Potsdam-based Vif International Films has launched its fourth tranche to raise Euro 50m from private individuals each investing a minimum of Euro 25,000 for the financing of internationally marketable feature film and television projects

Among the projects set to benefit from this latest Vif fund are Broken Silence director Wolfgang Panzer's new feature Alexandra, the psychological thriller The Stare which already has France's Isabelle Huppert attached for the lead, and the comedy Who I Did On My Summer Vacation with Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Ackroyd.

Vif 4 also aims to back further episodes of the internationally successful fantasy series Myth Quest as well as the new series Ciao Diabolo which is described as a combination of fantasy, action and comedy.

To date, Vif International Films has invested over DM 150m in such projects as Peter Sehr's Silver Leopard-winning Love The Hard Way, Renny Bartlett's Eisenstein, Sheri Elwood's Deeply, the cloak and dagger adventure animation series Cartouche - Prince Of The Streets and the TV thriller The Vector File, starring Casper Van Dien and Catherine Oxenburg.

Meanwhile, the Internet-based cinema marketing platform Kinokasse.de has joined with the managers of the Stuttgart-based Kinostar cinema chain to launch a new private film fund - Kinostar Filmproduktion - to raise Euro 7.5m for the co-production of the English-language features Bounty Hunters and The Bomb Squad.

According to German press reports, Kinostar is in talks with Brad Krevoy's Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA), Mark Burman's Tsunami Entertainment and Mark Damons MDP Worldwide to serve as the fund's international partners.

Kinokasse.de has already been collaborating with Kinostar through its online ticket service where the cinema chain's clients are able to book and pay for their tickets via the Internet. In addition, Kinokasse.de has been involved in the field of private film investment through its MovieChip initiative which offers interested investors and cinemagoers the chance to participate in new films and have a share in the film's later revenues.

The holders of the so-called "MovieChip" have access through a dedicated club area to continuous information about the status of production, the "making of" film and the present value of the MovieChip Kinokasse.de draws on the knowhow of Karlsruhe-based FIMA Film- und Fernsehproduktion who raised private equity investment for the production of Hardy Martins' action adventure feature Cascadeur in 1998.