Latest – Page 490
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Features
AFM buzz - California Dreaming
THE USWhat are the commercial English-language titles coming out of the US right now' Jeremy Kay has the lowdown.The US financial meltdown, coupled with ongoing logistical difficulties caused by punishing exchange rates and the possibility of an actors strike by the end of November have traumatised the US production sector.The ...
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AFM buzz - The UK
Following a quiet Cannes, the UK had a particularly strong Toronto with 22 features in the programme. The AFM will be the first official market for many of the Toronto premieres. They include the documentary Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary for Intandem, The Secret Of Moonacre for Velvet Octopus, ...
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AFM buzz - Germany
German sales agents will be at the AFM presenting a diverse range of product from the territory. Bavaria Film International will have a promo-reel of Esther Gronenborn's mystery thriller Kaifeck Murder, starring Benno Furmann and Alexandra Maria Lara, which is inspired by one of Germany's most infamous crimes.Telepool will screen ...
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AFM buzz - France
There are a handful of big projects headed for the AFM from France - including one that could provoke a bidding war - but some sales agents are holding back on announcing new projects, for the moment at least.Yohann Comte of Roissy Films says: "The AFM is a market where ...
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AFM buzz - Italy
This year, leading Italian sales agents Intramovies, Istituto Luce and the newer Fandango/Portobello Sales are not attending the AFM. Instead, they launched their new titles at the Rome International Film Festival's film market, The Business Street, in October."The AFM is a market concerned only with English-language commercial movies, with almost ...
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AFM buzz - Japan
Despite successes at home, Japanese films continue to be a difficult sell to English-speaking territories.Even in Asia, where pre-sales were once commonplace, skittish buyers are demanding to see finished product. While Japanese companies introduce new titles at continental events such as Hong Kong's Filmart, Pusan's Asian Film Market and Tokyo's ...
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AFM buzz - South Korea
The South Korean investment/production bubble has popped and the local industry is suffering from the after-effects of an injection of too much blind and eager money into the sector. But the few new films that have managed to struggle through are worth checking out.Period films are going strong. CJ Entertainment ...
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AFM buzz - Thailand
It has been a difficult year for the Thai film industry, coping with the double whammy of political unrest and inflation which have battered the economy and impacted on audience spending power. But although local studios have been cautious and there have been delays to production schedules, there are some ...
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AFM buzz - Hong Kong, China and Taiwan
The Chinese-language production sectors, in both Hong Kong and Beijing, were hit badly this year by a slow-down in mainland China's censorship process in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. As a result, there will not be a huge amount of new Chinese product at this year's AFM.Indeed, one of ...
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International - Saw V shows its teeth
The big international story this weekend may have been Walt Disney Smpi's High School Musical 3: Senior Year (see review, p24, and box office, p31) but a number of diverse openers also managed to scare up big business at the box office. Mandate International's fifth instalment in the Saw franchise ...
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In focus - Reasons to be cheerful
A nagging question underpinned this year's UK Film Finance Summit - why wasn't everyone more miserable' Goodness knows there was plenty to worry about: a crashing economy, collapsing pre-sales and a depressingly complicated digital switch which threatens the future of exhibition.The packed audience at London's Waldorf Hotel did not lack ...
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United Kingdom - Dodge the doom-mongers
In a credit crunch, necessity must be the mother of invention. That is the view of a growing number of industry players, including Mark Herbert and Barnaby Spurrier, who called on film-makers to innovate their way out of the present economic difficulties, at Screen International's UK Film Finance Summit last ...
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International - Eagle eye rules roost
Paramount Pictures International's Eagle Eye flew to the top of the international chart, with a 6% increase in takings for the October 17-19 weekend, holding on to the top spot in South Korea (taking $2.1m) and securing second-place debuts in both Japan ($3.1m from 306 screens) and the UK ($1.1m ...
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Worldwide - Here comes the crunch
Cinema may still prove to be recession-proof but the third-quarter figures for international markets do not suggest people are rushing to the multiplex for escapist entertainment.Global box office for Q3 generated approximately $7.28bn in ticket sales. Compared with 2007, that translates to a drop of roughly 0.5% and a decline ...
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Editorial - New models armies
The crowning, deposing and re-crowning of "content" as "king" has become a ritual over the last few years. Wondering where on earth the industry is heading has given the old cliche a new lease of life. It's possible even to identify camps here: content as king is the mantra of ...
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In focus - Pusan Review - Pushed for space in a crowded scene
Everybody says it, everybody knows it: the autumn festival circuit, which bows out with Rome and London this week, is too crammed. Yet the situation staggers on from year to year, with festivals pointing frantically to their record numbers of world premieres. Even after Venice, Toronto and San Sebastian had ...
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In focus - Asian Film Funds Forum - New approaches needed in Asia
The Asian film business should avoid over-supply and ensure the interests of distributors and investors are aligned, said panellists at a seminar on Asian film funds at Pusan's Asian Film Market.The seminar, co-hosted by Screen International, also examined how film financing has become more difficult due to the credit crunch, ...
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In focus - Asian Film Market - Mixed messages at market
Pusan's Asian Film Market (October 3-6) closed its third edition last week with most delegates agreeing it had been a quiet event, but many saying they had still found it productive. Certainly there was not much footfall at the market, held for the first time on three floors of the ...
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United States - Social partners
When Social Capital launched three years ago, headed by musician and real-estate entrepreneur Martin Shore and production and finance specialist Christopher Tuffin, its goal was to make two to three films a year in the $15m-$35m range.The company quickly sealed a partnership with The Steel Company, the veteran buyers' representation ...
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United States - Hard Times In Rio
Even though Bruno Barreto is one of Brazil's most celebrated film-makers, he had trouble finding finance to complete his latest film, Last Stop 174, a well-received drama which had its world premiere at Toronto and two weeks later opened the Rio International Film Festival.The irony was not lost on Barreto ...