A portrait of Sales Company Global Constellation

“It’s a really exciting new chapter for me to be operating on a more global and multiterritorial level,” says Fabien Westerhoff about last year’s merger of his sales outfit Film Constellation with Munich-based Global Screen in a new incarnation as Global Constellation. “Having founded Film Constellation a decade ago I had reached a point where I was now looking to take it to the next level and scale,” Westerhoff explains. “That was something which would have been difficult on my own, so when the opportunity arose with Vuelta to join a larger group that shared our vision, it felt like the right strategic move to make that growth possible.”

“Combining theatrical and TV sales in one company is quite rare,” says Ulrike Schröder, managing director of Global Constellation’s TV division. “That’s unusual in the industry in general and, if you look at Vuelta itself, we are the only one of its sales companies with this combined knowledge and expertise.”

“Having this 360 degree approach enables us to carry projects through all of the exploitation windows,” Fabien suggests. “It means that filmmakers can see us as a one-stop shop where we have the capacity to greenlight films and help local talent to reach a global audience.” Vuelta as a studio brings together companies working across distribution, production, and international sales within a single mutually supportive ecosystem. As Fabien explains, “this structure allows each company to benefit from close collaboration while maintaining its own focus and expertise.”

“Another key advantage is access to the parent company’s centralised support services for production financing, financial controlling and producer reporting.”

“It’s what every sales company dreams of - to have a steady influx of content from the in-house production pipeline potentially being available to us,” Ulrike observes. These synergies have already resulted, for example, in Global Constellation picking up two titles co-produced by its Norwegian sister company Scanbox to handle sales: the box-office hit historical war thriller BATTLE OF OSLO, and the TV series HENKI, based on the true story of a young gay man’s fight for justice after being fired for disclosing that he was infected with the HIV. And there has also been a fruitful exchange of information about new projects between Global Constellation and Vuelta Germany, Vuelta’s German theatrical distribution arm, with the two companies both picking up Ulrike Tony Vahl’s directorial debut CRUX and Leonie Krippendorff’s love story PEELED SKIN. “We aim to be at the crossroads where art meets commerce,” says Fabien about the range of films being offered by Global Constellation in its line-up with an emphasis on discovery and audience engagement.

To begin with, there are cast-led English-language packages such as the runaway romance QUEEN OF THE FALLS, starring Pamela Anderson and Guy Pearce, and John Michael McDonagh’s horror thriller FEAR IS THE RIDER with Abbey Lee. A second strand encompasses animation and family entertainment which had always been a particular strength of Global Screen’s portfolio as a market leader in Germany - with such feature films such as MISSION GRANNY, THE LAST WHALE SINGER and THE LAST DINOSAUR on its books. And, as a third strand, the focus is placed on European auteur talent with a slant towards German-language productions.

Apart from CRUX and PEELED SKIN, Global Constellation is also handling international sales for veteran German director Doris Dörrie’s new feature film MRS WINKLER LEAVES THE HOUSE which wrapped shooting in northern Germany at the beginning of this January. Meanwhile, the company’s first time at Berlin’s European Film Market in its new incarnation will see it showcasing two new titles having their world premieres in the Berlinale’s Panorama section: Sophie Heldman’s second feature film THE EDUCATION OF JANE CUMMING, produced by Cologne-based Heimatfilm, and French-Canadian filmmaker Jérémy Comte’s debut feature, the thriller PARADISE, co-produced with Westerhoff’s French-based production arm Constellation Production. In addition, the fantasy drama TV series ALL HEROES ARE BASTARDS, which is being sold by the TV division, has been selected for this year’s edition of the Berlinale Series Market.

Martin Blaney