All News articles – Page 5400
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Oracle, 2M throw weight behind Zentropa channel
Danish production outfit Zentropa has revealed that US database software firm Oracle and Danish venture capital outfit 2M Invest are backing its proposed English-language Internet channel, TVropa.com (Screendaily March 23). Oracle is understood to be investing $650,000 (DKr5m) in the digital platform supporting Zentropa's on-line activities, while 2M Invest has ...
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US, Canadian producers agree BC labour pact
Three years of harmony is assured in Canada's west coast film production sector as producer representatives from the US and Canada ratified a collective agreement with the British Columbia Council of Film Unions. The agreement provides a 3.5% salary increase in the first year followed by 3% increases in the ...
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Kodak, Atlab restore Australian cinema classics
Miramax Films, Miramax Television, HBO and Good Will Hunting writers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are teaming up to launch a US contest in which a total unknown writer will have his or her screenplay greenlit.Starting in the summer, anyone in the US can submit a screenplay electronically to www.projectgreenlight.com. ...
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TPS unveils plans to launch TV e-mail
French digital satellite platform TPS, a rival to Canal Plus' CanalSatellite operation, has unveiled plans to provide Internet access and other digital services through television sets before the end of the year.TPS - which has 880,000 subscribers compared to CanalSatellites' 1.5 million - plans to offer e-mail services, called TV-mail, ...
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Cuban Film Institute chief steps down from post
Alfredo Guevara has quit his post as head of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC), an organisation he founded shortly after Cuba's 1959 revolution, citing a desire to devote more time to international projects. A close friend of President Fidel Castro, Guevara was officially declared "released" from his responsibilities at the ...
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Erin Brockovich stays at top of US box
Universal's Julia Roberts-starrer Erin Brockovich grossed $19m in its second weekend on general release to bring its ten-day total to $56.3m. Dropping about 32% from its opening, the Steven Soderbergh-directed film still scored a powerful screen average of $6,675.But coming close to dethroning the critically acclaimed Roberts hit was Warner ...
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SPAA calls for higher funding levels
The Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) is calling on the Australian government to lift production and development funding in film and television to "more realistic investment levels" in the 2000/2001 budget, which will be released in early May. However Australian arts minister Peter McGauran admitted today (March 24) that ...
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Oliver Stone to chair Cognac jury
Oliver Stone - whose latest title, Any Given Sunday, opens in France on April 12 - will chair the jury of the 18th Festival of Cognac (April 6-9), which focuses on thrillers and crime stories. Stone was involved, through his production company Illusion Entertainment, in 1997 Cognac grand prize-winner Freeway, ...
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Rogers, Shaw unite against BCE
In a case of "my enemy's enemy is my friend", Canada's two rival cable providers have cut a $2.7bn (C$4bn) deal, swapping cable assets and merging their high-speed Internet access services, to prepare for battle against the nation's principal telco, BCE. The swap sees both companies consolidating their territorial fortresses. ...
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Douglas, Dunaway to attend first Las Palmas fest
The autonomous governments of Spain's Canary Islands and its capital Las Palmas have launched the International Film Festival of Las Palmas, Grand Canary Island. The first annual edition of the festival, which is co-sponsored by Canal Plus, will be held April 8-16.Kirk Douglas, Kristen Scott Thomas and Faye Dunaway are ...
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Future Film picks up Beautiful Joe
UK financier Future Film Group (FFG) has acquired UK rights to $20m romantic drama Beautiful Joe, starring Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly.UK distributor Metrodome Distribution will release the picture through its recently-formed joint venture with FFG, which has earmarked a $15m acquisitions fund for titles which Metrodome will release.FFG paid ...
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EM.TV confirms Formula One deal
Aggressive German merchandising and production empire EM.TV & Merchandising has confirmed that it has agreed with Bernie Ecclestone to acquire 100% of Speed Investment. The deal gives EM.TV a 50% stake in SLEC, the holding company which owns all Formula One motor racing activities.EM.TV paid $712.5m in cash and a ...
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Szabo, Leigh headed for Kerala fest
The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) has attracted several top film-makers to this year's event, including Istvan Szabo, Mike Leigh, Miklos Jancso and Marco Muller.The festival, to take place from March 31- April 7, has also been granted recognition by the Paris-based International Federation of Film Producers' Associations (FIAPF), ...
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Joffe's Vatel to open Cannes
Roland Joffe's $29m (FFr199m) historical epic Vatel, produced by Gaumont and starring Gerard Depardieu, Uma Thurman and Tim Roth, will open this year's Cannes Film Festival on May 10. As is usual with the opening night film, Vatel will screen out of competition. French actress Virginie Ledoyen, who starred in ...
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Kinowelt posts 159% increase in pre-tax profit
Kinowelt, the fast expanding distribution and production group, underlined its growing strength by reporting a 159% increase in pre-tax profit, from $9.9m (DM20.1m) in 1998 to $25.6m (DM52m) in 1999.Turnover climbed 76% from $103m (DM210m) to $182m (DM370m) over the same period. Operating margins widened from 10% to 14%. The ...
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Germany's 4Kids jumps on flotation bandwagon
NASDAQ-listed US children's entertainment outfit 4Kids Entertainment is floating on the German stock exchange as part of a dual listing. The New York-based vertically-integrated concern was prompted to go public in Germany by the "extraordinary success" of its children's animation series Pokemon in the territory. The programme, which is aired ...
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TVA in talks to acquire Montreal's Motion
Quebec-based broadcaster TVA is in takeover talks with Montreal production and distribution company Motion International. If it goes ahead, the $85m (C$125m) union would create Canada's second largest production company after Alliance Atlantis Communications. TVA, a subsidiary of cable operator Group Videotron before that company was taken over by Rogers ...
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MGM takes legal action against Cecchi Gori
MGM is taking Italian film and TV giant Cecchi Gori Communications to court over non-payment on an output deal covering 200 films and television programmes currently being broadcast on Cecchi Gori-owned TV channel TeleMonteCarlo (TMC).MGM is claiming that it is still owed $10m (L20bn) from a $20m (L40bn) deal with ...
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German pics break BBC drought
Marking a break with the recent buying drought, the BBC is back in the market for German-language films. Digital channel BBC Knowledge is buying a package of six contemporary German films which it intends to screen from May.In a deal brokered by Iris Kehr, UK representative of the German Federal ...
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Angels sets Icelandic record
Icelandic director-producer Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's latest offering, Angels Of The Universe, has become Iceland's highest-grossing domestic film, racking up an unprecedented 77,233 admissions when it re-entered the box office chart this week.Previously, Iceland's most successful domestic film was Fridriksson's Devil's Island (Djoeflaeyjan), which attracted a total of 74,830 admissions in ...