All Screen articles in 27 April 2001 – Page 2

  • News

    Carlton, Granada merge digital and free-TV assets

    2001-04-25T16:33:00Z

    U K media concerns Granada and Carlton Communications have confirmed they are merging their free-to-air TV assets with their joint pay-TV venture ONdigital, bringing closer the total consolidation of commercial TV network ITV.Stuart Prebble, ONdigital chief executive, was also confirmed as chief executive of the enlarged ITV. Rob Fyfe, currently ...

  • News

    Wind Dancer & Winchester buy Forever pitch

    2001-04-25T06:58:00Z

    LA-based production outfit Wind Dancer Films has purchased the romantic comedy pitch Forever And A Day by Robert Zappia through its development fund with Winchester Films. Zappia, who wrote the story and screenplay for Halloween H:20 will also write the screenplay. He first worked with Wind Dancer principals Matt Williams, ...

  • News

    IFC Films buys domestic rights to The Chateau

    2001-04-25T06:57:00Z

    IFC Films has acquired domestic distribution rights to Jesse Peretz's digital semi-improvisational comedy The Chateau which had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival this week. Fortissimo Film Sales has international rights.Starring Paul Rudd and Romany Malco as two American brothers who inherit a small castle in ...

  • News

    Brando drops out of Scary Movie 2 due to illness

    2001-04-25T06:56:00Z

    Marlon Brando, who made headlines earlier this month when he agreed to play a cameo role as an exorcist in Dimension Films' Scary Movie 2 for an estimated $2m, has been forced to drop out of the project due to illness."Unfortunately, due to his health issues and unavailability, we must ...

  • News

    DreamWorks and TBS strike $350m-$450m deal

    2001-04-25T06:52:00Z

    In a landmark output arrangement estimated to be worth between $350m and $450m, Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) has entered into a deal with DreamWorks SKG giving TBS entertainment networks US broadcast TV rights to 60 of the studio's films. Touted as the biggest film licensing agreement in the history of ...

  • News

    Ramsay's Callar gets early call-up

    2001-04-24T20:45:00Z

    Alliance Atlantis has closed a clutch of pre-sales on offbeat drama Morvern Callar, by one of Britain's hottest directing talents, Lynne Ramsay.The film has been snapped up by Diaphana in France, Artist House in Japan and Prooptiki in Greece. Momentum Pictures will release the film in the UK.Morvern Caller is ...

  • News

    Paquin, Olin emerge in Belaguero's Darkness

    2001-04-24T20:35:00Z

    Anna Paquin and Lena Olin will head the cast of Catalan director Jaume Balaguero's much-anticipated English-language debut, Darkness. Iain Glen, who co-starred on stage with Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room, Open Your Eyes-star Fele Martinez, Hannibal re-discovery Giancarlo Giannini, Fermi Reixach and newcomer Stephan Enquist round out the cast. ...

  • News

    Gov't make Israeli industry wait for cash support

    2001-04-24T20:31:00Z

    Israel's film-makers will have to wait some more before they can access the government support that seemed so near at hand,The Cinema Law, approved by Parliament some 18 months ago after years of struggles and lobbying, and celebrated by the industry as a major step towards solving some of its ...

  • News

    Sony unveils plan for Korean animation channel

    2001-04-24T20:28:00Z

    Sony Pictures Television Japan (SPTVJ) has announced plans to launch an animation channel in South Korea, its first move to operate an overseas TV station.SPTVJ, which is a satellite broadcasting arm of US-based Sony Pictures Entertainment, has begun talks with local Korean partners and expects to see the channel distributed ...

  • News

    Tele+/Stream deal hands Italian pay-TV to Vivendi

    2001-04-24T20:15:00Z

    Vivendi Universal boss Jean-Marie Messier today forecast swift regulatory approval for the Italian pay-TV venture with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp that he announced today.Messier said that Vivendi Universal will have two-thirds of a joint venture which will be born from the merger of Vivendi's Telepiu and the News Corp-Telecom Italia-controlled ...

  • News

    Haeberle quits board of F.A.M.E.

    2001-04-24T12:36:00Z

    Thomas Haeberle is to step down from the management board of ambitious German mini-conglomerate F.A.M.E. Film & Music Entertainment where he was director of film production. The move is reminiscent of Bernd Eichinger's recent decision at Constantin to quit the board and concentrate on production. Haeberle's board responsibilities are being ...

  • News

    Momentum takes UK on Jeunet's Amelie

    2001-04-24T11:15:00Z

    The UK's Momentum Pictures has picked up all UK rights to Amelie From Montmartre, a French-language comedy from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director of Alien Resurrection and one half of the team behind Delicatessen and The City Of Lost Children.The UGC International title has just secured a special public screening at the ...

  • News

    Telepiu-Stream set to merge today

    2001-04-24T10:22:00Z

    Jean-Marie Messier and Rupert Murdoch are today expected to announce that Vivendi Universal will have two-thirds of a new joint venture in Italian pay-TV. Terms of the new venture which will be born from the merger of Vivendi Universal's Telepiu and the News Corp-controlled Stream may be detailed this afternoon ...

  • News

    Ricardo Avila to leave Columbia TriStar Italy

    2001-04-24T02:03:00Z

    Ricardo Avila is to leave his position as general manager of Columbia TriStar, Italy, after 16 years at the company. "It was a hard and difficult decision to make," he said in a statement. "After 16 years with this company in four different countries around the world it really felt ...

  • News

    Intermedia buys crime novel for Mark Johnson Prods

    2001-04-24T02:02:00Z

    Intermedia has acquired movie rights to The Booster, a crime novel by Eugene Izzi, for Mark Johnson Productions to produce. The book was bought to Johnson by producer Louis DiGiaimo who collaborated with Johnson on Donnie Brasco.The Booster is the story of a big time thief who comes out of ...

  • News

    Zentropa signs worldwide deal with Universal Music

    2001-04-24T02:00:00Z

    Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has entered into an exclusive worldwide agreement with Denmark's Zentropa Enterprises to administer its music publishing interests.The deal was struck with Zen Music, the publishing arm of Zentropa. As a result of the deal, UMPG will adminstrate Lars Von Trier's share of the songs from ...

  • News

    Leah Weil named general counsel at Sony Pictures

    2001-04-24T01:57:00Z

    Leah Weil has been promoted to corporate senior vice president and general counsel for Sony Pictures Entertainment with responsibility for all company legal matters. She was previously executive vice president, legal affairs and deputy general counsel.Reporting to Beth Berke, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, Weil is now the ...

  • News

    Cannes expands out-of-competition line-up

    2001-04-23T21:23:00Z

    Three more titles have been added to the Cannes festival sidebar Un Certain Regard while the organisers have also announced a special open-air screening of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie From Montmartre, which goes on French release tomorrow (Wed, April 25). Un Certain Regard now takes in Stanley Kwan's gay drama Beijing ...

  • News

    Bac Majestic misses profit targets

    2001-04-23T21:19:00Z

    Bac Majestic, the French distribution and exhibition group headed by Jean Labadie, reported profits below the target announced at the time of last year's flotation.Pre-tax profits were $1m (Euros1.1m), and net after tax profits were $180,000 (Euros0.2m). But the company blamed the difference on a policy of accelerated film depreciation. ...

  • News

    Vivendi grabs control of Canal Plus Poland

    2001-04-23T21:18:00Z

    Vivendi Universal has obtained majority control of Canal Plus Poland, its Polish pay-TV venture. The move is expected to smooth the path towards a full merger of the service with Wyzja, the UPC-owned group of channels.Belgian investment group Deficom sold its stake to Vivendi Universal for Euros90m, while Polish investors ...