Jospeh Hobel has been named chief operating officer of Infinity International Entertainment, Michael Ovohen's LA-based production and financing outfit which has a non-exclusive deal with German production fund Cinerenta to supervise its funds for US production.

Hobel will be based in the LA headquarters of the company and report to president William B Vince. He will be responsible for general management and business affairs as well as overseeing the physical production operations of the company.

With Cinerenta financing, Infinity will develop 12 features a year, three of which will be produced by Infinity with another nine to be produced by Cinerenta; in addition Infinity will produce and finance a number of titles independent of the production fund.

Infinty is currently handling Cinerenta films including Evelyn and Knight's Castle being handled internationally by Overseas FilmGroup and Frailty which is a Lions Gate production.

Hobel is the former president and COO of the Motion Picture Bond Company (MPB) where he started in 1995 as CFO. He was appointed president and COO in 1996 when he became a consultant for Cinerenta. He began his career in network television as an associate producer and production manager.