Germany's VCL Film + Medien has announced that it is advanced negotiations with an unnamed US major to have part of its feature film repertoire distributed by the studio through an independent label.

In a statement, the video/DVD distributor-license trader stated that this deal "would give [..] the urgently needed liquidity to acquire new films and further help the process of stabilisation."

Last week, VCL forecast sales of between Euros 25m-30m for the current fiscal year, with major contributions from the video-on-demand market, the DVD boom and a more intensive exploitation of the Group's rights portfolio.

News of a possible joint venture with a US major comes as VCL announced that its present CFO Christian F. Bennhold plans to take over the post of deputy chairman of the supervisory board once his contract expires next month.

His replacement of Rudolf Wiesmeier on the supervisory board would be passed at the annual shareholders' meeting in July and a new CFO is to be appointed soon "to ensure a smooth transition."