All articles by Francoise Meaux Saint Marc – Page 11
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Marquet to take strategic role at StudioCanal
Daniel Marquet, one of the most familiar faces at film markets, is to take a new role within the ever-changing StudioCanal group. From January he becomes head of corporate development (directeur delegue au developpement). A strategic role, answerable to StudioCanal principals Vincent Grimond and Michel Schmidt, he will be responsible ...
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Deneuve leads Chatiliez latest for TF1
Catherine Deneuve will star in Etienne Chatiliez's next film, an as-yet-untitled project produced by France's Telema and handled worldwide by TF1 International.The film, which is to go before the camera in February 2001, is to be the French film-maker's fourth feature film, after the offbeat comedy Life Is A Long ...
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CanalSatellite hits 1.5 million subscribers mark
Canal Plus' French digital satellite platform CanalSatellite has reached the 1.5 million subscribers mark, and claims to be the first European digital satellite platform to show a profit.The DTH platform, launched in 1996 as an analogue service, currently offers some 200 channels. Recent additions to its line-up include film news ...
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Bac-Cryo tie-up bears fruit with Scary web-site
French distributor Bac Films has launched a fully interactive 3D web-site for Scary Movie, marking the first tangible result of its link-up with video game specialist Cryo Interactive. Scarymovie-lefilm.com provides information on the film's content and cast; trailers and extracts from "the making of"; and video games inspired by specific ...
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Cannes sets up Residence for new talent
The Cannes film festival has opened a film-making facility, "Residence", which will be made available to a selection of young film-makers from around the world.Those selected will be able to use the facility to work on their first or second features for four and a half months.The CNC (Centre National ...
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EU greenlights Vivendi Universal with conditions
The European Commission (EC) has waved through the three-way merger between Vivendi, Canal Plus and Seagram, after Vivendi agreed to sell its 20% stake in BSkyB and guaranteed that Canal Plus' pay-TV competitors will have access to Universal's film product.The concessions save the merger, first unveiled in June, from a ...
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Crimson Rivers floods French box office
The Crimson Rivers (Les Rivieres Pourpres), which opened in France on Sept 27 to mixed reviews, attracted nearly one million admissions in its first week. The Gaumont title, a thriller directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and starring Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, carved a huge 39% share for itself in its ...
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Vivendi Universal fights for EU greenlight
Vivendi is reportedly considering concessions including selling its 20% stake in BSkyB in order to prevent the European Commission from launching a four-month investigation into its three-way merger with Canal Plus and Seagram. The Commission has until the end of the day to rule on the deal. It was widely ...
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French admissions on course for record high
Cinema attendance in France is expected to reach a record high in 2000, according to film body the Centre National de la Cinematographie (CNC), partly because of the success of exhibitors' loyalty card schemes.The CNC found that admissions have risen 16% during the first nine months of 2000 and could ...
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Messier denies rumours of rift with Lescure
Vivendi chairman Jean-Marie Messier has officially denied rumours of a rift with Canal Plus boss Pierre Lescure which he described in a televised interview as 'a storm in a glass of water'.Messier said he was confident that Lescure would ride out any changes arising from the proposed three-way merger between ...
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MIPCOM: Universal pacts with SBS, TV3
Universal Studios International has entered into multi-year output agreements with both the Dutch arm of broadcasting giant SBS and Swiss channel TV3.The deal with SBS, which owns two Dutch channels, SBS6 and NET5, covers recent box office hits such as The Mummy, The Green Mile and Shakespeare In Love as ...
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WAMC set to animate Stephen King's Dragon
Los Angeles-based financing outfit WAMC Entertainment, headed by Frenchman Sidonie Herman, has optioned Stephen King's novel The Eyes Of The Dragon, which it plans to adapt as a $45m animated feature.WAMC - founded by Herman in 1995 - specialises in securing international production financing for North American and European film ...
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MIPCOM: TV-Loonland acquires Sony Wonder
German animation group TV-Loonland has bought the television production and distribution assets of Sony Wonder - a division of Sony Music Entertainment specialising in children's and family programming - and its subsidiary Sunbow Entertainment for $20.5m.Sony Wonder handles a catalogue of 1,200 half-hour episodes. The division started out as a ...
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MIPCOM: Video Networks secures BBC product
UK video-on-demand operator Video Networks has signed an output deal with BBC Worldwide under which it gains access to hundreds of hours of programming, shortly after its has aired on BBC1 and BBC2.As yet, BBC Worldwide has not decided which programmes will be covered by the deal, but top-rating shows ...
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Canal Plus moves into profit after assets sale
Canal Plus has reported first-half net profit of Euros104m - compared to a Euros36m loss during the same period last year - mostly due to a Euros205m one-time gain from the sale of its 24.9% stake in German channel Vox and a 4% stake in CanalSatellite.But consolidated profit before exceptional ...
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Wild Bunch picks up El Otro Barrio
StudioCanal's classics division Wild Bunch has picked up worldwide rights excluding Spain to Salvador Garcia Ruiz's San Sebastian competition title El Otro Barrio.The film, which is Garcia Ruiz's second after Mensaka, stars Jorge Alcazar and Alex Casanovas and is produced by Tornasol Films. Spanish rights are held by Alta Films.The ...
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TF1 records 53% jump in profits
TF1, France's leading TV channel, has announced a 53% jump in first-half profits to $144m.The company cited a bullish advertising market and tightly controlled programming costs. A 39% rise in revenues stemmed from its diversification activities, notably cable and satellite sales.First-half revenues rose 23.4% to $1.2 billion, compared to $798m ...
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Gaumont, UGC step up loyalty pass battle
The French loyalty pass battle heated up this week as Gaumont linked up with MK2 and Cine Classiques to launch a common loyalty card, Le Passe. UGC is now also seeking to partner with independent exhibitors, starting with the Ritman theater operation.Le Passe is to be launched September 27, to ...
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Deauville honours Girlfight
The Deauville Festival of American Cinema has awarded its Grand Prix du Cinema Independent to Karyn Kusama's Sundance title Girlfight.But Christopher Nolan's Memento, the only Deauville competition title which did not premiere in Sundance, won no less than three prizes. The revenge story, which stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss and ...
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Vivendi Universal fends off critics in Deauville
Canal Plus top brass used the occasion of an informal press lunch with their Universal counterparts in Deauville on Thursday to shrug off Credit Lyonnais' recent downgrading of Vivendi and Canal Plus stock."Credit Lyonnais should keep in mind its past Hollywood ventures," quipped Canal Plus chairman Pierre Lescure.In an investor ...