All articles by Francoise Meaux Saint Marc
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News
Comic books inspire French production frenzy
It's not just in Hollywood - French producers are also working on a string of mega-budget, high-profile comic book adaptations.Back in 1999, the French language comic book adaptation Asterix And Obelix Take On Caesar stormed the local box office, and was swiftly followed up by chart-topping sequel Mission Cleopatra last ...
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Vivendi shares leap at rejection of billion dollar bid for entertainment assets
Vivendi Universal has been approached with a Euros 15bn offer for its entertainment assets by a consortium of businessmen - including oil billionaire Marvin Davis (pictured), the former owner of Twentieth Century Fox - but is refusing to sell. As a result, Vivendi shares ended the day (Thursday) up 21.2% ...
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Rezo Films to produce Rohmer's Triple Agent
French distribution outfit Rezo Films is to produce Eric Rohmer's next film, Triple Agent. The Euros 4m film, which teams Rezo with Rohmer's own production outfit, C.E.R, will also mark the distribution outfit's first foray into the foreign sales sector.Rezo Film used to focus on the distribution (and sometimes the ...
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Rezo Films to produce Rohmer's Triple Agent
French distribution outfit Rezo Films is to produce Eric Rohmer's next film, Triple Agent. The Euros 4m film, which teams Rezo with Rohmer's own production outfit, C.E.R, will also mark the distribution outfit's first foray into the foreign sales sector.Rezo Film used to focus on the distribution (and sometimes the ...
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France submits 8 Femmes for foreign-language Oscar
Francois Ozon's 8 Femmes has been selected as France's submission for the best foreign-language film award at the Oscars.The nomination seems well-deserved as the critically-acclaimed film has not only performed strongly in France, where it sold 3.8 million tickets, but has also proved a hot-seller on the international market.Ozon has ...
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Vivendi Universal to lay off half of Paris HQ staff
Vivendi Universal is to slash staff at its Paris headquarters and other international offices in a bid to achieve savings of Euros140m in the coming year.In a statement, Vivendi said it planned to cut 152 positions out of 327 staff in its Paris headquarters. Management tasks will be concentrated in ...
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StudioCanal grabs Mars Films, gives Bac new hope
StudioCanal is to throw Jean Labadie's Bac Majestic group a desperately-needed financial lifeline. But it will kill off the Bac Distribution joint venture and instead take theatrical releasing of its films in-house."StudioCanal and Bac Majestic are seeking, in the framework of the ongoing discussions, the means to assure the release ...
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Vivendi Universal outlines debt reduction strategy
Vivendi Universal aims to reduce its debt by at least Euros12bn within 18 months through a drastic asset disposal plan which includes Canal Plus group's activities outside of France as well the sale of several non-core businesses. "The Board has noted with satisfaction the decisive progress made during the past ...
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French loyalty cards plateau at 6% market share
The market for France's various cinema loyalty card schemes has reached a plateau just two and a half years after their introduction.Loyalty passes have seen little growth in the French exhibition market last year, accounting for 11 million admissions (5.9%) out of a total 186 million tickets sold, according to ...
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CNC calls for urgent reform of production funding
Expansion of the SOFICA tax schemes, additional regional funding and a restructuring of contributions from the video-DVD sectors could deliver an additional Euros80m-Euros100m to the French production sector. Those are among the urgent measures in support of the struggling independent production sector recommended by a lengthy study delivered to government ...
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Grimond parts company with Vivendi Universal
Vincent Grimond has left Vivendi Universal, the latest in a line of senior French executives to part with the troubled media concern.Grimond, the former chairman and CEO of production and distribution division StudioCanal, moved over to Los Angeles in January 2001 following the Vivendi-Universal-Canal Plus tie-up under Jean-Marie Messier. With ...
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More French films attract fewer audiences
A record 26 French titles were released on French screens during this summer's holiday season (July-August). However, and despite the fact that overall attendance has been on a par with last year's healthy figures, French domestic cinema, which was on a roll last year, has seen its performance slump by ...
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French backers grow wary of culture, bank on commerce
Caution is the new buzzword in French film financing circles, with challenging fare such as the forthcoming Paris Je T'aime struggling to attract investors who increasingly favour big budget bankable hits.A challenging series of 20 five minute short stories - each one set in one of Paris' 20 districts ...
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French films could soon earn more abroad than at home
After a record year in 2001, which saw the foreign box office take of French films nearly doubling to reach Euros 208m, 2002 is on its way to confirming the upward trend, according to French film export body Unifrance.These figures concern only French-language titles, which sold 37.4 million tickets outside ...
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Film Office expands roles becomes Hachette Filipacchi Films
Film Office, a subsidiary of Frenchmedia and publishing giant Hachette Filipacchi, which has been increasinglyboarding foreign feature film projects at an early stage in order to build upits library of theatrical rights, is now to develop its own titles.Theveteran French home video company, which has been a pioneer of all-rightsacquisitions ...
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Vivendi Universal spins off streamlined Canal Plus
Vivendi Universal is to re-structure its 100% subsidiary Groupe Canal Plus around the division's most valuable assets: its French broadcasting activities; its film production and rights holding division StudioCanal as well as its stake in Spanish broadcasting operation Sogecable. All will be folded back into Canal Plus SA, which is ...
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France's TF1, M6 jointly acquire 25% of TPS
French private broadcasting groups TF1 and M6 have jointly acquired the 25% stake held by French utilities group Suez Lyonnaise in digital satellite platform Television Par Satellite (TPS).TF1, which previously held a controlling 50% stake in TPS, following the acquisition in December last year of the 25% stake jointly held ...
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New chief financial officer for Vivendi Universal
Jacques Espinasse, previously CEO of the TF1-controlled digital satellite platform Television Par Satellite (TPS), has been named chief financial officer of beleaguered media and entertainment giant Vivendi Universal.Espinasse, who has held top positions at several French publishing groups (including Vivendi Universal subsidiary Havas) before joining TPS in 1999, replaces Guillaume ...
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France's TF1, M6 team up for Canal Plus bid
French private broadcasting groups TF1 and M6 are considering joining forces with Pathe in order to acquire Vivendi Universal's Canal Plus Group, a source 'close to the deal' told French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur.TF1's chairman Patrick Le Lay and M6's president Nicolas de Tavernost have already both voiced their interest ...
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France's Bac Majestic reveals the identity of its 'white knight'
French distribution group Bac Majestic has revealed the name of its 'white knight': Belgian entrepreneur Michel Litwak and his company Fragum III, who will help turn around the beleaguered company. Bac, which issued a profit warning in May, was seeking a $12.3m (Euros13m) lifeline in order to survive. The lifeline ...