The launch of two new film funds this week underlines the growing gulf in fortunes between Germany's high flying private media funds and the struggling Neuer Markt media outfits.

Duesseldorf-based fund manager GVP has launched its second Mediastream fund to raise Euro 141.4m for the financing of two Universal Pictures productions - Jonathan Demme's thriller The Truth About Charlie, starring Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton, and Shawn Levy's children's comedy Pay For Play, with Franky Muniz and Amanda Bynes - which are scheduled to be completed by early 2002.

Neuer Markt-listed media concern F.A.M.E. is planning to hitch up with German media fund Apollo Media to access private equity for its productions.

According to F.A.M.E. board member Michael Bischoff, the private investors' money will be used to back "international English language productions developed in-house by F.A.M.E as well as for third party projects The only condition is that the projects have a potential to be distributed on the international market. We are not talking here about German language features or TV movies".

Earlier at Cannes, Bischoff indicated that F.A.M.E. was looking to raise some $17.5m (DM 40m) in private financing this year, initially within an existing fund structure and then via a separate dedicated fund launched on F.A.M.E.'s behalf.

The current boom has been helped by the Federal Finance Ministry's recent Media Ruling giving greater clarification on how private media funds should be structured in order to be greenlighted by the tax authorities.

Mediastream's first production fund was launched last autumn by GVP to collect a total $65.4m (DM 149.2m) for the financing of Rob Cohen's action adventure picture The Fast And The Furious, starring Michelle Rodriguez and Paul Walker.

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