Latest – Page 841

  • News

    Pact says remaining staffers will concentrate on policy, biz affairs

    2008-01-23T16:55:00Z

    The UK's producers group Pact has clarified some plans as part of its recently announced restructuring.The group poined out that its overall numbers of staff will be reduced by more than half in the restructuring. The remaining Pact employees will shift their emphasis to work on two revised core propositions: ...

  • News

    David Bradford joins Future Shorts as managing director

    2008-01-23T11:42:00Z

    UK-based short film label Future Shorts has hired David Bradford as its managing director.Bradford had been senior advisor at the BBC Trust, head of strategy and ventures at the MOBO Awards, business development consultant at Ministry of Sound and manager of corporate affairs at EMI Group.Fabien Riggall, Director of Future ...

  • News

    Holroyd starts UK shoot for political thriller WMD

    2008-01-23T11:30:00Z

    David Holroyd's UK micro-budget political thriller WMD started a four-week shoot on Jan 21.Simon Lenagan, Jo-Anne Knowles, Glenn Conroy, Robert Cambrinus and Burnell Tucker star.The film, inspired in part by reality, is about an MI-6 desk officer who uncovers inaccuracies in evidence about the Iraq invasion.Holroyd makes his feature film ...

  • News

    Maja Zimmermann joins acquisitions team at Altadena

    2008-01-23T10:30:00Z

    Maja Zimmermann has joined the acquisitions team for UK-based sales company Altadena Films. She is currently attending Sundance.Zimmerman previously worked in development for Miramax TV and Strictly Films, and has also produced indepdent films and directed 12x12.'We are delighted to have someone with Maja's experience join the Altadena team. Maja ...

  • News

    Metrodome plans re-release of Oscar nominated Away From Her

    2008-01-22T16:04:00Z

    On the back of the two Oscar nominations for Away From Her, the film's UK distributor, Metrodome, has announced plans to revive the film in a limited theatrical re-release in select UK cinemas from Feb 15.Metrodome originally released the film, nominated for best actress (Julie Christie) and best adapted screenplay ...

  • News

    There Will Be Blood, NoCountry For Old Menlead Oscar nominations

    2008-01-22T13:29:00Z

    Joel & Ethan Coen's No Country For Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood lead the Oscar race with eight nods each; Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton and Joe Wright's Atonement follow with seven each.All are in the Best Picture race, along with Jason Reitman's Juno. Wright is ...

  • News

    Glasgow to open with UK premiere of Cassandra's Dream

    2008-01-22T13:00:00Z

    The Glasgow Film Festival has announced its 2008 programme, with a number of high-profile UK premieres including Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (the opening night film), Craig Gillespie's Lars And The Real Girl (closing night), Roger Donaldson's The Bank Job, Paul Andrew Williams' The Cottage, Guiseppe Tornatore's The Unknown, Alain Corneau's ...

  • News

    VTR adds Machine Effects to Prime Focus Group

    2008-01-22T11:23:00Z

    Post-production powerhouse VTR has acquired visual effects company Machine Effects Ltd, in a deal worth just over $4m (£2m).John Lockwood and Steve Street founded UK-based Machine Effects, which as worked on films including Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Hot Fuzz and several Harry Potter films. Services provided include pre-production, pre-visualisation and ...

  • News

    UK producers group PACT defends cuts to worried film industry

    2008-01-22T06:49:00Z

    UK producers group PACT is defending its restructuring moves to streamline the organisation in the midst of funding woes.Some film producers are more wary of the restruturing and say their interests could be pushed aside as TV takes more attention at PACT.In December,the elected PACT Council approveda strategic plan, unanimously ...

  • News

    UK producers group PACT defends restructuring to worried industry

    2008-01-22T05:00:00Z

    UK producers group PACT is defending plans to streamline the organisation in the midst of funding woes.But some film producersfear their interests could be pushed aside in a leaner organisation which theybelievecould concentrate attention on television.The elected Pact Council approved a new strategic plan at its final meeting in December ...

  • News

    Control Room director Noujaim heads Pangea Day film project

    2008-01-21T11:32:00Z

    Jehane Noujaim, director of acclaimed 2004 documentary Control Room, is heading a unique project offering a global day of film.Pangea Day, which is scheduled for May 10, 2008, will be held in eight different cities: Cairo, Dharamsala, Jerusalem, Kigali, London, New York, Ramallah and Rio de Janeiro. The venues will ...

  • News

    Carl Clifton promoted to COO of HandMade Films International

    2008-01-21T06:00:00Z

    HandMade Films International has promoted Carl Clifton to chief operating officer, in addition to his existing duties as head of international sales.Clifton joined the revived HandMade in November 2006 and has worked on a slate of films including animated title Planet 51, thriller 50 Dead Men Walking, Eloise In Paris ...

  • News

    Vertigo to produce Rupert Wyatt's Escapist follow-up The Trail

    2008-01-21T05:00:00Z

    The UK's Vertigo Films has come on board for Rupert Wyatt's next feature The Trail, after already taking the rights to his debut feature The Escapist, which is world premiering in Sundance today.Vertigo will produce and take all UK rights to Wyatt's new project, and Vertigo's new partner sales company ...

  • News

    Amid rising industry concern, British Council defends restructuring

    2008-01-21T05:00:00Z

    Revelations that the British Council is reviewing its Arts Strategy and restructuring toward a 'multidisciplinary approach' in areas such as film, dance, and the visual arts, have caused uproar in the UK arts community.There is widespread concern that the Council will lose the sectoral expertise it has built up in ...

  • News

    UK production spend drops 15% whileco-productions crash 43%

    2008-01-19T14:20:00Z

    Feature film production spend dropped 15% in 2007, to $1.4bn (£723m) from 2006's $1.6bn (£855m), according to new research from the UK Film Council.The UKFC tracked 112 features, down from 135 in 2006 (the UKFC only tracks projects with budgets starting at $1m). The UKFC blamed the decline on the ...

  • News

    Intandem, Radical pitch slate including John Woo's Caliber

    2008-01-18T11:59:00Z

    Intandem Films and its graphic novel publishing company partner Radical Publishing will be meeting with investors in the UK starting Jan 21 to present their shared business model and preview future projects. UK-based financing and sales company Intandem took an equity stake in 2007 in Los Angeles-based Radical, which is ...

  • News

    Cloverfield hopes for monster opening

    2008-01-18T07:48:00Z

    Click on film for reviewWarner Bros Pictures International executives will expect their horrorsci-fi release I Am Legend to maintain its excellent form and dominatethe competition for the fourth consecutive weekend and the fifth outof its six-week run.The global hit has amassed more than $221m to date and should cause astir ...

  • News

    BBC's Tranter and ITV's Mackie join screenwriters' festival

    2008-01-18T06:02:00Z

    More top names have joined the line-up of this year's Screenwriters Festival, including some of the UK's most senior television execs.Jane Tranter, controller of BBC Fiction, including BBC Films and ITV director of drama Laura Mackie will both be high-profile speakers at the event in Cheltenham (July 1-3)Their presence is ...

  • News

    Lionsgate UK acquires Conan, Mad Money and Righteous Kill

    2008-01-18T05:01:00Z

    Distributor Lionsgate UK has struck a three-picture acquisition deal with Nu Image/Millennium Films. Lionsgate UK has taken UK and Ireland rights to Jon Avnet's crime thriller Righteous Kill; Callie Khouri's comedy Mad Money; and the Conan The Barbarian revived franchise set for a new film release in 2009.Righteous Kill stars ...

  • News

    Film4 and B3 Media's FeatureLab to nurture minority scripts

    2008-01-18T05:00:00Z

    UK production company B3 Media is launching the B3 FeatureLab with backing from Film4, Binger Film Lab and Skillset.The initiative will nurture four feature film scripts from black and minority film-makers who have a track record in film, TV, radio, visual arts or new media.The programme, which runs throughout 2008, ...