Large MPU – Page 1977
-
News
Berlusconi to privatise state-run TV channels
Three weeks before Italy's Berlusconi-led government appoints a new board of directors at state broadcaster Rai, the premier and media magnate who owns rival private broadcaster Mediaset has confirmed plans to privatise two of Rai's three television channels. During an interview broadcast by France's Europe 1 radio, Berlusconi is reported ...
-
News
Three Euro training bodies set to merge
In a bid to increase the efficiency of talent and project development, three of Europe's key film training organisations are to link together under the banner AMA. The three - story editor training body Arista, script development outfit Moonstone and producer finishing school ACE - are all backed by the ...
-
News
Constantin expands successful partnership
Germany's Constantin Film is to expand its successful relationship with Achterbahn Film (AF) to include a first-look deal on AF's first live-action production, Wie Die Karnickel, written by Der Bewegte Mann author Ralf Koenig.The new deal goes beyond the current distribution agreement, which covers the theatrical release of the next ...
-
News
S.A. funding strategy comes under scrutiny
Strong criticism, including accusations of misappropriation of funds and nepotism have been levelled at South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) following its recent allocation of grants of just over $530,000 (R6m) as part of its 2001/2 funding cycle. According to reports in South Africa's Mail & Guardian, the ...
-
News
Five newcomers can't down Black Hawk
Four new studioopeners and the wide release of I Am Sam couldn't dislodge Columbia/Revolution's epic BlackHawk Down from thenumber one position, signalling it as the first smash of the new year and nodoubt its first $100m grosser. The Ridley Scott-directed movie took anestimated $18.2m at 3,101 theatres to bring its ...
-
News
UK gets new Comedy Shorts scheme
As part of a short film scheme created last August, The Film Council's New Cinema Fund and FilmFour's experimental arm FilmFour Lab have teamed with Elisabeth Murdoch's film and television company Shine Entertainment to produce the Comedy Shorts Scheme.Aiming to form links between TV and cinema industries by finding and ...
-
News
UK arthouse scheme branded
One of the UK's state-supported regional cinemas has slammed proposals from the Government-backed film body the Film Council to create a centrally run art-house circuit as an "insult".The Broadway Cinema in Nottingham, part of the UK's regional film theatre circuit, this week issued a statement saying the proposal would drive ...
-
News
IMAX symposium during Berlinale
The large-format films Skydance and Horses: The Story Of Equuus, Kilimanjaro are to be screened during this year's Berlinale by Euromax, the European association of the large format industry at its 8th European Large Format Filmmakers Symposium .The four-day event, which will be held from Feb 10-13 at the Cinestar ...
-
News
Japanese pick-up for Brussels Avenue
Brussels-based world sales outfit Brussels Ave has picked up world distribution rights on Japanese documentary filmmaker Seiichi Motohashi's Alexei And The Spring (Alexei To Izumi) which will be screened in the International Forum of New Cinema at the forthcoming Berlinale. In addition, Brussels Ave is handling Anne Wild's short drama ...
-
News
Smith named male star of the year at ShoWest
Will Smith has been named 2002Male Star Of the Year at this year's ShoWest convention in Las Vegas inMarch. He will personally attend to receive his award at the Gala awards banquet on March 7.It is Smith's fourthShoWest honour. He was named male star of tomorrow in 1995, won the ...
-
News
Spain's MediaPro buys French VCF
Barcelona-based producer and rights broker MediaPro has acquired French production services outfit Video Communication France (VCF) for Euros 15m.The purchase forms part of MediaPro's international expansion. VCF is one of France's leading mobile TV production service providers.MediaPro has offices in Spain, Portugal, Argentina and the US, where it offers production ...
-
News
Rings breaks Italian box office record
New Line blockbuster The Lord of The Rings has smashed the all-time Italian box office opening record briefly held by Harry Potter, by grossing a massive $5m (Euros 5,841,147) from 503 screens on its first weekend.Six days after its Jan 18 release, the Peter Jackson picture had grossed $7.1m (Euros ...
-
Reviews
The Last Kiss (L'Ultimo Bacio)
Dir: Gabriele Muccino. Italy. 2001. 117 mins.Thirty-five-year-old Roman director Gabriele Muccino is the only player on the contemporary Italian scene who has the potential to be as big as Roberto Benigni. His third film, L'Ultimo Bacio (The Last Kiss) was the top grossing Italian film of 2001, grossing Euros 13.1 ...
-
News
UK actors, not films, shine in BAFTA nominations
The UK failed to secure any nominations for best film or best director at the UK's most prestigious film awards, the British Academy Film Awards, but UK actors saved face by dominating their sections.As well as underlining a disappointing year for local films, the best film nominations for A Beautiful ...
-
Reviews
Personal Velocity
Dir: Rebecca Miller. US. 2001. 85minsThere's a muscular punch to Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity, the winner of this year's Grand Jury Prize for best dramatic feature at Sundance, that propels her triptych of female portraits way above the soapy women-in-peril melodramas that have become stereotypical of so many trashy TV ...
-
News
Orfeo's Helen Loveridge is Seattle-bound
Helen Loveridge, who currently heads Cologne-based sales agency Orfeo Films, is to become managing director of a new Film Centre being developed in Seattle.Loveridge's move follows the recent announcement of the forthcoming closure of Orfeo and World Sales Christa Saredi (see Screendaily, Jan 11). The two sales agencies are present ...
-
News
Becker snaps up Australia's Globe Group
Australian film distributor Becker Entertainment has acquired Richard Payten and Andrew Mackie's highly regarded distribution, marketing and audience research entity, The Globe Group. Managing director Richard Becker said the move both strengthens Becker's film division and increases Globe's capacity to handle films, but insists that Globe will continue to ...
-
News
Das Werk picks up $17m worth of work
The international postproduction group Das Werk has won contracts worth $17.2m (Euros 20m) which will keep its feature film facilities working to capacity throughout 2002.LA-based subsidiary CFX has been awarded a $10m contract to handle the effects on an unnamed Warner Bros./Village Roadshow project as well as $3m worth of ...
-
News
Oz FFC denies outgoing CEO was 'pushed'
The Australian Film Finance Corporation (FFC) has been forced into releasing a statement confirming that it is Catriona Hughes' own decision to leave her job when her second contract as chief executive expires this year. The move was prompted by the publication of several articles implying she is being forced ...
-
News
Alan Finney awarded Order of Australia medal
Alan Finney, vice president and managing director of Buena Vista International (Australia and New Zealand), was among the Australians honoured as part of the weekend's Australia Day celebrations. His Order of Australia Medal (OAM) is a signal of his status as the most experienced distributor in the country and one ...