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News
William Ireton: the interpreter
First he brought the Hollywood A-list to Japan. Now the head of Warner Entertainment Japan is turning his attention to stars closer to home. Jason Gray reports.In 2006, when Japanese films took a larger bite of the pie than Hollywood imports for the first time in more than two decades, ...
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Brideshead Revisited: world of Waugh
Edward Lawrenson visits the set of Brideshead Revisited and talks to director Julian Jarrold about his fresh approach to the classic story. It's early June and a hunting party is assembled outside Castle Howard in Yorkshire, UK. Glancing at the sight of 20 or so mounted riders, impeccably attired in ...
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Locarno: nurturing the new
For its 60th anniversary edition, the Locarno International Film Festival (August 1-11) is underlining its strengths as an event of discovery. Geoffrey Macnab reports. Now in its 60th year, the Locarno international film festival is one of the oldest and grandest festivals in the world.Its open-air Piazza Grande screenings are ...
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Lebanon hits the road
It may be at the whim of political and economic upheavals, and have a population of only 3.9 million, but Lebanon's film-makers are punching above their weight. Antonia Carver reports. It used to be possible to count on one hand the Lebanese films that had broken out internationally. But despite ...
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Cause and effects
From Harry Potter to Sunshine, the UK's post houses are creating world-class effects work. But how is the sector being affected by the exchange rate and increasing competition from India' Geoffrey Macnab reports. The past 12 months has been something of a banner year for the UK post sector. From ...
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FX and tax credit
How does the UK's new tax credit affect the post sector' Geoffrey Macnab reports.It is understandable the Hollywood studios looked askance at the UK last year, as rules governing Gaap funds were changed and those governing the new UK tax credit were altered to conform with European Union (EU) criteria.'From ...
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Germany's media[netCom] grabs Highlight titles
German video-on-demand (VoD) company media[netCom] has signed a deal with Swiss-based rights trader Highlight Communications giving it VoD rights to all Highlight-licensed pictures. The non-exclusive deal covers titles such as Scary Movie, U-571, Requiem For A Dream, The Way Of The Gun and Soldier.Media[netCom] expects to reach 70,000 German cable ...
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Features
Promotional feature - Locarno - Open doors is open for business
"The Middle East is hot right now," says Nadia Dresti, the director of the industry office at the Locarno international film festival. "This year's Open Doors is going to be particularly interesting."Supported by the Swiss Foreign Ministry's Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC), Open Doors is described by festival director ...
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Features
Analysis: International box-office - Weekend July 20-22 - Harry Potter's new world Order
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix has cast its spell on the international box office, raking in a whopping $100.4m across 56 territories. The fifth instalment of the children's series has made an impressive $353.5m to date in only its second weekend. Transformers lagged far behind in second ...
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Shooting messengers
Attacks on film critics are misguided. It is the executive suites that have lost the popular touch, argues Len Klady. In the past few years, I've read a fair amount about the role of the film critic. To be more precise, it's felt like open season on people that critique ...
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Critical opinion: barnacles all at sea
DIY guides to script-writing are Hollywood's parasites. But is advice on high-concept cinema or indie auteurism of any use to the budding scriptwriter, asksLee MarshallUnlike the film industry, the grey whale has been with us for 30 million years. Still, the two ungainly beasts have a few things in common. ...
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Cultural test: yes or no'
Is a rigorous cultural test a good way to determine which projects are eligible for national tax breaks' Two Screen writers give their opinions based on the experiences of the UK and Australia, where governments are both attempting to create sustainable, long-term film industries by making state financing available to ...
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Berczeller wins Britdoc Pitching with Through A Glass, Darkly
At today's More4 Pitching Forum at the Britdoc Festival, Paul Berczeller was named top pitcher with his project Through A Glass, Darkly. He wins $2000 (£1000) in a cash prize.He presented the project, about the son of a man involved in an infamous CIA LSD experiment, with producer Nikki Parrott ...
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Venice lines up strong English-language programme
Hollywood will be jetting to the Lido for the 64th edition of the Venice Film Festival where a cluster of top shelf US directors are unveiling their current projects in a festival that underscores the force of English-language cinema.While six American pictures have made the competition cut, they are flanked ...
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Media Luna and Wide pick up Locarno competition films
Cologne-based sales company Media Luna Entertainment has picked up the world sales for Lugano-born Fulvio Bernasconi's feature debut Off The Ropes (Fuori Dalle Corde), which will have its world premiere in official competition at the Locarno International Film Festival next week.The story of a young Italian boxer from Trieste with ...
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Rushes Soho Shorts adds documentary competition
The ninth Rushes Soho Shorts Festival in London will run July 28-Aug 3 with screenings of 90 short films across the categories of newcomer, animation, music video, and this year's addition, documentary, as well as a series of educational and networking events.Screenings will centre around the Curzon Soho and highlights ...
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Lionsgate takes minority stake in Roadside Attractions
Lionsgate announced today that it has bought a minority ownership stake in Howard Cohen and Eric D'arbelloff's distributor Roadside Attractions.The passive investment means Roadside will remain an autonomous entity and plans 12 to 14 annual theatrical releases in North America, with Lionsgate handling home entertainment and ancillary markets.Cohen and D'arbeloff ...
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Werner goes international with Platinum
German cartoon character, Werner, the star of three hugely successful feature films, is set to enjoy an international TV career.Achterbahn, the company behind the character and all three films, has struck a joint venture agreement with the US' Platinum Studios to produce 26 English-language episodes for broadcast and the internet. ...
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Toronto confirms Special Presentations from Venice
The Toronto International Film Festival today augmented its September line-up with a number of Special Presentations, many of them world premiering at Venice. Among the titles are Andrew Dominik's The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan picture I'm Not There and Paul Haggis' ...
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Simpsons take on the world in 71 territories
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix will surge past $400m this weekend in what will be a tightly contested bout with the global release of The Simpsons Movie.Warner Bros Pictures International's (WBPI) fifth Potter episode has raced to $395m and should continue to make strong gains in its ...