Retailer Tesco moves into film production

The first film to come out of the partnership will Paris Connections, which is due to start shooting in France later this month and has been specially adapted by author Jackie Collins from her 1999 bestseller LA Connections. Harley Cokeliss (pictured) will direct the film about a journalist who becomes embroiled in an investigation into the murder of a group of size zero models in Paris.

London and LA-based outfit Amber Entertainment, which was created in 2009 by New Line Cinema veterans Ileen Maisel, Mark Ordestky and Jane Fleming, is producing the film, which will go straight to DVD and will be sold exclusively in Tesco, both in its stores and online.

Also in line for production will be titles by other best selling authors including Dick Frances, Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman and Judy Blume as well as three more “Connections” films with Jackie Collins.

“We created Amber Entertainment to celebrate and expand the impact of authors and their stories across the ever-growing new media landscape,” said Ileen Maisel, co-founder of Amber Entertainment “This partnership is exactly the sort of new paradigm for delivering content to audiences that is the future of the entertainment industry,” she added.

Tesco’s entertainment director Rob Salter added: “This ground-breaking relationship with Amber Entertainment is a significant development for Tesco and the first of its kind for the industry.”