All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 114
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Studio Babelsberg hopes 2008 will be as strong as last year
Studio Babelsberg is optimistic that this year's operations will generate comparable results to 2007 which was the most successful financial year since the production complex's privatisation in 1992.Last year, the group's consolidated turnover had jumped from $25.6m (Euros 16.4m) in 2006 to $135.9m (Euros 87.1m) last year with a positive ...
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Torsten Koch and Oliver Koppert to head Constantin's distribution arm
Torsten Koch and Oliver Koppert have been appointed as managing directors of Constantin Film's theatrical distribution arm Constantin Film Verleih with effect from Oct 1.Koch, who has been Marketing & Publicity Director for Constantin Film since 1999, will serve as Marketing/Distribution Managing Director for Constantin Film Verleih, while Koppert will ...
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Locarno Critics Week world premieres include Mr December
Locarno's Critics Week sidebar will present four world premieres and three international premieres in this year's programme of creative documentaries.The complete lineup of seven titles is:Apology Of An Economic Hitman, dir: Stelios Koul (Greece), international premiereBill - Das Absolute Augenmass, dir: Eric Schmid (Switzerland), world premiereFour Wives - One Man, ...
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Maire's replacement search to start after Locarno festival ends
The search for a successor to Frederic Maire as Locarno Film Festival's artistic director will be launched once this year's edition has ended on August 16.In response to rumours circulating within the Swiss press about possible candidates for Maire's post, festival president Marco Solari stressed: 'Everything is still open. We ...
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Local hits drive German box-office boom
Thanks to such local hits as Til Schweiger's romantic comedy Rabbit Without Ears and Dennis Gansel's school drama The Wave, box-office takings for German films increased year-on-year by almost 50% in the first half of 2008.While German films posted $ 103m (Euros 64.4m) in the first six months of 2007, ...
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Kinowelt's distribution chief Miros leaves company
Georg Miros, head of marketing and sales at Leipzig-based Kinowelt Filmverleih since 2003, has left the company as of today to pursue new professional challenges.Miros had been responsible for the successful release of such films as Deep Blue, Million Dollar Baby, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The March of the Penguins, ...
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Locarno adds Paskaljevic, Brakni to international jury
The members for Locarno's International Competition jury are now complete with the addition of French actress Rachida Brakni (The Over-Eater) and Serbian filmmaker Goran Paskaljevic to the previously announced line-up of directors Masahiro Kobayashi (Japan), Dani Levy (Switzerland), and Paolo Sorrentino (Italy), and Mexican producer Bertha Navarro.Meanwhile, Argentina's Albertina Carri ...
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Houellebecq to present premiere of feature debut in Locarno
Bestselling French writer Michel Houellebecq's feature film directorial debut The Impossibility Of An Island, adapted from his 2005 novel of the same name, will have its world premiere in Locarno's Play Forward sidebar which is dedicated to all contemporary forms of audio-visual experimentation and creation.The $10.3m (Euros 6.5m) futuristic drama, ...
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Europe, Latin America take centre stage in Locarno programme
European and Latin America cinema will have a high profile at this year's Locarno Film Festival which will open on August 6 with the European premiere of UK director Julian Jarrold's Brideshead Revisited and close August 16 with the world premiere of Solveig Anspach's Icelandic-French co-production Back Soon on the ...
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Jerry Cotton, Flucht Aus Tibet gets top funding from FFF Bayern
New feature films by Joseph Vilsmaier, Margarethe von Trotta, Rainer Matsutani and Maria Blumencon are among the projects awarded a total $10m (Euros 6.26m) by the Bavarian regional fund FFF Bayern at its latest sitting.The largest amount - $ 1.1m (Eu 700,000) - went to Phillip Stennert and Cyrill Boss’ ...
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Switzerland's Ascot Elite picks up 8 titles including Milk and Red Cliff
Leading Swiss independent distributor Ascot Elite Entertainment has announced eight new acquisitions for its release lineup. As part of a strategy to consolidate its market position, theZurich-based company has secured all rights for Focus Features' HarveyMilk biopic Milk, directed by Gus van Sant and starring Sean Penn andJosh Brolin, the ...
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Yerevan plans second Regional Co-Production Forum
Eight features and four documentary projects from Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Moldova, Turkey, Ukraine are being pitched to potential co-producers and financiers at the Directors Across Borders' (DAB) second Regional Co-Production Forum (July 15-17) during this week's Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan.The low-budget projects include the family drama Before ...
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Sasha Buehler moves from SquareOne to Constantin
Film and TV veteran Sasha Buehler is to join Constantin Film's acquisitions and licensing team from Oct 1 after spending the past three years as head of acquisitions for Munich's SquareOne Entertainment.American-born Buehler started her career in the industry in 1990 with news production at broadcaster ProSieben, later working for ...
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Locarno Swiss Cinema Day to include Luftbusiness
Three new Swiss films will have their world premieres during the Swiss Cinema Day at this year's Locarno Film Festival, while Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov's Yuri's Day (Yuriev Den) will screen in the International Competitiion.The Swiss Cinema Day, which will be held by the festival in cooperation with the Federal ...
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Match Factory to sell Somali supermodel film Desert Flower
The Match Factory will be handling international sales on Sherry Hormann's adaptation of Waris Dirie's bestselling autobiography Desert Flower.The film is currently shooting in Berlin before being due to wrap in New York next week.Structured as a $17.4m (Euros 11m) European co-production by the 'single purpose' company Desert Flower Filmproductions ...
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German box office slips 50% from first quarter to second quarter
Admissions to German cinemas fell by 50% in the second quarter compared to the first three months of 2008, according to figures prepared by EDI Nielsen.Exhibitors posted $188.4m (Euros 119.3m) box-office revenues from 19m admissions between April and the end of June. The half-year total is $565.8m (Euros 358.1m) - ...
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New US, Spanish buyers line up for Locarno
Four weeks ahead of the opening of this year's Locarno filmfestival on August 6, its Industry Office has reported that buyers from the US, Spain and South Korea are among 10 companies coming to the Swiss festival for the first time this year.LA-based distributor-producer-sales outfit Eleven Arts will be represented ...
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Germany fails to keep up Q1 momentum
Admissions to German cinemas fell by 50% in the second quarter compared to the first three months of 2008, according to figures prepared by EDI Nielsen.Exhibitors posted $ 188.4m (Euros 119.3m) box-office revenues from 19m admissions between April and the end of June.The half-year total is $ 565.8m (Euros 358.1m) ...
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Karlovy Vary and Locarno premieres unveiled at Previews in Cologne
World premieres at this week's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and Locarno's forthcoming Piazza Grande open-air programme are among 23 films being presented at the German Films Previews in Cologne from July 10-13.Tom Schreiber's Dr Aleman, which has been invited to Karlovy Vary's international competition, will have its market premiere ...
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Jan-Pelgrom de Haas takes CEO post at Kinowelt Group
Jan-Pelgrom de Haas has been appointed as CEO of the Kinowelt Group with immediate effect as the successor to Bertil Le Claire who stepped down from this post at the end of May.Commenting on the choice of de Haas, Kinowelt's founders Michael and Rainer Koelmel said that the 45-year-old media ...