The deal was inked by Lumiere founder and CEO Marc Beauchamps, Joshua Skurla who also recently joined Lumiere as an investor, and Infinity FCS founder Aanand Mahendroo. The partners were brought together by former EuropaCorp artistic advisor Francois da Silva who recently established boutique consultancy Novo Films.
Lumiere and Infinity FCS aim to act as a bridge between the two BRIC territories where they are located, and will start by collaborating on Hong Kong director Yu Lik-wai's upcoming Plastic City. Infinity will bond the film while Lumiere will distribute in Brazil and possibly co-produce.
Scheduled to start shooting in Sao Paolo in Feb next year, Plastic City is being set up as a co-production between Chinese director Jia Zhangke's Xstream Films, Brazil's Gullane Films and Japanese partners. The story follows Chinese and Japanese immigrant communities living in Sao Paolo. Yu Lik-wai has credits including Love Will Tear Us Apart and All Tomorrow's Parties.
Formerly Brazil 's leading indie distributor, with an output deal with Miramax, Lumiere has been quiet for the past two years following a shareholder fall-out. However, the company has been revitalised after securing investment from Infinity, New York-based SCGI Financial Partners, Skurla and others. The new investors are now lining up a $10m slate of productions.
Founded by Mahendroo and Mehool Parekh, Infinity FCS is India's only indigenous film completion guarantor and is fully reinsured by India's largest public sector reinsurer, General Insurance Corporation (GIC).
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