All articles by Sandy George – Page 37
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FFC backs production on two Australian films
Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) today agreed to fund the thriller Storm Warning and the coming-of-age teencomedy Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.Estherwill be the debut for Cathy Randall but StormWarning is from Jamie Blanks, who jumped from a graduation film to Hollywood horror films UrbanLegends (1998) and Valentine (2001).The Storm ...
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Worried Australian exhibitors form national association
Concern about falling attendances, piracy, release windows and new classification rules have led to the formation of the firstnational organisation of Australian exhibitors."Forthe first time in what is a notoriously aggressive industry, the issues thatdraw us together are greater than the issues that force us apart," head ofDendy Cinemas Mark ...
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Look Both Ways dominates Aussie awards
Compere Russell Crowe andthe film Look Both Ways were thestars of the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards at the Melbourne CentralCity Studios.Oscar-winner Crowe made a significantcontribution to the revitalisation of an event that had lost its gloss inrecent years, injectingcomedy by threatening to throw the black phone next to the ...
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The Proposition scoops best film at IF Awards
Australian/UK co-production The Proposition, an often brutal 1880stale of conflict between brothers, was awarded best feature film at the IF(Inside Film) Awards in Sydneytonight (Nov 23). Look Both Ways won the best director and best writer categories for Sarah Watt. Theintimate drama picked up three awards in all while The ...
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Trio feted at NZ producers' conference
New filmmaker RoseanneLiang, independent producer Elizabeth Mitchell and industry champion DaveGibson were all honoured at New Zealand's annual producers' conference on Friday evening(Nov 18) in Wellington.Gibson produced thecommercially successful feature TheIrrefutable Truth About Demons but is better known for the hours of televisionof all genres created at production powerhouse The ...
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BoyTown, December Boys crank up in Australia
Cameras started rolling onMonday on two high-profile Australian productions - BoyTown, the Molloy Boy Productions follow-up to Crackerjack, and December Boys, starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame.Mick Molloy co-wrote,co-produces and is one of the stars of BoyTown,just as he was on Crackerjack, whichgrossed $5.6m (A$7.7m) for distributor Roadshow and ...
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Look Both Ways scores with Australian critics
Look Both Ways won the behind-the-camera trifecta of best film, best director and bestoriginal script at the Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) awards at theweekend.The drama was written anddirected by Sarah Watt and produced by Bridget Ikin immediately prior to herbecoming one of the two evaluation managers at Film ...
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Madman grabs Three Burials for Oz/NZ
Madman Cinema has acquiredall Australian and New Zealand rights to TheThree Burials Of Melquiades Estrada from French sales agent EuropaCorp.The film is the directorialdebut of Tommy Lee Jones, whose performance in the drama earned him the bestactor award at Cannes this year. Writer Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, 21 Grams) won ...
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Wolf Creek proves weekend winner in Australia
Wolf Creek hasbecome the first Australian film to open at number one in its first weekendsince Ned Kelly in 2003. And it hasbecome only the second Australian film with an R+18 rating to go to the top ofthe charts. Writer/directorGreg McLean's horror debut grossed $0.9m (A$1.224m) from 151 screens for ...
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Taiwanese-Kiwi venture plans $69m film of Chinese myth
Taiwaneseand a New Zealand companies haveset up a joint venture to produce a $69m English-language feature based on aChinese myth and set for release during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.Lady White Snake has been written by Chinese musician Hou Dejian, owner of Taipei-basedEquinox Film. He is working with USwriter/director Patrick ...
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New Zealand's Rialto sells shares in companies to Reading
Kelly Rogers and David Rosshave sold their half share in New Zealand's biggest arthouse circuit, RialtoCinemas, to mainstream exhibitor Reading and cashed up their distributioncompany in the process.This means that thecountry's two biggest cinema operators, the other being existing half ownerVillage Skycity, now own most of the 19-screen specialist chain ...
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Tartan buys US rights to Father's Den
Salesagent NZ Film has sold US rights to psychological drama In My Father's Den to Tartan Films, which is looking to release thefilm theatrically in May 2006.Itseems a little late for the UK/New Zealand co-production to be making such asale given that it was one of the darlings of the ...
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Kiwi festival favourite finally makes it to the States
Sales agentNZ Film has sold US rights to the psychological drama In My Father's Den to Tartan Films, which is looking to release thefilm theatrically in May 2006.It's beenslow progress for the UK/New Zealand co-production that was one of the darlingsof the international festival circuit in 2004, but it was ...
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New bond company aims to shake up market
The emergence of Media RiskManagement (MRM) is significant news for independent filmmakers, given only ahandful of companies offer completion bonds and the difficulty of securingreinsurance usually prevents new players from appearing.Melbourne-based GeorgeAdams, who was one of the executive producers on Wolf Creek, and Roger Brewitt have set up in association ...
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Australia gets serious about the truth
Australian documentarymakers who were encouraged to pitch full-length features are now seeing their projectsmove into pre-production or production.Films now underway thanks tothe initiative, introduced by the Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) lastyear, include Rampage, about a youngupcoming rap star, which is now being shot in Miami by director/writer/producerGeorge Gittoes. Moviehouseis ...
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Australia's Kojo Group moves into film production
Leading Adelaide-basedpost-production and TV production company, Kojo Group, is moving into featurefilm production and has boarded writer/director Murali K. Thalluri's debutfeature 2:37."Our optimistic goal is tomake a couple of films per year," Kojo founding partner Kent Smith told Screendaily. "We have already had a bigrole on a number but not ...
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...as deal with Crescent brings expansion
Village Roadshow Pictures(VRP) is likely to finance and produce more films and possibly acquire relatedinterests under a recently finalised deal that gives US investor Crescent Entertainmentoptions to secure a 50% interest in VRP.Crescent partners Hal Gaba - co-owner with Norman Lear of mediainvestment firm and record company owner Act III ...
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Icon takes Oz, NZ rights to Frears' The Queen
Icon has boughtAustralian and New Zealand rights from PathePictures International for director Stephen Frears' The Queen, which is in its third week offilming. The Queen tracks the UK aftermath of the dramatic death ofPrincess Diana in a car accident in Paris, including the actions of the shocked anddisbelieving British public, ...
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Village Roadshow takes on December Boys...
Village Roadshow has takeninternational sales rights to DecemberBoys, the feature starring Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe that goes intoproduction before the end of the year.Roadshow Film Distributors,as part of this new deal, will also co-distribute the coming-of-age dramalocally alongside Becker, which is the production company behind the film.Village Roadshow does notcommonly ...
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AFC appoints Fitchett as acting development chief
The Australian FilmCommission (AFC) has announced that it won't appoint anyone to the influentialposition of director of film development until early next year and hasappointed two people to fill the gap until then. Independent writer/producerChris Fitchett will act in the role from October 31, and Lori Flekser, aproject manager at ...