Mindfire Entertainment Acquires Cinefantastique

Posted on November 8, 2002

Mark A. Altman, president of Mindfire Entertainment, announced the feature film company's acquisition of the science fiction, fantasy, horror and action movie magazine Cinefantastique, launched in 1970. Cinefantastique -- known by readers and fans as CFQ -- was founded by publisher and editor Frederick S. Clarke, who passed away in October 2000.

"I feel like the Tina Brown of sci-fi," Altman said. "I think the possible synergy between our film and television projects and CFQ is obvious. CFQ has always been considered the New Yorker of sci-fi magazines, and we intend to be true to that tradition while updating the book for the twenty-first century with a bold new look and additional features on video games, comics and, of course, DVDs. We feel that the CFQ brand offers 30 years' worth of credibility and customer loyalty."

Mindfire will relaunch CFQ in January 2003 under the stewardship of editor-in-chief David E. Williams, the former executive editor of features at The Hollywood Reporter. Prior to joining The Hollywood Reporter, he was senior editor of American Cinematographer magazines. Prior to that he was senior editor of Film Threat magazine. The publishers will be Altman and Mark Gottwald of Mindfire. Altman will also serve as CFQ's editorial director.

"Cinefantastique was one of the publications that initially sparked my interest in entertainment journalism, and the thorough, no-stone-left-unturned editorial style established by Fred Clarke remains the standard by which all other magazines in this field are still compared," said Williams.

In addition to CFQ, Mindfire has acquired its sister publication, Femme Fatales, which was established by Clarke's company in 1992 and will be updated as a "sci-fi Maxim," Altman explains. Femme Fatales will also be relaunched in early 2003.

Founded in 1998, Mindfire Entertainment is an independent production company devoted to film, television and publishing. Mindfire produced the feature Free Enterprise, starring William Shatner and Eric McCormack, the superhero comedy The Specials, and recently wrapped production on The House of the Dead, a $12 million horror film based on a video game series from Sega.