Marco Weber(I)
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
German-born Marco Weber started his career in 1992 at German
broadcaster RTL and received critical acclaim with his documentary
"Annie's Shooting" about famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Driven by his love and passion for cinema, he went to Los Angeles at the age of 25 hoping to make motion pictures. One year later, in 1994, the stars aligned and he produced his first feature "Don't do it" with young and upcoming actors as Heather Graham and David Arquette. His next two productions were "Red Meat" and "No Strings attached".
In 1997, together with blockbuster director Roland Emmerich, he set out to produce the $20M sci-fi thriller "The Thirteenth Floor" for Columbia Tristar, directed by Josef Rusnak, starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Armin Mueller Stahl.
In 1998, he founded his company Atlantic Streamline, which was to produce, among others, the heist comedy "You Are Dead," starring John Hurt and Rhys Ifans. He went on to produce "All the Queens Men" which was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, who went on to win the Academy Award for best foreign picture for his film "The Counterfeiters" in 2007. One year later, Weber was able to celebrate his biggest success up to that point, the black comedy "Igby Goes Down," starring Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Ryan Phillipe, Claire Danes, and Kieran Culkin. The film earned Weber his first Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations. The film was distributed through MGM/United Artists and on the heels of "Igby Goes Down," the studio offered Weber a first look/co-financing deal, starting a long relationship with Studio Chairman Chris McGurk.
In 2006, Weber acquired, together with his partner Helge Sasse, 50.1% in German Distributor Senator Entertainment AG. As newly appointed Chief Creative Officer, he was responsible for the acquisition and theatrical releases of films like "Pan's Labyrinth," "Death Proof," "Planet Terror," "1408," "The Mist," "The Reader," "Hard Candy," and "Splice," amongst many others. He also invented the genre label, Autobahn.
Concurrently, he also remained active as producer. In 2007 he financed and produced "Fireflies in the Garden", starring Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, and Hayden Panetierre. The film screened in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008. Following this film, Weber joined forces with acclaimed author Bret Easton Ellis and went on to finance and produce "The Informers", starring Mickey Rourke, Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger and Winona Ryder.
In August 2008, Weber stepped down from the Board of Senator Entertainment AG in order to focus entirely on filmmaking.
In 2009 he went on to finance and produce the thriller "Unthinkable", starring Samuel Jackson, Michael Sheen, and Carrie-Anne Moss and was the executive Producer on Antoine Fuqua's "Brooklyn's Finest", starring Richard Gere, Wesley Snipes, and Ethan Hawke.
In 2012 Weber decided to transition into writing and directing with his debut "California Scheming". This tale of four troubled Teenagers was financed and produced through his label Rapid Eye Film. The film was shot entirely in Malibu, California and stars teen actors Gia Mantegna, Rachel Seiferth, Devon Werkheiser and Spencer Daniels.
In 2014 and following the distribution of "California Scheming", Weber entered into a 15 Picture US Distribution Deal with Cinedigm Entertainment. Under the agreement, Rapid Eye will produce, co-produce, or acquire three to four genre-centric films per year. Cinedigm will handle the theatrical and home entertainment release and distribution strategy, with RES producing and managing the marketing. This deal reunites Weber and Cinedigm Chairman and CEO, Chris McGurk. The first film in development under the deal with Cinedigm is called "Datum" and is expected to go into production in late 2014.
The international distribution on each Rapid Eye production will be handled by Nicolas Chartier of Voltage Pictures (The Hurt Locker, Dallas Buyers Club).
In addition to the deal with Cinedigm, Weber created and co-wrote a series pilot entitled "Children of the Machine". He invented and created a unique and innovative distribution model in collaboration with BitTorrent. Under this model, Rapid Eye Studios will finance and produce the pilot and launch and distribute it for free to all BitTorrent subscribers. After reviewing the pilot, users will have the opportunity to help finance an additional 8 hour-long episodes by subscribing to the show via BitTorrent paygates. If the threshold of subscribers is met, the full series will be produced and launched in Summer 2015 to those users who donated. "Children of the Machine" is co-written by Jeff Stockwell.
Weber lives with his wife, Anne Caroline, and their four children Moritz, Nikita, Winona, and Lola in Malibu, California.
Driven by his love and passion for cinema, he went to Los Angeles at the age of 25 hoping to make motion pictures. One year later, in 1994, the stars aligned and he produced his first feature "Don't do it" with young and upcoming actors as Heather Graham and David Arquette. His next two productions were "Red Meat" and "No Strings attached".
In 1997, together with blockbuster director Roland Emmerich, he set out to produce the $20M sci-fi thriller "The Thirteenth Floor" for Columbia Tristar, directed by Josef Rusnak, starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Armin Mueller Stahl.
In 1998, he founded his company Atlantic Streamline, which was to produce, among others, the heist comedy "You Are Dead," starring John Hurt and Rhys Ifans. He went on to produce "All the Queens Men" which was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, who went on to win the Academy Award for best foreign picture for his film "The Counterfeiters" in 2007. One year later, Weber was able to celebrate his biggest success up to that point, the black comedy "Igby Goes Down," starring Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Ryan Phillipe, Claire Danes, and Kieran Culkin. The film earned Weber his first Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations. The film was distributed through MGM/United Artists and on the heels of "Igby Goes Down," the studio offered Weber a first look/co-financing deal, starting a long relationship with Studio Chairman Chris McGurk.
In 2006, Weber acquired, together with his partner Helge Sasse, 50.1% in German Distributor Senator Entertainment AG. As newly appointed Chief Creative Officer, he was responsible for the acquisition and theatrical releases of films like "Pan's Labyrinth," "Death Proof," "Planet Terror," "1408," "The Mist," "The Reader," "Hard Candy," and "Splice," amongst many others. He also invented the genre label, Autobahn.
Concurrently, he also remained active as producer. In 2007 he financed and produced "Fireflies in the Garden", starring Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, and Hayden Panetierre. The film screened in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008. Following this film, Weber joined forces with acclaimed author Bret Easton Ellis and went on to finance and produce "The Informers", starring Mickey Rourke, Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger and Winona Ryder.
In August 2008, Weber stepped down from the Board of Senator Entertainment AG in order to focus entirely on filmmaking.
In 2009 he went on to finance and produce the thriller "Unthinkable", starring Samuel Jackson, Michael Sheen, and Carrie-Anne Moss and was the executive Producer on Antoine Fuqua's "Brooklyn's Finest", starring Richard Gere, Wesley Snipes, and Ethan Hawke.
In 2012 Weber decided to transition into writing and directing with his debut "California Scheming". This tale of four troubled Teenagers was financed and produced through his label Rapid Eye Film. The film was shot entirely in Malibu, California and stars teen actors Gia Mantegna, Rachel Seiferth, Devon Werkheiser and Spencer Daniels.
In 2014 and following the distribution of "California Scheming", Weber entered into a 15 Picture US Distribution Deal with Cinedigm Entertainment. Under the agreement, Rapid Eye will produce, co-produce, or acquire three to four genre-centric films per year. Cinedigm will handle the theatrical and home entertainment release and distribution strategy, with RES producing and managing the marketing. This deal reunites Weber and Cinedigm Chairman and CEO, Chris McGurk. The first film in development under the deal with Cinedigm is called "Datum" and is expected to go into production in late 2014.
The international distribution on each Rapid Eye production will be handled by Nicolas Chartier of Voltage Pictures (The Hurt Locker, Dallas Buyers Club).
In addition to the deal with Cinedigm, Weber created and co-wrote a series pilot entitled "Children of the Machine". He invented and created a unique and innovative distribution model in collaboration with BitTorrent. Under this model, Rapid Eye Studios will finance and produce the pilot and launch and distribute it for free to all BitTorrent subscribers. After reviewing the pilot, users will have the opportunity to help finance an additional 8 hour-long episodes by subscribing to the show via BitTorrent paygates. If the threshold of subscribers is met, the full series will be produced and launched in Summer 2015 to those users who donated. "Children of the Machine" is co-written by Jeff Stockwell.
Weber lives with his wife, Anne Caroline, and their four children Moritz, Nikita, Winona, and Lola in Malibu, California.
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