Pierce Brosnan's Irish production outfit DreamTime, veteran producer Wayne Duband's Screen Corporation Limited (SCL), France's TF 1 and Ireland's Mc Films are being lined up as production partners for the new Euros 50m private film fund SunriseMediaStar.

Sunrise's managing director Nadia Saleh plans to provide financing for between six to seven feature films which could included two Irish DreamTime projects - Laurie Shearing and Riccardo de los Rios' sci-fi fantasy Life On Mars and Eugene Brady's coming of age tale Aiofe; TF 1's Balls (working title) and James Huth's live-action feature M based on Edgar P. Jacobs' Comic; SCL's historical drama Batavia, written by Andrew Lees and James Vernon; and Mc Films' production of Barry Devlin's romantic comedy Limo Man.

Private individuals will be invited to invest at least Euros 50,000 into the fund, which aims to reach a planned volume of Euros 50m, with an option to increase the ceiling to Euros 100m. In addition, Sunrise intends to reinvest any revenues up until 2005 so that an initial placement of Euros 50m could probably generate a total production investment of Euros 106m.

The fund will be advised by Saleh, former Warner Bros. executive Wayne Duband, world sales veteran Penny Wolf, TF 1's Akli Nouari and Leipzig-based studio facility Media City Atelier's (MCA) managing director Michael Becker.

In addition, Sunrise numbers MCA, TF 1, German postproduction house VCC Perfect Pictures, sound and dubbing facility Studio Funk and world sales agent Cine-International among its strategic partners