MK2 Films Hires Former Protagonist MD Vanessa Saal to Advise and Scale Up Acquisitions, Co-Productions, Launch U.K. Presence (EXCLUSIVE)

MK2 Films has tapped Vanessa Saal, the former managing director at Protagonist Pictures, as executive consultant and U.K. lead. The key strategic hire underscores the company’s ambitions to scale up co-productions and acquisitions, including with English language projects.

Based in London, Saal will work alongside the company’s co-CEO Nathanael Karmitz and managing director Fionnuala Jamison.

Saal started collaborating with MK2 Films earlier this year on a freelance basis and helped the banner secure its most ambitious lineup to date in Cannes, including Andrew Haigh’s “Belly of the Beast” starring Ben Stiller and Colin Farrell, “Alpha Gang” starring Cate Blanchett, and “Late Fame” by Kent Jones with Willem Dafoe, Sandra Hüller and Samy Burch. Saal will continue to serve in this capacity as well as advise on company strategy, work on the scaled-up co-production activity, as well as launch a U.K. presence for the Paris-based company.

“MK2 films is such a prestigious label and I love everything it represents. It’s an honor to help shape its ambitious future,” said Saal, who most recently served as EVP, Production and Distribution at Upgrade Productions, and was previously managing director of sales and distribution for Protagonist Pictures.

“I’ve been very lucky having worked at companies during moments of growth throughout my career and am very excited to help MK2 take these next steps.  It’s a brilliant team with brilliant films,” Saal continued.

Saal originally joined Protagonist as head of worldwide sales in 2014. Prior to that, she served as SVP of international sales at Studiocanal in Paris and was a founding executive at Paris-based Kinology. Saal began her career at Focus Features International in New York and is a graduate of Brown University. During her career, she has worked on critical and commercial hits such as Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War,” where she first collaborated with the MK2 team; Taika Waititi’s “Hunt for the Wilder People;” Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project;” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster;” Tomas Alfredson’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy;” the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis;” Jaume Collet-Serra’s worldwide box office hit “Non-Stop;” and David Heyman-produced “Paddington.”

MK2 Films, meanwhile, has been thriving with a number of critical and commercial hits, such as Justine Triet’s Oscar-winning “Anatomy of a Fall,” Joachim Trier’s “Worst person in the World,” Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Corsage” and “Cold War,” among others.

Current Films in production include Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Kleber Mendocza Filho’s “The Secret Agent” and Dylan Southern’s “The Thing With Feathers” starring Benedicte Cumberbatch.

“Vanessa’s impeccable cinematic taste, keen eye for film, and extensive industry expertise perfectly align with our vision and ambitions going forward for sales, acquisitions and production, ” said MK2 Films. “We are thrilled to welcome her aboard for a long term partnership and can’t wait for the exciting projects we will create together,” the company continued. 

MK2, which also boasts an arthouse multiplex chain in France and Spain, is led by Nathanaël and Elisha Karmitz who succeeded their father Marin at the helm of the company in 2005. Together, the Karmitz brothers galvanized the MK2 brand with activities ranging from films, art, publishing, technology and lifestyle.