All Screen articles in 4 May 2002

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  • News

    Warner France increases investment in local comedies

    2002-05-04T00:00:00Z

    Warner Bros. Pictures France has signed an exclusive distribution deal with French production house Les Films Christian Fechner for four upcoming comedies. 'We're excited to be in business with a film-maker of Christian's stature as we continue our in-country local-language production and distribution initiative,' said Francis Boespflug, managing director, Warner ...

  • News

    Spider-Man: flash in the pan or franchise in the making'

    2002-05-03T04:00:00Z

    As the world waits for this weekend's release of Spider-Man, the question of whether it will outperform last year's $68.1m opening for The Mummy Returns, will soon turn into whether it will deliver a sustainable and lucrative franchise. Screendaily.com looks at the legacy of comic-book adaptations.Internet movie box-office spread betting ...

  • News

    First-time director to make Finland's first Kung-Fu movie

    2002-05-03T04:00:00Z

    Lars von Trier's Dancer In The Dark co-producer, Blind Spot Pictures, is to produce Finland's first-ever Kung-Fu movie, from first-time director Antti-Jussi Annila.Producer Tero Kaukomaa, who formed Blind Spot in 1997 and has since made films like Geography Of Fear and Cyclomania, was so impressed with Tampere Film & Media ...

  • News

    Two Hong Kong film companies plan Growth Enterprise Market floatations

    2002-05-03T04:00:00Z

    Two Hong Kong film companies - production house Milkyway Image and distributor Panorama International Holdings - plan to float on Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) in the next few months.Milkyway - which is 50% owned by Hong Kong producer-director Johnnie To - is understood to be seeking a listing ...

  • News

    Spain's Via Digital re-asserts commitment to (fewer) Spanish films

    2002-05-03T04:00:00Z

    Telefonica-backed digital satellite platform Via Digital publicly responded Thursday to growing concern in the Spanish film industry about the pay-TV sector's steep reduction in financing for both local productions and foreign acquisitions.At a press conference given at the Spanish Film Festival of Malaga to announce Via's and sister broadcaster Antena ...

  • News

    European production, admissions & BO market share unite in growth

    2002-05-03T04:00:00Z

    The European film industry "flourished" last year on a number of levels, including an average 9% hike in local market shares for European films, according to new research. The findings were published by the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) in data that measured feature film output, box office and market share ...

  • Reviews

    The Repentant (La Repentie)

    2002-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Laetitia Masson. France. 2002. 125minsLife is a lie. History is what you make it out to be. And so is this film. Seemingly created for and by Isabelle Adjani, La Repentie is either a triumphant return to the cinema for the enigmatic French screen goddess, after three years of ...

  • Reviews

    Deuces Wild

    2002-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Dir: Scott Kalvert. US. 2002. 97minsDeuces Wild is a throwback. Not just because it is set in the world of gang wars in 1950s Brooklyn, but because it so happily recalls those dated rumble movies of the early 1980s like The Outsiders and Rumble Fish. Matt Dillon even shows up, ...

  • News

    Universal buys Good Machine and merges it with USA Films

    2002-05-03T00:00:00Z

    The independent filmmakingworld has been shrunk yet again as Universal Studios announced it is acquiringGood Machine with immediate plans to elevate the sassy New York production and saleshothouse into an autonomous Miramax-style specialty film unit that will absorball the existing assets of USA Films. To be called Focus, theautonomous operation ...

  • News

    Ortenberg, Pasoernek and Block sign onto multiyear deals at Lions Gate

    2002-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Lions Gate Entertainment has signed its senior managers to long-term contracts and appointed James Keegan to the new position of chief administrative officer.The company has re-signed Lions Gate Films Releasing President Tom Ortenberg, Lions Gate Films president of production Michael Paseornek and Lions Gate Home Entertainment and acquisitions president Peter ...

  • News

    Rivett & Wilson get promotions at Alliance Atlantis

    2002-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Alliance Atlantis has promoted two executives to the top marketing-publicity positions in its Entertainment Group. Gail Rivett has been named senior vice president, marketing and publicity, and Pam Wilson has been named senior vice president, publicity. Rivett, based in Toronto, will oversee all functions of the Entertainment Group's marketing and ...

  • News

    Movie Day offers industry advice at London's Production Show

    2002-05-03T00:00:00Z

    Tiger Aspect's Peter Bennett-Jones, PACT's Bertrand Moullier, the National Film and Television School's Stephen Bayly and Oscar-winning director-actor Peter Capaldi are among the panellists for the Movie Day at the Production Show on May 23 at Olympia in London.This year's Movie Day will address the ever-present problems newcomers face trying ...

  • News

    Frailty shows potential strength on international debut

    2002-05-02T04:00:00Z

    Actor Bill Paxton's directorial debut, Frailty, showed strength as it launched on the international circuit this week. Starting out in sparsely-populated Iceland, the thriller opened on just one screen for local distributor Myndform, grossing $3,869 (ISK 362,300). Its admissions of 645 outperformed Hollywood releases including John Q and Blade II, ...

  • News

    Turkish director gets second look in Un Certain Regard

    2002-05-02T04:00:00Z

    In a highly unusual move Cannes has decided to invite a second film by Turkish director Zeki Demirkurbuz to appear in Un Certain Regard alongside his previously announced Confession (Itiraf).The film Fate (Yazgy) and Confession were shot back to back as the first elements of a trilogy, loosely entitled Tales ...

  • News

    Luc Besson creates two-way French-Japanese distribution joint venture

    2002-05-02T04:00:00Z

    Luc Besson's Europa Corp has launched a rights, marketing and distribution venture in Japan to grow the company's business in the territory and to 'assist' the distribution of a number of Japanese films in France.Europa Corp Japan, which launched on April 19, is a joint venture backed by Europa Corp, ...

  • News

    SAG rule could 'devastate' Australian films & limit offshore opportunities

    2002-05-02T04:00:00Z

    Bob Carr, political leader of New South Wales, the Australian film industry's most significant state, today wrote to Screen Actors Guild (SAG) president Melissa Gilbert to urgently verify that Australian SAG members are able to work on Australian films without being paid SAG rates. Were this not the case, his ...

  • News

    Eurimages appoints new board member, awards co-production funds

    2002-05-02T04:00:00Z

    The European production fund Eurimages has for the first time appointed a Norwegian to its board - the 52-year-old Nils Klevjer Aas, who works for the new Norwegian Film Fund. Meanwhile, projects by Margarethe von Trotta, Alain Resnais, Gerardo Herrero and Mika Kaurismaki were among 11 European co-productions granted a ...

  • News

    South Africa launches Cannes campaign - as festival outsider

    2002-05-02T04:00:00Z

    South Africa will this year host its second-ever pavilion at Cannes, despite the fact that no South African films have been selected for the competition - or indeed any section of the festival.While the absence of South African movies from everywhere but independent market screenings is largely due to the ...

  • News

    First Look gets worldwide rights to golfing drama

    2002-05-02T00:00:00Z

    First Look Media has acquired worldwide rights to A Gentleman's Game, a drama set in the world of golf and featuring Gary Sinise, Philip Baker Hall, Dylan Baker and Mason Gamble. The film is directed by J Mills Goodloe, who co-wrote the screenplay with Tom Coyne, on whose novel it ...

  • News

    Levine & Sella named co-chiefs of Fox domestic marketing

    2002-05-02T00:00:00Z

    Pamela Levine and Tony Sella have been named co-presidents of domestic theatrical marketing at 20th Century Fox, in light of the abrupt departure of Alan Cohen last week. They report to Fox vice chairman Robert Harper.Sella was previously executive vice president of marketing and creative director, heading the studio's domestic ...