Latest – Page 523
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Features
In Focus - UK TAX - Feeling the squeeze
I think it's going to get worse before it gets better," admits John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council of the current state of UK film finance.For the world's third-biggest producer of films, the idea that the situation will get worse will not surprise many people. But local ...
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United States - Feeding the distribution machine
In the third-party acquisition business, Sony has long been one of the most active and innovative of the Hollywood studios. Its commitment goes back to the 1980s, when, among other projects, it co-financed Steven Soderbergh's groundbreaking indie film sex, lies and videotape.Now the studio has revamped its acquisition team with ...
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Denmark - Overthrowing the old guard
Based on the memoirs of James Gregory, Goodbye Bafana tells the story of the white South African who guarded Nelson Mandela on Robben Island. But while it is a South African story, the $20m project is directed by a Dane, Bille August, and has an international flavour in terms of ...
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Argentina - Father figure
Talented young Argentinian director Ariel Rotter premiered his first feature, Just For Today (Solo Por Hoy), at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2001.The Wong Kar-wai-influenced film quickly became a festival hit, won a string of local awards, and Rotter prepared to shoot his next feature, The Other.Financing problems set ...
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United Kingdom - Mutual Benefit
With UK arthouse distributors bemoaning the tough market, it seems an odd time for a new player to enter the game.But Nick Crossley and Jono Stevens are keeping an open mind as they launch Diffusion Pictures. As Stevens says: "More people are watching films than ever. (The theatrical market) is ...
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Features
United Kingdom - History moves with the times
As the industry increasingly looks to take advantage of back catalogues, the world's largest and most valuable film archive is now being made available at the click of a button - for free.The Mediatheque room of the new BFI Southbank beneath London's Waterloo Bridge already has available 300 film and ...
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Features
Ask the audience
Last year at the ShoWest exhibition convention, Motion Picture Association of America (Mpaa) chairman Dan Glickman announced a study to try to pin down the truth about that mysterious animal, the movie-goer.While there was a sense of who comprises the cinema-going audience, there has been no hard and fast survey ...
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Features
Music and Lyrics hits the right note
Warner Bros is singing a sweet song as Music And Lyrics climbs up to the top spot internationally, after five weeks in the chart. The romantic comedy took $9.6m at the weekend after opening in an additional eight territories, including Germany, Mexico and Netherlands. Eddie Murphy comedy Norbit also saw ...
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Market Focus - Commercial decisions
Distributors have long known that advertising in cinemas is an effective way to access audiences before the release of a film. But new UK research suggests audiences are more receptive to commercials shown there than to any other form of advertising.Research by TNS on behalf of the Cinema Advertising Association's ...
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Features
Editorial - Down but not out
This week's tax clampdown in the UK has come as a shock to the local industry. From the highs of the awards season in which the Brits were again out in force, the territory's industry is now back down in the dumps (see In Focus, p6).What happened was familiar to ...
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Features
In Focus - UK tax - Chronicle of a death foretold
There is a sense of deja vu about the sudden tax changes in the UK last week. The government ostensibly clamped down on so-called sideways loss relief, whereby a wealthy individual could offset tax against accounting losses recorded by a partnership. It was a loophole that spawned what became known ...
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United states - Mapping culture in cyberspace
In between producing films such as David Fincher's new drama M, serving on the non-partisan Council on Foreign Relations, and spending time with the family, Mike Medavoy is occupying himself by writing a book. The veteran agent, studio executive and producer is co-authoring a tome with writer and editor Nathan ...
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United States - Outside in
International film-makers are optimistic about the prospects for foreign-language films in the US - but they see pitfalls in working in Hollywood themselves. Those were two of the messages coming from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' symposium (February 24) with directors of the nominees for the foreign-language ...
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United Kingdom - A Royal welcome
Producer Christine Langan may have left the Oscars without the best-picture statuette for The Queen, but she can bank on something just as important: she is producing the next film from the team behind that hit.Langan, who was one of the producers of The Queen in her role at Granada, ...
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Features
United Kingdom - Pirate Duty
Film piracy cost the UK industry $1.6bn (£800m) in 2005 and, with new platforms for distributing films illegally arising every year, the need to tackle organised crime has never been more urgent.This is where the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) steps in, led by its new director general Kieron Sharp, ...
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Features
Industry moves
Dunn joins Fox AustraliaTwentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (Tcfhe) has appointed Chris Dunn as managing director in Australia. He takes over from Steven Leighton, who moved to a similar role at Tcfhe UK.Focus features promotion for BowlesAdriene Bowles has been promoted to president of worldwide publicity and executive vice-president of ...
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France - Rose-tinted history
Tackling the story of one of France's most beloved personalities is a daunting task, especially in a country which does not revere the biopic. But a few years ago, as Olivier Dahan rummaged through some photos in a book store, he was bitten by the Edith Piaf bug."I came across ...
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Spain - The rain in Spain
It is easy to assume Summer Rain (El Camino De Los Ingleses) carries some autobiographical resonance for Antonio Banderas. The actor's second film as a director after Crazy In Alabama (1999) is set in his hometown of Malaga in the 1970s and relates the experiences of a group of friends ...
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Summer Box Office - Summer Movies Release Schedule
Summer Movies Release ScheduleTITLEUSUKFRGERSPITJAPKORAUSMEXBRAAtonementAug 31Sept 14TBCSept 27Sept 21Oct 26Oct 6TBCOct 31Sept 28Nov 2The Bourne UltimatumAug 3Aug 3Sept 12Sept 6Aug 14Oct 19TBCSept 20Aug 9Aug 3Aug 17I Now Pronounce You Chuck & LarryJuly 20Sept 21Aug 29Sept 20Sept 7Sept 19TBCSept 6July 26Aug 17Sept 14Evan AlmightyJune 22July 20Aug 15Aug 9Aug 17June 15Sept 8TBCJune 28June ...
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Marketing - Moving pictures
Movie posters have always generated anticipation in audiences, and have retained their effectiveness by adapting to the marketplace.In the 1970s, a gradual shift from matte to clay-coated glossy paper encouraged new designs. Star Wars and Star Trek posters increased in popularity and were responsible for making movie poster collectors out ...