All articles by Adam Minns – Page 28
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BAFTA moves UK awards in line with Oscars shift
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is holding its film awards ceremony in 2004 two weeks early, the body announced this week.The move, which means the ceremony will be held Sunday 8th February, keeps the awards a month ahead of the Oscars, which have also moved two weeks.Next ...
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UK's Channel 4 rejected FilmFour rescue offer
Channel 4 rejected a last-minute rescue deal with Germany's Senator Film and UK tax financiers Matrix that was geared at allowing the broadcaster to slash its investment to $15m (£10m) but still save FilmFour as a going concern with an annual war-chest of $45m (£30m).This decision to reject the partnership ...
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Channel 4 confirms FilmFour closure
The UK's Channel 4 yesterday confirmed that it is to close FilmFour. It is planning to replace the $46.1m (£30m) a year vertically-integrated film division with an in-house development and production operation with an annual budget of around $15.4m (£10m). FilmFour was the UK's larfgest single film financier and was ...
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Strong overseas film sales reported by troubled FilmFour
On the eve of what many expect to be a dramatic re-focusing on lower-budget films made for the local market, the UK's FilmFour has underlined its international strengths with a host of overseas sales.Sales arm FilmFour International is closing US deal with Sony Pictures Classics on Cannes title Once Upon ...
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Alan Parker re-appointed chairman of UK Film Council
Alan Parker has been re-appointed as chairman of UK support body the Film Council for a further two years, film minister Kim Howells announced on Wednesday.Parker is understood to feel he needs another two years to see through changes begun by the council, which launched two years ago. He said ...
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Mike Newell to pilot Deighton's Bomber
Mike Newell is to direct an adaptation of Len Deighton's World War II novel Bomber.Roger Randall-Cutler, whose credits include Dance With A Stranger and The Commitments, is producing Bomber with Robert Cheek at the First Film Company. Leigh Jackson is adapting the book, which follows 24 hours in an Allied ...
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UK's Film Consortium names Neil Peplow head of production
Neil Peplow is taking over as head of production at UK National Lottery franchise The Film Consortium, replacing Julie Baines with immediate effect.Peplow recently produced Mike Bassett: England Manager and The Abduction Club. He was co-producer on Waking Ned and Shooting Fish, working with Richard Holmes, the former managing director ...
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Jeremy Thomas reveals cast of Bertolucci's Dreamers
Michael Pitt, Eva Green and Louis Garrel will star in Bernardo Bertolucci's next film, The Dreamers, producer Jeremy Thomas announced on Wednesday.Newcomers Green and Garrel play a brother and sister in Paris in 1968 who invite a young American played by Pitt to stay. Set against the turbulent political backdrop ...
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IEG pumps fresh blood into Jordan's $55m Borgia epic
Neil Jordan's European epic Borgia is back on its feet after partnering with Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group.The $55m production is set to star Ewan McGregor, Christina Ricci, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Antonio Banderas and John Malkovich. Initial will handle world sales, with 20th Century Fox retaining North American rights.The ...
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UK's Civilian Content posts $7.6m pre-tax loss
Civilian Content, the UK media concern which owns National Lottery franchise The Film Consortium, on Thursday posted a group loss before tax of $7.6m (£5.2m) for last year.The AIM-listed company, which has $20m (£13.6m) left of the Consortium's original lottery grant of some $44.1m (£30m), recorded a total operating loss ...
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FilmFour, Pathe alliance bags Jeepers Creepers 2 for UK
UK distributors FilmFour and Pathe Distribution have snapped up Like Hell: Jeepers Creepers 2 from US sales agent Myriad Pictures through their busy buying alliance.The original Jeepers Creepers took almost $50m in the US and $10m in the UK, where it was released by Helkon SK. United Artists and Zoetrope ...
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Celador Films appoints head of production and development
Leading UK independent TV producer Celador Films, best known for hit quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire', is stepping up its film activities.The company has appointed Christian Colson, head of development at Miramax Films' UK arm, to oversee production and development. Colson and Celador have just collaborated on ...
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Metro Tartan adds to Cannes acquisitions
Independent UK distributor Metro Tartan Distribution has acquired Un Certain Regard title Angel On The Right and Respiro, which won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Critics Week.Other recent additions to Metro Tartan's line-up include Full Time-Killer, a Hong Kong film directed by Johnny To and starring Andy Lau, and ...
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Borgia project starts search for new finance
UK producer Stephen Woolley has been forced to refinance Neil Jordan's Renaissance epic Borgia after failing to agree a budget figure with US-based sales agent Myriad Pictures.Woolley said he was still confident that shooting will go ahead later this year despite the rupture with Myriad on the eve of the ...
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Holmes, Euston Films partner for The Farmer Wants A Wife
Shooting Fish and Waking Ned producer Richard Holmes has partnered with Euston Films, the reincarnation of UK broadcaster Thames Television's film division, to co-produce $10m romantic comedy The Farmer Wants A Wife. The true story of a campaign to find wives for lonely farmers marks Euston's first step in a ...
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UK's Channel 4 mulls FilmFour options
UK broadcaster Channel 4 is in talks to bring in a partner for its loss-making film arm FilmFour, chief executive Mark Thompson said on Wednesday.The statement came after reports in the local press said the broadcaster had already decided to make significant cuts at the film operation, which has suffered ...
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Beckham to play in Japan and Korea
It looks like Beckham will be playing in Japan and Korea. UK-based sales outfit The Works has sold Bend It Like Beckham to a host of markets including Japan (New Select) and Korea (Digital Nega).Other markets sold included Germany (Highlight) and Hong Kong (Golden Scene). The soccer drama comedy went ...
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Borgia inches forward
Regarded as a barometer of the health of large-scale film financing in a depressed European market, Neil Jordan's epic Borgia appears to be finally coming together as a mammoth co-production between the UK, Germany, Italy, Ireland and possibly France.Co-producers and partners deep into talks include BBC Films for the UK ...
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Kapadia boards St Agnes' Stand
The Warrior director Asif Kapadia has boarded Miramax Films' western St Agnes' Stand.Kapadia, who transplanted the spaghetti Western to India for The Warrior, is expected to bring an epic Sergio Leone feel to Agnes, a western story about an injured gunslinger on the run in New Mexico. Reminiscent of Kapadia's ...
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FilmFour's Motorcycle travels far and wide
Testifying to the ability of stand-out market titles to find international pre-buys despite the financial woes of European buyers, FilmFour International has closed a raft of deals on its hot Che Guevara picture The Motorcycle Diaries.The story of the revolutionary's travels as a young man, for which Walter Salles is ...