s leading independent media companies.