Mexico’s Matthias Ehrenberg Launches Arthouse Label (EXCLUSIVE)
LOS CABOS, Mexico – Mexico’s Matthias Ehrenberg of Rio Negro Prods, whose wide ranging film credits include Gloria Trevi biopic “Gloria,” 1999 box office hit “Sex, Shame & Tears” and Julian Schnabel’s Oscar-nommed “Before Night Falls,” has formed arthouse label Barracuda Films under which he is producing a number of auteur films and docus. The new shingle’s slate includes “Soren” by Sundance winner (“Zona Sur”) Juan Carlos Valdivia, a romantic drama starring Jose Angel Bichir about a young couple whose lives are changed upon meeting the titular character.
Ehrenberg is also a co-producer on docu “Aquarela” by Victor Kossakovsky (“Vivan las Antipodas”), which delves into the power of water and its impact on humanity. Docu is currently in production and has shot in Venezuela, Russia and Greenland to date. Other producers of the multi-country production include Aconite Prods (U.K.), Danish Documentary Production, Louverture Films (U.S.) and Ma.Ja.De Filmproduktion (Denmark).
An executive producer of David Schurmann’s “Little Secret,” Brazil’s entry to next year’s foreign-language Oscar race, Ehrenberg is boarding Schurmann’s next project, which might partly shoot in New Zealand, as did “Little Secret.” Details are still under wraps.
Ehrenberg is also developing the remakes of Abner Benaim’s 1999 dark social comedy “Chance,” a massive hit in Panama that even outpaced “Avatar,” and Marcos Carnevale’s Argentine hit “Corazon de Leon,” for Mexico. The latter was remade in France with Jean Dujardin starring as the diminutive lead who entices a woman nearly twice his size, as well as in Colombia, starring Marlon Moreno and Manolo Cardona (“Narcos”).
Ehrenberg has been a pioneering producer of Latin American remakes, starting with the Brazilian version of “Sex, Shame & Tears,” which did well despite some naysayers. He also co-produced the Mexican version of 2004 Argentine hit “No sos vos, soy yo” with Eugenio Derbez, and the U.S. version of Carnevale’s “Elsa y Fred,” featuring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer.
But Ehrenberg is also developing a lot of original content, including TV series. “There’s a lot of creative energy coursing through Mexico nowadays despite its [economic] crisis; a lot of competition,” he said.
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