New JV to Focus on Doc Market

MUNICH, October 6:
Autentic, a new joint venture between Beta Film and Patrick Hoerl, the former
CEO of Discovery Germany, will focus on the sales and acquisition of
documentaries, as well as co-productions with international partners.

Autentic’s portfolio will
feature projects targeted at prime time, along with special documentaries and
individual programs for smaller target groups. Its content is aimed at traditional
television broadcasters as well as SVOD. Autentic is being launched at MIPCOM
and will present its first catalogue in spring 2009.

Hoerl, the general manager of Autentic, said: "I cannot imagine a
better partner for this enterprise than Jan Mojto's Beta Film. Considering the
many new ways there are to reach viewers, it is more important than ever to
have an exceptionally competent distributor. Beta Film stands for top-quality
contents for a broad public as well as for very limited target groups. This
fits exactly with what we want to do."

"His profound experience with documentaries and special-interest
channels, not least through his position as head of Discovery, makes Patrick
Hoerl our ideal partner for this project," added Beta’s CEO, Jan Mojto.
"The sale of complete special-interest channels to network carriers and
communication firms around the world is an interesting model with great
potential for a large, internationally active firm such as Beta Film."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski