All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 188
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Pictorion Das Werk unveils new management structure
Pictorion Das Werk - formerly Das Werk - has unveiled its new management structure and the opening of an additional post house in Cologne.The move comes three months after Helmut Breuer's Media Select took over the insolvent Das Werk postproduction group' facilities in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich and Frankfurt-based ...
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Filmstiftung NRW backs four international co-productions
Four international co-productions - by the UK's Christopher Smith, Argentinian Pablo Trapero, Palestinian Hany Abu-Assad and German newcomer Till Franzen - are among seven feature projects receiving a total of Euros 2.5m production support from Filmstiftung NRW in its latest round of funding. Euros 500,000 was allocated to Smith's fantastic ...
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Chabrol thriller backed by Bavarian fund
Feature projects by veteran French director Claude Chabrol, newcomer director Marco Kreuzpaintner and Mostly Martha's Sandra Nettelbeck are among those receiving a total Euros 1.35m backing from Bavaria's regional public fund FFF Bayern.Over Euros 600,000 were awarded to Kreuzpaintner's coming of age tale Sommersturm, which will be produced by the ...
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Germany's Splendid to divest its 80% holding in US subsidiary
Germany's Splendid Medien plans to divest itself of its 80% interest in the US subsidiary Splendid Pictures Holdings, Inc. (SPH), subject to approval at the annual general meeting.In statement, the group explained that the step was being taken "due to the currently difficult market environment surrounding the financing of US-American ...
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VCL Film + Medien reduces 2003 forecast
German home entertainment specialist/license trader VCL Film + Medien has reduced its sales forecast for the present fiscal year from the previously announced Euros 25m-30m to Euros 18m.In a statement, the company explained that this has been "due to the stagnating market development within the German home entertainment segment since ...
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Saban resurfaces in KirchMedia bidding
It could be the comeback of the year. Six weeks after making an eleventh hour exit from the bidding for the insolvent KirchMedia, US media tycoon Haim Saban could be back in the picture.According to German press reports this weekend, Saban has rallied the support of a group of financial ...
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Little Polar Bear sequel among films to get German funding
The sequel to the 2001 hit animation feature Der Kleine Eisbaer (The Little Polar Bear) and new films by Grill Point's Andreas Dresen, Mostly Martha's Sandra Nettelbeck and Sonnenallee's Leander Hausmann are among the projects receiving a total of Euros 3.2m from the German Federal Film Board (FFA) in its ...
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Maurice Jarre to receive award at Flanders film festival
Veteran French composer Maurice Jarre will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's World Soundtrack Awards during the Flanders International Film Festival (FIFF) in Ghent (October 7-18 2003).The composer of scores for such films as Doctor Zhivago, Dead Poets Society and Ghost will be presented the award "for his ...
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German indies win distribution funding
Theatrical distributors X Verleih, Salzgeber & Co Medien and Alamode Film have been awarded prizes worth Euros 100,000 each to invest in distribution campaigns for German and other European films.Each of the companies was awarded the special distributor prize by German culture minister Christina Weiss in recognition of "their special ...
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Franchise vs Intertainment court battle delayed
The lawsuit between German license trader Intertainment and US producer Franchise Pictures may be delayed for another year, after the planned August 5 court case between the two companies was unexpectedly postponed by a Los Angeles judge.Federal District Court judge Alicemarie H. Stotler did not give any reasons for the ...
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Sony strikes 'three digit million' German TV deal
Sony Pictures Entertainment's (SPE) latest blockbusters Terminator 3, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Spider-Man are among 80 feature film titles acquired by Germany's ProSiebenSat.1 Group in an exclusive free-TV deal for all of SPE's output from 2001-2003.The package, which was concluded with Sony Pictures Television International for a reported three ...
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Cottbus focuses on new Russian cinema
New Russian cinema will be in the spotlight at this year's Filmfest Cottbus (November 4-8) and the Connecting Cottbus market forum (November 4-5).The festival focus will feature programmes of contemporary young Russian cinema and leading productions of the past decade. There will also be showcases of video art and co-productions ...
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Germany benefits as kids stay in the picture
Although the German box office is significantly down for the first six months of this year, there is one bright spot: German market share has climbed up to 14.3% from an overall 11.9% for 2002 (Screen Daily, July 11).Part of this upswing is being driven by an unlikely source: German ...
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Berlin signs up with European Film Festival network
The Berlin International Film Festival has become the first A-list festival to sign up as a member of the European Coordination of Film Festivals (ECFF), a network of over 200 festivals across Europe dedicated to the promotion and circulation of European cinema.ECFF President Thom Palmen told Screen Daily said that ...
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Wenders wrests back control of back catalogue
Wim Wenders is understood to have successfully taken back control of the copyright to his own back catalogue of some 20 films, such as The American Friend and Paris, Texas.Earlier this year, it looked as if Wenders may lose the copyrights to the films, after Das Werk - parent company ...
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Intertainment results hit by Franchise dispute
German licence trader and producer Intertainment has blamed its failure to return to profit in the 2002 financial year on the "ongoing negative effects" of its dispute with US producer Franchise Pictures.Intertainment's spat with Franchise has been dragging on since 2000, when the company alleged that Franchise and its principals ...
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German exhibitor files for bankruptcy
North Rhine-Westphalian exhibitor Gerd Politt has become the latest prominent figure in the German media scene to file for insolvency proceedings. The insolvency affects his screens in Soest and Recklinghausen and the five-screen Cineworld complex in Luenen, which only opened its doors in 2001 and has served since then as ...
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German box office, admissions fall sharply
German cinema admissions and box office revenues fell by 10.9% and 12.2% respectively in the first six months of 2003 compared to the same period last year, according to statistics compiled by Nielsen EDI.Around 67.46m cinemagoers were registered until June 29 - compared to 75.2m in 2002 - while box ...
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German tax incentives could double local production spend
The introduction of tax incentives similar to the UK's sale and leaseback model or the Canadian tax credits system could result in a doubling of production expenditure in Germany over the next five to seven years, according to the producer pressure group film20.In a study commissioned from the economist and ...
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UK to have strong presence at CARTOON Forum
Animation shorts from the UK and France have been nominated to the final five for this year's Cartoon D'Or prize which will be presented at the CARTOON Forum in Varese, Italy (September 17-20).The five nominees are: Dog by Suzie Templeton (UK)Ligne De Vie by Serge Auedikian (France)NSPCC: Cartoon by Russell ...