Well-connected US financier Alton Irby III has set himself a demanding corporate corpse revival project on this side of the Atlantic. He chairs AIM-quoted ContentFilm, an aspirant film producer created by the reverse takeover of Los angeles-focused ContentFilm Inc by bombed-out Aim laggard Winchester Entertainment.

Irby, a founding partner of private investment bank Tricorn Partners, director of New York-quoted healthcare technology specialist McKerron Corp and co-founder of former niche finance boutique JO Hambro Magan Irby, took 11 per cent of the UK group when he sold to Winchester another of his ventures, Cobalt Media. He has been striving to revive its fortunes ever since.

Winchester floated nine years ago at £1 a share, but ContentFilm languishes at 19p, even after a recent £8 million fundraising at 26p and a £11 million three-year facility from Morgan Chase. With Irby's compatriot John Schmidt as chief executive officer, the company says it hopes to slash losses and staff, recapitalise projects and boost revenues from £2 million to £10 million with films such as Rachel's Holiday with Catherine Zeta Jones and Fuel-Injected Dreams (based on the life of pop impresario Phil Spector).

Schmidt says he plans to launch a parallel tax-efficient film equity fund. Irby, whose other directorships include Crown Communications and City Capital Counseling, would be pleased if Aim punters responded more warmly to this risky proposition.