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All articles by Sandy George – Page 61
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SAG rule could 'devastate' Australian films & limit offshore opportunities
Bob Carr, political leader of New South Wales, the Australian film industry's most significant state, today wrote to Screen Actors Guild (SAG) president Melissa Gilbert to urgently verify that Australian SAG members are able to work on Australian films without being paid SAG rates. Were this not the case, his ...
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Controversy boosts results for Baise-Moi down under
The controversy, and subsequent awareness, surrounding French film Baise-Moi has led to its limited release performing about three times the business expected by its Australian distributor, Potential. The film's gross of $49,419 (A$91,426) from just three screens over its first four days to April 28, gave a screen average of ...
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Naomi Watts joins Ned Kelly's Australian cast
Naomi Watts will be returning to Australia in June to star alongside Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffith and Heath Ledger in director Gregor Jordan's Ned Kelly, which went into production today (April 29).The news highlights the benefits now flowing to Australian films as a result of the recent international attention focussed ...
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Troy Lum resigns as head of Australia's Dendy Films
Troy Lum has resigned as head of Australia's Dendy Films, a move that may give Richard Payten and Andrew Mackie ultimate responsibility for acquiring films for all three of the distribution entities within the Becker Group. A final decision, however, is unlikely until after Cannes.Manager director Richard Becker said he ...
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Australia's Palace boards De Heer's Project
Palace Films has picked up all Australasian rights to Rolf de Heer's tenth feature Alexandra's Project and, in what is the largest ever financial commitment to an Australian film by the long-standing distributor, has also signed on as a major investor. Palace founder and manager director Antonio Zeccola will get ...
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The Water Giant re-locates from Canada to New Zealand
Eight weeks of principal photography has just begun at Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown in New Zealand on the $20m family adventure The Water Giant, formerly called Ogopogo. The original plan was to shoot on Canada's Lake Okanagan, but it was too developed to offer the wilderness backdrop required. A relocation ...
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Australia to re-asses Baise-Moi classification
French film Baise-Moi, which is due to be released in Australia by distributor Potential this Thursday (April 25), is being re-examined by the Classification Review Board at the request of the Federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams. The original certification restricted the film to viewers over 18 years of age (R18). The ...
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Beyond, Chaos team for Australian home entertainment
A range of Australian cinema classics will be among at least 30 titles released on DVD and video in the next 12 months under a new deal between Beyond International and information technology group and home entertainment distributor Chaos. Upcoming titles licensed by Beyond will also be manufactured, marketed and ...
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Queensland launches Gold Coast film festival
The Gold Coast City Council is one of the main drivers behind the launch this year of a film festival that it hopes will draw attention to the filmmaking capabilities of the region, and boost economic development. Over $54,000 (A$100,000) has already been raised from government sources.Queensland's Gold Coast, south ...
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Icon adds Bend It Like Beckham to Oz release line-up
Icon Film Distribution Australia has acquired the rights to UK soccer hit Bend It Like Beckham, directed by Gurinder Chadha. The tentative release date is July in Australia and August in New Zealand. It is generally acknowledged that British films can work as well in the Australian marketplace as US ...
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Australia to get its first competitive film festival
Sydney Film Festival director Gayle Lake has confirmed that the festival will become a competitive event from 2003, the year it celebrates its 50th birthday, with filmmakers' first or second feature films being eligible. Australia does not currently have a competitive festival.A new directors program was introduced in 1999 and ...
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Brown steps into vacated SPAA exec director job
Geoff Brown has been appointed executive director of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) following the sudden resignation of Joanne Yates who joined only six months ago. Brown, already involved with the organisation as policy manager in an acting capacity while the incumbent was on maternity leave, is a ...
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Cinemas face cost of Disability Discrimination Act
While the international exhibition industry has always aspired to keep ahead of government regulations, especially those regarding access and facilities for the disabled, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 has given rise to a new and challenging set of issues that could prove costly to resolve.In what many will hope ...
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Beautiful Mind puts Crowe at top of Oz actors' earnings list
Actor Russell Crowe's estimated 2001 earnings of $15.4m (A$29m), including from A Beautiful Mind, were not enough to put him at the head of the annual top 50 entertainers list published in the current issue of Australia's Business Review Weekly. Coming third, Crowe, however, easily led the fifteen actors on ...
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Beautiful Mind puts Crowe at top of Oz actors' earnings list
Actor Russell Crowe's estimated 2001 earnings of $15.4m (A$29m), including his take from A Beautiful Mind, were not enough to put him at the head of the annual top 50 entertainers list published in the current issue of Australia's Business Review Weekly. Coming third, Crowe, however, easily led the fifteen ...
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Bad Eggs smell good to Village Roadshow
While the comedy thriller Bad Eggs does not have a particularly large budget in terms of the norm in Australia, it has attracted the single biggest financial commitment to an independent feature in entertainment conglomerate Village Roadshow's long history. "Mass audiences demand big laughs and we believe that Bad Eggs ...
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Technicolor buys Southern Star's Duplitek
The Southern Star Group is expected to net about $26.4m (A$50m) from US-based video, CD, DVD and film print manufacturer Technicolor's acquisition of its duplication subsidiary Duplitek. Technicolour invested $17.4m (A$33m) in Duplitek nearly two years ago in a deal that gave it the right to expand its result minority ...
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Aurora beams for Australian script development
Australia has created its own version of development "hothousing" on the back of four feature scripts and their creative teams. The New South Wales Film and Television Office (NSWFTO) examined overseas models including Sundance, Moondance and Equinoxe before putting together its own A$500,000 Aurora programme, which has filmmaker Jane Campion ...
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Macquarie, Nine Net launch major production fund
Macquarie Bank and the Nine Network's production subsidiary today (March 21) formally announced a bold plan to entice investors to provide up to $33.2m (A$62.5m) for the production of eight feature films, two TV series and two telemovies. The third partner in the equation is Hoyts Distribution, which will distribute ...
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Icon picks up first Oz film for distribution
The Australian office of Icon Film Distribution has picked up local rights on its first Australian film. Paul Goldman is to direct the UK/Australian co-production The Night We Called It A Day which draws on singer Frank Sinatra's notorious 1974 tour of Australia, during which he became very unpopular with ...