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Prestige International Pictures, a film sales, financing and production company, will be launching at the Marché du Film during the Cannes Film Festival. The company will be headed by sales industry veteran Carlos Rincon as the president and co-founder. Prestige will be announcing its Cannes slate in the coming days.
Joining Rincon at Prestige as partners and co-founders are producers Chris Lemos, Luis Guerrero and William Knochel of Vital Pictures.
Prestige describes itself as being a distribution company “by filmmakers, for filmmakers” as the producing founders have “lived through all the experiences and challenges that filmmakers face while seeking distribution for their film,” according to a statement. In addition to representing third-party content, Prestige will also represent Vital’s slate of in-house titles.
The company will be based on the West Coast (Los Angeles) and East Coast (Atlanta) to “further enhance relationships with filmmakers on both coasts.”
Previously, Rincon was a longtime acquisitions, sales and development executive at Premiere Entertainment Group, where he served as executive producer on several films including “Ruthless,” starring Dermot Mulroney, and “Shrapnel,” starring Jason Patric. Prior to joining PEG, Rincon was the head of acquisitions and U.S. sales at Spotlight Pictures. During his tenure with Spotlight, he acquired films that starred notable actors such as Dakota Johnson, Glen Powell, Jessica Chastain, Jean Reno, Rosamund Pike, Jason Schwartzman, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy and John Hurt, and also licensed Larry Clark’s “Marfa Girl,” which won best film at the 2012 Rome Film Festival.
Lemos, Guerrero and Knochel founded Vital in 2019. Lemos’ background includes working with industry titans such as Scott Rudin and Donald De Line and contributing to projects like “The Italian Job” and “Limitless.” Guerrero’s career spans early roles at Scott Rudin Productions, Industry Entertainment and Maya Pictures, where he worked on the HBO film “Walkout.” Knochel started in the indie film circuit before moving to network television with Disney/ABC in their production and finance departments.
The Vital founders have played significant producer roles on films such as heist pic “Armored” for Sony’s Screen Gems, and “Beyond the Lights” with director Gigi Prince-Bythewood for BET/Relativity, and, as a company, have produced theatrically-released social thriller “Beneath Us” and WWI dramatic thriller “The War Below,” among others.
Current and upcoming projects include the stem-focused unscripted series “Tech Toys Lab,” which premiered on Roku Kids earlier this year, featuring innovators including Tesla, Boston Dynamics and NASA, and “Christmas Balloon,” a Christmas movie in collaboration with Mattel Films.
“After years of working across both production and distribution, we began to explore how we might better support our own films and also those of our fellow filmmakers,” said Lemos, Guerrero and Knochel. “The idea of establishing a more creative focused approach to film sales had been taking shape for some time. When the opportunity to partner with Carlos arrived, it felt like the perfect moment to bring it all to life. His vision aligns with how we’ve always approached our work, focusing on meaningful relationships and long-term impact.”
“I’m excited to be teaming up with Chris, Luis and Will, as I’ve greatly admired their work for years,” added Rincon. “We share the same passion and vision of being able to provide a successful pathway for filmmakers to hone their skills and develop high-concept projects while maintaining their artistic integrity.”
English (US) ·