Jeanette Buerling’s LA-based finance and production house Magnet Media Group has closed a three-film deal with effects company Prime Focus and will shoot all three in Germany in association with MMC Studios.

Buerling, currently producing the Halle Berry thriller Dark Tide, is eager to grow Magnet’s German imprint and to that end has launched a German hub and hired Frank Wegerhoff to head production.

First to go under the Prime Focus deal is the $30m futuristic thriller O2. Prime Focus has previously worked on Tron: Legacy and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, among others.

“It is a major focus of Magnet Media to produce films in Germany,” Buerling told Screen. [Wegerhoff’s] solid production background makes him a valuable asset to our team. Prime Focus’ infrastructure and talent make them a perfect partner and the films we are co-producing with them are the ideal vehicle to launch our German office division and further enhance our global presence.”

“We have been providing visual effects services for a long time to producers, directors, networks and major studios,” Prime Focus Global Business Development in Films’ Shail Shah said. “Now is the time to become more involved on the content side of the business.”