All News articles – Page 5367
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Telefonica's Villalonga under investigation
Telefonica president Juan Villalonga has found himself at the centre of yet another media storm after a report in Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo that he benefited from insider information in the purchase of Telefonica stock options in 1998.According to El Mundo, Villalonga bought 264,224 stock options in the company ...
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Sweden's Tosh gets animated with Happy Life, EM.TV
Swedish animation outfit Happy Life is teaming up with Germany's EM.TV and Irish production company Magma to produce a full-length animated feature based on popular Swedish children's character Tosh. The feature, titled The World Of Tosh, will be supported by a 26-episode animated TV series. Pre-production on the project has ...
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Media Park mulls float in second half of year
Barcelona-based content packager Media Park is studying the possibility of launching an initial public offer on at least a part of its shares.In a press statement, the group said that details and timing of the possible flotation are yet to be decided, dependent on Spain's market performance and the "global ...
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Alliance strikes output deal with Telecinco
Alliance Atlantis Pictures International has signed an output deal with Spanish TV network Telecinco for genre titles from its Le Monde Entertainment division. The agreement will begin with Second Skin, a thriller starring Natasha Henstridge, Angus MacFadyen and Peter Fonda, which was shot on location in South Africa. The deal ...
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FilmFour bags UK rights to Small Time Crooks
FilmFour has acquired all UK rights to Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks from Sweetland Films, marking the distributor's first theatrical release of an Allen film.The picture opened through DreamWorks in the US last month and has grossed $15m to date. The first weekend gross was the biggest ever for an ...
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Phoenix schedules float to fund expansion drive
Chinese-language broadcaster Phoenix Satellite Television aims to raise up to $120m (HK$938m) from an initial public offering to fund ambitious expansion plans including the launch of three new channels, a new production base and an internet portal.The company has set a June 30 date to float on Hong Kong's Growth ...
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Warner Village Italy launches summer special
Due to a marked lack of summer blockbusters, Warner Bros and Village Roadshow's Italian outpost, Warner Village Cinemas Italia, is launching a discount ticket scheme to run for the next two months.The summer special, which starts now and runs until August 24, offers tickets priced at $5 (L10,000) at multiplexes ...
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VCL snaps up Woody Allen trio outside US
Rapidly establishing itself as a "must know" rights owner, Germany's VCL has bought international rights to the next three comedies by Woody Allen.VCL is to co-produce and co-finance the trio and will take world rights for 40 years. A deal for North America was signed with DreamWorks SKG in April ...
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Murdoch's Sky Global Networks files for IPO
Apparently unmoved by the prospect of links with Vivendi Universal, Rupert Murdoch yesterday filed details of Sky Global Networks with the US Securities & Exchange Commission ahead of a float in the US.Murdoch is creating the world's largest pay-TV operation by rolling into a single company all his satellite broadcast ...
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Iceland's 101 stands tall against Gladiator
The North American summer box office got a reprieve over the five day holiday weekend, as Warner Bros' The Perfect Storm led the pack to an all-time record Independence Day weekend. At Tuesday, total box office for the weekend was estimated at $193m with predictions for the seven days ending ...
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Universal takes territories on FilmFour's Gray
Universal Pictures has clinched a major multi-territory deal with FilmFour on Gillian Armstrong's Charlotte Gray starring Cate Blanchett which will start shooting early next year. Universal has taken rights to the film in France, Benelux, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.The deal was negotiated by Carl Clifton, acting ...
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BAFTA set for pre-Oscars awards move
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) has confirmed it aims to move its film awards to a pre-Academy Awards slot in a bid to focus worldwide attention on the ceremony as a pointer for the Oscars.Bafta said that a planned move from April 9 to February 25 ...
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Business as usual for Canal Plus, Universal
Canal Plus boss Pierre Lescure played down the idea of major strategic changes to his company's role in the European and US film industries following the trans-Atlantic merger that today created Vivendi Universal and returned PolyGram to European ownership."If anything we will be producing more films over there," said Lescure, ...
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Zee, Reliance join race to wire India
India's communications infrastructure is set for two massive tranches of investment as corporate giant Reliance Industries and media conglomerate Zee Telefilms have unveiled separate plans to build major cable networks across the country.Zee, owned by Indian mogul Subhash Chandra, is investing about $2.5bn in building a hybrid fibre optic-coaxial cable ...
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Lescure to head Vivendi Universal film activities
Vivendi staff are to get the top jobs in the new Vivendi Universal combine, but Canal Plus' boss Pierre Lescure will oversee all film and TV activities.Jean-Marie Messier, Vivendi chairman and architect of the deal (see profile), will as expected, become chairman and CEO at the head of a 20-member ...
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Bridging the Gap
After transforming a stodgy French water company into a sparkling communications concern, Jean-Marie Messier now faces the task of smoothing the union between his creation and a Hollywood studio. Patrick Frater examines his credentials. Jean-Marie Messier is the ideal person to put together a trans-Atlantic conglomerate. A Frenchman who has ...
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Asmik Ace to release Kadokawa film library on DVD
Asmik Ace Entertainment, the film production and distribution arm of Japan's Kadokawa Publishing media group, will release of total of 63 Kadokawa films on DVD starting this August. Titles will range from the 1976 hit The Inugami Family to the 1997 box office smash Lost Paradise. With Kadokawa's belated entry ...
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Channel Nine to invest $12m in Indian programming
Kerry Packer's Channel Nine is commissioning Indian producers after being awarded the daily 19.00-21.00 slot on Indian state broadcaster Doordarshan's Metro channel for a block of branded programming.The Australian company, which has set up offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, is investing $12m in Indian programming and plans to launch ...
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Obituary: Tony Franklin
Anthony (Tony) J.B. Franklin. Died Friday 16th June 2000, age 56, following a brief illness.Tony Franklin was my partner in DDA for 25 years. We met in Nassau in 1975, where he was the boss of one of my closest friends from Chester. Tony immediately made an impression. An accountant ...
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News Corp, PBL reportedly to quit Foxtel
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL), which together own 50% of Australian pay-TV platform Foxtel, reportedly plan to switch allegiances and sign a significant programming deal with competitor Cable & Wireless Optus (C&W Optus). News Corp-owned newspaper The Australian reported today (June 20) that ...