Following the departureof Lisa Wilson to join Splendid Pictures, Franchise Pictures has hireddistribution veteran Mimi Steinbauer as its new president of internationaldistribution. She will be responsible for selling territorial rights for all ofFranchise's films as well as films produced by the company'sarthouse label Franchise Classics.

She will alsooversee the company's delivery and servicing departments and allcontracts and administration. Among the films she will be handling at AFM are TillDeath Do Us Part starringMichael Douglas, Ecks Vs Sever with Antonio Banderas and City By The Sea with Robert De Niro which will all bedistributed domestically by Franchise's studio partner Warner Bros.

Steinbauer wasformerly vice president, sales and distribution, at New Line Internationalwhere she has handled sales for films like Rush Hour 2 and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy since 2000.

Prior to NewLine, Steinbauer was senior vice president, marketing and distribution foranother Warner-partnered company Village Roadshow Pictures, where she oversawall distribution and marketing for all joint venture films, including TheMatrix, Analyze This andThree Kings.

Franchise bossesElie Samaha and Andrew Stevens, to whom Steinbauer will report, have spent thelast year solidifying the company's relationship with Warner Bros andhave scaled down their production to a handful of large-scale pictures a yearwhich Warner will oversee. The studio will also handle certain otherterritories on a regular basis including the UK and Latin America.