100 Films and a Funeral

Director: Michael McNamara

Supplier: Markham Street Films

Synopsis: Inspired by Polygram Filmed Entertainment CEO Michael Kuhn's memoir of the same name, McNamara had the advantage of an insider's first hand knowledge of the history and intimate workings of this upstart European film studio that changed Hollywood. Judy Holm, producer of 100 Films & A Funeral is also the former VP of Distribution for PFE Canada, and was aboard the tumultuous and often heady roller coaster ride that marked the company's history from 1991 – 1999.

More than a business story, 100 Films & A Funeral is a love letter to the art and magic of the cinema.

In the spring and summer of 2006, Michael and Judy took their cameras to London, Belgium, Amsterdam, Paris, Cannes, New York and Los Angeles to document the history and legacy of PFE. Among those recalling the studio's wild ride are Kuhn and several of his PFE colleagues, actress/director/producer Jodie Foster (Nell), Sir Alan Parker (Angela's Ashes), Stephen Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert), Gilles Jacob (Director of Cannes Film Festival), screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral), and Geoff Gilmour (Director of Sundance Film Festival).

This documentary thriller that looks at the rise and fall of PFE begins fittingly with Michael Kuhn, the 40 year old Englishman and PolyGram lawyer with an adventurous spirit and no movie industry experience. His vision to build a movie studio from the ground up in London would challenge Hollywood's absolute rule over the international film industry.

A subsidiary of the Dutch technology giant Philips and its recording label PolyGram Music, PFE was launched by Kuhn in 1991. By 1996, with PFE titles making waves at Cannes, Sundance and the Oscars, the company appeared to be well on its way to achieving that goal.

Smashing the myth that only Hollywood knows how to make films that make the whole world laugh and cry, Michael Kuhn, as CEO of PFE proved that critical acclaim and box office success need not be mutually exclusive.

Yet at the instant Kuhn's team was set to hit the box office jackpot with Notting Hill, the entire enterprise was wiped out by a business deal between a Dutch corporate executive and an ambitious Canadian billionaire. Kuhn's timing and luck ran out.

But, before it did, Kuhn and PFE created a new generation of trans-Atlantic tastemakers, the latest in a series of British invasions that swept America and shaped the international
cultural fabric. From Hugh Grant, who made being English cool again, to Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually) who perfected the post modern romantic comedy, to the multi-billion-dollar production machine that is Working Title Films – these are all part of the legacy of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.