All Screen articles in 7 July 2000
View all stories from this month.
-
News
Ian Holm to play fantastical Napoleon in Emperor
UK actor Ian Holm is to play Napoleon in FilmFour's The Emperor's New Clothes, a historical fantasy being produced by The Full Monty's Uberto Pasolini and directed by Palookaville's Alan Taylor.Pasolini's UK production outfit Redwave Films confirmed that Holm, whose credits include The Madness Of King George, is to ...
-
News
Messier threatens to veto Sky Global deal
Vivendi chief Jean-Marie Messier is threatening not to contribute his 20% stake in UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB to Rupert Murdoch's planned digital distribution company Sky Global Networks, according to French reports.Messier is understood to have told analysts that he would not sell his BSkyB stake unless he secures an active ...
-
News
CanWest gets greenlight to launch Canadian network
CanWest Global Communications is to form Canada's third national free-TV network after this week securing regulatory approval of its $545m purchase of the prinicpal TV assets of WIC Western International Communications.CanWest will now combine the new assets with stations in two key markets - Hamilton, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia ...
-
News
Brazil launches film commission with int'l mission
Brazil has launched a dedicated film commission to capitalise on a weakened local currency and attract large-scale overseas productions such as The Mission, one of the few high-profile features to shoot in Latin America's largest country.With the real down to nearly two to a US dollar, the Rio de Janeiro-based ...
-
News
Jobs go as BBC creates new media arm
UK public broadcaster the BBC is slashing more than 200 jobs as it launches BBC Technology, a commercially-driven operation providing IT services to the BBC and external companies.The job losses will come from existing technology and operations subsidiary BBC Resources, part of which will be brought into the main organisation. ...
-
News
Brokaw's Avenue to merge with e-commerce firm
Cary Brokaw's Avenue Entertainment Group, the production outfit behind The Player, Short Cuts and Drugstore Cowboy, has signed a letter of intent to merge with SolutionsAmerica Inc, an e-commerce company which specialises in facilitating digital business processes for the entertainment industry.In a statement Brokaw said that the merger was intended ...
-
News
Gladiator passes $350m in worldwide grosses
Ridley Scott's Gladiator which was co-financed by DreamWorks SKG and Universal Pictures has crossed the $350m mark at the worldwide box office. Its international gross through Universal/UIP is now at $180m and rising, surpassing the $171m it has generated domestically on its DreamWorks release.The movie is to date the year's ...
-
News
Perry-Melish, Piano join website Reelplay.com
International film sales business-to-business website Reelplay.com has made some key appointments from the film world to join its team.- Chris Perry-Melish, formerly president of international sales at Kushner-Locke Co, has been named senior vice president of sales. Perry-Melish previously held sales and distribution posts at Conquistador Entertainment, Prism Entertainment and ...
-
News
Universal to become Canal Plus subsidiary
Vivendi chief Jean-Marie Messier has announced that Pierre Lescure - who has already been named COO of the future Vivendi Universal - will also be chairman of Universal Studios, which is to operate as a subsidiary of the new Canal Plus group, itself a 100% subsidiary of Vivendi Universal.Seeking to ...
-
News
Vanaprashtham feted at India's Film Awards
Shaji N Karun's Malayalam title Vanaprashtham picked up the best film award at India's 47th National Film Awards which were announced today. The film also won the best actor award for Mohan Lal's performance.The best director award went to Buddhadev Dasgupta for his Bengali film Uttara and Kiron Kher won ...
-
News
Neeson, Campion pick up Taormina's Diamonds
The Taormina Film Festival (July 1-9) has handed out a series of life-time achievement awards in place of its usual prize-giving ceremony in a move to eliminate what festival director Felice Laudadio described as "unnecessary and destructive competition between film-makers."Recipients of the honours - called the Taormina Arte Diamond Award ...
-
News
AFC overhauls funding guidelines
As part of its on-going revamp, Australia's major development agency, the Australian Film Commission (AFC), has issued new funding guidelines under which film-makers with a proven track record will be given the most support. Experienced talent will be given access to the lion's share of AFC funding - and at ...
-
News
France changes ratings system in Baise-moi row
French culture minister Catherine Tasca has agreed to reinstate the 18 certificate in France following the censorship row that broke out when controversial title Baise-moi (Fuck Me) was given an X rating when already on release. As a result, exhibitors which were refusing the pull the film from their theatres ...
-
News
Del Borgo joins executive exodus from Stream
Giglio Del Borgo has quit his position as commercial director at Italian pay-TV platform Stream, one of several recent resignations that have raised questions about the fate of the News Corp and Telecom Italia-owned company.Stream chief Riccardo Catalani stepped down last week barely six months into the top job, making ...
-
News
StudioCanal pacts with Ovitz
France's StudioCanal has formed a joint venture production company with Michael Ovitz's Artists Production Group (APG) to co-finance and produce 12 to 15 features over the next three years aimed at the US and international markets. StudioCanal will hold international distribution rights to the titles outside the US where distribution ...
-
News
Storm Conquers US Box Office
Channel 4 today confirmed the appointment of Mark Thompson, currently BBC director of television, as its chief executive.Thompson replaces Michael Jackson, who left to become president and chief executive of USA Entertainment in October. He will leave the BBC after Christmas, but not take up his new job until March ...
-
News
FilmFour backs GI 'n' drugs action movie
The UK's FilmFour is majority financing Buffalo Soldiers, an action-laden but edgy tale of drug-swilling US soldiers stationed in West Germany circa 1989.The adaptation of Robert O'Connor's darkly-humorous novel, budgeted south of $15m, is scheduled to shoot in the autumn in Germany. Already being described by FilmFour insiders as Trainspotting ...
-
News
Sogecable relaunches script development programme
Spanish media group Sogecable has relaunched its script development programme, Canal Plus Guiones (Canal Plus Scripts). The refurbished, four-year-old programme aims to help as many as 40 new and up-and-coming scriptwriters develop feature film and TV movie script ideas over the next three years on a combined budget of $400,000 ...
-
News
Taboo takes top honours at St Petersburg
Nagisa Oshima's Taboo (Gohatto) won the top prize, the Golden Griffon, at this year's St Petersburg Festival of Festivals. The audience prize, the Silver Griffon, went to Beautiful People directed by Jasmin Dizdar. Canal Plus won a Bronze Griffon from the festival's board of directors for its presentation of a ...
-
News
Hindi prods win right to one-year satellite window
Hindi film producers have won the right for their films to be broadcast on satellite one year after the theatrical release following a landmark agreement signed with the Indian film distributors association, the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA).At present there are no strict rules on the satellite window in India, ...