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COLOGNE -- German film and television producer Werner Possardt, whose Calypso Film produced movies such as The Pool, Fandango and German TV miniseries Operation Noah, has died from injuries in the Tsunami disaster in South-East Asia, his family said on Tuesday. The 53-year-old Possardt was on vacation in Phuket, Thailand with his wife when the catastrophic flooding struck the area. Both were buried alive when the building they were in collapsed. Emergency workers rescued them after two days but Possardt was severely injured and died later on the operating table. His wife has since returned home to Germany. Possardt set up Calypso in 1980 and produced some 20 films and TV movies, most in the horror and thriller genre. But the company was unable to weather the downturn in the German advertising market and declared bankruptcy in 2002. Possardt is survived by his wife and two children.

BERLIN -- Cologne-based Calypso Film has become the latest in a long line of German production houses to file for insolvency.The film and television production group confirmed Wednesday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection after orders dried up amid a recession in advertising revenue."All (German television) channels and, in particular, the public stations, are ordering far fewer series and TV movies than they have in the past few years," Calypso CEO Werner Possardt said in a statement. "At a minimum, we need two to three projects a year. At the moment, we only have one. ... It came to the point where we had to go to the insolvency courts."...