All articles by Jeremy Kay – Page 1406
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RSA, Black Dog sign Akerlund, Renck for commercials, music videos
Film andcommercials production company RSA and Blackdog Films have signed Swedish directorsJonas Akerlund and Johan Renck for representation in the US and UK.RSA will handleall commercial work and Black Dog will represent the clients for music videos."The work ofJonas and Johan and their company RAF is groundbreaking and it is ...
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Trauma scares up North American deal via DEJ
DEJ Productions has acquiredNorth America rights in all media from Myriad Pictures to Marc Evanspsychological thriller Trauma,which is scheduled for DVD release on Jun 14.The picture is the firstproject from Little Bird's specialist horror arm Ministry Of Fear and starsColin Firth and Mena Suvari in the tale of a man ...
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Haggis to win inaugural screenwriting award at San Francisco
Paul Haggis willreceive the inaugural Maurice Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting atthe 48th San Francisco International Film Festival, which runs from Apr 21-May5.Haggis, who isnominated for an adapted screenplay Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, will present a masterclass onscreenwriting accompanied by a screening of the drama Crash, which he ...
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MGM fourth quarter figures hit by merger costs
Merger costs, an$8.3m non-cash charge and falling revenue led to lower year-on-year fourthquarter income at MGM, which is in the process of being taken over by aconsortium of buyers led by Sony.The studioreported $38.5m net income or $0.16 per share for the fourth quarter of 2004,compared to $60.3m or $0.25 ...
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Constantine to wreak havoc in Italy, Spain
Warner Bros PicturesInternational's supernatural thriller Constantine opens in Italy and Mexico today (Feb 25) on the backof a smattering of smaller European debuts earlier in the week.The picture has grossed$33.7m after two weekends and executives will look for solid debuts and strongholds in Asia as well as Spain, France and ...
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MPAA launches third wave of lawsuits at online pirates
The MPAA haslaunched a third wave of lawsuits targeting online pirates of such currentOscar contenders as Spider-Man 2, Sideways and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.Officers havefiled an unspecified number of 'John Doe' civil suits with federal courtsacross the US in the latest round of legal action since November. It ...
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REAL D buys StereoGraphics in a bid to set new projection standard
LosAngeles-based visual technology company REAL D has acquired stereoscopichardware and software manufacturer StereoGraphics Corporation in a bid toestablish an industry standard for next generation projection.REAL Dexecutives plan to use StereoGraphics' 25-year history of working with thelikes of NASA and Boeing to service the entertainment industry and provide analternative to in-home ...
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THINKFilm buys Eddie Izzard profile doc
THINKFilm hasacquired all North American rights to the upcoming untitled documentary profileof the much-loved British comedian Eddie Izzard, and hopes to unveil thepicture at the Toronto Film Festival in September accompanied by a live Izzardshow.The project, firstannounced at Cannes 2004, combines performance footage and interviews anddocuments Izzard's life onstage and ...
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De Macedo gets top Sony production job in Europe
Iona de Macedo has been promoted to senior vice-presidentof European production at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she will overseeEuropean local production in France, Spain and the rest of continental Europe,while the UK will remain an independent entity.Sony currentlyhas stand-alone local production units in Spain and the UK, and operates ajoint ...
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McClure leaves First Look and joins 2929
Former First Look Mediageneral counsel and senior vice president of business and legal affairs DougMcClure has joined 2929 Productions as senior vice president of legal andbusiness affairs. McClure will report to 2929president Marc Butan and help the company develop its slate and businessoperations. 2929 produces projects inthe $10m-$40m range and ...
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THINKFilm launches kids DVD division
Toronto and New York-basedNorth American distributor ThinkFilm is launching a child-oriented specialtydivision, ThinkFilm Kids, to tap what it calls the expanding "KidVid" DVDmarket children under nine years of age. The division will concentrate oneducational product and has two franchise series available at launch, Braincandy and My First Day. ThinkFilm ...
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Berlin hit Paradise gets US & UK deals with WIP
WarnerIndependent Pictures (WiP) has acquired all rights in North America and the UKto Hany Abu-Assad's Berlin Audience Award winning drama Paradise Now.The film, which was one of the most talked about at thefestival, follows two Palestinian childhood friends whose planned suicide bombstrike on Tel Aviv is thrown into chaos after ...
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Wendy finds US home at Wellspring
Wellspring has picked up allUS rights to Thomas Vinterberg's jolting cautionary tale Dear Wendy, which was one of the most talked about pictures atSundance when it premiered in January.Based on a screenplay byLars Von Trier, Dear Wendy starsJamie Bell and Bill Pullman and centres on a group of young misfits ...
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Angola's Hero to open New Directors/New Films in NYC
Zeze Gamboa's Angola-Portugal-France civil war drama The Hero will open the upcoming 34th NewDirectors/New Films 2005 event, which is set to run in New York from Mar 23-Apr3.The picture recently won the inaugural world dramatic competitionat Sundance and takes its place among a varied line-up that includes otherSundance entries Junebug, ...
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ShoWest awards watch: Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has been named ShoWest 2005 Female Star of the Year and will collect her award at the closing night ceremony on March 17.Aniston's upcoming roles include the romantic comedy Rumor Has It oppposite Kevin Costner, and the thriller Derailed opposite Clive Owen.Her previous credits include Bruce Almighty, Along ...
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Fockers maintains int'l box office lead
DreamWorks International'scomedy sequel Meet The Fockers got the better of Warner Bros'supernatural thriller Constantine over the weekend to maintain itsstatus as the leading international picture, adding an estimated $27.5m throughUIP to raise the cumulative total to $152m.Opening highlights included$5.7m on 611 screens in Germany, $4.5m on 604 in France, $1.2m ...
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Sideways, Sunshine take WGA film awards
Sidewayswon best adapted screenplay for Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor while EternalSunshine Of The Spotless Mind took best original screenplay honours for Charlie Kaufman at theWriters Guild of America (WGA) awards at the weekend (19).The WGA honours are regarded asa strong indicator of how the Academy Awards screenplay prizes will ...
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Date doctor beats demon-killer in first round of Presidents Day weekend battle
Sony's romantic comedy Hitch stayed top over the rain-sodden three-day portion ofPresidents Day as it closed in on $100m and shut out a trio of top 10 debutantsled by Warner Bros' supernatural action title Constantine.Hitch addedan estimated $31.8m in its second weekend for a $90.1m running total, confirmingWill Smith's status ...
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Summit closes Keeping Mum in major territories at busy Berlin
Summit Entertainment has closed key Berlin sales on NiallJohnson's comedy Keeping Mum, which stars Rowan Atkinson and Kristin Scott Thomas in the storyof a diligent vicar who is totally oblivious to his wife's affair.Summit sold the picture toConstantin Film in Germany, Icon Film Distribution in Australia, SND in France,IIF in ...
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Hitch wedded to the top spot, Constantine a close second
Sony's romantic comedy Hitch stayed top over the rain-sodden three-day portion ofPresidents Day as it closed in on $100m and shut out a trio of top 10 debutantsled by Warner Bros' supernatural action title Constantine.Hitch addedan estimated $31.8m in its second weekend for a $90.1m running total, confirmingWill Smith's status ...