All News articles – Page 3910
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India's UTV changes name to avoid AIM listing confusion
India's UTV Motion Pictures, which floated on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) last year, has changed its name to UMP Plc to avoid confusion with another AIM-listed company, UTV Media Plc (formerly Ulster Television Plc). The company will be trading under the new name from Feb 4. Its wholly-owned subsidiary ...
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Joanna Leigh wins Red Planet Prize for Samuel Johnson script
Red Planet Pictures has selected Joanna Leigh as the winner of its first Red Planet Prize for screenwriting.Leigh, a lexicographer from North Wales, won the new writing talent competition judged by the likes of Stephen Fry and Mark Gatiss. She beat 2,000 other entrants.Her winning script literary is about Dr ...
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MercuryMedia on board for How Ohio Pulled It Off
UK-based MercuryMedia has added documentary How Ohio Pulled It Off to its sales slate.Ohio Filmmakers LLC produced the 57-minute documentary about election fraud in the US in 2004.Mercury's head of acquisitions Jason McGeown said: 'The relevancy of this film cannot be underestimated.'Mercury's slate also includes 9/11 conspiracy documentaries Loose Change: ...
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Icon plans UK re-release of La Vie En Rose
Icon Films is planning an awards season re-release of acclaimed French film La Vie En Rose.The Edith Piaf biopic is nominated for seven BAFTAs and three Oscars. The film also received 11 Cesar nominations.Its UK theatrical re-release in selected cinemas will start Feb 15. The original run of La Vie ...
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Warner Bros taps Oz tax break for next Harry Potter
Warner Bros is set to be the first company to trigger the 15% post-production, digital and visual effects (PDV) offset introduced by the Australian government in May last year. The studio has signed with local effects house Rising Sun Pictures for some of the visual effects on Harry Potter And ...
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Strand Releasing takes US rights to Lee's Help Me Eros
Fortissimo Films has announced a slew of sales coming out of the Rotterdam Film Festival and in the run up to next week's European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin. The company has sold all US rights to Lee Kang-sheng's Venice competition entry, Help Me Eros, to Strand Releasing. The Culver ...
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Imports gain upper hand at flat Japanese box office
According to annual data published today by The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren), overall box office revenues for 2007 totalled $1.87bn (Y198.44bn), a 2.2% decrease from 2006's $1.91bn (Y202.93bn). The figure represents earnings on 163.19 million admissions, only a 0.8% drop on the previous year's 164.56m cinemagoers. The ...
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Persepolis wins young people's jury prize in Rotterdam
The young people's jury at the International Film Festival Rotterdam has given its MovieSquad award to Persepolis.The five jurors, aged 16 to 19, selected Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud's animated project as the best of the 22 festival films they viewed.The prize means that Persepolis will get Dutch distrubtion through ...
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Nordisk sets up new Norwegian distribution and sales operation
Danish major, Nordisk Film, has merged its distribution and sales operations into a new company, Nordisk Film Distribusjon Norway, which will become Norway's largest provider of consumer entertainment with an annual turnover of $110.3m (EUR73.3m).The move is part ofthe company's driveto further strengthen its position in the Norwegian market place.As ...
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Consultant's report recommends improved Irish tax regime
To coincide with the publication of Ireland's Finance Bill for 2008, the Irish government has today published a consultants' report commissioned last year in advance of the renewal of Ireland's Section 481 tax incentive.The bill took little account of recommendations made by the Irish Film Board and by producers' and ...
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THINKFilm Intl boards Blue Valentine with Gosling, Williams
THINKFilm International has come on board to sell international rights to Blue Valentine, which will star Oscar nominees Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling.THINKFilm will introduce the film to buyers at Berlin's European Film Market next week. The project is set to shoot in June 2008.US-based sister company THINKFilm will handle ...
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John Maybury to direct new Wuthering Heights for Ecosse
John Maybury has signed on to direct a new big-screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights for Ecosse Films.HanWay Films will handle international sales and introduce the project to buyers at the forthcoming EFM in Berlin.The new script is written by Olivia Hetreed, who also adapted The Girl With A Pearl Earring. ...
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Barker's Book Of Blood to be filmed by Matador, Midnight Picture Show
Matador Pictures and Midnight Picture Show are giving Clive Barker's horror story Clive Barker's Book Of Blood the big screen treatment.The project is the first in a series of planned collaborations between Midnight Picture Show and Matador Pictures to turn other Book Of Blood stories into features.Los Angeles-based Essential Entertainment ...
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Bersch takes over from Schlessel as president of SPWAG
Steven Bersch has been named president of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group (SPWAG) after the promotion of Peter Schlessel to president of worldwide affairs for SPE.Bersch, who comes to the studio from his position as chief operating officer at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, will report to Schlessel.He will oversee ...
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Hartnett to take the lead in Snoot's martial arts action pic Bunraku
Snoot Entertainment, the four year-old LA-based production company behind Toronto Film Festival premiere Terra, has cast Josh Hartnett in martial arts action film Bunraku.The live action film is written and will be directed by Guy Moshe (Holly) and is the story of a a young man who has spent his ...
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Summit, Walden team on youth music drama Will
Walden Media and Summit Entertainment are continuing their long-standing relationship by agreeing to co-finance the fish-out-of-water story Will starring Liam Aiken, Vanessa Hudgens, Lisa Kudrow, Aly Michalka and Scott Porter. David Bowie is also in talks to join the film's cast.The music-oriented film, to be directed by Todd Graff (Camp) ...
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Sundance review - After the gold rush
'There's no question people were cautious and were being more cautious than ever about the marketing of the film,' says the co-head of the Independent Film Group at UTA, Richard Klubeck, who negotiated the $5m sale of worldwide rights on Chuck Palahniuk adaptation Choke to Fox Searchlight.'They came to each ...
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Hell raiser - Sam Raimi back to his horror roots
It has been 27 years since Sam Raimi made the world sit up and take notice with The Evil Dead and 16 years since he directed his last horror film, Army Of Darkness.Since then he has broadened his range to include a western (The Quick And The Dead), a thriller ...
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Berlin film festival - the world premieres
In principle, it's business as usual,' says Dieter Kosslick of his seventh outing as Berlinale festival director, before going on to admit this year's line-up boasts a slew of prestigious world premieres. 'We have some really big highlights this year, such as Martin Scorsese's opening film, the documentary Shine A ...
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Berlin - the critic's preview
The final Competition line-up of the 58th Berlinale confirms the German festival's preference for indie kudos over commercial clout and star power.Once again - and in contrast to last year's Cannes and Venice festivals - few of the US entries are likely to tickle the critics.The one exception looks to ...