LOS ANGELES -- New York-based securitization and P&A financing specialist Palisades Media has acquired the majority of beleaguered U.K. indie Tartan Films' 400-plus title library.Only two years back Tartan was one of the most active buyers of Asian movies in the U.K and U.S.
In May, Palisades bought the library of Tartan's Stateside arm Tartan USA.
Both the U.K. and U.S. assets were bought after the companies slid into receivership.
"We had such confidence after U.S. auction," Palisades chairman-CEO Vin Roberti told Daily Variety. "The titles are very legitimate. There are very few people in this industry who have the taste (Tartan topper) Hamish (McAlpine) has."
The nearly 25-year-old Tartan's brand was built on edgy arthouse titles, most recently with the cultish Asia Extreme action/horror pic wave ("Ring," "Dark Water," "Infernal Affairs" and "The Eye"). Tartan's catalog also includes "The Last Seduction," "Secretary," "Super Size Me," "In the Mood for Love" and "Battle Royale." Tartan Video handles the works of Ingmar Bergman, Francois Truffaut and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Roberti said that he will continue to buy titles for both territories under a new company called Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions. "We believe strongly in the new digital world at Palisades, and will be aggressively ramping up future acquisitions," he said.
Goal is for Palisades to own a library of some 2,000 titles by 2010.
"We're not in the blockbuster business," Roberti added, "but we will continue to do theatrical releases when it benefits the titles. The most important thing about this is preserving titles and making sure they get the exposure and exploitation they deserve."
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