All articles by Sandy George – Page 28
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News
Australia's FFC to clamp down on US studios taking tax rebate
US studios and other international players who plan to take films they have developed to Australia to shoot, then claim the new 40% producers rebate for Australian films rather than the 15% location offset designed for foreign films, are very unlikely to be successful under yet-to-be-released new guidelines.The Film Finance ...
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News
Vilcek offers funding for immigrant film-makers in US
The Vilcek Foundation has invited filmmakers who have had an impact in the US but were born outside that country, to apply for the $25,000 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise.'After researching a multitude of arts categories, filmmaking seemed to be an incredibly flourishing field, and we thought it would be ...
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News
FFC backs 10 new Aussie films as it prepares to shut its doors
After more than 20 years as the Australian Government's key film investor, the Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) board yesterday agreed to invest in 10 new Australian features worth $56.7m (A$62m), the last batch of films before it closes its doors on June 30.'The FFC was cognizant that the new ...
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News
James Hewison tipped as new head of Madman theatrical
James Hewison, former long-term executive director of the Melbourne International Film Festival, is understood to be the new head of the theatrical division of the prominent independent distributor Madman Entertainment.Hewison announced in late January that he was stepping down from his role as chief executive of the Australian Film Institute ...
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News
Paramount partners Omnilab Media for The Bank Job
Omnilab Media has teamed with Paramount Pictures for the Australian and New Zealand distribution of The Bank Job, which will be in cinemas from July 31. The thriller opened at the top of the UK charts after it was released there on February 28 and has since taken more than ...
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News
Paul Elliott's Aussie horror The Red Car gets Aurora go-ahead
A brand new car brings only tragedy to its owners in the horror film The Red Car, one of four films chosen for Aurora, the flagship development and financing program of the New South Wales Film and Television Office.The Black Balloon, which won this year's Crystal Bear in the Generation ...
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News
Screen Australia appoints first CEO
Experienced public policy manager Lyn Maddock has been appointed interim chief executive of Australia's new film super-body, Screen Australia, for four months.Screen Australia replaces the Film Finance Corporation (FFC), Australian Film Commission (AFC) and Film Australia (FA), and will administer the 40% rebate now available for the production of Australian ...
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News
Sydney fest appoints Cameron; Liebmann joins Hoyts
Two significant but unrelated film appointments were announced in Sydney today: Fiona Cameron is the new general manager of the Sydney Film Festival and Matthew Liebmann is leaving SKYCITY Cinemas in New Zealand to be the commercial and new business director at Hoyts. Liebmann has also worked with SKYCITY co-owner ...
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News
Sydney aims to win back film shoots
In an effort to turn around the perception that Sydney is unfriendly to film-makers, the New South Wales (NSW) Premier has promised to make it easier to shoot on location by putting the pressure on local councils and government agencies.New legislative amendments would require authorities to approve film-making applications, unless ...
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News
Three leads line up for Bruce Beresford's Mao's Last Dancer
Director Bruce Beresford (Breaker Morant, Driving Miss Daisy) has chosen three actors from three different countries to play Li Cunxin in Mao's Last Dancer.Chi Cao, principal dancer at the Birmingham Royal Ballet since 2002 and winner of the gold medal in 1998 at the Varna ballet competitions, will play the ...
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News
NZ Film Commission boards Second Hand Wedding
The New Zealand Film Commission has taken international sales rights and invested in the post-production of the feel-good drama Second Hand Wedding. The film was directed by Paul Murphy from a script by Nick Ward (Stickmen, The Ferryman). It is about Jill (Geraldine Brophy), a school teacher who is so ...
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News
Icon Film Distribution buys Australian arthouse brand Dendy
Icon has acquired the 35 cinema screens in Australia and the distribution interests that underpin one of Australia's key arthouse film brands, Dendy.Becker Group Limited announced the sale today and said it was worth a 'cash consideration' of $19.4m (A$21m). The sale is expected to be completed by Mar 31. ...
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News
Greenaway scouting Australia for science-fiction feature
Legendary filmmaker Peter Greenaway will fly over Western Australia on Feb 23 scouting locations for a science-fiction feature film based on his most recent book The Historians Book 39: The Rise and Fall of Gestures Drama.'The book is really a history of cinema rewritten as fiction,' he told Screendaily.com. It ...
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News
Ozparliament tables legislation forunified film agency
Australia's Federal Parliament today tabled legislation to establish a new single film agency, Screen Australia. It is expected to be debated in early March and then passed. Screen Australia will come into being July 1 andencompass the responsibilities of the investment agency Film Finance Corporation Australia, the Australian Film Commission ...
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News
May start for Chinese-Australian co-prod The Last Dragon
The Chinese-Australian co-production The Last Dragon is to be the first feature for AMPCO Films, the company set up last year by Adelaide producer/director Mario Andreacchio with the aim of making quality family films for the international marketplace.Working with independent production company Beijing Rosat Film & TV Production, the 4K ...
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Features
Australia-UK - See-saw on the rise
When London-based acquisitions executive Iain Canning and Sydney producer Emile Sherman vie for the best projects under their new See-Saw production banner, the ace up their sleeve will be a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures International (PPI) to invest equity.They also hope their pooled skills and experience will be a ...
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News
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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News
New Zealand box office up in 2007 but no records fall
The $118.93m (NZ$151.74m) worth of tickets sold at New Zealand cinemas in 2007 exceeded the previous year by 3.6%, but fell short of 2003, the country's stand-out year in terms of gross box office. 'All the blockbusters did well in the middle of the year, yes, but business petered out ...
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News
Canning, Sherman launch Aus/UK production outfit See-Saw
UK-based acquisitions executive Iain Canning and Australian producer Emile Sherman have launched Australia/UK-based production outfit See-Saw Films. One of the first credits for the new company will be as producer of an English-language remake of writer/director Guillem Morale's 2004 Spanish mystery thriller The Uninvited Guests (El Habitante Incierto).Canning and Sherman ...
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News
Paramount Australia pacts with start-up Transmission
Dendy Films' executives Andrew Mackie and Richard Payten are leaving the company to establish a new Australian/New Zealand distributor, Transmission, that will conduct most of its business through a joint venture with Paramount's local theatrical and home entertainment divisions. The deal was negotiated with Paramount in the US and is ...