QED INTERNATIONAL ENGAGES FORTITUDE INTERNATIONAL

AND NADINE DE BARROS TO HANDLE FILM SLATE AT CANNES 2015

QED Titles Include “Rock the Kasbah,” “The Family Fang,” “Franny,” “Time Out of Mind”
and “Strange But True”

“The Family Fang” Footage to Debut at Cannes

In a potentially wide-ranging deal, leading independent motion picture production, financing and sales distribution company QED International has tapped Nadine de Barros and the sales team from Fortitude International to handle key-market sales for QED at the 2015 Cannes Market, it was announced today by QED Holdings CEOs Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine, and Fortitude International principals de Barros, Robert Ogden Barnum and Daniel Wagner.

QED International’s Cannes office will be operational with executives Shapiro, Lessine and Director of Legal and Business Affairs Alex Davis attending to meet with current partners and distributors and join de Barros in strategic sales meetings.

“Nadine is one of the best sales executives in the business. She has solid buyer relationships, and her smart, no-nonsense approach to her craft is why we felt confident bringing her and her sales team on to handle our films.  Hopefully, this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship with Fortitude International,” offered Shapiro and Lessine in a joint statement.

“QED has built a robust slate of really wonderful films that hit the mark for buyers around the globe. I am delighted they are entrusting me and my sales team with their slate, and we look forward to getting down to business,” said de Barros.

At Cannes, de Barros will handle QED’s current film slate including Barry Levinson’s comedy Rock the Kasbah, starring Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Zooey Deschanel and Kate Hudson, to be released wide by Open Road Films and The Family Fang, directed by Jason Bateman, who co-stars with Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken. QED will premiere new footage from The Family Fang for Cannes buyers. CAA is handling US rights to the film.

QED’s other titles at Cannes include Franny, directed by Andrew Renzi and starring Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning and Theo James, which made its world premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival; Time Out of Mind, also with Richard Gere, from writer/director Oren Moverman and the thriller Strange But True, starring Imogen Poots, Bill Paxton and Melissa Leo, currently in production.

De Barros will be supported by Fortitude’s VP of International Katie Irwin in Cannes and newly hired Samantha Peel as Director of International Sales and Marketing. 

Licensing deals on the QED films will continue to be administered by the QED International team, with servicing and delivery handled by QED’s long-time service provider Motion Media Services.

About Fortitude International

Fortitude International is a foreign sales, finance and production entity based in Los Angeles and founded by foreign sales veteran Nadine de Barros, financier Daniel Wagner and producer Robert Ogden Barnum.  With equity, bridge and senior debt capabilities at its disposal, the new sales and financing venture can fully finance projects and is looking to produce strong, commercial and director driven material.  Fortitude will be a haven for filmmakers and artists to make creatively and commercially successful films.  In addition to feature films, the partners are also sourcing and financing TV series and minis, capitalizing on de Barros’ experience in the medium. 

About QED International

QED International is a leading independent motion picture production, financing and sales distribution company focused on bringing high quality filmed entertainment to the worldwide marketplace.  Facilitating the financing, packaging and distribution of films, QED is recognized as a destination where world-class filmmakers and producers can find a full-service partner on

their projects.  Recently producing such acclaimed films as Fury and Fading Gigolo, QED International maintains the creative spirit of independent filmmaking while providing attractive returns with mitigated risk to its financing partners, and maximizing the global exploitation of their films.