QED International is a Los Angeles-based independent film production studio, financier and international distributor. It is best known for financing and producing
District 9
''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zeala ...
,
Fury, and
Dirty Grandpa
''Dirty Grandpa'' is a 2016 American comedy film about a lawyer who drives his grandfather to Florida during spring break. The film was directed by Dan Mazer and written by John Phillips. It stars Robert De Niro and Zac Efron with Aubrey Plaza ...
.
History
Bill Block
William Hunt Block (born April 2, 1954) is an American film producer who has been CEO of Miramax since April 2017. His producing credits include '' W.'' (2008), ''District 9'' (2009), '' Fury'' (2014), '' Bad Moms'' (2016), '' Dirty Grandpa'' (201 ...
formed QED International in 2002 as CEO. The company is
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
-based.
Previously Bill Block was president at Lionsgate predecessor,
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...
and overseer of West Coast operations for
ICM. Paul Hanson was Chief Operating Officer in the time of the founding who was charge of film financing, production, and distribution.''
'' In 2006 John Friedberg joined as Vice President of International sales.
Under the executive management's oversight, the team at QED International from its founding as an indie film player to a slate partner in the 2010s decade, produced acclaimed films for the motion pictures industry including Neill Blomkamp's ''
District 9
''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zeala ...
'', Oliver Stone's
''W.'' and John Turturro's ''
Fading Gigolo
''Fading Gigolo'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed, written by, and starring John Turturro. The film, co-starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, Liev Schreiber and Eugenia Kuzmina premiered in the Special Pres ...
.
''
One of the acclaimed QED International films was ''
District 9
''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zeala ...
'' that released in 2009.
The film company discerned potential of an unpublished 2006 graphic novel,
Weta Workshop used as their film treatment for a science fiction film. The company became the producer of the film. At the 2007
AFM a record middle-eight figure deal was signed between
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
and QED International for the
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
film's distribution in all English-language territories (including North America), Russia, Italy, Korea and Portugal. The film was the directorial debut of
Neill Blomkamp
Neill Blomkamp (; born 17 September 1979) is a South African filmmaker. He employs a documentary-style, Hand-held camera, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated imagery, computer-gene ...
who co-wrote the script originally planned to be a ''Halo'' film with Terri Tatchell. The film was highly anticipated for its live-action plot. Shooting commenced in the spring 2007 in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. The film had a modest budget of $30 million. However the film was received with critical and commercial success with an opening of $37 million in USA on 14 August 2009 and total box office amounting to $211 million worldwide.
QED has also co-produced with Mann's Forward Pass company for 2011 film ''
Texas Killing Fields
The Texas Killing Fields is a 25-acre patch of land in League City, Texas situated a mile from Interstate Highway 45 and approximately 26 miles southeast of Houston. Since the early 1970s, 33 bodies of murder victims have been found along the I- ...
.''
In May 2012, Media Content Capital, an
Anton Lessine and Sasha Shapiro global media fund, gained a controlling interest in QED through QED Holdings with an eight figure investment.
QED International majority stake was now held by Media Content Capital (MCC). The organization is a private equity fund in charge of
finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
. Lessine and Shapiro are MCC's principal financiers.
The financial investment was concluded at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
with MCC representatives noting the risk mitigation approach from QED was one of the primary reasons for the investment plan. The arrangement would allow QED to produce and finance four to seven features annually.
One of the primary collaborators with QED International was actor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
. The actor chose the QED-financed 2011 film ''Cry Macho'' as the one of the stages for his grand debut and return to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. The actor would resume acting after years in a political career in California. The actor noted the ''Cry Macho''
's emphasis on character development would contrast well with the continuation of the ''Terminator'' package. In 2012, Schwarzenegger joined Josh Holloway's ''Ten'' featuring a high action script''.'' The film loosely based on an Agatha Christie story renamed to ''
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
'' and released on March 28, 2014. In 2013 QED International negotiated with
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
for David Ayer's WWII film ''
Fury.''
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
acquired the global rights to the film. The film released on October 17, 2014, to commercial success.
On February 24, 2015,
''Deadline'' confirmed that CEO
Bill Block
William Hunt Block (born April 2, 1954) is an American film producer who has been CEO of Miramax since April 2017. His producing credits include '' W.'' (2008), ''District 9'' (2009), '' Fury'' (2014), '' Bad Moms'' (2016), '' Dirty Grandpa'' (201 ...
had officially left the post from the company to join a new company Merced Media.
Merced Media, a wide release production company also was invested in co-production for two films with QED after the departure.
International sales executive John Friedberg also stepped down from the managing board during this time. Friedberg was hired by
STX Entertainment
STX Entertainment is a mini-major American entertainment and media company. Founded in March 2014 by film producer Robert Simonds, the studio produces film, television, and digital media projects.
In April 2020, STX announced that it would merg ...
. The executive was noted for bringing equity and international distribution strategies for QED International's prior blockbuster films.
In the same year, Paul Hanson also moved from COO of QED to the founder of and CEO of Covert Media. The new independent feature production, financing and distribution company based in Los Angeles also served as a liaison to QED International's content library.
Filmography
Financier/Producer
* ''
The Hunting Party'' (2007)
* ''
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
''The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'' is a 1988 novel by American author Michael Chabon. It is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing as a 21-year-old undergrad ...
'' (2008)
* ''
Smart People
''Smart People'' is a 2008 American comedy-drama film starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elliot Page, and Thomas Haden Church. The film was directed by Noam Murro, written by Mark Poirier and produced by Michael London, with Omar Aman ...
'' (2008)
* ''
The Lucky Ones'' (2008)
* ''
The Echo'' (2008)
* ''
W.'' (2008)
* ''
A Perfect Getaway
''A Perfect Getaway'' is a 2009 American thriller film written and directed by David Twohy and starring Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich, Kiele Sanchez, and Steve Zahn. Olyphant, Jovovich, Sanchez, and Zahn portray a group of vacationing coupl ...
'' (2009)
* ''
District 9
''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zeala ...
'' (2009)
* ''
Texas Killing Fields
The Texas Killing Fields is a 25-acre patch of land in League City, Texas situated a mile from Interstate Highway 45 and approximately 26 miles southeast of Houston. Since the early 1970s, 33 bodies of murder victims have been found along the I- ...
'' (2011)
* ''
Alex Cross
''Alex Cross'' is a crime, mystery, and thriller novel series written by James Patterson. The series focuses on Metropolitan Police Department detective and father Alex Cross as he faces threats to his family and the city of Washington, D.C. ...
'' (2012)
* ''
Elysium
Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...
'' (2013) - also financier
* ''
Haunt
Haunt is a synonym for ghost.
Haunt may also refer to:
__NOTOC__ Film
* ''Haunt'' (2013 film), an American supernatural horror film
* ''Haunt'' (2019 film), an American slasher film
Music
* Haunt (band), a heavy metal band from Fresno, Califor ...
'' (2013)
* ''
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
'' (2014) - also financier
* ''
Breathe In
Breathe In may refer to:
* ''Breathe In'' (Lucie Silvas album), 2004
** "Breathe In" (song), a 2005 song by Lucie Silvas
* ''Breathe In'' (Phillips, Craig and Dean album), 2012
* ''Breathe In'' (film), a 2013 film by Drake Doremus
{{disam ...
'' (2014)
* ''
Fury'' (2014) - also financier
* ''
Time Out of Mind'' (2014) - also financier
* ''
Rock the Kasbah'' (2015) - also financier
* ''
The Family Fang
''The Family Fang'' is a bestselling novel written by Kevin Wilson and published by Ecco in 2011.
Plot
Annie and Buster Fang are the children of famous performance artists who, in the late ’80s and early ’90s, perform public interactive p ...
'' (2015) - also financier
* ''
Dirty Grandpa
''Dirty Grandpa'' is a 2016 American comedy film about a lawyer who drives his grandfather to Florida during spring break. The film was directed by Dan Mazer and written by John Phillips. It stars Robert De Niro and Zac Efron with Aubrey Plaza ...
'' (2016)
*''
Secret Magic Control Agency'' (2021)
International distributor
* ''
Smart People
''Smart People'' is a 2008 American comedy-drama film starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elliot Page, and Thomas Haden Church. The film was directed by Noam Murro, written by Mark Poirier and produced by Michael London, with Omar Aman ...
'' (2008)
* ''
The Echo'' (2008)
* ''
District 9
''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zeala ...
'' (2009)
* ''
New York, I Love You
''New York, I Love You'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama anthology film consisting of eleven short films, each by a different director. The shorts all relate in some way to the subject of love, and are set among the five boroughs of New ...
'' (2009)
* ''
Texas Killing Fields
The Texas Killing Fields is a 25-acre patch of land in League City, Texas situated a mile from Interstate Highway 45 and approximately 26 miles southeast of Houston. Since the early 1970s, 33 bodies of murder victims have been found along the I- ...
'' (2011)
* ''
The Kings of Summer
''The Kings of Summer'' is a 2013 American independent coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starring Nick Robinson, Moisés Arias, Gabriel Basso, and Nick Offerman. The film premiered under its original title ''Toy's ...
'' (2013)
*''
Fading Gigolo
''Fading Gigolo'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed, written by, and starring John Turturro. The film, co-starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, Liev Schreiber and Eugenia Kuzmina premiered in the Special Pres ...
'' (2013)
* ''
That Awkward Moment
''That Awkward Moment'' (released as ''Are We Officially Dating?'' in Australia, Indonesia, and New Zealand) is a 2014 American bromantic comedy drama film written and directed by Tom Gormican in his directorial debut. The film stars Zac Efron ...
'' (2014)
* ''
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
'' (2014)
References
{{Film Studio, state=collapsed
Mass media companies established in 2002
Film distributors of the United States
Entertainment companies based in California
American companies established in 2002
Companies based in Los Angeles
2002 establishments by country
2015 mergers and acquisitions
American film studios
Film production companies of the United States