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UK shows strongest first-quarter box office in four years
The UK could see its strongest box-office performance in four years in 2007 as first-quarter reports show a 10% year-on-year increase. After 12 weeks, UK cinemas generated $379.4m (£193.7m) from 166 films, compared with $346.1 (£176.7m) in the same period of 2006, according to Nielsen EDI. That's the best first-quarter ...
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Industry has mixed reactions to HanWay-Celluloid merger
The announcement yesterday of the merger between HanWay Films and Celluloid Dreams to create a new combined company, dreamachine, has provoked a mixed response from the European film industry. Some have welcomed the consolidation of the two companies. For example, Tartan Films founder Hamish McAlpine applauded the move. 'Hanway and ...
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Ben Whishaw set to join Campion's Keats story Bright Star
UK actor Ben Whishaw is in final negotiations to star in Bright Star as 19th-century poet John Keats. Jane Campion will write and direct the period romance about the relationship between Keats and Fanny Brawne, who will be played by Abbie Cornish. The project is set to start shooting for ...
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Rang De Basanti leads Idea IIFA Awards nominations
The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has announced nominations for the 2007 Idea IIFA Awards, which will be given out in Sheffield, UK, in June.In the main categories, hit Rang De Basanti led the nominations with 14 nods. Omkara scored 11 and Lage Raho Munnabhai and Dhoom 2 with 10 ...
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Odeon and Sky Filmworks signs up Contender as DVD partner
Odeon and Sky Filmworks, the joint distribution venture between the companies, has signed a deal with the UK 's Contender Entertainment Group for DVD distribution The deal covers an initial period of one year, for DVD releases of all titles that Filmworks acquires during the next 12 months. The first ...
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HanWay and Celluloid Dreams merge to create dreamachine
In a move that will shake up the international sales world, Jeremy Thomas' UK-based HanWay Films and Hengameh Panahi's Paris-based Celluloid Dreams are planning to merge. The new sales, production and financing venture, dreamachine, will be based in London, Paris and Toronto. Financial terms have yet to be disclosed, but ...
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BFI scouts locations for new Film Centre to open by 2012
The British Film Institute (BFI) is already looking at the third of four potential sites in London 's Southbank for its new 'British Film Centre' to be completed in time for the London Olympics in 2012. 'We are quite far down the line on the new site,' BFI president Amanda ...
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Pinewood launches website for rebuilt 007 Stage
The Pinewood Studios Group has launched an official website for the rebuilt 007 Stage, located at www.007stage.com. Europe 's largest sound stage has been rebuilt and reopened following the July 2006 fire that made the stage unusable. Currently, the internal area of 59,000-square-feet makes it the biggest stage in Europe. ...
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AAM signs downloadable content deal with Revolver Entertainment
UK-based digital distribution services company Arts Alliance Media (AAM) has struck a deal with distributor Revolver Entertainment for Revolver's content to be offered for download on AAM 's Vizumi Network. The deal covers an initial 30 titles for download-to-rent and download-to-own through AAM 's distribution partners including LoveFilm and Empire. ...
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Rogers & Cowan divides London office into UK and international units
PR company Rogers & Cowan's London branch has launched two separate business units: a UK division for film, video and TV promotion solely in the UK, and an internatioal division to handle worldwide publicity campaigns. The London office has been open for a year, and both divisions will continue to ...
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Park Circus joins UK trade group FDA
Park Circus Films has joined the UK's Film Distributors' Association (FDA), the trade body of UK theatrical distributors. The Glasgow-based company is the UK's only commercial distributor specialising in classic films. It becomes the FDA's 18th member and one of 12 indies on the FDA Council. 'As the UK market ...
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Aardman signs exclusive three-year, first-look deal with Sony Pictures
UK-based Aardman Features will enter a three-year, exclusive first-look deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) for all of Aardman's features in development. Aardman, known for Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run and Flushed Away, ended its increasingly tense partnership with DreamWorks in late January 2007. The new pact was struck with ...
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UK Film Council looks for certification manager for new tax test
As of today, the certification unit for the new Cultural Test for British Film introduced as part of the UK 's new film tax relief will be based at the UK Film Council, moving from its previous home at the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. The UKFC is currently ...
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Scottish Screen pushes diversity in exhibition strategy
After a lengthy process of consultation Scottish Screen has announced a new Cinema Exhibition Strategy designed to extend the reach and diversity of films available to Scottish audiences. The core of the strategy is the development of 'cultural cinema hubs' strategically placed around the country. Each one will serve as ...
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True North wins best film at Cherbourg-Octeville
The 22nd Cherbourg-Octeville Festival of Irish and British Film (March 14-20) gave its top awards to Steve Hudson's True North. The film took best film, best film voted by the student jury, and best actress for Angel Li. The other winner was Niall Heery's Small Engine Repair, which won the ...
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UK's Albion launches with aims to produce Christian features
Albion Productions has launched as a UK production company dedicated to only making Christian feature films. Albion is set up as an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) company and is seeking investors for its first production, Darkness Into Light. The company said 10% of the film's profits will go to Christian ...
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Sky signs up three-year deal with Spyglass Entertainment
UK-based BSkyB has struck a new, three-year output deal with Spyglass Entertainment, which covers up to 15 Spylass-produced titles from 2008. Spyglass's past hits have included Seabiscuit, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Bruce Almighty and The Sixth Sense. The deal covers both Sky Movies paid broadcast rights (including HD broadcasts) and ...
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Potboiler to follow Gardener with Le Carre's Mission Song
Following its successful adaptation of John Le Carre's The Constant Gardener, Simon Channing Williams and Gail Egan's London-based Potboiler Productions is preparing a new film based on Le Carre's latest book, The Mission Song. Joe Fisher, writer of acclaimed TV drama Soundproof and of 1998's The Tichborne Claimant, is scripting ...
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Shear leaves The Works to take new sales post at Revolver
David Shear is leaving his post as head of sales at The Works UK Distribution to become sales director of Revolver Entertainment. He starts the newly created post on June 11 and will be responsible for Revolver's theatrical strategy. Before joining The Works' theatrical distribution arm, Shear was head of ...
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Premiere Fund backs Paul Andrew Williams' The Cottage
The UK Council's Premiere Fund has come on board with Lottery funding for Paul Andrew Williams' The Cottage. Williams, who became a talent to watch with his 2006 low-budget thriller London To Brighton, also wrote the script. The story follows two brothers who kidnap an underworld figure and then 'stumble ...