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Every lawyer I know has a reaction to the often out of context recitation of the most infamous line of Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part II: "Let's kill all the lawyers." Some love it, some hate it, but all have some reaction. We've seen it on tee shirts, coffee cups, billboards and TV commercials, so it was only a matter of time before it appeared as the bold film title on a movie poster. Los Angeles based Century Film Partners, Inc. brought the comedy Let's Kill All the Lawyers to the AFM and, along with two other new titles in their 18 title catalogue, it has a 50% chance of obtaining theatrical release, according to Jocelyne Roussaeau De Habsburg, Vice-President of International Sales. An international sales veteran, De Habsburg (who's been Americanized for the past five years by friends who insist on calling her Jackie) has helped the 18-month-old production and distribution company start to appreciate the needs of its growing list of buyers.
Producers Aron Schifman and Richard Munchkin started CFP in 1994 and hope to make four or five $1 to $3 million action films per year and acquire a number of different genre pictures in order to have a well-rounded catalogue at the markets. De Habsburg says the company had six titles (including three debuts) at MIFED, but is now offering a total of 18 films at the AFM. She anticipates having five more titles to announce at Cannes. CFP's production appetite is satisfied through relationships Schifman has developed with a number of Los Angeles entertainment attorneys, including Harris Tulchin and Mark Litwak, whose producer clients are often in need of a distributor or sales agent. De Habsburg feels CFP is "slowly getting to know their clients' needs and that's allowing the company's production and distribution arms take off in a good way." She adds that CFP's growing list of titles will hopefully also increase the number of relationships it develops with new buyers, whose identities are constantly changing. Aside from Let's Kill All The Lawyers, the dramatic Valhalla (complete with a Wagner score) by Jonathan Gift and A Bedfull of Foreigners, a romantic comedic romp by John Broderick, have a chance of obtaining the elusive theatrical release. This AFM, De Habsburg said that Korean buyers snatched up erotic thrillers for TV and video and German buyers were apparently in the mood to have a few laughs and kill a few lawyers.
