All Screen articles in 11 September 2006 – Page 3
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Jim Harvey joins Element Films as VP of sales
Element Films International,the sales arm of Sam Nazarian's Los Angeles-basedElement Films, has hired Jim Harvey as vice president of sales. Harvey arrives from Myriad Pictures and will reportdirectly to Element Films International chief John Fremes.Since 2002 he has served as executive director of sales and distribution atMyriad Pictures, where he ...
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George Romero starts pre-production on Diary Of The Dead
George A Romero and producing partner Peter Grunwald have begun pre-production on the iconic filmmaker's latest zombie tale, Diary Of The Dead. Romero/Grunwald Productions is producing and financing the under-$10m project with Los Angeles-based Artfire Films and will commence production in Toronto on Oct 11.The story centres on a group ...
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Newton & Leo comes Perfect Circle
Vancouver-based Perfect Circle Productions has completedfinancing on Jesse Rosensweet's $5m stop-action animated feature Newton AndLeo. Rosensweet's The Stone Follywon the Jury Prize for best animated shortat Cannes in 2002. Described as a 'fairytale-gone-wrong', the story follows Thomas Galileo Newton, an inventor struggling to invent a cure for his son, Leo, ...
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Eli Roth joins cast of Tarantino's Death Proof
Quentin Tarantino has cast Hostel director Eli Roth, Michael Bacall and newcomer Omar Doom in Death Proof, his half of the Grindhouse horrordouble-bill he is preparing with Robert Rodriguez.Death Proofstars Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson and Zoe Bell and is currently shooting in Austin, Texas.Rodriguez' contribution Planet Terror recently completed filmingin ...
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Seville lands The Bubble in Canada
Pierre Menahem's ScalpelFilms has sold Canadian rights to Eytan Fox's The Bubble to Seville Pictures.The Bubble, Fox's follow-upto Walk On Water, has itsinternational premiere in Toronto as a Special Presentation.The film first bowed athome in Israel, where it has notched almost 100,000 admissions in two months.Set in Tel Aviv's hippestneighbourhood, ...
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Bruce Weber to start Robert Mitchum documentary
Bruce Weber, in Toronto tosupport a Dialogues screening of his 1988 documentary Let's Get Lost, has announced that his next project will definitelybe his long-cherished Nice Girls Don'tStay For Breakfast: A Portrait Of Robert Mitchum.Described by Weber as a"musical documentary," the project is a profile of Hollywood's original bad boy. ...
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Sogepaq books multiple deals for DarkBlueAlmostBlack
Spain's Sogepaq has closed a string of sales onwell-received Venice Days entry DarkBlueAlmostBlack (AzulOscuroCasiNegro) which screens in Toronto's Visions programme. The sales, closed in Venice, were to Arsenal for Germany and Austria, Frenetic Films for Switzerland, Cineart for Benelux, Budapest Film in Hungary, Strada in Greece and Arthouse Traffic in ...
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Feature planned based on life of rocker Carole Pope
Jan Nathansonof straight edge films and Andrew Boutilier of SubmissionFilms have teamed to acquire the rights to produce a feature based on the lifeand times of Canadian rock icon Carole Pope. Based on Pope's 2001autobiography Anti-Diva, the filmexplores the outrageous life of the openly lesbian Canadian singer and hercareer in ...
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Reflection strikes North American deal for The Yacoubian Building
Bac Films has sold North American rights for The Yacoubian Building (Omaret Yakobean) to Reflection Distribution. MarwanHamed's sweeping Egyptian saga about modern-day lifein Cairo premiered at Berlin and has crossed $360,000 after two weeks on releasein France. Bac's head of salesSilvere Moreau negotiated the deal with Mohad Youssef at Reflection,which ...
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Bavaria on board for restoration of Berlin Alexanderplatz
Bavaria Media has teamed upwith The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation torestore Fassbinder's classic 14-part TV opus Berlin Alexanderplatz,which first aired on ARD in 1980.The project's originaldirector of photography Xaver Schwarzenbergerand the production manager of the series Dieter Minx are supervising therestoration with Juliane Lorenz, Fassbinder'seditor and the president of the ...
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William Hurt joins cast of $13m mystery Lighthouse
William Hurt has signed onfor a lead role in Lighthouse for Vancouver-basedIrreverent Media.The $13m mystery, fullyfinanced through private investors, is the feature debut of writer-directorFrederick Thorsen. Irreverent CEO Tom O'Brien is leadproducer while Michael Grais of Poltergeist fame is executive producer. Stockholm-based NonStop is handling world sales. Described as a ...
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Jia's Still Life is surprise winner of Venice's Golden Lion
Still Life (Sanxia Haoren) byChinese film-maker Jia Zhangkewon the Golden Lion for best film at the 63rd Venice Film Festival.The film had been thesurprise inclusion in Venice'scompetition, only announced earlier this week. Still Life is about how ordinary villagers' lives will be impactedby the Three Gorges Dam project. The festival's ...
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MGM swoops on Rescue Dawn
MGM has bought North American rights on Werner Herzog's VietnamPOW drama Rescue Dawn,in advance of its world premiere in the Masters section here in Toronto today.It's an unusual move for MGM to acquire a picture since itre-emerged under the guidance of chief operating officer Rick Sands primarilyas a distributor for ...
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Amazon kicks off US download service with every studio but Disney
Amazon has launched its US download service Amazon Unbox, whichwill offer features, television and video games from more than 30 studios.The service is supported by all the US majors with the notableexception of Disney, whose major shareholder Steve Jobs is expected to launch asimilar service through Apple on Sept 12.Most ...
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Encounters to host Ken Russell and Frank Cottrell Boyce
The UK short film festival Encounters (now incorporatingprevious events Brief Encounters and Animated Encounters) will run as anexpanded six-day festival from Nov 21-26 in Bristol.More than 300 new shortfilms will screen from 30 countries. High-profile guests to the 12th festival atBristol's Watershed will include director Ken Russell,screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, ...
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Odeon and Sky pact for UK distribution joint venture
Europe's leading exhibitor Odeon and pay TV company Sky have announced a new collaboration, Odeon andSky Filmworks, which will act as a UK distributor, signing titles directly from film-makers.The joint venture will offerfilms in cinemas, through VOD and DVD, and on television. Initially, Filmworksplans to release six films per year. ...
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Jaume Balaguero finds The Certain Lady with Filmax
Spanish horror specialist Jaume Balaguero, fresh from the Venice screening of his newest film To Let, is preparing his next feature, The Certain Lady, for producer Filmax.The film is based on thenovel La Dama Numero Trece by Jose CarlosSomoza about a poetry lover haunted by a nightmare of a parallel ...
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Rotterdam Festival recruits Marnix van Wijk
TheInternational Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced new industry andfilm sales services. The festival is starting a Sales Club, which will functionas a year-round mediator and also a meeting place during the next festival (Jan24-Feb 7). Also new will be improved industry accreditation procedures and morefrequent industry newsletters. Inother Rotterdam ...
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Strand shines on Lights
US distributor Strand Releasing has acquired Aki Kaurismaki's latest feature Lights In The Dusk, which premiered at Cannes and screens in Toronto as part of the festival's Masters section.Dusk, which premiered in Competition at Cannes in May, is being sold internationally by Michael Weber's The Match Factory.The film, which also ...
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Japan wakes up to Sleep
Fortissimo Films has logged its first major deal on the New Crowned Hope project I Don't Want To Sleep Alone. Playing in Toronto, the Tsai Ming-liang drama competed at Venice and has been picked up for Japan by Prenom H. The deal was concluded at Venice between Shinohara Hiroko and ...