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ThinkFilm’s Mark Urman jumps to Senator

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In what shouldn’t surprise anyone, Veteran film industry executive Mark Urman is leaving beleaguered ThinkFilm to become president of newly formed independent distribution company Senator Entertainment U.S.

The move, announced Friday by Senator, follows months of complaints from filmmakers and outside vendors that ThinkFilm, headed by investor David Bergstein, had failed to pay its bills on time.

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Senator, the German movie company whose U.S. arm was recently acquired by producer Marco Weber, will establish offices in Los Angeles and New York.

Urman said was he “thrilled” to be joining Weber, but the announcement made no mention of the current financial woes at ThinkFilm, best known for such art-house fare as the drama “Half Nelson,” the documentary “Spellbound” and Sidney’s Lumet’s “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.”

Urman co-founded ThinkFilm in 2001, several years before its acquisition by Bergstein and his partners, and most recently served as its president. Prior to that, he was co-president of Lionsgate Releasing. He will work with Weber in establishing “all windows of distribution” for the Senator’s slate, the company said, allowing Weber to concentrate on original productions.

Senator is prepping two productions: “Unthinkable,” a thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson, which starts shooting in September, and “Clocktower,” based on Capcom’s video game franchise, to begin shooting later this year. It recently bought U.S. rights to the crime drama “Public Enemy No. 1,” starring Vincent Cassel, Gerard Depardieu and Matthieu Amalric.

Calls to Bergstein and Urman were not returned.

In a recent interview, Bergstein said he was lining up new financing for ThinkFilm and paying off the company’s obligations.

-- Josh Friedman

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