Berlin production house Hope & Glory Pictures International (HGPI) has opened a London-based outpost.

"We have set up the office in London since 95% of our projects are in the English language. The move is also a reflection of the company's development over the last three years through our work with UK companies and insight into British film financing instruments", HGPI's managing director Raphael Socha told Screendaily.

"My Hope & Glory partner, creative producer Anja Padel and me will now divide our time equally between the two bases", Socha explained. "The Film Council has indicated that it is very keen to work with us."

HGPI, which served last year as co-producer on Emily Young's Kiss Of Life, has a number of feature projects lined up for production over the next two years.

First one set to roll this summer is Danish filmmaker Peter Flinth's Euros5.5m-6m espionage thriller Exposed which is based on Leif Davidsen's best-seller Limes Photograph and will star Peter Gantzler (Italian For Beginners) and German actress Heike Makatsch (Love Actually).

HPGI will act as German co-producer alongside Denmark's Angel Films and Easy Film and a Spanish partner.

A winter 2003 start is planned for shooting of Three Green Commodores which is being structured as a German-UK-Australian co-production with Simon Foster's Covent Garden Films and Saving Grace's Torsten Leschley as executive producer.

The $ 4.5m Australian outback-set romantic comedy will be directed by Dominick Reyntiens who previously made Inside Outside Lydia's Head with Foster.

A third project for spring 2004 is How To Be An American which has been developed with German actor Heino Ferch (The Seagull's Laughter) in mind to play the lead. The screenplay for the romantic comedy is currently undergoing a re-write by Los Angeles-based screenwriters.

HGPI was created last year as part of the restructuring of Hope & Glory to concentrate more on the production of internationally marketable feature films and TV productions.