Bicoastal/international Partizan has extended its global reach this week with the opening of an office in Berlin under the aegis of executive producer Moritz Merkel.
The new shop will handle representation in Germany for all of Partizan’s labels: Partizan lab (animation and special effects), the darkroom (content) Partizan Films (feature film and documentary) and of course Partizan’s TV commercial division.
Merkel, who recently came aboard Partizan, has years of experience working on both sides of the advertising business, having held senior production roles in German production companies and agencies, including Kolle Rebbe and Jung von Matt, where he was head of TV.
“Germany is one of the seven most important markets for content and films, said Georges Bermann who is chairman and global executive producer of Partizan. “Our rapidly growing activity in feature films, documentaries, TV and Internet content means we had already developed strong contacts there and the only missing piece was a full production operation to offer our directors and experience to the German agencies and advertisers.
“Advertising is changing very quickly these days and will probably evolve even faster than people think,” Bermann continued. “Partizan has anticipated these changes and has prepared for them with a combination of more global offers [films, content, post production, online and print projects] and a local proximity in key territories.
Bermann further noted that in the next six months Partizan’s presence will expand in emerging markets, citing India, China for Asia, and Brazil for Latin America.
Partizan is currently developing and producing six feature films, three TV shows, and several 360˚ content projects with agencies alongside its traditional production activity in commercials and music videos. A new management division will be added next month to provide screenplay writers and content projects.
“The financial crisis is not freezing Partizan’s projects,” said Bermann.
Changes Afoot For Cannes Lions 2025, Including Increasing Festival Access For Underserved Communities
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is putting plans in motion for its 72nd edition, set to take place from June 16-20, 2025 in Cannes, France. The Festival has announced that it will double funding to provide €2m (some $2,150,000) worth of complimentary passes to underrepresented talent and underserved communities through its Equity, Representation and Accessibility (ERA) Pass, returning for a second year.
Frank Starling, chief DEI officer, Lions, said the increased investment was “crucial to continue to drive progress for both Cannes Lions and the industry.” Starling added, “The ERA pass plays an important role in fostering a global representation of talent within the creative communications industry at Cannes Lions, and to date our funded opportunities have reached creatives in 46 countries globally. With the Festival being the destination for everyone in the business of creativity, we recognize the importance of creating equitable access to it, and this is why we’re prioritizing increased representation from the Global South to support a greater range of voices and perspectives from the region at the Festival.” Applications for the ERA pass are open now and close on December 5, 2025. More details can be found here.
With submissions into the Cannes Lions Awards opening on January 16, 2025, innovations to the Awards have also been announced today. Glass: The Lion for Change celebrates 10 years since its introduction. The Glass Lion was launched to champion work that used creativity to drive a shift towards more positive, progressive and gender-aware communication, and Marian Brannelly, global... Read More