Lava Bear Films is a production and film financing company producing three to five projects annually that are specifically designed for the global marketplace. The company was founded in 2011 by

David Linde David Linde (born February 8, 1960) is the CEO of the Los Angeles, California-based film production company Participant, a position to which he was appointed in October 2015. Prior to his role at Participant, Linde had leading roles at Universa ...

who served as CEO until October, 2015 when

Participant Media Participant Media, LLC is an American Film industry, film production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment intended to spur social change. The company finances and co-produces film and television content, as well as ...

announced that Linde joined the company as its CEO. Lava Bear’s development slate of over fifteen titles and upcoming productions will continue to be overseen by Tory Metzger, President and Partner of Lava Bear, with Linde’s support during his transition. The company's creative partners include

David S. Goyer David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including ''Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (film), Nick Fury: Agent ...

David Michôd David Michôd ( ; born 30 November 1972) is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is best known for directing the critically acclaimed crime drama '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010) and dystopian drama '' The Rover'' (2014). ...

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...

Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the ''Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...

Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve (; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) for Best Direction, winning for '' Maelström'' in 2001, '' Polytechnique'' in 2009, ''Incendies ...

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

, and

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

and

Jonás Cuarón Jonás Cuarón Elizondo (born 1983) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, editor and cinematographer. He is the son of the Academy Award-winner Alfonso Cuarón by the latter's first wife, Mariana Elizondo. Jonás Cuarón studied ...

, among many others. With

Reliance Entertainment Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd is an Indian media and entertainment company. It is a division of Reliance Group, handling its media and entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The company was founded on 15 February 20 ...

as its primary equity investor, Lava Bear also maintains a network of direct output partnerships in several key territories around the globe with the following companies serving to complete its worldwide distribution and financing platform: *

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

(eOne) (Canada, the UK and Benelux; Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg) * Italia Films (Middle East, Greece and Turkey) *

Nordisk Film Nordisk Film A/S (lit. "Nordic Film") is a Danish entertainment company established in 1906 in Copenhagen by filmmaker Ole Olsen. It is the fourth-oldest film studio in the world behind the Gaumont Film Company, Pathé, and Titanus ...

(Nordic Countries: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland) * Revolutionary Releasing (Eastern Europe, excluding Russia) * Sun Distribution (Latin America) * Tele München Group (later

Leonine Holding Leonine Holding GmbH, LLC, formerly Tele München Group, LLC (German: Tele München Gruppe; TMG), is a media company based in Munich. The activities of Leonine include trade in licenses, investments in television and radio stations and distributio ...

) (Germany and Austria, with certain rights in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein) * Reliance Entertainment (India)

Films in development & production

In November 2013, Jason Zada was signed by Lava Bear and

to helm the Goyer-produced film '' The Forest'' starring Natalie Dormer and Michael Huisman.

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

picked up the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n distribution rights to the film, which acts as Zada's

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directorial debut and was released on January 8, 2016. Lava Bear is also produced '' Shut In'' with EuropaCorp distributing worldwide and starring Naomi Watts; and on director Sammo Hung’s '' The Bodyguard'' starring Sammo Hung and Chinese superstar Andy Lau. Lava Bear is also a producer, with 21 Laps and FilmNation, on Denis Villeneuve's ''

Arrival Arrival(s) or The Arrival(s) may refer to: Film * ''The Arrival'' (1991 film), an American science fiction horror film * ''The Arrival'' (1996 film), an American-Mexican science fiction horror film * ''Arrival'' (film), a 2016 American science ...

'', starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker and distributed domestically by Paramount Pictures. The company, with Esperanto Kino and Itaca Films, premiered Jonás Cuarón’s

Desierto ''Desierto'' is a 2015 thriller drama film co-written and directed by Jonás Cuarón. It was produced by Cuarón together with his father Alfonso and his uncle Carlos, and distributed by STXfilms. The film stars Gael García Bernal (also execu ...

as a Special Presentation at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Film production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies established in 2011 2011 establishments in California