All articles by Jeremy Kay – Page 1385
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Fox looks for fantastic business from Four's UK, France debuts
Fox International's Fantastic Four takes on UIP's heavy-hitting duo of WarOf The Worlds and Madagascarthis weekend with hotlyanticipated debuts in the UK and France.Madagascar and War Of The Worlds have amassed more than $155.2m and $264.8m respectively and heldthe top two positions last weekend.However neither picture has a major release ...
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Ricci to star in Witherspoon-produced drama Penelope
Christina Ricci will star in the drama Penelope, which Reese Witherspoon's Type-A Filmsand Scott Steindorff's Stone Village Pictures will produce. The film is due tobegin shooting in January 2006 in Canada.Witherspoon will play a supporting role in the fable about a youngwoman who sets out to rid herself of a ...
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Swedish-US comedy Darlings kicks off in LA
Production hasbegun in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert on Bjorne Larson'sSwedish-American comedy Kill Your Darlings.Hot Scandinavianactors Andreas Wilson, Alexander Skarsgard and Fares Fares head up aninternational cast that includes Lolita Davidovich, John Larroquette, RonnieYeskel, Greg Germann, John Savage, Benito Martinez, Julie Benz and Terry Moore.Wilson playedthe lead ...
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Esparza launches Latino-targeted film ouftit in US
In a two-prongedcampaign catering to the fastest growing demographic in the US, producerMoctesuma Esparza is launching a theatre chain and production/distributioncompany aimed at the continent's 41million-plus English-speaking Latinocommunity.Esparza's MayaCinemas chain will open state-of-the-art multiplexes in minority communityareas, chiefly in what a statement called "Latino-centric, family-orientedcommunities in underserved urban and rural ...
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Weinsteins, IFC Films partner on Unknown
The WeinsteinCompany and IFC Films have jointly picked up North American rights to thethriller Unknownwhich features an ensemble cast headed up by Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear andBarry Pepper.Joe Pantoliano,Bridget Moynahan, and Jeremy Sisto also star in the story of five men involvedin a kidnapping who wake up in a warehouse ...
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HFPA donates over $1m to charities, non-profits
Brad Pitt, KevinBacon, Sally Field and Ziyi Zhang were among the celebrities acceptingcharitable donations on behalf of various non-profit organisations from theLA-based Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) yesterday at the group'sannual installation luncheon.Over $1m wasdonated to charitable causes. Pittaccepted a $250,000 cheque for the Film Foundation's film preservation andrestoration projects, ...
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Losique wins back FIAPF accreditation for Montreal
The MontrealWorld Film Festival (MWFF) has won back its Category 1 status ahead of nextmonth's 2005 edition, following re-accreditation by the FIAPF (InternationalFederation of Film Producers Associations).The move meansMWFF is currently the only A-list competitive event in North America with FIAPFaccreditation, rejoining the likes of Cannes, Berlin, Venice and San ...
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New Montreal festival applies for FIAPF accreditation
Hot on the heels of the Montreal World Film Festival's(MWFF) reaccreditation by the Federation of Film Producers' Associations(FIAPF), Moritz de Hadeln and Alain Simard's New Montreal Filmfest has appliedfor accreditation for 2006.Followingmeetings between de Hadeln and Simard with FIAPF directors, the Federationagreed to send a delegate to this year's event, ...
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Elizabeth Taylor to receive BAFTA/LA's Britannia Award
Elizabeth Taylor willreceive BAFTA/LA's Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in InternationalEntertainment at the 2005 Britannia Awards on Nov 10 at The Beverly HiltonHotel.Over the course of a careerspanning seven decades Taylor earned five best actress Oscar nominations,winning twice for Butterfield 8and Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf'She has won a BAFTA ...
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Hill named corporate communications chief at Paramount
Janet Hill (pictured) is leaving herjob as MTV Networks' senior vice president of West Coast CorporateCommunications for the new post of executive vice president of corporatecommunications at Paramount Pictures.Based in Los Angeles andreporting to Paramount chairman Brad Grey, Hill will oversee internal andexternal business and media communications and public relations ...
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Grasic out, Tauber, Horberg in at Sidney Kimmel Ent
Marina Grasic has left herpost as chief operating officer of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE) in a busyweek for the company following the hiring of William Horberg and Jim Tauber.Grasic had been with thecompany ever since Kimmel launched operations with the opening of the LosAngeles office last October.While it remained unclearwhat ...
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NBC Universal launches local TV programming venture
NBC UniversalTelevision Distribution (NBC UTD) has launched an original content unit thatwill partner with local media companies to develop and create local programmingin international markets.Under thedirection of Leslie Jones, NBC UTD's New York-based vice president ofinternational sales and format production, the unit will exploit NBCUniversal's existing library and will create ...
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Hudson joins Wilson in Universal comedy You, Me And Dupree
Kate Hudson has signed on to star opposite Owen Wilson inUniversal Pictures' comedy You, Me And Dupree.Joe and Anthony Russo will direct from a screenplay by MikeLeSieur. The project is scheduled to begin production later this year.The story centres on a newlywed couple whose relationship hits arock when the groom's ...
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Holocaust love story revived and set to shoot in 2006
Atlantic Alliance Pictureshas changed its name to Atlantic Overseas Pictures (AOP) and has revived itslong gestating holocaust drama The Fence (formerly Love Is A Survivor), which is back on track with a European shoot scheduled for early2006.The $10m picture will shootin Hungary, Germany and the UK and is being co-produced ...
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Searchlight acquires rights to life story of Notorious BIG
Fox Searchlight has acquired rights to the story about the lifeand death of Christopher Wallace, better known to millions of fans as theinfamous rapper Notorious B.I.G.Notorious B.I.G.'s mother Voletta Wallace will produce the projectalong with the late star's former music managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts.Antoine Fuqua is in talks ...
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LA documentary showcase points to Oscar contenders
The International Documentary Association (IDA) has named 12features in its upcoming 9th Annual Theatrical Documentary Showcase, DocuWeek(formerly InFact).The list traditionally serves as a key indicator of Academy Awardsfavourites and complies with Academy rules that Oscar submissions play ontheatrical screens for paid admissions in either Los Angeles County, Manhattanor four other ...
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World premiere of Pray's graffiti doc set for RESFEST
The world premiere of DougPray's graffiti documentary Infamywill take place at RESFEST, which runs in New York City from Sept 15-18.Pray's picture chroniclesthe lives of seven people who are obsessed with graffiti in all its forms, fromvandalism and "tagging" to larger murals sanctioned by local communities."These are intenselypassionate individuals," Pray, ...
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Helen Loveridge resigns from Seattle Film Festival
Helen Loveridge, who has served as executive director of theSeattle International Film Festival Group (SIFF) since 2003, has resigned her postto return home to England.Loveridge recently guided a successful 31st annual festivalthrough to its conclusion on Jun 12.Former board president and Platinum Lifetime member Deborah Personhas been named interim director ...
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LA's Gersh promotes ten agents to partner
As part of an ambitiousexpansion mandate, LA-based talent agency The Gersh Agency has promoted tenexecutives to partner and announced that longtime senior executive LeslieSiebert has become senior managing partner.The move precedes a periodof planned growth over the next two years that will see construction of a40,000 sq ft headquarters in ...
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Nevins, Yari to co-chair Gotham Awards in NYC
HBO Documentary and Familypresident Sheila Nevins and producer Bob Yari will co-chair IFP's upcoming 15thAnnual Gotham Awards.The awards are scheduled totake place in New York on Nov 30, when three new competitive categories of BestEnsemble Cast, Best Use of the Arts in Film, and Best Film Not Playing at aTheatre ...