All News articles – Page 5419
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News
Lisowsky jumps from DreamWorks to Universal
Dirk Lisowsky has been appointed managing director of Universal Pictures Video Germany, replacing Haig Balian who headed up both theatrical and video operations for Universal in Germany before the decision to channel theatrical product through UIP.Lisowsky previously managed DreamWorks' operations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Prior to that he held ...
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MTM to shoot biopic of student leader Dutschke
Munich-based production outfit MTM cineteve has successfully bid for the film rights to the biography of legendary student movement leader Rudi Dutschke.The biography - entitled Dutschke: We Had A Barbarically Lovely Life - was published by his widow Gretchen Dutschke in 1996. Urs Egger, whose credits include Opera Ball, will ...
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Oz studio plans fail to attract cash
The ambitious plan to build a third major film studio in Australia - with the backing of US giant Viacom - is floundering because of a complete lack of interest from institutional investors.The public float has now been abandoned and the retail precinct shaved off the development to bring the ...
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La Sept-Arte, Sundance partner for movie channel
Robert Redford's Sundance Channel and French public broadcaster La Sept-Arte are linking up to create a cable and satellite movie channel in France.La Sept-Arte, the French end of French-German cultural channel Arte, was already developing a channel, dedicated to independent film from all over the world, before approaching the Sundance ...
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Rotterdam's CineMart sows seeds for Berlin
The Berlin International Film Festival and market may only have unfolded this week, but the mating game for development and production finance partners is already in full swing.It kicked off in earnest earlier this month at the International Film Festival, Rotterdam which staged the 17th CineMart gathering for financiers, talent ...
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Oscar frontrunner Swank logs onto Porchlight slate
Porchlight Entertainment, the LA-based sales and production outfit specialising in family programming, has acquired international theatrical, TV and video rights to Heartwood, a coming of age story starring Hilary Swank and Jason Robards.Swank, who is frontrunner to win this year's Best Actress Academy Award for Boys Don't Cry, plays the ...
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Miramax stages Broadway version of Stoppard play
First it was magazine publishing, now Miramax Films has extended its tentacles onto The Great White Way. The New York-based Disney-offshoot has signed a deal to co-finance the Broadway run of the hit London stage revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing.The London cast which is currently in the middle ...
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Valenti enlists moguls to improve trade with China
Jack Valenti, chairman and CEO of The Motion Picture Association, has enlisted a who's who of Hollywood's most influential power-brokers to pressure the US Congress into bolster trade relations with China.Valenti, who will head up a new committee comprised of leading media tycoons and studio bosses, said the lobby group ...
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Dudley-Smith expands WBITD role
Malcolm Dudley-Smith has been promoted to senior vice president, sales and business development, at Warner Bros International Television Distribution where he will now oversee all sales activities in Latin America, Asia and Canada including pay, cable and free TV.Dudley-Smith will also continue to be responsible for identifying equity investments, strategic ...
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Livingstone to steer specialist fare for UIP
Universal has finalised the appointment of David Livingstone, formerly president of marketing at Universal Pictures International, to oversee the release of specialist films through the studio's international outlet, United International Pictures. Livingstone's brief will include titles from the UK's Working Title Films and DNA Films as well as projects from ...
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Finland's Restless knocks down Beauty, Joan
Finnish production Restless (Levottomat) has attracted 54,125 admissions in its first week on release, beating American Beauty to the number one slot with a box office gross of $372,337. The impressive opening is the biggest in Finland for a local film since the 1989 release of The Winter War which ...
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Genies grant Sunshine box office boost
Genie awards publicity translated into a box office boom for Istvan Szabo's Sunshine last weekend, as the film notched up its strongest sales to date since its release in Canada on December 16.Earning an impressive C$85,000 ($59,000) on 42 screens across Canada for the weekend Feb 4-6, the film now ...
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Relph takes BAFTA chair as membership surges
UK producer Simon Relph is replacing Tim Angel as chairman of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).Relph will take up the position on July 1. Angel has been chairman for three years after the traditional two-year post was renewed for an additional year.Relph assumes chairmanship as BAFTA ...
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Carlton, United merger hits competition snag
The proposed merger between UK media congloms Carlton Communications and United News & Media has hit a setback after being referred to the Competition Commission.The widely-expected decision by trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers comes after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) raised concerns regarding both TV programming and advertising. ...
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ProSieben, Sat1 mull collaboration options
German commercial broadcasters Sat1 and the ProSieben Media Group are considering forming a joint family of channels according to ProSieben's new chief Urs Rohner.The two groups are understood to be examining three scenarios. One involves Sat1 being brought into ProSieben with Sat1's shareholders becoming shareholders in ProSieben; while another sees ...
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Mason and Coote join Macquarie board
Producers Andrew Mason and Greg Coote have been appointed to the board of the Macquarie Film Corporation as the company gears up to release its second prospectus in March. Macquarie is one of two Australian companies awarded licences to raise A$20m ($12.6m) in concessional capital to help grow the film ...
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Harris, Madigan sign up for Elton John project
Elton John's London-based film production company Rocket Pictures has partnered with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan for an adaptation of A L Kennedy's novel So I Am Glad.The husband and wife acting team will star in and, with Rocket co-founder David Furnish, produce the project through their US production ...
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BSkyB reports $99m loss; ups digital subscriptions
Investment in joint ventures and heavy subscriber acquisition costs have had a negative impact on UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB's bottom line, resulting in a pre-tax loss of £61.5m ($99.2m) for the six months to the end of 1999 compared to a profit of £53.2m ($85.8m) for the same period the ...
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Mehta's Water to relocate
Director Deepa Mehta has revealed that after weeks battling with protestors on the set of her film Water, she has decided to shift location from the Indian city of Varanasi."There is a good chance that the sets of Water will now float into the state of Madhya Pradesh, where chief ...
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Canal Plus, Pathe embark on Mission To Mars
C+P - the joint acquisition and distribution venture between French majors Canal Plus and Pathe - has acquired French rights to mammoth Disney sci-fi picture Mission To Mars from Spyglass Entertainment.Brian De Palma's epic, which is budgeted around $75m, will open in North America on March 10 through Buena Vista. ...