Philippe Hellmann

Philippe Hellmann was one of the founding partners that bought France's major media company UGC in 1971. He was in charge of the production, distribution, and exhibition branches at UGC for many years before he and his associates decided to change their approach to production and distribution by creating satellite companies that developed each of these domains. Accordingly, Mr. Hellmann created – and took complete ownership of – UGC PH.
Founded in 1988, UGC PH acquires and distributes foreign feature films in France and French-speaking territories, and partners in international co-productions. Across the platforms, UGC PH handles theatrical, video, and television distribution.
Mr. Hellmann's mandates are to discover new talents and to work with renowned directors. Accordingly, among the numerous celebrated films that UGC PH has distributed are Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman, Lust, Caution, and Academy Award-winning Brokeback Mountain (also with Focus Features); Nikita Mikhalkov's Dark Eyes, starring Academy Award nominee Marcello Mastroianni; Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing and Peter's Friends; Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys, starring Academy Award nominee Brad Pitt; Chris Menges' A World Apart; Pedro Almodóvar's High Heels; David Cronenberg's eXistenZ; Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; and Christopher Nolan's Memento.

Focus Features