News | Media & Communications

Friday 6th October 2006

SJ Berwin LLP has recently advised Brazil Love Productions Limited and Stone Village Pictures LLC on the financing and production of the feature film "Love in the Time of Cholera", directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  

Marquez's epic tale of love charts the life of Florentino Ariza, a man who waits for 51 years, nine months and four days to repeat his vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love to a woman who broke off their adolescent engagement as a seventeen year old girl.  Marquez was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 and Love in the Time of Cholera is widely regarded to be one of the great books of the 20th Century.

The film is being produced by Brazil Love Productions Limited with shooting in Cartagena, Colombia and London and stars Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt and Giovanna Mezzogiorno.  The financiers include Grosvenor Park Investors LLC and Stone Village Pictures itself.  SJ Berwin's team worked with lawyers from Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn LLP in the United States and Brigard & Urrutia Abogados in Colombia to close the financing.

"Love in the Time of Cholera" is the second project on which SJ Berwin has advised Stone Village Pictures, following "Penelope" earlier in the year.

The SJ Berwin team was led by media partner Tim Johnson, supported by media associates Ed Fellows and Lisa Rishton, tax partner John Skoulding and tax associate Lawrence Harrison. 

Commenting on the financing, Tim Johnson said: "We are very pleased to have worked on a project with such a distinguished literary pedigree - it was a challenge to get the transaction closed on time, but our clients and co-counsel were great fun to work with.  We are looking forward to working with them on further projects in the future".

"Tim Johnson is one of the most experienced attorneys in the world of entertainment.  He and his team are quick, effective, and highly organized in complex negotiations - we are secure with their legal advice.  He also has a great sense of humour," said Scott Steindorff, the President of Stone Village Pictures LLC.

Stone Village Pictures LLC is one of the most active independent film companies in Hollywood with a number of exciting films in development.

For further information, please contact:

Tim Johnson, Media & Communications Partner on +44 (0)20 7111 2202 or by emailing tim.johnson@sjberwin.com

John Skoulding, Tax Partner on +44 (0)20 7111 2213 or by emailing john.skoulding@sjberwin.com

Dawn Haynes, Business Development Manager on +44 (0)20 7111 5340 or by emailing dawn.haynes@sjberwin.com

To view other press releases click here.

• Founded in 1982, SJ Berwin is a leading City corporate and commercial law firm with more than 550 lawyers working across its offices in London, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.
  
  
• SJ Berwin's Media & Communications Group has extensive experience in almost every area of the media and communications industry, including; film and television production, film finance, broadcasting and communications, digital media, merchandising and publishing, computer games, E-Commerce and M-Commerce and Music.  Established in 1988, the Group is one of the City's leading practices and stands at the forefront of international media law with client quotes recorded in Chambers and Partners 2006 stating "you really do have to go a long way to match the financing skills of SJ Berwin" and Legal 500 2006 describing Tim Johnson as "outstandingly bright" and commenting that he is "highly regarded for his input on highly complex financing matters, and he is sought out for expertise across a range of media matters".
  
  
• SJ Berwin's Tax Department has always been highly regarded and considered of great importance in terms of adding value to the firm's service.  The Tax team offers the full range of strategic tax planning services, advising corporate clients and individuals on structuring their tax affairs and transactions in the most efficient way.
  
  
• SJ Berwin was created and thrives as a leading-edge legal services business, focusing on the European and international market place.  Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, principally entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions, whom we advise on a comprehensive range of services including Corporate Finance, Commercial, Real Estate, Banking, Reconstruction & Insolvency, Financial Services, Litigation, Employment & Pensions, EU & Competition and Tax.
  
  
• Our approach has resulted in the firm winning a number of recent awards including "Law Firm of the Year" 2005 at the EVCA/Real Deals European Private Equity Awards for the second successive year, "European Law Firm of the Year" (fund formation) by subscribers to PrivateEquityOnline and Private Equity International, "Private Equity Law Firm of the Year 2004"  at the European Venture Capital journal awards 2004 and 2005, "LBO Firm of the Year" 2004 at the Finance and Law Awards in Paris, "Real Estate Team of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards 2004, and "World's Leading Firm for Private Funds Expertise" in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2003/4.
  
  
• On 1 June 2005, SJ Berwin became SJ Berwin LLP, a limited liability partnership. www.sjberwin.com.  SJ Berwin LLP or an affiliated undertaking has an office in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.