Actor and producer Will Smith (Bad Boys, Men In Black, I am Legend) has teamed up with director Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, James Bond – Quantum of Solace, World War Z) to acquire German licensing and distribution company Telepool.
Financial details have not been disclosed. As part of the sale, Telepool – one of the major European players in the areas of theatrical, DVD, video-on-demand (VOD), TV licensing and games – will become a development, financing and distribution partner for the projects of Smith and Forster.
The acquisition was made by The Smith Family Circle, Will and Jada Smith’s Family Office, and Elysian Fields, a group of investors associated with Marc Forster.
“Marc and I took a close look at Telepool and discovered a company that has an incredible reputation and a lot of potential,” said Smith. “We look forward to working together and with the Telepool team to create unique opportunities and content to strategically growing the business.”
Forster added: “As a German-born Swiss national, I was familiar with Telepool long before completing this acquisition with Will and his family. We believe that Telepool is well positioned for continued success and growth in our rapidly changing media landscape. I believe Will and I will be able to contribute our combined energies and global relationships to the company’s advantage. It’s an exciting undertaking.”
Telepool’s core business is the acquisition, sale and promotion of theatrical, DVD, TV, VOD and gaming content, as well as merchandising and licensing of publishing and excerpt rights for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Additionally, the group acts as a world sales company for theatrical and TV content. It has offices in Munich, Zurich, Leipzig, Seesen and Los Angeles.
As a part of the deal, Will Smith and James Lassiter’s Overbrook Entertainment will have the option to develop and distribute film and television projects through Telepool. Overbrook remains its own independent production entity producing and developing film and television content. Smith is also a co-owner of Westbrook Entertainment, the management, branding and digital content production company that he and Jada Pinkett-Smith started with their partner Miguel Melendez in 2016.
Similarly, Marc Forster and Renee Wolfe’s independent production entity 2dux² will also have the option to develop and distribute film and television projects through Telepool while also remaining fully independent.
Telepool was fully acquired from the company’s former public broadcasting shareholders Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, SWR Media Services and Telvetia, a subsidiary of Swiss SRG.
André Druskeit, since June 1, 2018 CEO of Telepool, said: “The new shareholders are very much committed to continuing our business model. Also all management positions at subsidiary companies and all other management functions will remain unchanged for the time being. The setup is great and we’re looking forward to many exciting projects with Will, Marc and all our business partners. We will also continue the successful cooperation with our previous shareholders. Although they have indeed sold all of their shares in Telepool, they have renewed their respective framework agreements with us.”
Telepool shareholder BR confirmed in June 2017 that the shareholders were evaluating the sale of Telepool. The move would be in the joint interest of all shareholders, BR explained at the time, adding that the company was successful, but – as a subsidiary of regulated broadcasters – had increasingly less freedom to develop activities with commercially profitable prospects such as games marketing or VOD portals.