Large MPU – Page 645
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Alison Thompson takes up top job at Focus International
Moving to boost its Europeanpresence and ramp up worldwide sales, acquisitions and overseas production,Focus Features has hired former Pathe Pictures International sales chief AlisonThompson as president of its international division.Thompson will remain inLondon and oversee all international sales, distribution, and publicityactivities, reporting to Focus co-presidents David Linde and James Schamus ...
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Sarajevo hosts four world premieres in competition
The Sarajevo Film Festival,widely recognized as the biggest film festival in South East Europe, hasannounced the competition lineup for its 12th edition which runs Aug19 to 27.Over 70 films were submitted to be selected for the 11-film competitionsection, an increase from previous years since Hungary has now been added asone ...
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Mitchell steps into Battsek's shoes at BVI (UK)
Robert Mitchell (pictured)has been promoted to senior vice president and managing director of Buena VistaInternational (UK) in the wake of Daniel Battsek's departure to head up thenew-look Miramax.Mitchell will be responsiblefor BVI UK's marketing, publicity and distribution operations and reports toBVI president Mark Zoradi and BVI Europe executive vice president ...
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Neame to receive BAFTA/LA Britannia Award
Ronald Neame, the English director who earned three Oscarnominations for his work as a writer and producer with David Lean, is toreceive BAFTA/LA's Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to InternationalFilm.The son ofsilent film star Ivy Close, Neame got his break as a teenage cameraman onAlfred Hitchcock's Blackmail and trained under ...
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Canada's Brault to receive Iris award at New Montreal FilmFest
Michel Brault will receivethe New Montreal FilmFest's Iris Achievement Award at the end of aretrospective of his work set to take place during the festival's inauguraledition running from Sept 18-25.Brault earned more than 200credits as director, producer, cinematography and cameraman on such titles as PourLa Suite Du Monde, Les Noces ...
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M6 arm snags Nurse, Gangs
M6 Interactions, the trading offshoot of the French broadcaster, has been discreetly building a major theatrical and home video distribution operation that will market such high profile recent acquisitions as Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty and Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York in France.The outfit, under Thierry Desmichelle, M6 Interactions' deputy ...
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Kennedy moves from politics to head corporate comms at SPE
Capitol Hill heavyweight JimKennedy is replacing Susan Tick as senior vice president of corporatecommunications at Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).Beginning in September,Kennedy will oversee communications strategy, media relations and issuesmanagement and will also serve as communications counselor to the executiveteam.He will partner with SPE'sgovernment and community relations, internal communications and otherdepartments ...
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Mr And Mrs Smith obliterates the competition in France
Mr And Mrs Smith opened number one in France through SND over theweekend on $6.1m following a storming opening day.The picture launched on$1.8m on Jul 27 in the third biggest French opening day of the year behind StarWars: Episode III and War Of TheWorlds, producing 895,806 nationwideadmissions.Overall Mr And Mrs ...
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Star Group renews China Star output deal
Pan-Asian broadcaster Star Group has announced the renewalof the output deal between its Star Chinese Movies channel and Hong Kongproduction and distribution company China Star.Under the new multi-million US dollar agreement, StarChinese Movies has exclusive pay-TV broadcast, video-on-demand and pay-per-viewrights to the Chinese films produced by China Star in the ...
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Intramovies takes on Locarno competitor Keller
Intramovies has taken on internationaldistribution for Austrian filmmaker Eva Urthaler's feature debut Kellerwhich will have its world premiere in Locarno's International Competition onAugust 4.Described byLocarno's artistic director Irene Bignardi as 'an anguished portrait oftwo adolescents violently and despairingly seeking for their moral and sexualidentity', the Austrian-German-Italian co-production between Novotny &Novotny ...
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Locarno hit by hotel room shortage
As the Locarno Film Festival begins its 58thedition this week, the event's organisers are having to address the deepeningcrisis in the Swiss lakeside town's hotels. This year, the festival has 153 fewer hotelrooms to draw on in Locarno for guests after the closure of Hotel Zurigo andBeau Rivage and the ...
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Death wins again at Motovun Film Festival
The 7th edition ofMotovun Film Festival in Istria, Croatia (Jul 25-29) ended with a doublevictory for Romanian Cristi Pulu's Deathof Mr. Lazarescu. After winning the main prizeat the 12th Palic Festival of European Film in Serbia and Montenegro(Jul 17-23), the drama took the main award 'Propeller of Motovun' andAmnesty International ...
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German box office blow as Siegfried disappoints
Aftera catastrophic first half to the year (that saw box office down 19%year-on-year) the German box office was dealt a further blow at the weekendwhen the most anticipated local film of the year failed to deliver up toexpectations.Siegfriedis the new comedy from Sven Unterwaldt, director of one of last year's ...
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Kinowelt offers new rental terms to exhibitors
Distributor Kinowelt has entered the debate on the lengthof theatrical "windows" by offering exhibitors a new arrangement forthe calculation of rental charges.In principle, Kinowelt intends to hold fast to asix-month "window" before a film can appear on video and DVD. In theevent of one of its new films having an ...
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Nightwatch to kick off inaugural Libertas fest
The Croatian premiere ofTimur Bekmambetov's Night Watchwill kick off the inaugural Libertas Film Festival in the Croatian town ofDubrovnik on Aug 26.Twenty features arescheduled to play at the four-day event, including the European premieres ofAndrew Wagner's The Talent Given Usand Antonio Campos' Buy It Now.A Croatian film-makersshowcase and Croatian premieres ...
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Gonzo, Fuji TV and Mosaic Media pact for Afrosamurai
Samuel L Jackson will starin a live-action adaptation of Takashi Okazaki's Afrosamurai comic franchise that is being put together byJapanese teen animation company Gonzo KK, Fuji Television Network and LA-basedMosaic Media Group.Mosaic's Charles Roven andAlex Gartner are producing the project and The Firm's Eli Selden and Julie Yornwill serve as ...
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Buyers bag The Mexican
Will Tyrer and Chris Ball's Newmarket Group has sold rights in three major territories to The Mexican, starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.The co-production with DreamWorks SKG has gone to Gaga Communications in Japan, Helkon in Germany and Tri Pictures in Spain.Summit Entertainment assisted in the sale of the film ...
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IRA - King Of Nothing to shoot in Belfast, Bray this month
Benelux-based BBIProductions is preparing to shoot the drama IRA - King Of Nothing in Belfast and the Irish town of Bray later thismonth.Damian Chapa will direct andstar alongside Joe Estevez and Rachel Hunter in the story of a diehard IRAterrorist who threatens to destroy the tentative peace process.BBI owns worldwide ...
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New Gunarsson, Fitzgerald films among the Canadian premieres at Toronto
Sturla Gunnarrson's epic Beowulf& Grendel starring Gerard Butlerand Sarah Polley and Thom Fitzgerald's Three Needles starring Chloe Sevigny, Lucy Liu, Stockard Channingand Sandra Oh will have their world premieres as Special Presentations at the30th Toronto International Film Festival. Also world premiering is LieWith Me, the much-anticipatedsexually explicit feature from Clement ...
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Big budget Eragon cranks up in Hungary
Stefan Fangmeier'sbig budget fantasy picture Eragon has just started shooting in Hungary,at a built set near Budakeszi, just outside of Budapest. The film will shootin nine different locations in Hungary until October 29, as well as a week oflocation work in Slovakia. The film is based onthe best-selling novel of ...