A member of Sophia Business Angels, Burton Gintell actively participates in its Entrepreneurship Programme as a coach to participating early-stage companies. American born, educated and trained, with now 29 years in Europe, he has had the practical experience of actually having run businesses, two of which received the Queen's Award for Export Achievement in the U.K. during his tenure as Chief Executive. Burton Gintell has formed/headed companies in seven European countries, including in Eastern Europe, and operated within corporate environments and as an entrepreneur.
As Consultant to a professional practice in Sophia Antipolis, he created and presently directs its corporate finance function, and also serves on the International Advisory Board of a Turkish university-based company.
Resident in Cannes, Burton is on the Board of Governors of the American Club of the Riviera, and supports arts organisations in France.
Burton Gintell’s investor activities in Eastern Europe may be especially interesting to the NGEF 2007 attendees as a template for emerging markets. In 1990, he perceived the market potential for American film / video entertainment in the emerging democracies of the former Eastern Bloc, and began negotiations to acquire IFEX, an established U.S.-based East-West film distributor. He prepared a business plan; conceived Hungarian corporate structure; organised London City finance from Govett Hungarian Investment Company Ltd; identified Guild Entertainment Ltd (then the largest U.K. independent film/video distributor) as a management resource. Burton successfully concluded complex negotiations for acquisition of IFEX assets and joint venture interests by a newly-formed Hungarian entity owned by Govett, Guild, the vendors and himself.
He subsequently:
- • established corporate headquarters in Hungary;
- • formed new subsidiaries in Poland, Romania, Czech Republic and Slovakia, each with full legal qualifications and banking relations;
- • re-structured Hungarian and Czechoslovakia joint ventures with State enterprises;
- • acquired distribution rights from major U.S. studios (Warner Bros., Walt Disney, Columbia TriStar, Fox)
Following the purchase of Guild UK by Pathé, Burton resigned as CEO/Director whilst retaining equity in the holding company, and purchased its controlling (80%) interest in Guild Film Romania, which had been formed in 1992 as the first non State-owned film distributor in the country and is still the largest. With all cinemas in the country owned by the State, he recognised the need for a flagship Western-style multiplex in the capital city, located a site at the country’s first shopping mall, successfully presented opportunity to InterCom (the largest multiplex operator in Hungary). The 10-screen Hollywood Multiplex opened in 2000 with state-of-the-art facilities and immediately became the most important exhibitor in Romania. Burton then formed a joint venture Romanian distribution company with InterCom with rights from Warner Bros., Columbia TriStar, and Fox, and remains a large minority shareholder.