Constantin Film and Michael Steiner plan future collaborations

Bernhard Burgener, CEO of Germany’s Constantin Film, had set up the Swiss production arm at the beginning of this year to take over Steiner’s production company Kontraproduktion and provide a cash injection of over CHF 3m to enable Sennentuntschi to be completed. The theatrical release of the mystery-horror-western, which had had a troubled production history before Burgener appeared as “a knight in shining armour” (according to Steiner), is being prepared by Walt Disney for Oct 14. 

 

As part of the rescue package, an output deal — initially until 2013 — has been struck by Burgener with Steiner and his creative team of composer Adrian Fruttiger and screenwriters Michael Sauter and David Keller.

 

Speaking to Swiss National Television SF’s online news service sf.tageschau.tv ahead of the world premiere of Sennentuntschi last night, Burgener said: “the goal is to produce a Swiss feature film each year. The first screenplays already exist. But I don’t want say anything further yet.”

 

Meanwhile, in an interview with the Swiss business magazine Bilanz, Burgener indicated he was aiming for 150,000 admissions for Sennentuntschi in Swiss cinemas, while director Steiner said to the Sunday newspaper Sonntag last weekend that “if the film reaches between 100,000 and 200,000 spectators in Switzerland, that would be a nice success. I would be disappointed with under 100,000.”