Spanish mini-major Filmax Ent. will launch an online megastore to sell films and music worldwide, according to Variety. The studio behind such animated features such as Nocturna, The Hairy Tooth Fairy, El Cid, The Legend and the upcoming Donkey Xote is expected to launch the site by the spring of 2008. This portal will host titles from the studio’s 4,000 film catalog as well as third-party projects. .
“We will connect all the fantasy genre fans around the world,” Filmax chairman Julio Fernandez told Daily Variety at the San Sebastian Film Festival on Friday. “In the last two to three years we’ve reduced drastically our acquisitions budget. We used to invest $40 million a year in film acquisitions. These days, we prefer to invest that in production,” said Fernandez.
Filmax recently announced that it had put through a Euros 20 million ($27 million) capital increase, paid for by Filmax’s shareholders. The increase forms part of a strategic plan over the next three years, which sees the company raising north of $135 million in new investment. The store site will also allow music downloads.
Toon fans are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Filmax’s new animated feature Nocturna around the world. After premiering the beautifully designed 2D-animated movie at the Venice Film Festival last month, the studio is slowly rolling out the picture in various territories in the Europe. No U.S. distributor has yet been named for the project, which is a whimsical auteur-driven picture directed by Adria Garcia and Victor Maldonado. For more info, visit www.filmaxanimation.com/films/30.htm
