New Line Cinema has again joined forces with German private fund specialist Hannover Leasing (HL) to raise up to Euros 100m for a raft of international English-language features.

The latest fund, MERADIN Produktions GmbH & Co. KG, which is being co-initiated by HL with the Stuttgart-based financial investment company DaimlerChrysler Services Structured Finance, has invited private German individuals to invest a minimum of Euros 20,000 to initially raise Euros 50m to finance, produce and exploit one or several international features.

A general assembly of investors will be held on December 18 at Hannover Leasing's headquarters in Pullach near Munich.

One project has already been identified to be submitted for consideration by the investors: John Q director Nick Cassavetes' father-son comedy drama Five Dollars A Day, written by Neal and Tippi Dobrofsky and to be shot in Austin (Texas), Los Angeles and Mexico City.

According to the fund prospectus, if the overall production costs of the selected films are less than the investment volume raised, the remaining equity can be invested into the p&a costs of the supported projects. On the other hand, if the films' production costs are higher than the volume raised, DaimlerChrysler Services will have the option to take out a credit line for the missing amount.

As part of the fund's structure, New Line Cinema's 100% subsidiary Avery Pix, Inc. will serve as the MERADIN's production service company, while Los Angeles-based media manager and lawyer Richard Reiner has been appointed to supervise the productions on behalf of the fund, liaise between the fund and Avery Pix, Inc. and advise on legal issues.

To date, Hannover Leasing has launched ten media funds with an investment volume of Euros 993m and had previously worked with New Line on the $150m financing of the final part of The Lord Of Rings trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, which opens internationally next month.