Susanne

SUSANNE BOHNET PRESS PORTFOLIO

ARTICLES • Arabian Business, January 3rd, 2009 • Albayan, December 18th 2008 • Khaleej Times, December 16th 2008 • Khaleej Times, December 15th 2008 •  Hollywood Reporter, December 14th 2008 • Film Venture Capital, December 14th 2008 • Hollywood Reporter, December 13th 2008

Reel time change Jennie Moore 16 December 2008 Susanne Bohnet hopes to change the Hollywood perception of Arabs through her work. Susanne Bohnet, former head of the US office for Equity Pictures, is in town this week to participate in the Dubai International Film Festival and prepare for the 2009 launch of her finance and distribution company, Serafini Releasing. The company’s administration and capital management will be based in Dubai, while its day-to-day business operations will be handled from L.A. The goal is to combine Bohnet’s Hollywood experience and resources with the amazing potential for growth of a place like Dubai to create a “strong strategic alliance.” Serafini Releasing will provide an alternative to the studio system, which Bohnet feels lacks transparency. The company aims to tap into Arab investment, but for Bohnet it is not just about fundraising. Her business model is based on accountability and her philosophy on “organic” exchange rather than “hand me your money.” According to Bohnet, “Wherever your money comes from, you have to develop a real presence and be accountable for who you are in business with and what kind of business you conduct.” Serafini Releasing will also bolster the Dubai film industry and, as Bohnet explains, “provide a platform for the great aspiring film makers in the region,” by exposing them to a wider audience. “Our world is very much driven by what we see on the big screen,” says Bohnet. Hollywood images of this region and its people have typically been negative ones. Bohnet hopes to change this, recognising the power of film to shift perceptions by “bringing people together.” “Films allow you to see people who are different from you” explains Bohnet, “but with the same desire for love and family, happiness and peace.” In this way, a company like Serafini Releasing and the relationship between Hollywood and Dubai it aims to forge, could embody DIFF’s vision of bridging cultures.

Who Holds the Purse? Preeti Kannan 15 December 2008 DUBAI - Arab governments have to play a significant role in backing production and distribution of Arab films, filmmakers and panellists at the Dubai International Film Festival said, on Sunday. The officials from the film world were attending an open discussion on the inputs into the industry with ‘Who holds the purse strings?’ being the theme. The producers and financiers, also called for a ‘pan-Arabic fund’ and co-production between countries in the region for marketing films made in the nascent industry, where distribution of films poses a major stumbling block. “It is absolutely necessary to create a Pan-Arabic fund similar to that in Europe and America. It is also imperative to develop co-production between Arab countries as an important step to improve the situation in the Arab world,” said Vincenzo Bugno, member of the programming committee of the Locarno Film Festival in Berlin. “Training is important for this region and people need to understand how financing would help the industry. It is not just easy to distribute Arab films in different countries, even in the country it is made,” Bugno, also an adviser and curator for several international film festivals. To secure finance for the films made here, Steffen Aumuller, executive producer of Hollywood films including Flashbacks of a Fool and Dark Streets, urged Arab filmmakers and producers to make a sound business plan that display professional ability and trust. “It is all about the product and what you offer. It is often lost in translation as filmmakers are creative people. “My advice to producers is talk to someone in the banking world and give a full fledged presentation showing strategy,” said Aumuller, who is based out of Bahrain. Screenwriter, Joslyn Barnes, who co-owns Louverture Films along with renowned actor, Danny Glover, observed that the media had done a ‘terrible job’ in informing people about the region. “People are terribly misinformed about this region. “Co-production in the region and between regions need to be supported. Solidarity is needed to create a talent base so actors can cross-over to other regions,” she said. Frederic Sichler, president of Rotana Films in Cairo, said that being one of the largest investors in Arabic films, particularly Egyptian cinema, there was money to invest in setting up studios in Arab countries. “It is a developing market from the television point of view. The backbone of media is TV. There is a new generation of talent here, who have mostly studied in the West. “People in the Arab world are well educated and have a new approach,” said Sichler adding that investors have to understand that they have to go back to the micro economy and be prepared to finance small budget films rather than just films that cost in the region of $200 million. Susanne Bohnet, executive producer for US-based Serafina Releasing, also stressed on the need for incentives from the government to support the fledgling industry. The Arab film industry, on the other hand, expressed anger at the lack of government initiative to help the fraternity. “Governments should be more aware and their intervention is necessary. We still rely on archaic ways of producing and distributing films. It is the government’s responsibility and duty to sustain the film industry. There are film funds in America and Europe up to $600 million. It is a shame that we do not even have a $10 million fund and that is appalling,” said Gabriel Khoury, MD and producer of Misr International Films in Egypt. “Countries have enough money to host numerous film festivals but not support the films,” pointed out another filmmaker in the audience.

Bohnet says U.S. No Longer the [Film] “Bully” Bohnet is getting money from places other than the U.S. and Europe.“To go to America and say, ‘I want money’ doesn’t work anymore,” Bohnet said. “America hasn’t woken up to the fact that it is no longer the bully anymore and that other places are becoming its equal.”UAE money continues to pour into cinema:An adaptation of the best-seller “Girls of Riyadh” and a biopic of cult 1960s author Khalil Gibran (”The Prophet”) are among projects German film-fund veteran Susanne Bohnet is developing as part of her new United Arab Emirates- and U.S.-based company, Serafina Releasing. Bohnet is in Dubai this week finalizing $100 million of financing from a mix of local companies and private individuals for Serafina, which will finance, produce and distribute feature films in partnership with a network of top-tier distribution companies in Europe and the Middle East. The company’s mandate includes the production of films to serve the Middle East marketplace that continues to expand with new theaters and a projected increase in demand for filmed entertainment. “There will be 600 million people under the age of 25 in the Gulf region by 2010, and there is a lack of content for them,” said Bohnet, who previously worked in Los Angeles for the German funds Equity Pictures and CineMedia. Her credits include the Pierce Brosnan starrer “Matador” and “The Hostage.” http://filmvc.com/?p=29

RADIO Zawya Radio Interview, December 14th 2008 http://www.zawya.com/radio/default.cfm/sidDE08121407485360533

Susanne Bohnet, President of new movie financing and distribution firm Serafini Releasing, discusses her plans to kickstart the Arab film industry.

TELEVISION CNBC Television Interview, December 14th 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIFNL_nWXws

CONTACT Susanne Bohnet 8265 Sunset Blvd. Suite 104 Los Angeles, CA 90046 Office: (323) 650-5033 [email protected]

Samira El-Hindi Business Development 8265 Sunset Blvd. Suite 104 Los Angeles, CA 90046 Office: (323) 650-5033 [email protected]