All articles by Adam Minns – Page 48
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Caine, Keaton sink into Quicksand for Visionview
John Mackenzie is to direct Michael Caine and Michael Keaton in contemporary action thriller Quicksand for UK production outfit Geoff Reeve Films and producer-financier Visionview.Caine plays a down-on-his-luck film star embroiled in the criminal world on the Cote d'Azur, where he meets Keaton, a banker investigating shady offshore deposits.Production is ...
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Titus to open Flanders festival
Julie Taymor's Titus will open the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent (October 11-22) where it is screening out of competition. Terence Davies' The House Of Mirth, starring Gillian Anderson, will open the competitive section. Morgan Freeman will be guest of honour at the festival, which is dedicated to exploring ...
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Pandora takes world on Liddy's Country
Hard on the heels of re-aligning to become the specialist arm of Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment Company, France's Pandora Films has picked up Irish family drama Country, written and directed by Kevin Liddy.The Paris-based operation will handle worldwide sales on the picture, which is set in rural Ireland in the early ...
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Craven moves to Alibi from United Artists
UK-based media concern Alibi Communications has appointed David Craven as head of post-production and technical delivery.Craven previously worked in the London office of United Artists Films, which parent US studio MGM recently announced its was shutting down. The appointment is effective immediately.Alibi includes TV and feature production interests as well ...
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Civilian in talks to up stake in The Sales Co
Civilian Content, owner of UK National Lottery studio franchise The Film Consortium, is continuing talks about raising its stake in international sales outfit The Sales Co, despite last week's resignation of highly-regarded Sales Co chief executive Alison Thompson.While Thompson's departure to join Pathe's London arm will no doubt lower the ...
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FilmFour seals package deal with Spain's Alta
FilmFour International, the sales arm of the UK's FilmFour, has closed an all-rights package deal with Spain's Alta Films, the division's first with a Spanish company.Titles in the deal include Alan Taylor's The Emperor's New Clothes, which is currently shooting in Malta and Italy; Werner Herzog's Invincible, starring Tim Roth; ...
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FilmFour launches money back stunt for Dancer
In a highly unusual move, FilmFour Distributors is offering UK audiences for Dancer In The Dark their money back if they are unsatisfied. Cinema-goers will be given a full refund if they walk out of the film in its first 30 minutes.The move is the latest step in FilmFour's "see ...
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Harris to head UK production at CTIT
Columbia TriStar International Television (CTIT) in the UK has named production and programming executive Ann Harris to the post of vice president, production.Harris will be responsible for developing and producing original programming by working closely with the UK independent production community. The former managing director for Delta Ventures/Circle Communications has ...
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Sales Co chief Alison Thompson to join Pathe
Alison Thompson, chief executive of UK-based international sales operation The Sales Co, is to join Pathe's London arm in the newly-created post of head of sales - Pathe International.Thompson, who has headed the Sales Co for four years, will be responsible for selling all Pathe's English-language films. On arrival, she ...
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Rocket, Walt Disney board Gnome animation feature
As reported in Screen International weekly this morning, Elton John and David Furnish's production outfit Rocket Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation have acquired UK animation script A Gnome's Story. Disney, which has a first-look pact with Rocket, is funding development on the original spec script about two rival groups ...
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European players unite in film drive
As reported in Screen International weekly this morning, the UK's BBC Films, Germany's Kinowelt and Spain's Lolafilms have formed a development and production alliance aimed at creating a European powerhouse that can offer film-makers an alternative to Hollywood.The partners, key film operations in their respective territories, aim for the initial ...
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HanWay offers Triumph Of Love
HanWay Films, the sales arm of producer Jeremy Thomas' UK-based production outfit Recorded Picture Company, has taken up international sales duties on The Triumph Of Love, starring Mira Sorvino and Ben Kingsley.Worldwide distribution rights outside Italy belong to Germany's Odeon Pictures. Medusa has Italy.The adaptation of Marivaux's 18th century play ...
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Pathe signs Born Romantic's Camarda to first-look
Michele Camarda's UK production outfit Kismet Film Company has struck a first-look deal with National Lottery studio franchise Pathe Pictures, Pathe announced on Wednesday.The move comes hard on the heels of Kismet producing David Kane's highly-anticipated UK comedy Born Romantic. The deal replaces New York-born, London-based Camarda's recently-expired first-look pact ...
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London Film Commission appoints Hayes as head
The London Film Commission (LFC) has appointed Sue Hayes as its commissioner and announced that Richard Attenborough will be its first patron.Hayes worked as a documentary producer in the UK and US and has been director of the Edinburgh International Television Festival. The commission has also appointed Graham Anderson, managing ...
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WMA's Steve Kenis unveils own UK talent agency
Steve Kenis, former managing director at William Morris Agency (WMA) in London, has launched UK-based talent agency Steve Kenis & Co to represent clients including Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris, Bruce Beresford and Rowan Atkinson.Kenis, who left WMA in May when it closed theatrical activities in London, has recently cut deals ...
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Maybe Baby opens Dinard British cinema festival
Ben Elton's Maybe Baby opens the Dinard Festival Of British Film, which runs October 5-8.In the competition section, Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels' follow-up Snatch will square up to another much-anticipated, low-budget UK crowd-pleaser - Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot. Also up for the Hitchcock d'Or at the ...
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TV veterans launch Apollo tax financing scheme
Veteran UK programme-makers Bill Cran and Clive Syddall have launched tax-based financing scheme Apollo TV & Film Partnerships.The venture aims to bankroll films, TV projects and documentaries qualifying as British and budgeted at up to $21m, thereby qualifying for 100% tax relief under UK regulations. Barclays Bank may arrange additional ...
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RTL raises Antena 3 stake
Pan-European broadcaster RTL Group has raised its stake in private Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 to 16% in a bid to expand in southern Europe.RTL paid $134m for an additional 6.23% stake in Antena 3. The move is expected to bring the group closer to Antena 3's other key shareholder, Spanish ...
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Navidi, Wilde raise financing
Producers Barry Navidi and Manfred Wilde have raised $30m in equity for a slate of films through their production outfit Sun, Moon & Stars Entertainment, according to Navidi and Wilde.Navidi, whose producing credits include TV film Mr Corbett's Ghost, said the money was raised via private investors in Europe and ...
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Wenders, Road Movies take radically digital route
German director Wim Wenders and Road Movies Filmproduktion, the production company he co-founded, have gone digital.Along with confirming that Wenders' next film will be shot digitally in America next spring, Road Movies is to produce a slate of low-budget digital films from new film-makers under the banner "radikal digital".Road Movies ...