23 September 2010

Jukurpa Media, the holding company of Frédéric Lepage and Grégory Schnebelen’s group (which notably includes FL CONCEPTS &CO), has announced the acquisition of INTERSCOOP, the company founded by Christophe de Ponfilly and Frédéric Laffont in 1983¹

 

Interscoop productions have received some of the most impressive international awards, and Christophe de Ponfilly and Frédéric Laffont have both won the Albert Londres prize. Interscoop’s goal has always been to “describe the world in the gleam of the human eye”. This approach has led to many universally-acclaimed productions: With Heart and Soul, À nos profs bien-aimés (To Our Much-Loved Teachers), Massoud the Afghan, Ballade pour un cow-boy (Ballad for a Cowboy), L’Homme qui ne voulut pas être roi (The Man Who Wouldn’t Be King), Pas de larmes pour Mao (No Tears for Mao), etc., along with vibrant portrayals of Taslima Nasreem, Antoine Blondin and Joseph Brodsky. Christophe de Ponfilly and Frédéric Laffont’s cameras have interpreted the changing nature of the world in places such as Soweto, Shanghai, Kabul, Berlin, Beirut, Prague, Jerusalem, Santiago, Tokyo and Saint Tropez. Based on our recent past, their productions have become a part of history, explaining and revealing today’s world.

 

Interscoop has always enjoyed the support of distinguished, loyal partners: France Télévisions, ARTE, the INA, Cinétévé, M6, Canal+, Gaumont, the BBC, TSR and many others.

Jukurpa Media now owns 100% of Interscoop. Apart from the company’s everyday work, this represents a catalogue of 110 films and a share in the equity of the Doc & Films International distribution company. Gregory Schnebelen is the new Interscoop Chair and Managing Director.

“This acquisition,” he explains, “will allow us to consolidate Interscoop’s international standing, make full use of an impressive catalogue whose productions must continue to be available to the public, and carry on the work of the company, applying the same high standards that its founders set.”

“For twenty-five years,” says Frédéric Laffont, “Interscoop’s great asset was its next production. We built up a catalogue of about a hundred documentaries. I’m delighted that our creative work is in the hands of experts and I’m greatly looking forward to Interscoop’s future projects.”

“Interscoop is one of the finest brand images in the French visual-media sector,” Frédéric Lepage adds. “It reflects Christophe de Ponfilly and Frédéric Laffont’s extraordinary talent, daring, intelligence and humanity. We will keep that spirit alive, giving new documentary-makers their chance and rolling back the frontiers of curiosity, establishing creative partnerships with civil society and, finally, closely linking the different distribution media for its documentaries: television, cinema, the Internet, screens in museums and cultural facilities, and all the new channels for visual media emerging today.”