All articles by Martin Blaney – Page 227

  • News

    German Experiment pays off

    2001-03-14T14:06:00Z

    Oliver Hirschbiegel's feature debut Das Experiment was the highest entry in this week's German box office chart with the highest screen averages for box office takings and admissions ($6,282 and 1,031) from its 229-print opening.The hard-hitting thriller about a group of volunteers agreeing to take part in a scientific experiment ...

  • News

    German film board awards production funds

    2001-03-14T13:55:00Z

    New projects by Paul Anderson and Roman Polanski are among seven features which have received a total $3m (DM 6.42m) production backing this week from the Berlin-based German Federal Film Board (FFA). Anderson's Resident Evil, which has begun shooting at Berlin's Adlershof Studios with Milla Jovovich (The Million Dollar Hotel) ...

  • News

    Internationalmedia acquires Largo library

    2001-03-13T15:46:00Z

    Internationalmedia has acquired the 25-title Largo Entertainment film library which includes such films as, Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break, starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, Spike Lee's historical drama Malcolm X, the Jean-Claude Van Damme actioner Timecop, and Ridley Scott's White Squall and G.I. Jane.Commenting on the acquisition, Neuer Markt-listed Internationalmedia ...

  • News

    EM.TV to sell Henson one year after acquisition

    2001-03-13T15:13:00Z

    Troubled German media concern EM.TV & Merchandising has confirmed that it is planning to sell the Jim Henson Group as part of a corporate restructure following its deal with the KirchGroup last month (ScreenDaily, Feb 2000).EM.TV spokeswoman Marion Moormann declared to the dpa/AFX news service, however, that the sale was ...

  • News

    Telepool in first-look deal with New Legend Media

    2001-03-11T19:56:00Z

    German rightstrader Telepool has concluded an all German language rights first-look dealwith the US-German production outfit New Legend Media. The first New Legendprojects to be covered by the deal are the Jeremy Irons-thriller The Fourth Angel, a new version of The Count Of Monte Cristo withChristopher Lambert and John Malkovich, ...

  • News

    Resident Evil benefits from Constantin's credit

    2001-03-08T17:24:00Z

    Paul Anderson's Resident Evil ,the big-screen adaptation of the video game, is the first project to benefit from a $140m revolving credit line granted to Bernd Eichinger's Constantin Film by a bank consortium led by the DG Bank.The agreement between the consortium, comprising the DG Bank, Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale, BHF ...

  • News

    Advanced Medien shares rise as e-m-s adds to stake

    2001-03-08T13:13:00Z

    Reflecting e-m-s new media's role in determining the destiny of the troubled German media company Advanced Medien, the DVD specialist has decided to increase its stake in the producer-distributor to more than 25% thereby giving it a so-called blocking minority holding. Last December, e-m-s had come onboard the Munich-based company ...

  • News

    Studio Babelsberg mourns death of Schaper

    2001-03-08T11:03:00Z

    Less than four months after the death of Helkon Media's Werner Koenig, the German film industry has been dealt another blow with news of the untimely death of Studio Babelsberg CEO and Head of Production Rainer Schaper at the age of 50 from a heart attack last weekend. Schaper, who ...

  • News

    Tellux takes Progress in Germany

    2001-03-07T15:37:00Z

    The Tellux Group has become the major shareholder in the privatised former East German distributor Progress Film after Drefa Media Holding, a subsidiary of the Leipzig-based public broadcaster MDR, sold its 37.5% stake for an undisclosed six-figure sum.With Drefa's exit, Tellux now has increased its stake from 37.5% to 60%, ...

  • News

    Advanced Medien, EM.TV see corporate restructures

    2001-03-06T18:23:00Z

    The signs were on the wall, and now management musical chairs have begun with earnest at two of the most troubled companies listed on Germany's Neuer Markt exchange.Advanced Medien had indicated at the weekend that changes were afoot at the debt-ridden outfit when it was declared that it expected its ...

  • News

    TV-Loonland signs first big deal with BBC

    2001-03-06T16:43:00Z

    German children's entertainment specialist TV-Loonland has signed its first programming deal with the UK's BBC following the sale of the animation series Cramp Twins and Clifford.The 26 x 30-minute episodes of Cramp Twins were co-produced by TV-Loonland's US subsidiary Sunbow Entertainment and the Cartoon Network UK, and will be aired ...

  • News

    Hamburg Festival celebrates Spain

    2001-03-06T12:09:00Z

    Spain has been selected as the country focus in this year's international Hamburg Short Film Festival, Hamburg/Germany (2-9 June 2001) The fest is a showcase of short films with a running time of no more than 20 minutes (the children's film sidebar allows films of up to 45 minutes in ...

  • News

    Advanced Medien to announce changes

    2001-03-05T18:16:00Z

    Christophe Montague's days as executive board chairman of the debt-ridden German distributor Advanced Medien could be numbered following the appointment of a new supervisory board which is expected "to make key personnel decisions and initiate organizational measures regarding the future development of the company".Advanced's previous supervisory board had resigned as ...

  • News

    IN-motion acquires two US TV series

    2001-03-02T17:58:00Z

    The German media company IN-motion, which was particularly active at this year's Amrican Film Market through its sales arms Myriad Pictures and J&M Entertainment, has further consolidated its position as a producer of internationally marketable TV formats by acquiring the rights to two TV series from US network CBS for ...

  • News

    Brandt ends up at Endemol

    2001-03-01T17:55:00Z

    Former Senator Entertainment board member Borris Brandt has been appointed the new general manager of Cologne-based Endemol Productions, while his predecessor Werner Schwaderlapp has been promoted to the post of president of the German holding of the Dutch entertainment concern which consists of the 100% subsidiary Endemol Productions, a 40% ...

  • News

    ProSiebenSat.1 Media to raise up to Euros400m

    2001-03-01T17:43:00Z

    ProSiebenSat.1 Media, which originated from the merger last year between ProSieben Media and SAT.1, is planning a Eurobond issue of fixed-rate notes with an intermediate maturity of up to Euros400m. Lehman Brothers and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein have been appointed joint bookrunners ofthe offering whose roadshow will be launched throughout Europe ...

  • News

    EM.TV exercises its call option for Formula One

    2001-03-01T14:53:00Z

    Hours before the deadline expired, EM.TV & Merchandising exercised its call option to purchase a further 25% stake in the Formula One holding company SLEC via its subsidiary Speed Investment Ltd. to bring its overall shareholding to 75%. Funding of $987.5m for the 25% was arranged by EM.TV with the ...

  • News

    Odeon Film closes Filmstadt.de

    2001-02-28T17:50:00Z

    Odeon Film's entertainment website www.filmstadt.de was closed down today after negotiations with various investors for a takeover or merger came to nothing The Filmstadt.de site had been operating since 1999 and had been relaunched last autumn as a subsidiary of Odeon's new Internet holding company OdeonNew Vision providing a mix ...

  • News

    Formula 1 teams manoeuvre to thwart Kirch

    2001-02-28T16:24:00Z

    The prospect of German media baron Leo Kirch having a controlling interest over the Formula One racing event hangs in the balance as the motor teams threaten to revolt.On February 27, DaimlerChrysler (Maclaren-Mercedes), Fiat (Ferrari) and Ford (Jaguar) threatened to exit the Formula One tournament and set up their own ...

  • News

    Heimat writer finds home at UFA

    2001-02-28T12:23:00Z

    Bertelsmann's production arm UFA Film- & TV Produktion and Peter Steinbach, screenwriter of Edgar Reitz's internationally successful TV series Heimat (1984) and Margarethe von Trotta's award-winning Jahrestage (2000), have signed an exclusive agreement whereby Steinbach will work only with UFA on future projects for cinema and television.UFA producer Norbert Sauer ...