Local heroes: Scots film firm moving into LA

PARK Circus, a Glasgow-based film distributor that manages a back-catalogue of 12,000 titles, yesterday unveiled plans to open an office in Los Angeles.

The company – which lists Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Miramax and Walt Disney among its clients – is opening the US base so that it can target the American cinema market.

The firm specialises in putting classic films – from Brief Encounter and Casablanca through to Local Hero, below, and The 39 Steps – back on the big screen.

Expanding into the US builds on the firm’s contract with MGM. The firm already distributes films for the studio – famous for its “roaring lion” title sequence – in the rest of the world but will now service the US domestic market too.

Park Circus, which was set up in 2003 and is run by directors Nicholas Varley and John Letham, said the US office would also give British film studios – such as ITV and Film 4 – better access to the American market.