All articles by Mike Goodridge – Page 118

  • News

    Denkert to run new business division at MGM

    2002-01-31T00:45:00Z

    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studioshas created a new division MGM Entertainment Business Group and promotedlongtime senior executive Darcie Denkert to run it. Denkert, who most recentlyheld responsibility for the company's worldwide entertainment businessand legal affairs, will now focus exclusively on developing initiatives acrossdivisional lines to further leverage the film and TV library.Denkert, who ...

  • News

    Disney snags remake rights to Spanish hit Intacto

    2002-01-30T01:25:00Z

    Buena Vista Motion PicturesGroup (BVMPG) has bought the remake rights to Spanish thriller Intacto following its successful screening at the SundanceFilm Festival where Lions Gate Films bought worldwide distribution rights. The film, which marks thefeature directorial debut of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, follows a series of characterswho test their luck in ...

  • News

    Watts named female star of tomorrow by ShoWest

    2002-01-29T22:19:00Z

    Naomi Watts, the star of MulhollandDrive and of the upcoming remake ofJapanese smash Ring, has beennamed female star of tomorrow at this year's exhibitor convention ShoWestbeing held in Las Vegas in March.The Australian Watts willaccept her award at the annual awards banquet on March 7.Watts, who is considered anOscar contender ...

  • News

    Jim Ramo named CEO at studios' VOD co Movielink

    2002-01-29T19:44:00Z

    Jim Ramo, an industryveteran with many years spent at DIRECTV and Hughes Communications amongothers, has won the CEO job at Movielink, the video-on-demand distributionservice which is a joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, ParamountPictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Ramo reports to a boardcomprised of representatives from each ...

  • News

    Harmony Gold buys int'l rights on comedy Dirt

    2002-01-29T19:42:00Z

    Harmony Gold has securedinternational rights to the action comedy Dirt, which world premiered last year at the Los AngelesFilm Festival in April.The film stars MichaelCovert and Trace Fraim as two brothers, who, search the West Texas desert dregsfor a replacement for their dead mother and kidnap a woman (Tara Chocol) ...

  • News

    Hoyts' Johnson named ShoWest int'l exhib of year

    2002-01-29T00:12:00Z

    Paul Johnson, the CEO ofAustralia's Hoyts Cinemas Ltd, has been named international exhibitor ofthe year at worldwide exhibition convention ShoWest which is being held March4-7 in Las Vegas.Johnson, who will receivehis award at the international day luncheon on March 4, joined Hoyts in 1982 asa financial accountant and in 1984 ...

  • News

    Uncut Monster's Ball to screen at Berlin

    2002-01-29T00:11:00Z

    The official unrateddirector's cut of Marc Forster's Monster's Ball will screen in competition at the Berlin FilmFestival on Feb 8, not the version which was passed by the MPAA for its USrelease. The version to be seen at the festival was rated NC-17 for itssexually explicit content and was subsequently ...

  • News

    MDP Worldwide acquires Stephen Gaghan script Havoc

    2002-01-29T00:10:00Z

    Mark Damon's MDPWorldwide has acquired the screenplay Havoc by Stephen Gaghan, theOscar-winning writer of Trafficand director of the forthcoming Abandon for Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment.Havoc is a multi-layered drama in the vein of Traffic about a gang of wealthy teens from the upscale LosAngeles neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades who ...

  • News

    Smith named male star of the year at ShoWest

    2002-01-28T02:00:00Z

    Will Smith has been named 2002Male Star Of the Year at this year's ShoWest convention in Las Vegas inMarch. He will personally attend to receive his award at the Gala awards banquet on March 7.It is Smith's fourthShoWest honour. He was named male star of tomorrow in 1995, won the ...

  • News

    Five newcomers can't down Black Hawk

    2002-01-28T01:46:00Z

    Four new studioopeners and the wide release of I Am Sam couldn't dislodge Columbia/Revolution's epic BlackHawk Down from thenumber one position, signalling it as the first smash of the new year and nodoubt its first $100m grosser. The Ridley Scott-directed movie took anestimated $18.2m at 3,101 theatres to bring its ...

  • News

    Robert Redford to receive honorary Oscar

    2002-01-25T22:29:00Z

    Robert Redford, theOscar-nominated actor and Oscar-winning director, will receive an honoraryAcademy Award at this year's ceremony on March 24. He joins thepreviously announced Sidney Poitier, who will also receive an honorary Oscar,and Arthur Hiller, who has been voted recipient of the Jean HersholtHumanitarian Award.Redford's citationwill read: "Robert Redford - Actor, ...

  • News

    Mike Ovitz signs Mark Canton to run APG

    2002-01-25T01:16:00Z

    Artists Production Group(APG), the production arm of Mike Ovitz's Artists Management Group (AMG),has found an unlikely new partner, chairman and CEO in the person of MarkCanton, the producer and former studio head of both Warner Bros and SonyPictures.Canton will oversee the 50APG projects currently in various stages of development and ...

  • News

    Splendid creates new LA venture with Cutting Edge

    2002-01-25T01:08:00Z

    Cologne-based publiclytraded entertainment group Splendid Medien AG, which recently sold its 49%stake in Initial Entertainment Group (IEG), has concluded its next foray intoHollywood, forming Splendid Pictures Inc, a new production/distribution outfitwith David Glasser's Cutting Edge Entertainment (CEE). Splendid has 80% of the newventure while Glasser has 20%; CEE's entire existing ...

  • News

    SPC picks up Argentine smash Son Of The Bride

    2002-01-24T19:47:00Z

    Sony Pictures Classics (SPC)has announced its second acquisition of the week - Argentina'sofficial entry for the best foreign language film Son Of The Bride directed by Juan Jose Campanella. Produced byPatagonik Film Group, from which SPC bought Nine Queens last year, Son Of The Bride is the highest grossing film ...

  • News

    Reisenbach joins Village Roadshow Pictures board

    2002-01-23T23:02:00Z

    Sanford Reisenbach, the formerWarner Bros marketing chief, has been appointed to the board of directors ofVillage Roadshow Pictures International, the holding company of VillageRoadshow Pictures (VRP), the LA-based production division of Australia'sVillage Roadshow Ltd.The announcement was made byVillage Roadshow Ltd chairman John Kirby. Reisenbach joined Warner in 1979 asexecutive vice ...

  • News

    Mike Leigh Untitled gets title: All Or Nothing

    2002-01-23T23:00:00Z

    Mike Leigh's latestfilm has been titled All Or Nothing.The story of a London couple - he a taxi driver, she a supermarketcheckout girl - whose life is thrown into turmoil when an unexpectedtragedy occurs, the film features Leigh regulars including Timothy Spall(Secrets And Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Life Is Sweet), Lesley Manville ...

  • News

    Sidney Poitier to receive honorary Oscar

    2002-01-23T22:59:00Z

    Sidney Poitier is to receivean honorary Academy Award at this year's Oscar ceremony on March 24,2002.The decision to give Poitierthe award was made by the board of governors of the Academy Of Motion PictureArts & Sciences "for his extraordinary performances and uniquepresence on the screen, and for representing the motion ...

  • Reviews

    Real Women Have Curves

    2002-01-23T14:47:00Z

    Dir: Patricia Cardoso. US. 2002. 90minsHow ironic that the biggest crowd-pleaser at last week's Sundance Film Festival and winner of its prestigious audience award is made for television. Delighted cinema audiences who cheered and clapped in theatres at Park City will be the only ones in the US to participate ...

  • News

    Bruce Willis boards Intermedia, Hartswood, BBC pic

    2002-01-23T03:48:00Z

    In an unlikely pairing of resources, independent giant Intermedia and Bruce Willis and Arnold Rifkin’s Cheyenne Enterprises are teaming up with Beryl Vertue’s UK company Hartswood Films and BBC Films to produce a US-set thriller Me Againwhich will star Willis and is set to go into production this year.To be ...

  • News

    Altman snubbed by DGA; Nolan gets surprise nod

    2002-01-23T00:00:00Z

    Just two days after theGolden Globe for best director of the year went to Robert Altman for GosfordPark, the Directors Guild Of America(DGA) has thrown the running open again by omitting Altman from its shortlistof five nominees.The nominees are Ron Howardfor A Beautiful Mind, PeterJackson for The Lord Of The ...