All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 192
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Outlook remains stagnant for German market
The German advertising market will remain stagnant until next year, according to a survey by accountancy firm KPMG of 129 managers from the fields of film, broadcasting and publishing. The study found that almost half (48%) of the managers were not expecting an upturn in the advertising sector until 2004 ...
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Flanders Image selects producer for Cannes showcase
Flanders Image has picked Bart Van Langendonck of the young Brussels-based production house CCCP as its very first 'Producer in the Picture' to be showcased during the Cannes Film Festival.Only eight months after its launch in September 2002, CCCP has some 15 projects at different stages of production or development, ...
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Sequels awarded Bavarian fund backing
Sequels of Dennis Gansel's 2001 teen-comedy hit Girls On Top (Maedchen Maedchen) and 2002's most successful German film Bibi Blocksberg are among nine projects awarded Euros 6.6m by Bavaria's regional fund, FFF Bayern.Maedchen Maeedchen II, which will reunite screenwriter Maggie Peren and producer Olga Film's Viola Jaeger with lead actresses ...
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Constantin to explore alternatives to Highlight takeover bid
Constantin Film's supervisory board has given its management board headed by Fred Kogel the green light to explore 'alternative measures' to counter a takeover bid by Swiss media concern Highlight Communications.At a specially convened meeting of the supervisory board at the weekend, the management board was also "authorised to ...
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Germany's VCL looks to US distribution
Germany's VCL Film + Medien has announced that it is advanced negotiations with an unnamed US major to have part of its feature film repertoire distributed by the studio through an independent label.In a statement, the video/DVD distributor-license trader stated that this deal "would give [..] the urgently needed ...
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Bavaria Film takes int'l sales on Spanish Hours Of The Day
Bavaria Film International (BFI) has picked up international sales rights to Spanish filmmaker Jaime Rosales' directorial debut The Hours Of The Day (Las Horas Del Dia) which will have its world premiere in Cannes' Director's Fortnight sidebar on May 19.The story about the monotony of life in a small town ...
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Constantin Film reports decreased sales, improved earnings
Constantin Film has announced increased earnings for the first quarter of 2003 ahead of a May 10 meeting to decide on a response to the takeover bid from Highlight Communications.Earnings improved by Euros 600,000 over the first quarter of 2002 to Euros 1m, but sales fell 35% from 2002's Euros ...
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Sarajevo festival to launch CineMart-inspired CineLink
This year's Sarajevo Festival (August 15-23) will be launching its CineLink project which has been inspired by Rotterdam's CineMart.CineLink is being organised in cooperation with the Rotterdam festival to bring key producers, sales agents and public funders to meet regional filmmakers.Screenplays from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro ...
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Argentina's Toys wins Int'l Student Film Fest
Argentine filmmaker Esteban Puenza's Toys (Juguentes) won the Euros 5,000 Feature Film Prize at this year's 'Sehsuechte' International Student Film Festival which attracted more than 10,000 spectators to the festival venues in Babelsberg.Meanwhile, the Documentary Award was presented to Sandra Jakisch for 08/15 - Leben Am Rand Von Koeln which ...
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Universum picks up 80 Days for Germany
RTL Group's theatrical distribution arm Universum Film has picked up the German theatrical and video/DVD rights to Frank Coraci's Around The World In 80 Days which began shooting in Berlin yesterday.Universum acquired the film from German rights trader Telepool and will now have to decide which of its physical distribution ...
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Studio Hamburg launches English-language division
Studio Hamburg Produktion (SHP) has launched an English-language division Studio Hamburg International Production (SHIP) to focus on internationally marketable productions as part of the reorganisation of SHP's production activities by CEO Sytze van der Laan. Operating from Hamburg and Los Angeles, SHIP's head of production will be former independent ...
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Henson family buys Jim Henson Company from EM.TV
Having been reportedly courted by Haim Saban and Walt Disney, Germany's EM.TV & Merchandising has sold all of its shares in the 100%-owned subsidiary The Jim Henson Company (TJHC) to the children of its founder Jim Henson.The transaction is worth approximately $89m, including a cash purchase price of $78m and ...
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Germany's BetaCinema moves into English-language films
German sales agent BetaCinema has moved into English-language features for its line-up at the forthcoming Cannes market. The Munich-based outfit, which is now headed by Andreas Rothbauer (international sales) and Robert Czajkowski (acquisitions), has picked up Canadian filmmaker Ruba Nadda's feature debut Coldwater, starring Arsinee Khanijan, Simon Abkarian ...
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Solo takes German rights on Jester Till
Peter Heinzemann's Solo Film has picked up theatrical and video/DVD rights for producer-director Eberhard Junkersdorf's (pictured) latest animated feature Jester Till (Till Eulenspiegel).The Euros 15m co-production between Junkersdorf's Munich Animation, the UK's Scala Productions and Illuminated Film Company, Belgium's DFJ Motionworks and German media fund CP Medien will be ...
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Out Of Control wins top Britspotting prize
Dominic Savage's Out Of Control has won the Best Feature Film Award at the 4th 'britspotting' British Independent Film Festival in Berlin.The award for the hard-hitting study of three juvenile delinquents from the poverty stricken estates of South London includes Euros 13,000 worth of post-production and online editing work to ...
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Constantin continues to fend off Highlight's advances
The board of Germany's most successful producer/distributor Constantin Film has failed to reach a decision on a response to Swiss media group Highlight Communications' planned take-over of the company.Despite holding a specially convened meeting to discuss Highlight's intention of acquiring the 58.6% of Constantin it does not already own, the ...
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Germany's CMW Film boards Russendisko adaptation
A film version of Wladimir Kaminer's cult novel Russendisko has been announced as one of the projects in the slate of international co-productions by German producer Christoph Meyer-Wiel's new Berlin-based production outfit CMW Film Company.The adaptation of Kaminer's collection of short stories will go into production in Berlin next year ...
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Eurimages supports 15 European co-productions
New features by Sergio Bodrov (Alone With The Moon), Manuel Pionier (Chemins De Travers), Patricio Guzman (Salvador Allende), Frederic Fonteyne (La Femme De Gilles) and Silvio Soldini (Agata E la Tempesta) are among 15 European co-productions awarded over Euros 4.1m in production support by the Council of Europe's pan-European fund ...
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WorldWide Pictures gears up for English-language productions
Studio Hamburg WorldWide Pictures (WWP) is planning to produce and fully finance five to six English-language films in the $5m-$20m budget range this year after receiving a placement guarantee from its capital market partners. WWP, the international production arm of Studio Hamburg and the first German media fund to be ...
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Highlight bid met with hostility from Constantin
Highlight Communications' bid for additional Constantin shares has sparked 'controversial discussion' within the German distributor-producer's supervisory and management boards about the possibility of the Swiss media concern effecting a complete takeover.In a statement, Constantin announced that 'alternative scenarios and possible counter-measures in the sense of Constantin Film's shareholders' were presented ...