All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 159
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Constantin readies slate of international projects
While thesteady flow of German private equity into Stateside projects may now be a thingof the past, the German film industry's growing presence as a serious player onthe international stage will nevertheless be given a boost this summer byConstantin Film's busy production schedule.Constantinsaw shooting crank up in China at the ...
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Buena Vista Germany picks up Three Investigators
Buena Vista International Germany (BVIG) has picked up thechildren's adventure film The Three Investigators: The Mystery Of SkeletonIsland which will begin shooting in SouthAfrica this August.BVIG reportedly paid a seven-figure sum for the German rightsin a transaction which also includes the option for further films of thefranchise to be developed ...
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Beta Cinema unveils raft of Cannes deals
Beta Cinema has announced a raft of dealsconcluded at last week's market in Cannes and expects the first sale for SergeiBodrov's Mongol to be finalised this week.Mennan Yapo's thriller Soundless was soldto the US (Koch Lorber Media), France (97 Film Production & Distribution)and Brazil (Swen do Brazil).Hannes Stoehr's Berlinale 2005 ...
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Ray of hope for German media funds
Germany's beleagueredmedia fund managers were afforded a slight ray of hope that they could soon beback in business after the Social Democrats' (SPD) regional election debacle inNorth Rhine-Westphalia at the hands of the Christian Democrats at the weekend.There was speculation on Monday that plans byGerhard Schroeder to call for an ...
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Bavaria scores sales on Fatih Akin's Crossing The Bridge
Fatih Akin'smusic documentary Crossing The Bridge has beensold to A-Film in Benelux, Golem's Spain,Discovery Film in the former Yugoslavia and Israel's Orlando with "stronginterest" coming from Italy and the USA, according to Bavaria FilmInternational.DirectorsFortnight opener Be With Me, directed by Eric Khoo, has been sold to Civite Films (Spain) andNew ...
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German producers welcome launch of Euros 90m fund
German film producers havewelcomed the Gerhard Schroeder administration's financing of a Euros 90mventure capital fund as a useful bargaining chip for negotiations oninternational co-production projects at this year's Cannes Film Festival.Egoli Tossell Film's JensMeurer said the fund is "very attractive money for German producers notjust for German films but also ...
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X goes for Zucker punch
X World Sales has landeddistribution deals for North America and Central and Eastern Europe for DaniLevy's Go For Zucker! - An Unorthodox Comedy (Alles Auf Zucker!) which received 10German Film Award nominations this week.Speaking to ScreenDaily.com, X-Filme creativepool's head of business and legal affairs Andro Steinborn said that First RunFeatures ...
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German gov't to launch Euros 90m film fund
The German government is tocreate a venture capital fund with a total volume of Euros 90m to support theGerman film industry over the next three years.The funding instrument wasthe result of discussions between a specially convened working group of theFederal Chancellery and the Finance Ministry (ScreenDaily, May 4 2005). Itfollows ...
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Downfall snubbed in German Film Awards
Oscar-nominated German hit Downfall has been controversiallyomitted from best film shortlist for this year's German Film Awards.The Bernd Eichinger produced box office smash only mustered three actingnominations for this year's awards including best actor for Bruno Ganz as AdolfHitler. Dani Levy's Jewish family comedy Go For Zucker! - An Unorthodox ...
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Bavaria strikes US and UK deals ahead of Cannes
Munich-based sales agentBavaria Film has concluded a number of US and UK deals ahead of this year'sCannes market.First Run has picked uprights for the USA and English-speaking Canada for Oskar Roehler's Agnes AndHis Brothers and the Chinese Ning Hao's comedy Mongolian Ping Pong.Meanwhile, Strand Releasingacquired the Berlinale Teddy Award-winner Un ...
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Last Train delayed after director injured on set
Filming on the Holocaust drama The Last Train (Der LetzteZug) has been stopped in Prague after onlyone day of shooting following an accident on set involving the director JosephVilsmaier (Comedian Harmonists, Stalingrad).According to press reportsat the weekend, Vilsmaier has had to be hospitalised "for at least aweek" after being injured ...
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Diagonale directors step down from Austrian festival
Changes are afootagain at Graz's Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Cinema little more than sixweeks after the successful 2005 edition in March.Due to 'differing opinions with respect tothe running of the Diagonale', Robert Buchschwenter and Georg Tillner arestepping down from the festival management.The third member of the management team - ...
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Cannes launch for European production initiative
A new Europeaninitiative - Capital Regions for Cinema (CRC) - is to be launched at nextweek's Cannes Film Festival to promote and support closer cooperation andco-production between European producers.CRC's founding members are Commission du Filmd'Ile de France, Rome's Lazio Film Commission, the Madrid Film Commission andMedienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH. They will ...
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Eurimages doles out Euros 3.8m in funding
New feature projects by Otar Iosseliani (Jardins enAutomne) and Gianni Amelio (La Stella Che Non C'e) are among 12European co-productions supported with Euros 3.8m by the Council of Europe'sEurimages at its latest funding session. Amelio's La Stella Che Non C'e is an Euros 8mdrama about the dismantlement of an Italian ...
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German media funds reel as cabinet agrees tax overhaul
German Minister of FinanceHans Eichel held out an olive branch to the German film industry on Wednesday(May 4) after the Federal Cabinet agreed on proposed tax legislation which willclose the door to the old-style German media funds (ScreenDaily.com, May 2).Eichel said that a workinggroup convened by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder earlier ...
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Death knell tolls for German media funds
German media funds look set to be put out of business thisweek because of a proposed tightening up of tax fund legislation by FinanceMinister Hans Eichel.Eichel's plans to curtail tax breaks for media investmentfunds will be hugely painful for US producers. They will also be "acomplete catastrophe for the German ...
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Studio Babelsberg shares start trading
Shares in Studio Babelsbergbegan trading on Frankfurt's 'Freiverkehr' exchange on Friday morningat Euros 1.65 after 10% of the company's 15m shares had been floated at anissue price of Euro 1 each. The free flotation of the1.5m shares was open to studio staff as well as friends and partners from thefilm ...
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3L Filmverleih drafts in senior management team
Ahead of this year's Cannes Film Festival,leading German DVD distributor e-m-s new media has made two high-profileappointments to the management team of its theatrical distribution arm 3LFilmverleih. PeterHeinzemann, previously managing director of the now insolvent Solo-Film Verleih[ScreenDaily.com, March 2005], has been named head of distribution anddeputy to 3L Filmverleih managing ...
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MDC takes on sales for Puipa's Forest Of The Gods
Berlin-based MDC International has taken oninternational sales for veteran Lithuanian director Algimantas Puipa's latestfeature Forest Of The Gods.The film has beenincluded in MDC's Cannes Market line-up and is set for delivery this autumn .A co-production between Lithuania's Baltic FilmGroup and the UK's IMS G LLP and starring Valentinas Masalskis, Steven ...
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European 'Producers on the Move' named
Nineteen Europeanproducers have been selected to be presented at the forthcoming Cannes FilmFestival as "Producers on the Move" by the member organisations ofthe pan-European promotional body European Film Promotion (EFP).The producers will be able to discuss theirprojects at a Co-Production Lunch with 100 producers from all over Europe andat a ...