All articles by Adam Minns – Page 56
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Pearson close to TalkBack acquisition
Pearson Television, the TV arm of the UK's Pearson Group, is close finalising a $110m (£70m) deal to buy London production company, TalkBack Productions, according to UK newspaper the Financial Times, which is owned by Pearson. Several media companies including Endemol and the UK's Carlton Communications are understood to have ...
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Atherton commercials house gears up UK film arm
Cylo Film, the UK production arm of newly-revamped New York-based commercials house the Atherton Group, has launched into feature development and production under recently-appointed head of film and TV Hans Baernhoft and managing director Susie Brooks-Smith.Along with a multi-picture deal with Denmark's Zentropa Internationale, Cylo is developing family film Tooth, ...
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Redbus set to float in second quarter
Fast moving film-to-Internet operation Redbus Film Group has confirmed that it will float on the London Stock Exchange during the second quarter this year in a move that is understood to put a $400m-$500m price-tag on the company.Redbus, which is re-branding itself as filmgroup, has appointed ABN AMRO Rothschild as ...
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UK's Optimum, MGM team for Flawless release
Optimum Releasing, the indie distributor that flashed its marketing savvy by re-releasing The Third Man opposite Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, has struck a joint partnership with MGM to release Flawless, starring Robert DeNiro and Philip Seymour Hoffman.Optimum and MGM have also partnered for a UK release on Mike Figgis' ...
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Guild rules against Stewart over Honest credits
UK writers' body the Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) has ruled against musician Dave Stewart's production company in a dispute over credits on his directing debut Honest, which stars Nicole and Natalie Appleton and Melanie Blatt from UK pop group All Saints.All three WGGB arbitrators ruled in favour of ...
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Rudolph stands down as FilmFour deputy CEO
Mark Rudolph is stepping down as deputy chief executive officer of the UK's FilmFour, the company confirmed.FilmFour expects to confirm a replacement for Rudolph by Cannes next month. In unrelated moves, Carl Clifton, formerly at Universal Pictures International in London, will replace FilmFour's sales chief Sue Bruce-Smith during Cannes. Bruce-Smith ...
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BAFTA mulls pre-Oscars awards outing
After one its glitziest film awards in years, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is debating moving the event to a pre-Academy Awards slot to focus worldwide attention on the ceremony as a pointer for the Oscars.Supporters of the move, said to include incoming BAFTA chairman Simon ...
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FilmFour, Whitaker strike production pact
The UK's FilmFour has partnered with US actor Forest Whitaker and his production company Spirit Dance Entertainment to find, develop and produce projects by black and Asian film-makers.FilmFour will have first look on projects that the two companies work on together. The partners aim to work with established film-makers and ...
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Zentropa, Cylo team for paranormal strand
Zentropa Internationale, the recently-launched international arm of Dogme co-creators Zentropa, has partnered with start-up UK production house Cylo Film to form a new strand of innovative films where Dogme meets The X-Files.Although not being made as Dogme films, the English-language paranormal thrillers are to combine a quasi-documentary style with paranormal ...
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Till joins Tiger Aspect board
Stewart Till, former president of Universal Pictures International, has joined the board of leading UK TV company Tiger Aspect.Till joins the outfit's holding board as a non-executive director and will also take a position on the board of film arm Tiger Aspect Pictures. He joins with immediate effect.The move follows ...
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Constantin, Impact join forces to build Stonehenge
Jeremy Bolt and Paul Anderson's UK and US-based production outfit Impact Pictures is partnering with German powerhouse Constantin Film on an adaptation of historical epic Stonehenge 2000 BC.The two companies will jointly produce the picture with Constantin taking worldwide rights in all media. Paul Anderson is to direct subject to ...
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Film to receive boost at revamped BBC
Incoming BBC director general Greg Dyke has pledged to create a new film division as part of a far-reaching overhaul of the UK broadcaster. The film operation will come under the auspices of Alan Yentob, the former director of television, who now heads a newly-created division spanning drama, entertainment and ...
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Alliance Atlantis picks up Himalaya
Alliance Atlantis/Kinowelt has picked up UK rights to Academy Award-nominated Tibetan-language film Himalaya (Caravan) from Alison Thompson's UK-based The Sales Co.The picture, which is directed by Eric Valli, has grossed more than $10m in France since opening in November.Shot in Nepal, the film centres on the struggles of the inhabitants ...
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Intermedia to float on German stock exchange
Intermedia, one of Europe's most powerful film companies, is planning to float on the German stock exchange before the end of the year, following the conclusion of its merger with Los Angeles-based Pacifica.Intermedia is forming a Munich-based holding company - Intermedia AG - to facilitate the IPO. The London-based company ...
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London Film Commission forced to downsize
The cash-strapped London Film Commission (LFC) is planning to slash back staffing levels from 14 to 4 members of staff in a bid to survive, a spokesperson confirmed this week.Unless a last-minute backer emerges, the LFC will continue as a dramatically scaled-down operation supported by £150,000 a year from the ...
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Downtown boosts slate with four US pick-ups
UK distributor Downtown Pictures has picked up four US titles including Twin Falls Idaho, Barenaked In America, American Pimp and Luminous Motion.Downtown acquired Idaho from Moonstone Entertainment. The distributor has set the picture, made by brothers Mark and Michael Polish, for a September release. Barenaked and Pimp were acquired from ...
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Till takes on strategy role for Redbus
Stewart Till, former president of Universal Pictures International (UPI), has joined the board of directors at fast-moving UK film-to-Internet operation Redbus Film Group (RFG).Till, who also oversaw PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's (PFE's) international operation, will serve in a part-time but executive role. Before PFE, Till worked at CBS Fox Video and ...
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Future Film picks up Beautiful Joe
UK financier Future Film Group (FFG) has acquired UK rights to $20m romantic drama Beautiful Joe, starring Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly.UK distributor Metrodome Distribution will release the picture through its recently-formed joint venture with FFG, which has earmarked a $15m acquisitions fund for titles which Metrodome will release.FFG paid ...
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BFI Production adds Coriat, McQueen to slate
BFI Production - the UK funding operation that supported early work from such film-makers as Ratcatcher's Lynne Ramsay, 24/7's Shane Meadows and The Full Monty writer Simon Beaufoy - has unveiled a new feature slate as it moves under the control of newly-created film super body The Film Council.Wonderland writer ...
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Metrodome nabs Eye; Pathe buys Memento
In an increasingly aggressive UK distribution sector, Metrodome Distribution has finalised its acquisition of Eye Of The Beholder and Pathe Distribution has picked up Memento, Christopher Nolan's follow-up to the acclaimed Following.Metrodome, which recently secured a $15m acquisition, fund through a joint venture with UK financier Future Film Group, picked ...