Latest – Page 1163

  • News

    Shoreline cleans up with The Maid deals at EFM

    2009-02-13T00:13:00Z

    Shoreline has closed several key territories at EFM on SebastianSilva's Chilean drama The Maid (La Nana) on the back of its grand jury prize win in Sundance's world cinema dramatic section.Rights have gone to Golem Distribucion in Spain, Bolero Films inItaly, Ost For Paradis for Denmark, Action Film for Norway, ...

  • News

    Waisbren: Don't hesitate - consolidate!

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    In times of trouble, the big beasts always herd together. 'Consolidate or die' has been the frequent mantra when the independent film business is under threat. It was very much the message given by Ben Waisbren, president and chief executive of Continental Entertainment Capital, during his keynote speech at the ...

  • News

    Lance Weiler's multi-screen ambitions

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    Many independent film-makers try to self-distribute their films or use new platforms; Lance Weiler has actually succeeded in grossing $5m from the self-distribution and digital dissemination of his past work.The Pennsylvania-based writer-director pioneered digital distribution with 1998's The Last Broadcast and 2006's Head Trauma and is now planning his most ...

  • News

    A dog's path to glory: The ups and downs of financing and producing Slumdog Millionaire

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    The UK's Film4 rarely buys a book without a production company involved, but chief Tessa Ross did just that when she first read Q&A by Vikas Swarup, the source novel for Slumdog Millionaire. 'It had a fantastic landscape, a clever plot and a way of telling the story of a ...

  • News

    TIFFG names Karen Black director, Canadian initiatives

    2009-02-12T22:04:00Z

    The Toronto International Film Festival Group has named Karen Black as director, Canadian initiatives, for the organisation. Black has served as acting director for the past year, following Cam Haynes' departure in 2008.Her remit includes TIFFG's Film Circuit, Canada's Top Ten and the Student Film Showcase. She will also be ...

  • News

    New Directors/New Films to open with Amreeka, close with Push

    2009-02-12T22:00:00Z

    Cherien Dabis' Amreeka will open the New Directors/New Films 2009 programme presented by New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Amreeka is about a single mother and her teenage son who move from Ramallah to middle America.The series will have its first ever closing ...

  • News

    Arthouse takes on Shulman doc Visual Acoustics

    2009-02-12T14:29:00Z

    Arthouse Films has acquired North American and worldwide rights to feature documentary Visual Acoustics: The Modernism Of Julius Shulman.Eric Bricker directed the film, which explores the career of 98-year-old architectural photographer Julius Shulman, who works with human models and striking landscapes to explore how nature mixes with urban design. Dustin ...

  • News

    Necessities Of Life leads Genie Awards nominations

    2009-02-12T06:00:00Z

    Benoit Pilon's The Necessities Of Life received eight nominations and Yves-Christian Fornier's Everything Is Fine received seven as the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced the contenders for the 29th-annual Genie Awards. Necessities Of Life was Canada's submission for the foreign-language Oscar. The two Quebecois titles were followed closely ...

  • News

    Wild Bunch swims in Oceans of Berlin deals

    2009-02-12T06:00:00Z

    Wild Bunch was striking an upbeat note as the company announced its EFMdeals yesterday. Despite the credit crunch, it emerged that the French powerhouses has closed multiple territories on its packed Berlin slate. 'I think the worst is still to come. We were all afraid that Berlin would be a ...

  • News

    The Necessities Of Life leads Genie nominations

    2009-02-11T10:53:00Z

    Benoit Pilon's The Necessities Of Life received eight nominations and Yves-Christian Fornier's Everything Is Fine received seven as the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced the contenders for the 29th annual Genie Awards. Necessities Of Life was Canada's submission for the foreign-language Oscar.The two Quebecois titles were followed closely ...

  • News

    IM Global sets sales for Hill, Miller movies

    2009-02-11T06:00:00Z

    IM Global has reported strong initial sales on the upcoming Mickey Rourke thriller St Vincent and is close to selling out Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee following the drama's world premiere here in Berlinon Monday night. St Vincent reunites Rourke with his Johnny Handsome director Walter Hill ...

  • News

    Magnolia kicks up US rights to Ong Bak 2

    2009-02-11T06:00:00Z

    Magnolia Pictures has acquired US rights to Thai martial arts action title Ong Bak 2 from Sahamongkolfilm International. Magnolia is planning a theatrical release for the film under its Magnet Releasing genre label. The company released the first Ong Bak film, also starring Tony Jaa, which grossed more than $4m ...

  • News

    Bernard Rose's Kreutzer Sonata picked up by IFC Films for US

    2009-02-10T17:33:00Z

    IFC Films has picked up US rights to Bernard Rose's The Kreutzer Sonata and will release it this year on its Festival Direct movies-on-demand label. The film, which stars Danny Huston, Elisabeth Rohm and (in a cameo) Anjelica Huston in a dissection of modern marriage based on the Tolstoy novella, ...

  • News

    E1 Entertainment rethinks market listing

    2009-02-10T08:05:00Z

    Canadian media company E1 Entertainment will delay its planned listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company is reassessing its options in the market meltdown that is hammering even strong performers. The company said it will also undertake a restructuring of its US operations to ensure the competitiveness of its ...

  • News

    Disney closes longterm distribution deal with DreamWorks, Reliance

    2009-02-10T07:46:00Z

    The Walt Disney Studios and Steven Spielberg, Stacey Snider and Indian giant Reliance BIG's DreamWorks 2.0 have signed their exclusive long-term distribution deal to handle distribution and marketing on approximately six live-action films a year.Disney moved in after the distribution deal announced last October between DreamWorks and Universal fell apart ...

  • News

    Independents must consolidate, says Ben Waisbren

    2009-02-10T06:00:00Z

    In a hard-hitting keynote speech at yesterday's Screen International European Film Summit, film financier Ben Waisbren, who is president and CEO of Continental Entertainment Capital, predicted that the independent film business will go through a prolonged period of contraction and restructuring. 'Don't hesitate - consolidate,' he urged.Fewer films will be ...

  • News

    The Ghost scares up deals for Summit

    2009-02-10T06:00:00Z

    Summit International has announced major territory sales on a high-prestige EFM slate led by deals with Pathe in France, Kinowelt in Germany and Rai/01 in Italy on Roman Polanski's thriller The Ghost starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan. Eagle Pictures in Italy, which had already taken rights on Twilight follow-up ...

  • News

    Gubbins steps down as editor of Screen International & ScreenDaily.com

    2009-02-09T14:12:00Z

    Michael Gubbins is stepping down as editor of Screen International and ScreenDaily.com after five years in the role and will be leaving on Feb 11.He is leaving to pursue new ventures in film and the wider media. Gubbins oversaw a redesign of the weekly magazine and the website and made ...

  • News

    US moviegoers get into New Line romcom

    2009-02-09T00:20:00Z

    Romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You was this weekend's top earner as a quartet of new releases produced another big haul at the US box office. The Warner/New Line romcom opened significantly better than expected, grossing an estimated $27.5m from 3,175 screens, for a per-screen average of $8,649. ...

  • News

    Benjamin Button big in international market with $31m weekend

    2009-02-09T00:08:00Z

    Multiple Oscar nominee The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the big winner at the international box office this weekend, grossing an estimated $31m from 5,126 screens in 47 markets. Taking its international total so far to $72.5m, the Brad Pitt-Cate Blanchett drama opened at number one in Spain and ...