All News articles – Page 4483
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Germans build transatlantic link
Seeking to consolidate ties with Hollywood, Germany's VIP Media Grouphas set up VIP Media USA and installed former Ascendant Pictures chief PhilipElway as president.TheBeverly Hills hub will serve as a conduit between the US production anddistribution community and European filmmakers and develop co-productionopportunities.VIPMedia USA will also provide creative and financial ...
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Indican takes US for Wedding comedy
US distributor IndicanPictures has picked up rights to Laurent Firode's comedy My First Wedding, which stars Rachel Leigh Cook. The deal was negotiated byDavid Gordian of Paragraph Pictures and Shaun Hill of Indican Pictures. ChrisDavis International handling foreign sales.Cook plays blushingbride-to-be Vanessa who enlists the help of her local Priest ...
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High-tech revolution cuts production costs
Digital technology is in theprocess of revolutionising the economics of film-making, according to ahigh-powered panel of experts at an HP-sponsored event on Saturday.At the heart of the changeis a clear trend: wide and easy access to higher computing capabilities atlower costs.Huge changes are alreadyunderway, panellists said. "Technology that was once ...
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Lightning strikes for Israeli drama
Los Angeles-based Lightning Entertainment has picked up international rights to Giddi Dar's award-winning Israeli feature Ushpizin.Set in the cloistered worldof ultra-Orthodox Jews, Ushpizin is about a married couple in financial direstraits whose prayers for salvation are answered by the arrival of twomysterious strangers.Shuli Rand, Michal Bat-ShevaRand, Shaul Mizrahi, and Ilan ...
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Stars gear up for Driving Lessons
Oscar nominees Julie Waltersand Laura Linney are to star alongside Harry Potter's Rupert Grint in Driving Lessons, writer Jeremy Brock's directorial debut.The story is about a shyvicar's son (Grint) with an overprotective mother whose world changes when hemeets a retired actress. Brock loosely based the comedy-drama on his own life.The ...
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St Petersburg to launch new international film festival
Former Kinotavr festival director MarkRudinstein is planning to launch a new international film festival in St.Petersburg, Russia, to be held in July 18 - 31, 2006.Rudinsteinhas tapped internationally known Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky to be thefestival president, a role that would have him concentrate on the festivalconcept while Rudinstein would ...
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Fiennes uncovers Mata Hari
Martha Fiennes (whose newfilm Chromophobia closes theCannes Festival later in the week) is plotting a new film about MargarethaZella, also known as Mata Hari - the notorious exotic dancer who was shot bythe French in 1917 for allegedly spying for the Germans during the Second WorldWar.Fiennes is setting up theproject ...
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2929 International sales on the Fast Track
ShebnemAskin's 2929 International sales division has closed its first deals at Canneson new titles Black Christmas, Prey and Fast Track.Horror remake BlackChristmas has gone to TF1, inFrance, Pathe in the UK, MediaFilm in Italy, Paradiso in Benelux, MGN inEastern Europe, and Avsar in Turkey. Prey has been snapped up by ...
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Artist Film morphs into Style Jam
Naoki Kai, president of Japan's Artist Film, isheading a management buyout of the company, creating a new outfit called Style Jam focussing on producing films aimed at the international market. The new company, which launches on June 1, has aslate of high-profile Japanese films and international co-productions atvarious stages of ...
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Ashley Walters to star in Fiesta's Life 'N' Lyrics
UK rap star Ashley Walters(So Solid Crew's Asher D) has signed to play the lead in Life 'N' Lyrics, the first feature from new British production outfitFiesta Productions, headed by producers Esther Douglas and Fiona Neilson. This will be Walters' secondmajor role following from Bullet Boy,which is on sales outfit ...
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Tartan wins US Battle for Reygadas' Heaven
Tartan USA has acquired USrights to Mexican director Carlos Reygadas' competition title Battle InHeaven (Batalla En El Cielo).Philippe Bober, the film'smajority producer and sales agent through his The Coproduction Office, has alsosold the film to France's Bac Films, Mexico's Gussi, Film Museum for theNetherlands and Belgium's Lumiere.Tartan Films previouslypre-bought the ...
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Gilliam bids to revive Quixote with Thomas
Terry Gilliam is making abid to revive The Man Who Killed Don Quixote with his Tideland producer Jeremy Thomas and the Recorded PictureCompany.The former Python iscurrently back in the saddle with two films - The Brothers Grimm and Tideland - after seven years away. Gilliam made it clear thathe is ...
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Haynes' Dylan biopic lands at Celluloid Dreams
The international financingfor Todd Haynes' $25m star-studded biopic of Bob Dylan has started to fall intoplace now that Celluloid Dreams has been engaged as the film's internationalsales agent.With the Paris-based outfiton board, the necessary pre-sales can now be secured to allow Haynes to closecasting for I'm Not There, inwhich the ...
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Major coo for British bird Valiant
A plucky Britishwartime carrier pigeon hopes to ruffle feathers in America.Disney isputting its full marketing might behind UK animated feature, Valiant, scheduling a 1,500-2,000-print releasethrough Buena Vista on August 19.The key datemeans the CGI film should reach the key Labor Day weekend crowds. No otherfamily-oriented films are being released in ...
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Japanese embark on Korean buying spree
In a repeat of Berlin'sEuropean Film Market, Japanese buyers are devouring Korean product in pre-salesworth millions of dollars.Korea's Showbox has pre-soldaction title Running Wild toJapan's Amuse Soft Entertainment for an undisclosed seven figure sum. Shootingnow, it stars hot young Korean actor Kwon Sang-woo.It's the first of two bigJapanese pre-buys of ...
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Reding hosts Euro culture ministers for Cannes summit
EuropeanUnion media commissioner Viviane Reding has said she wants European film-makersto be able to use technology to boost the circulation of their films within theEU.Reding, who oversees theEuros 513m Media Programme, was speaking to Screen ahead of a Europe Dayconference she is hosting here on May 17.18 of the 25 ...
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Inspired Movies hits Cannes with Conquistador
Anglo-Indian productionoutfit Inspired Movies has arrived in Cannes with a slate of three new picturesto sell. The independent movieproduction house launched its UK operation in 2004 and has already producedthree full-length English language features - Red Mercury, Exitz and Take 3 Girls - featuringthe likes of Malcolm McDowell, Stockard ...
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THINKFilm Int'l hands out Cronenberg's Painkillers
THINKFilmInternational, the sales arm headed up by Mark Horowitz that launched this weekin Cannes, has picked up worldwide rights on David Cronenberg's $35m upcomingthriller Painkillers.Thenew division will commence pre-sales this week on the project, which is beingproduced by Cronenberg's Crash and eXistenZ producing team of Robert Lantos andAndras Hamori and ...
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Paz Vega sets Seville date with Maestranza
MaestranzaFilms, producer of Un Certain Regard closing film Habana Blues, is preparingwhat will be its biggest film to date: 17th century biopic La Roldana with star Paz Vega.Vega (Spanglish) will playthe title character, a talented, ahead-of-her-time sculptress in theartistically vibrant city of Seville in the 1600's. DeA Planeta is in ...
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Element strikes Five Finger deals
Element Films International,the brand new sales outfit run by John Fremes has hit the ground running,scoring deals here on its thriller Five Fingers with DNC in Italy, Gussi Films in Mexico, CaliforniaFilms in Brazil, Lusomundo in Portugal and Hollywood Entertainment in Greece.The film, which has itsworld premiere today, stars Laurence ...