All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 225
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German media funds set to raise $4.3bn this year
German media funds, which have raised a total of $4.3bn in the last five years, could achieve a similar volume for the year 2001 alone according to analysts, with some 20 such schemes already underway and more appearing every week.Tax analysts are predicting a surge in German media fund investment ...
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Kinowelt ditches interest in East German distrib
Beleaguered German media concern Kinowelt Medien has sold its 40% stake in Progress Film Verleih to Tellux Beteiligungsgesellschaft, making Tellux the sole shareholder of the former East German state distributor.In an official statement, Tellux stated that it plans "in future, to further expand the initiated Progress activities in distribution, world ...
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No Regrets for top Munich festival film prize
This year's $35,000 (DM 80,000) main prize at the Munich Filmfest was awarded to Benjamin Quabeck for his graduation film Nichts Bereuen (No Regrets).Commenting on the 'HypoVereinsbank' Director's Support Prize the jury noted that the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg graduate had produced a clever, entertaining film of deep humanity: a young directorial ...
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New German production company attracts F.A.M.E.
German publicly listed media concern F.A.M.E. has taken a 30% stake in the newly-founded Munich-based production outfit BUETOW MAINUSCH Filmproduktion.BUETOW MAINUSCH Filmproduktion, which is currently developing a feature film project as well as a TV a series and several TV movies, has been established by Babelsberg TV's managing director Michael ...
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CinemaxX CFO quits as expansion plans collapse
Marius Schwarz, chief financial officer at German exhibition giant CinemaxX has quit following the posting of half-year company losses of $22.5m (DM52.3m)Subsequent restructuring of the company has led to the closure of the its foreign operations and the removal of its chief, Wim Oude Kotte.Stating its intention to revise its ...
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Kinowelt divests merchandising business
As part of its announced restructuring process (Screen Daily June 19), troubled Kinowelt Medien has parted company with part of its merchandising operations.Brameier Fanworld, which operated a merchandising franchise chain with 113 Fanworld shops in city centre locations throughout Germany and in which Kinowelt had a 65% majority stake, has ...
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German film fund launches minimum guarantee scheme
German producers and filmmakers are set to benefit from a new private film investment fund, entitled German Film Productions (GFP), which is to be launched within the next six weeks to raise $21.6m (DM 50m) from private investors by the end of 2002. A total of 20 projects, split between ...
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German toon house RTV snags Australia's Energee
German animation production-distribution entity RTV Family Entertainment has taken over full strategic and operational management at the Australian animation studio Energee Entertainment.The Travers family, founders of the studio, have resigned from all operations and board seats but will continue to hold a minority interest of 32% for the time being.Commenting ...
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Helkon right on track for meeting 2001 targets
While other Neuer Markt-listed German media companies have been issuing profit warnings in the past few weeks, Helkon Media is still on course to post the $138m (DM318m) sales and $19.5m (DM45m) EBIT which were forecast for the financial year 2000/2001 last September. Announcing results for the nine months from ...
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Advanced takes step back as cash flow woes bite
Germany's Advanced Medien has failed to meet investment plans for Wolfgang Petersen's Red Cliff Productions and has been forced to end a $15.1m package deal with StudioCanal. The ailing rights trader has revealed that it had provided Petersen's US-based production outfit a certified letter of credit worth $3m instead of ...
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Intertainment to focus on hands-on production
Troubled German rights trader Intertainment aims to be more of a "hands on" producer in the future, through such production alliances as the one forged last year with veteran US producer Arnold Kopelson.Speaking at the shareholders general meeting yesterday, Intertainment CEO Barry Baeres explained that, due to the prevailing market ...
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Balian and Wiederspiel quit Tobis StudioCanal
On the eve of this year's Filmfest Muenchen, the German distribution sector has been rocked by the news of the sudden departure of Haig Balian and Albert Wiederspiel from Canal Plus' German theatrical arm Tobis StudioCanal (TSC) "due to insurmountable differences".For the time being, TSC will be managed solely by ...
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German distributors get inaugural culture awards
Distributor Arsenal Filmverleih, Berlin's fsk Kino & Peripher Filmverleih and Rapid Eye Movies in Cologne have each been selected for the Germany government's 2001 Distributor Awards.The German ministry of culture will present the awards in Dresden in October. The prizes, each of which carries $94,000 (DM200,000), were launched by culture ...
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German producers body adds Filmpool to books
Cologne-based production outfit Filmpool has been accepted as the 21st member of recently-launched German producers pressure group Film 20. Current members include Kinowelt Medien, Senator Entertainment, Producers AG, Claussen + Woebke Filmproduktion and Constantin Film.Filmpool has an annual output of more than 200 hours of television programming and won the ...
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Pay-TV channel launches for Germans living abroad
ChannelD, a German-language pay-TV service for ex-pat Germans and holidaymakers in Latin America, the Caribbean and the US East Coast, has been established by six multimedia companies.The partners expect ChannelD will go on air from September 1, 2001 with a mix of bought-in programmes from public and private channels, including ...
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Cologne's TV and film fest announces prizewinners
Screenwriter Ruth Toma, Berlin-based production company moneypenny Filmproduktion and casting director Rita Serra-Roll were among the German film industry figures honoured at the end of the Cologne Conference's eleventh International Television and Film Festival during the Media Forum NRW.The casting award went to Munich-based Rita Serra-Roll, whose most recent credits ...
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Germany's Senator questioned over TV dealings
Senator Entertainment chief executive Hanno Huth defended his company's sale of film rights to two unnamed intermediary rights dealers rather than directly to TV stations at this week's annual shareholders meeting in Berlin.Responding to queries from shareholders about reports in German weekly magazine Der Spiegel and daily national newspaper Die ...
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StudioCanal and Germany's box! line up two titles
Fledgling Berlin-based production outfit box! Film & Fernsehproduktion has added two new German-language projects to its co-development and first look deal with StudioCanal.Producers Philipp Homberg and Andreas Eicher have commissioned author Horst Bosetzky to write a screenplay on the life of Berlin's record jailbreaker Eckehard 'Ecke' Lehmann. The project is ...
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Meyer quits Studio Hamburg's Letterbox
German producer Henrik Meyer is to step down as one of the managing directors of Studio Hamburg's production arm Letterbox Filmproduktion from July 1. Meyer will have an exclusive deal with the outfit as a freelance producer for feature films and TV movies, focusing on developing screenplays with US writers ...
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Germany's Splendid to buy back 10% of stock
Shareholders of Splendid Medien, the German rights trader-producer behind Traffic and The Gangs Of New York, have given the company's board of management the green light for a stock repurchase programme of 890,000 shares.The repurchase, amounting to 10% of Splendid's capital stock, is seen as part of Splendid's strategy of ...