LONDON -- Kris Thykier is ankling as vice chairman of PR agency Freud Communications to join producer-director Matthew Vaughn as a partner in his company MARV Films.
Thykier has worked as right-hand man to high-profile PR maven Matthew Freud for the past 15 years, co-founding the agency's entertainment division.
In that time, the outfit has developed from a small London agency to a household name, employing 150 people in offices from Los Angeles and New York to Moscow.
Vaughn, who directed "Layer Cake" and upcoming Paramount fantasy movie "Stardust," is a longtime client and friend of Thykier, dating back to Vaughn's producing debut with Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in 1998.
"Stardust," a $100 million fantasy adventure starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Sienna Miller, based on Neil Gaiman's novel, takes Vaughan into a much bigger league.
Par is skedding the pic, for which Vaughn raised part of the financing from his own private investors, as a major July release.
"After being the director, producer, co-financier and co-writer of 'Stardust,' I think Matthew decided that he needed a partner," Thykier explained.
Thykier, who will leave Freud at the end of February, will act as a producer for Vaughn's future directing projects. They also intend to produce movies with other filmmakers.
"I have worked with Kris on every picture since 'Lock, Stock.' Over the years we have become an incredibly close working unit and I trust him completely," Vaughn said.
"He has an innate understanding of consumers matched with an unparalleled experience in marketing and media. I hope and believe that as partners we will be able to build a truly significant company in the U.K., producing quality movies with international commercial appeal."
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