Planeta 2010 - the start-up media division of publishing giant Planeta - is seeking international co-production partners for the feature film which will mark it's entry into the production market, Avatar.

An English-language futuristic action story from up-and-coming director Elio Quiroga, Avatar is planned for an autumn 2001 shoot on a budget upwards of a whopping $15m. European and American actors are also being considered for the film, which will require complicated special effects.

Avatar is a co-production with Imposible Films, the new Catalan start-up outfit of Marta Esteban, formerly of Krampack producer Messidor Films.

Emanuela Spinetta, Planeta 2010's newly appointed Madrid-based production head, said Avatar will mark one of two feature films planned out of the start-up division next year. The other, an IMAX project, is in early stages of development.

"Right now we are planning two films for the first year, but this could grow' our intention is to do more," Spinetta said, adding that the firm plans to originate its own projects as well as enter into local and international productions. "We're not ruling anything out."

Planeta 2010 will handle local distribution on all its productions. The firm entered the feature film acquisitions market earlier this year. It also currently produces two thematic channels for DTT platform Quiero TV: special interest channel Beca, and travel channel GeoPlaneta.

The Barcelona-based Planeta 2010, headed by Aurora Cata, houses all of the publishing group's media interests, which include a 15% share in Quiero TV, a 10% stake in free-to-air broadcaster TeleCinco, and a 14.8% share in thematic content provider Canales Tematicos