About atlas international
atlas international Film GmbH was founded in February of 1967 by Dieter Menz.
The company’s core business is the worldwide licensing of feature films, series and documentaries for all media. The Menz family also owns American atlas international Films Inc. and the production companies atlas Film & TV Production GmbH and Menz & Friends GmbH.
atlas international represents more than 100 individual producers from all over the world. In the years since it was founded, atlas has made more than 12,000 license agreements with clients from all over the world. All contracts, availabilities, payments and materials are handled by a specialized computer software, developed and programmed by Stefan Menz. From sales and marketing to servicing and deliveries, all aspects of international program sales are handled by in-house specialists. This has given atlas the flexibility and fast response demanded by today’s competitive market.
atlas international is a member of the VDFE (German Film Exporters Association), a member company of IFTA (Independent Film & Television Alliance) was a founding member of EFEX (Association of European Film Exporters), is a member of EFEA (European Film Exporters Association) and attends five to six markets a year.
Dieter Menz, founder of atlas international Film GmbH, is a lawyer who comes from a film family. His father Erich Menz opened his first own cinema in Berlin in 1927. He later became a director of cinemas owned by the massive UFA corporation before falling foul of the Nazi authorities. Subsequently, he started his own group of movie houses in 1934. After the war he went on to build cinemas in the city of Essen, which, until 1993, the Menz family owned and operated. Among these was the famous "Lichtburg", the biggest and probably best known cinema in Germany, at the time with a capacity of over 1.700 seats.
Apart from his sales activities, Dieter Menz has always been involved in film- and media politics. Since 1973, he has served as both chairman and member of the board of EXU (Export Union of German Film) and he is a long-time Chairman of the VDFE (Association of German Film Exporters).
As member of the German Producer’s Association, he has numerous times represented the Association at FIAPF meetings and has served in the German Oscar selection committee. For over 30 years he represented the German Filmexporters at the FFA (the Federal Film Subsidy Fund) where he was involved in the creation of various amendments to the German Film Subsidy Law. Starting early 2000 and for the following eight years, he served as board member of SPIO, the umbrella organization of all German Film Associations. When time permits, he lectures at the HFF (University for Film and Television) in Munich on international sales of feature films. In 1994, he co-founded EFEX, the Association of European Film Exporters e.V. and was elected its first president. From 2006 to 2009, Dieter Menz was a member of the board of directors of EFEA, the European Film Exporters Association in Paris.
Today, atlas international is owned and headed by his sons, Philipp and Stefan Menz, both seasoned movie executives with professional carreers spanning more than 25 years. Philipp Menz currently serves as a member of the board of both the German - and the European Film Exporters Associations (VDFE/EFEA). In 2011, Philipp Menz was a member of the German Oscar selection committee.
atlas international has over the years changed from a "features only" foreign sales company to a multifaceted Media Company. Through worldwide contacts, atlas today sells features, TV-movies and series in all media, aided by its long-standing experience in worldwide film sales and its intimate knowledge of the copyright situation in the international markets.
atlas international combines more than 45 years of experience with a feel for the future of the entertainment industry.
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