MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films has launched a Hollywood-based production and financing company ‘YRF Entertainment‘ that will focus on developing and producing feature films for the US and international marketplace.

The new venture will be headed by Uday Chopra, who will serve as CEO. Chopra has hired Jonathan Reiman to head the development and production team.

Chopra said, "My family has a deep commitment to making and distributing quality films that entertain and enlighten audiences. I share that passion, as well as a love for American films that I have had since childhood. It is that enthusiasm and my love of the creative process of filmmaking that drove me to start this new venture."

YRF Entertainment is currently producing and financing The Longest Week, the shooting of which commenced last week in New York City. Written and directed by Peter Glanz, the film, produced jointly by Uday Chopra and Neda Armian, stars Jason Bateman, Olivia Wilde and Billy Crudup.

The film tells the story of a bratty man-child (Bateman) who still lives with his parents in a chic Manhattan hotel but suddenly finds himself evicted, disinherited and hopelessly in love with his best friend‘s heartthrob.

After the original financier abandoned the film, Chopra tracked down the project and immediately fell in love with the material. He arranged a creative and physical production meeting with Glanz and Armian in Mumbai and after a lengthy meeting, he committed to making the film, with his business and legal team closing the deal in less than two weeks.

YRF Entertainment is also building a slew of projects that it will actively develop and produce, he said. The first project that the company will develop is an untitled action/comedy by Dan Ewen about two twenty-something‘s who run away from their podunk towns to pursue big dreams and become an unlikely but seemingly unstoppable duo after meeting serendipitously.