Martin Barab has been appointed president of Bauer MartinezStudios' production arm Lucky 50 Productions.

Barab formerly served as the company's general counsel and priorto that had been the president of Bauer Martinez Distribution before it wasrenamed Bauer Martinez Entertainment (BME).

He will work alongside BME chairman and chief executive officer PhilippeMartinez and assume day-to-day supervision of production and development,allowing Martinez to focus on producing approximately three mainstream titlesfor release each year.

Bauer Martinez recently completed post-production on two picturesthat will open in 2007, Amy Heckerling's romantic comedy I Could Never Be YourWoman starring MichellePfeiffer, Paul Rudd and Tracey Ullman, and thriller The Flock starring Richard Gere and Claire Danes.

'I've known and worked with Marty for years and there is noone better suited to run Lucky 50,' Martinez said. 'He brings strongdealmaking skills, incredible industry relationships and a wealth of knowledgeto his new role, plus this centralises our production operations under theleadership of one strong executive.'

'My runningLucky 50 will make for a much more efficient operation, freeing Philippe tofocus on creative issues and produce additional movies for BME todistribute,' Barab added. 'We have a wonderful slate of projects indevelopment and Philippe and I plan on getting a number of them in front of thecameras by early 2007.'

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