19-05-2011

FNE at DISCOP Budapest 2011: ATM Grupa Announces First Quarter Increase

By Katarzyna Grynienko

    WARSAW: ATM Grupa, the biggest independent film and television producer in Poland, noted a 9.4% increase in revenues for the first quarter of 2011 due to a significant rise in locally produced content on domestic TV channels. In the first quarter of 2011 ATM Grupa had 22.7 million PLN in revenue and 1.5 million PLN net income, an increase of 73.7 % in net income. The majority of its activity is in TV production.

    In the first quarter of 2011 ATM Grupa (www.atmgrupa.pl) worked on the new season of the series Świat według Kipeskich (Polsat, www.polsat.pl), Father Mathew (TVP) and License to Parent (TVP, www.tvp.pl). Studio A, a division of ATM Grupa, completed the second season of Skinny's Men, a popular show aired on Polsat. Currently the company is shooting TVP1's new drama series Higher Power and preparing the shoot for Gallery, a soap opera that will take place at ATM's Wrocław studios.

    The company remains an active producer of feature films. In the first quarter of 2011 Polish films made 77.2 million PLN (EUR 19.7 million). One of the top-grossing films was a Polish comedy Weekend, directed by Cezary Pazura and produced by his company Cezar10 (www.cezar10.pl) in co-operation with ATM Grupa. The film was seen by 700,000 viewers.

    Polish audiences' blossoming interest in Polish films has resulted in ATM's growing involvement in large-scale projects such as The City, a new film about the Warsaw Uprising from Jan Komasa. The film is expected to draw two million viewers when it premieres in 2012. Additionally, ATM FX is preparing special effects for another big historical production Battle Of Warsaw, and Baltmedia (www.baltmedia.com), also a division of ATM, is developing the script for a feature film based on the hit TV show Father Matthew.

    As part of its further development, the company is currently finishing the construction of a Film Production Film Center in Warsaw. ATM Studio is a 14,0000 m2 complex of film studios, halls and offices with full production equipment and facilities. The company's next move is expected to be into the field of broadcasting. Recently the company received a license from the National Broadcasting Chamber to launch ATM Rozrywka (ATM Entertainment) channel, which will be available on the first multiplex of Poland's ground digital television.