Megan Ellison’s sales chief is joining Marc Butan’s MadRiver Pictures as a partner and will launch the international sales arm in Berlin.

Potsdamer Platz

The new division will handle sales on all MadRiver films and those from Christopher Woodrow’s Vendian Entertainment, which has made a strategic investment in MadRiver Pictures following the $30m revolving equity investment it committed to when the company launched last May.

MadRiver’s upcoming slate includes Burr Steers’ new release Pride & Prejudice & Zombies starring Lily James, John Hillcoat’s imminent crime thriller Triple 9 with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck and Woody Harrelson, and James Gray’s The Lost City Of Z starring Charlie Hunnam.

The company is in pre-production on Peter Landesman’s Felt, which was announced during the AFM last November and stars Liam Neeson. Sierra/Affinity handles sales on that title.

Fox will continue to run the Annapurna International label, whose titles include Richard Linklater’s upcoming SXSW opener Everybody Wants Some, Todd Solondz’ Sundance selection Wiener-Dog that Amazon Studios acquired for North America, Ana Lily Amirpour’s The Bad Batch, Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women, and Columbia Pictures’ wide summer animation release Sausage Party written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

“It has been an extraordinary four years with Annapurna and I am honoured that Megan is affording me the opportunity to dually embark on an exciting new venture while continuing to represent her diverse and intelligent slate of films,” said Fox.

“I cherish my relationship with the Annapurna team, whom I deeply respect and have come to think of as my family.”

“Kim has a proven track record working with prominent filmmakers and talent on films including Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, David O. Russell’s American Hustle and Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher,” said Butan.

“Her experience, our experience working together and her deep buyer relationships made her the natural choice as we build out MadRiver’s financing and distribution capabilities.”

Prior to Annapurna International, Fox ran international sales at Inferno International and QED International.