The Australian producers behind Clubland and the upcoming Elise, starring songstress Natalie Imbruglia, have formed a production company Goalpost Pictures Australia.
The outfit has UK sales agency and executive producers Goalpost Film as a minority shareholder.
Long-term partners Rosemary Blight, Ben Grant, Kylie du Fresne and Cass O'Connor are the principals in the new Australian company, which has a corresponding shareholding in Tristan Whalley and Nicki Parfitt's UK company.
'Having closer ties to and getting knowledge of the international sales arena will be extremely beneficial for us, as independents,' said Blight. The control of each company sat with the principal directors, she added.
'It (adopting the Goalpost name) reflects both entities having the same creative goals more than being representative of the voting share,' she said.
Whalley and Parfitt formed Goalpost in 2006 and Blight met them when financing Clubland, which went on to become their first film.
It sold very well at Sundance in 2007, including to Warner Bros for North America.
The UK pair already represented director James Bogle's Elise before this new deal was signed. They will be selling it at Cannes along with prison escape film, The Escapist, directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring Brian Cox and Joe Fiennes.
For the last few years the Australian producers have been part of the Essential Viewing Group, alongside producers Chris Hilton, Sonja Armstrong and Ian Collie.
Blight said this partnership had strengthened both production entities and made her and her colleagues recognise their creative goals. The dissolution of the group was not adversarial, she added.
Goalpost's production slate includes the operatic documentaryThe Eternity Man, to be directed by Julien Temple, and the second series of Lockie Leonard. There are projects in development that include directors Wayne Blair, Cherie Nowlan and Tony Tilse and writers Keith Thompson and Josh Wakely.
Australia's new producer offset is expected to encourage local producers to adopt a more international outlook.
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