StudioCanal taps Trumer for COO

Exec will oversee operations in France

By JOHN HOPEWELL

MADRID -- Strengthening its domestic and European operations, France's StudioCanal, one of Europe's biggest film production and distribution companies, has appointed Camille Trumer as chief operating officer France.

A well-known distribution and exhibition exec, Trumer will oversee operations in France, including distribution, French and European co-productions and acquisitions.

Trumer joins StudioCanal Dec. 1 from Paramount Pictures France, where he is chairman. He was previously CEO of Universal Pictures Video and veep of BMG in France.

While StudioCanal has caught headlines for its international expansion this year, buying Germany's Kinowelt, or pushing into U.K. production, Trumer's appointment comes as the mini-major is prepping high-profile Gallic projects.

Upcoming pics include an Yves Montand bio, and a film about the Algerian National Liberation Front in Paris from Rachid Bouchareb ("Days of Glory").

Of an around 20-film annual release slate in France, 10-12 films will be French nationality productions, StudioCanal chairman Olivier Courson said at Cannes.

In a second appointment, StudioCanal's exec veep sales and marketing Rodolphe Buet has been upped to exec VP of international distribution and business development.

Trumer and Buet will report to Courson.