Eden Rock Media Consulting & Acquired Films
Consulting
As a consultant, Thomas Augsberger has advised some of the most prestigious international media companies, including BBC Films (UK), and Toho Towa (Japan) on a project-by-project basis, primarily in connection with their investments in films financed and produced by The Mutual Film Company.
In addition, Thomas was the exclusive North American representative of Dr. Herbert Kloiber's Munich based Tele Muenchen Group from 1996 until 2019 until TMG was acquired by KKR. Memorable deals for TMG included the acquisition of the Carolco Film Library for German speaking territories and Eastern Europe in 1996, four consecutive MGM Free TV output deals from 1996 - 2016, a preferred equity investment in Lionsgate in 1999, a Studio co-financing deal with Paramount for TOMB RAIDER II. in 2002, a multi year output deal with Warner Bros. incl. the HARRY POTTER films, the acquisition of the Mutual Film Library for worlwide distribution excl. US, licensing deals for Marvel’s IRON MAN Franchise, Paramount's SHUTTER ISLAND, Summit’s TWILIGHT Franchise, Lionsgate’s ongoing JOHN WICK Franchise, and TV series like “Flashpoint”, "Anger Management", and “The Night Manager” all between 2006 and 2019. Thomas final deal for TMG was the acquisition of Guy Ritchie’s THE GENTLEMEN from Miramax in Berlin 2019.
Since 2019, Eden Rock Media is proud to represent TMG's successor-in-interest, KKR-backed Leonine Studios, in all aspects of its businesses in North America. Under Fred Kogel's leadership, Leonine Studios has quickly become Germany's largest independent media company, active in all segments of content production and distribution. Fueled by an appetite to increase its large content library, Leonine is the most active German buyer of high profile US feature films at global film markets. In close collaboration with Leonine Studios' SVP of Acquistions in Munich, Alexander Janssen, Thomas managed to acquire a large number of highly competitive titles during the past 3 years, including:
Roland Emmerich’s MOONFALL from AGC Studios & CAA,
Basil Iwanyk's and Chad Stahelski's JOHN WICK 3 from Lionsgate,
Rian Johnson’s KNIVES OUT from MRC/Lionsgate,
Lorena Scafaria’s HUSTLERS from STX,
ARTHUR THE KING from Sierra/eOne,
Channing Tatum's & Reid Carolin's THE DOG from FilmNation,
Guy Ritchie's 5 EYES aka OPERATION FORTUNE from STX/Miramax,
George Miller's 3000 YEARS OF LONGING from FilmNation,
SHOTGUN WEDDING, BORDERLANDS, JOHN WICK 4, and BALLERINA from Lionsgate.
Most recently, during Cannes 2022, Thomas & Alex pre-bought Lionsgate's long overdue DIRTY DANCING SEQUEL and HUNGER GAMES 5: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, alongside a number of smaller films, including from other sales agents.
Other than Leonine Studios, ERM's consulting clients currently include
- ROW8, a PVOD/TVOD and EST platform run by John Calkins, which Augsberger helped launch in June 2019 with the entire new release slate of Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal, Sony, and Lionsgate. STX, MGM and Disney/Fox were added in 2020
- Volga Films, one of the most successful Russian/Ukrainian all-rights distributors active throughout CIS and the Baltics, founded & run by Sergei Yershov.