Veteran financier Bill Block is in negotiations to exit from QED International, the production-sales-financing company he founded in 2002.

He is working out an agreement to leave QED with Media Content Capital, which took a controlling interest in the company three years ago.

Block and Media Content Capital toppers Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine were not immediately available for comment, but people familiar with the situation indicate that Block’s departure has been in the works for several months.

QED’s major recent success has been the Brad Pitt action film “Fury,” which grossed over $210 million worldwide.

Block joined with Kevin Frakes in October to form Merced Media with $500 million raised from PalmStar Media Capital.


Block has been the CEO of QED. Besides “Fury,” he’s a producer on Bill Murray’s “Rock the Kasbah,” “Elysium” and “District 9.”

Frakes is the CEO of PalmStar Media Capital and has been a film financing advisor to Merced Capital since 2012 with producing credits on “Term Life”; the upcoming “The Whole Truth,” with Keanu Reeves; Nima Nourizadeh’s upcoming “American Ultra” with Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, and Lynn Shelton’s “Laggies” Keira Knightly and Chloe Grace Moretz.