Grim picture from film firm Civilian
FORMER Channel 5 chief David Elstein is taking over as chairman of controversial film company Civilian Content, replacing 25% shareholder David Thompson who once owned Queen's Park Rangers.
The news was accompanied by a warning that Civilian, which has been backed with £33.5m of National Lottery money, will lose considerably more than the market had expected this year.
House broker Peel Hunt had expected losses of £400,000, down from the £1.9m it lost in 2000. The company said that part of this came from slippage of receipts from international sales of 51st State, the Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle action comedy.
However, it also admitted that 'certain films had underperformed'. These are believed to include Dust, the Joseph Fiennes retake on the Western genre, and the film of Martin Amis's black comedy Dead Babies.
Civilian said that it would put together its two television production companies, cut overheads and further write-off goodwill and write down direct investment in films. It would not say how many jobs are at risk.
Shares in Civilian, which climbed to a peak of 48 1/2p in the spring, slipped 5p to 28 1/2p, capitalising the company at less than £12m. This is £10m less than the £22m of Lottery money that it still has access to.
Elstein said: 'I am confident that the restructuring of the business creates the basis of profitable operations.'
