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All articles by Francoise Meaux Saint Marc – Page 9
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Vivendi Universal posts 60% rise in profit
Vivendi Universal - which has seen its net income jump 60%, to Euros 2.3bn, and revenues rise 37% to Euros 41.8bn in 2000 - will meet its aggressive growth and synergy targets in 2001 and 2002 according to chairman Jean-Marie Messier.At a conference call on March 9, Messier said: "We ...
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Canal Plus claims bouyant financial health
The Canal Plus group (which now includes Universal Studios) is expecting a substantial rise in its operating and net earnings as well as its subscription base in 2001. The pay-tv giant -- which will announce its 2000 results, along with Vivendi Universal's, today after the close of the Paris Stock ...
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French films stimulate box office tills
Cinema attendance jumped 42% in France in February to reach 25 million admissions (compared to 17.5 million in February 2000), the highest level in 20 years. Due to school holidays, February is traditionally a strong month at the box office in France. This year, however, the presence of no ...
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Canal Plus Group adds Sutman
Former Universal Studios' Bill Sutman has been appointed executive vice president, finance at the Canal Plus group, becoming the first US executive to cross the Atlantic as part of the reshuffling of the top management of Vivendi Universal's film and television division. Canal Plus Group's chairman and CEO Pierre Lescure ...
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Stand By wins Cyril Collard prize
Roch Stephanik has been awarded the Cyril Collard prize for his first feature film, Stand By, which also recently won a Best actress Cesar award for its lead, Dominique Blanc.Stand By -- produced by Salome (Maurice Bernart) and Diaphana (Claude Saint-Jean) on a shoestring budget -- had been given a ...
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TF1 broadcasts stunning figures
TF1, France largest free-TV broadcaster, has announced a 58% jump in net earnings for 2000 and remains optimistic for 2001, in spite of a predicted downturn in advertising expenditures this year.The broadcaster - which grabbed a 53.8% (up from 51.1% in 1999) of the French TV advertising pie last year, ...
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Cinema loyalty pass hits French market shares
French exhibitor Gaumont, severely hit by a slump in cinema ticket sales following the launch of UGC's cinema loyalty pass in March 2000, has seen its revenues slide 15% to $215m in 2000, despite launching its own pass last September, in partnership with Paris exhibitor MK2.Gaumont - which merged its ...
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France's La Verite 2 continues record-breaking run
French comedy La Verite 2 is on its way to becoming Warner Bros France's biggest ever hit after selling 2.83 million tickets in seven days (Feb 7-13), second only to historical record holder Taxi 2, which clocked up 3.48 million admissions in its first week.La Verite 2, the sequel to ...
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Canal Plus Polska signs output deal with Kinowelt
Germany's Kinowelt International and Canal Plus Polska have signed a three-year agreement which gives Canal Plus' Polish pay-TV offshoot exclusive broadcast rights to all New Line Cinema titles.The agreement covers all titles distributed by Kinowelt International - a subsidiary of Kinowelt Medien which handles the German group's international development through ...
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Pathe, TF1 end merger talks
French broadcaster TF1 has ended its talks with film major Pathe, aimed at merging the two groups' interests in the areas of movie management, acquisition and sales, reportedly because of conflict between TF1 chairman Patrick Le Lay and Pathe's Jerome Seydoux.The merger would have created a French competitor to StudioCanal, ...
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Liv Ullmann to replace Jodie Foster at Cannes
Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann will head the jury of the 2001 Cannes film festival, replacing Jodie Foster who pulled out to take the lead role in David Fincher's The Panic Room."I am both honoured and deeply appreciative that I am now given the pleasure of being the president ...
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Verite opening is second biggest in French history
Warner Bros' French outpost has scored its best opening day ever with a local film, La Verite Si Je Mens 2: La Grande Distribution, which has also become the second biggest opener in French box office history, with 503,582 tickets sold on February 7.The sequel to the 1997 hit comedy, ...
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Brotherhood is a hit but no record breaker
The Brotherhood Of Wolves, backed by StudioCanal, has attracted a strong 1.5 million admissions in its first five days in France, but the $29m (FFr200m) title has yet to top records set by other domestic films such as Taxi 2 and Asterix Et Obelix Contre Cesar.The Christophe Gans-directed title, which ...
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TF1 takes 100% control of Eurosport
Leading French broadcaster TF1 - which recently reported a 57.8% jump in its net revenues for 2000 - has acquired Canal Plus' and Havas Images' stake in the Eurosport group, which it now owns 100%.Eurosport, which reaches 92 million households and is available in 54 countries and 17 different languages ...
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StudioCanal starts process to up share of Expand
France's StudioCanal has started a procedure to exercise its right to take a controlling stake in leading French television production and distribution group, Expand.The call right to the 20.4% stake, held by Finexpand, will give StudioCanal a controlling 53.7% stake in the company, formed in February 2000 by the merger ...
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Harry, Le Gout Des Autres lead race for Cesars
Two sleeper hits - Harry, He's Here To Help (Harry, Un Ami Qui Vous Veux Du Bien) and Le Gout Des Autres - dominated the nominations for this year's Cesar awards, with nine nods apiece.Departing from its taste for high-profile and classic dramas by established auteurs, the French film industry ...
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TF1 racks up sales on Ruiz, Chatilliez titles
French sales outfit TF1 International has sold Raoul Ruiz's Venice title La Comedie De L'Innocence, starring Isabelle Huppert and Charles Berling, to the UK's Artificial Eye, and pre-sold Etienne Chatilliez's latest comedy Tanguy to Germany's Prokino.The Ruiz title has already been sold to some 20 territories, most recently Spain which ...
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France passes loyalty card legislation
The French Parliament has endorsed the country's controversial loyalty card scheme by passing a set of regulatory guidelines that has met the approval of the various film industry lobbies.All exhibitors will be able to issue or participate in a loyalty card scheme, providing they have secured authorisation from the French ...
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Malkovich to star in Lelouch's next project
John Malkovich has joined the cast of Claude Lelouch's next film, And Now Ladies And Gentlemen (aka T For Thriller), which will also mark the big-screen debut of French singer Patricia Kass.Malkovich - who has lately been seen in several French productions, including Manuel de Oliviera's La Lettre, Raoul Ruiz's ...
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Jodie Foster heads Cannes jury for 54th edition
Jodie Foster will head the jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which runs May 9-20.The Academy Award-winning actress won the top prize at Cannes, the Palme d'Or, in 1976, for the role of 12-year-old prostitute Iris in Taxi Driver."I remember going to the festival with Taxi Driver when it ...