Lithuanian Film Studios has announced a long-termcommitment to co-finance select projects that are produced at its studio.

To launch the new strategy, the studio has partneredwith Los Angeles-based Little Film Company to finance, produce and distribute theaction thriller War of the Dead.

Finnish director Marko Makilaaksowill start shooting the film in November in Lithuania. The film is beingproduced in association with Double Star Films.

The Little Film Company will handle worldwide salesand will present the project to buyers at Cannes.

The film is about a captain leading a platoon ofAmerican and Finnish soldiers attacking an enemy bunker in the arctic of theRussian territory, who discover that soldiers they previously killed might bereturning from the dead.

"The studio was planning to begin its strategy forfinancing films in a few years," said Lithuanian Film Studios CEO Ramunas Skikas. "But when we cameacross War of the Dead, and realizedhow talented Marko is, we decided that this would be the perfect project for usto initiate our strategy, and we jumped at the opportunity to be involved withthis film. There will always be an audience for great action thrillers and thisone is sure to be unique in its story line, action sequences, locations andcinematography."

Added Little Film Company co-president Robbie Little:"We are not only excited to be involved in this very commercial and belovedgenre feature, but also thrilled to be a part of Lithuanian Film Studios'vision to start taking the leap forward into financing."

The deal was negotiated by Barr Potter, CEO of MediaWide Consultants, the studio's representative in North America, and Robbie Little forThe Little Film Company.

Lithuanian Film Studios, established in 1954 and opento foreign productions since 1991, has recently hosted shoots for Elizabeth I, Highlander - the Source andDungeons and Dragons.