Latest – Page 895

  • News

    High Point's new Irish arm kicks off with Tom Collins feature

    2007-01-12T16:09:00Z

    Film and TV sales and production company High Point Films will expand with a new Irish division, High Point Ireland, and a new London headquarters. High Point Ireland will offer co-production services as well as consolidating existing trans-continental relationships. The recently formed production arm, High Point Productions, has brough Irish ...

  • News

    Horror project Outpost starts shoot in Scotland

    2007-01-12T14:19:00Z

    Director Steve Barker has started principal photography on his debut feature, Outpost. The action horror film is set in war-torn Eastern Europe The film, written by Rae Brunton, is set in an unnamed Eastern European country, where battle-worn mercenaries are hired by a mysterious businessmen for his own special mission. ...

  • News

    Screen Yorkshire staff expands by four

    2007-01-12T14:12:00Z

    UK regional screen agency Screen Yorkshire has appointed new staffers. Neil Preston has joined as finance director, Tony Parker as head of industry development, Andrew Craske as head of communications and Joan Whale as project monitoring manager. This follows the news in May 2006 that the agency received a record ...

  • News

    BAFTA leaders say British films are recognised on merit, not nationality

    2007-01-12T14:06:00Z

    With The Queen and Casino Royale leading the BAFTA nominees, the Academy's leaders say that UK films have held their own against international competitors for BAFTA voters. 'It's a very strong British year,' says BAFTA film committee chairman David Parfitt, who has produced films including BAFTA winner Shakespeare In Love. ...

  • News

    Homegrown, not Hollywood, talents impress BAFTA voters

    2007-01-12T12:39:00Z

    The rally cry 'The British are coming' has held true for this year's BAFTA nominees. BAFTA voters have backed British talent to an unprecedented degree this year, ignoring heavyweight American contenders like Bobby, Flags Of Our Fathers and Blood Diamond in favour of homegrown films. Helen Mirren had long been ...

  • News

    BAFTA reaches for operatic heights

    2007-01-12T10:09:00Z

    If you are looking for a Wagnerian spectacle, the next Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) may well provide it.

  • News

    The Queen reigns over BAFTA nominees

    2007-01-12T09:29:00Z

    Stephen Frears’ The Queen leads the nominations for the The Orange British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs. The film was recognised in 10 categories.

  • News

    Rainmaker signs Clark Johnson for $25m Chinese Wall

    2007-01-12T04:00:00Z

    Producers Georgina Townsley and Paul Goldin of the UK 's Rainmaker Films have signed director Clark Johnson to their legal/political thriller Chinese Wall. The budget is about $25m and the project will shoot in the second half of 2007. The film is set in the US and Africa. Casting will ...

  • News

    Pathfinder, Smokin' Aces hit international markets ahead of US

    2007-01-12T02:04:00Z

    Fox International launches action adventure Pathfinder in four international territories this weekend in advance of its domestic opening on April 27; meanwhile Universal/UPI opens crime caper Smokin' Aces in the UK ahead of its US opening on Jan 26.The overseas-first opening policy is becoming more prevalent and was used last ...

  • News

    Norma Heyman: fighting spirit

    2007-01-12T00:00:00Z

    Producer Norma Heyman recounts with a laugh how she first walked into Shepperton Studios as a producer in 1982, and was mistakenly asked to make tea.'I was greeted as if I carried bird flu or it was ET descending onto the set,' she remembers. The statistics about women in the ...

  • News

    Universal pictures sets up post-UIP Irish team

    2007-01-12T00:00:00Z

    Universal Pictures International (UPI) UK and Eire has appointed an Irish team responsible for the sales, marketing and publicity of the company's products in Ireland, following the closure of UIP in the territory. Eclipse Pictures veteran David Burke is leading the team as general manager. Maryse Fitzpatrick will serve as ...

  • News

    Keene shifts at Premier

    2007-01-12T00:00:00Z

    Sara Keene has stepped down as one of the chief executives of Premier Public Relations to take on a role as non-executive director. Keene, who founded Corbett and Keene in 1987, will act as a consultant to the board and will continue to run Premier's personal publicity for individual celebrities ...

  • News

    Stephen Frears to lead Cannes jury in 60th year

    2007-01-11T18:24:00Z

    The Festival de Cannes has tapped director Stephen Frears as its jury president for the 60th edition, which runs May 16-27. Fears has directed films including The Queen, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Grifters, High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things and 1987 Cannes competitor Prick Up Your Ears. 'Of course, it's an ...

  • News

    Momentum MD Marchand suspended and replaced by Napper

    2007-01-11T17:47:00Z

    UK distributor Momentum Pictures has suspended managing director Xavier Marchand.Former Sony executive Richard Napper has been appointed in his place on an interim basis with immediate effect while the company searches for a permanent replacement. No specific reasons were given for Marchand's suspension, but a spokesperson from Momentum's parent company ...

  • News

    UK 2006 box office revenues almost identical to 2005

    2007-01-11T12:18:00Z

    The UK/Ireland box office recorded final year revenues of $1.63.5bn (£840.2m), less than a percentage point down on the previous year, according to figures from Nielsen EDI.The figures were boosted in the final quarter by the extraordinary success of Casino Royale and Borat.The 21st James Bond outing is close to ...

  • News

    First Berlinale Panorama titles unveiled

    2007-01-11T10:41:00Z

    New films by Hal Hartley (Fay Grim), Eytan Fox (The Bubble), Korea's Hong Sangsoo (Woman On The Beach), actress Julie Delpy (Two Days in Paris) and actor Antonio Banderas (Summer Rain) are among the titles so far confirmed for more than half of the programme for this year's Panorama at ...

  • News

    Glasgow Festival to open with UK premiere of Cashback

    2007-01-11T04:00:00Z

    The third Glasgow Film Festival will screen more than 90 films during its run Feb 15-25 at six local venues. The festival will open with the UK premiere of Sean Ellis' debut feature Cashback, a romantic comedy starring Sean Biggerstaff with Emilia Fox and Jared Harris. Closing the festival will ...

  • News

    Breakfast On Pluto leads Irish Film & TV Award nominees

    2007-01-10T17:17:00Z

    The shortlist of nominees has been announced for the 2006 Irish Film & Television Awards, the first to take place under the auspices of the recently re-constituted Irish Film & Television Academy. Neil Jordan's Breakfast On Pluto leads with a total of ten nominations, followed closely by Brian Kirk's Middletown ...

  • News

    New players at the table

    2007-01-09T06:34:00Z

    If the story of 2006 was realignment, reorganisation and box-office recovery, 2007 should be about attracting new investment. After a year of recovery at the box office, there is suddenly a feelgood factor about film again. Some of it may be exaggerated, of course, just as the 2005 slump was ...

  • News

    UK to launch regional cinema critics awards

    2007-01-08T13:53:00Z

    Regional journalists will vote on a new series of awards, The UK Regional Critics' Film Awards, which will launch at Cinema Days, a distributors preview trade event for regional media held Jan 25-28. Regional journalists including critics, writers and editors (staff or freelance) will be allowed to vote for their ...