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Minneapolis-based film producer William Pohlad is launching a new independent movie studio, he announced Thursday afternoon. Its initial releases will be "The Tree of Life," a mystical epic starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and directed by Terrence Malick, and "Bright Star," a literary romance directed by Jane Campion.
The venture, called Apparition, will be headed by Bob Berney, a veteran studio executive. Its goal is to distribute seven or eight films a year that reflect the partners' "belief and passion in the material," Pohlad said.
The move is a major step forward for the soft-spoken Pohlad, who in just a few years has become one of Hollywood's most prominent financiers.
Pohlad, whose productions include "A Prairie Home Companion" and "Brokeback Mountain," envisions the new company as "a real home for filmmakers," marketing their work enthusiastically at a time when major studios, citing financial pressures, are shutting down their specialty distribution divisions.
Although Apparition will be based in New York, Pohlad said he expects the venture to reflect a Midwestern sensibility, operating "not only wisely but fairly. We hope that this distribution company will be a good home for filmmakers not only because we have a sensitivity and passion for the material, but that they'll feel it's a straightforward, honest place to...