Small MPU – Page 1166

  • News

    German media lawyers propose adoption of UK's sale & leaseback model

    2003-03-26T04:05:00Z

    The UK's sale & leaseback model and Canada's tax credit model are two options proposed by the German producer pressure group Film 20 to Gerhard Schroeder's administration to improve the international competitiveness of the German film industry.The proposals are among a series of recommendations drafted by a legal "think tank" ...

  • News

    Nordisk Film reports $1.4m loss despite increased revenues

    2003-03-26T04:05:00Z

    Major Danish Media Group Egmont has reported a 5% increase in revenues for 2002 to Euros 1.2bn, while its film division Nordisk Film registered a Euros 1.3m loss despite improved revenues - from Euros 399m in 2001 to Euros 432m in 2002. The outfit, which encompass feature production, TV ...

  • News

    Italy's Mikado takes Coppola's Lost In Translation

    2003-03-26T04:05:00Z

    Mikado Film, Italy's long-established arthouse distributor and producer, has bought Italian distribution rights to Sofia Coppola's new film, Lost In Translation.Lost In Translation is the second feature from Sofia Coppola after The Virgin Suicides and is being sold by Focus Features. Shot in Tokyo, it stars Bill Murray and Scarlett ...

  • News

    UIP wins Australian Ned Kelly appeal

    2003-03-26T04:05:00Z

    Those under 15 years of age will now be able to see Ned Kelly without being accompanied by an adult following a decision by Australia's five-member Classification Review Board to classify the film M15+ rather than the tougher MA15+ originally imposed after a split vote. The film is recommended for ...

  • News

    Bavarian film fund to sign accord with Quebec film body

    2003-03-26T04:05:00Z

    Bavaria's regional film fund FFF Bayern is to sign a Film Agreement with Quebec's Societe de Developpement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC) during a Bavarian Arts and Business Week in Montreal in mid-May.'There has been a collaboration with Quebec for some time', FFF Bayern spokesman Lothar Just said. "We had a ...

  • News

    Just Married celebrates at the top over a slow weekend

    2003-03-25T00:00:00Z

    A lacklustre weekend at the UK box office saw new release Just Married take over the top spot from two week leader and fellow romantic comedy Maid In Manhattan.The top 15 titles in the UK and Ireland tallied just $7.8m (£5m) between them, a 16% drop on last weekend, which ...

  • News

    Altavista/NuVision scales down production, distribution

    2003-03-26T00:00:00Z

    Hard times and a string of box office disappointments has led topMexican production house Altavista Films (producer of Amores Perros) and sister regional distributioncompany NuVision to streamline operations. CEO Monica Lozano who reports toFederico Gonzalez Compean, the head of their parent company Estudio MexicoFilms, is now in charge of both ...

  • News

    Salvadoran cinemas ignore Stigmata ban

    2000-02-04T16:05:00Z

    Cinema chains in El Salvador have ignored a government order forbidding them to screen supernatural thriller Stigmata, arguing that the ban violated their freedom of expression.The Salvadoran Public Entertainment Directorate had previously approved the film for audiences over 18, but decided to ban its exhibition after it became a local ...

  • News

    Tribeca Film Festival unveils international lineup for second event

    2003-03-26T00:00:00Z

    The theme of culturalexploration is writ large over this year's second Tribeca Film Festival, whichfeatures 11 world premieres and three competition strands in its second editionrunning May 3-11.Announcing the line-up today(Mar 25), founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal and executive directorPeter Scarlet said the feature-length competitive sections included 41 ...

  • News

    Beta sells Manitou's Shoe to Japan

    2003-03-26T00:00:00Z

    German film and TV sales player Beta Film used MIP-TV to complete another deal on its hit comedy Manitou's Shoe (Der Schuh Des Manitou). The film was sold in an all rights deal to SPO for Japan.'We tend not to sell our films in package deals and instead handle and ...

  • News

    Oscar winners get box-office boost

    2003-03-26T00:00:00Z

    Following their Oscar wins, at least three films are to be re-released internationally: Spirited Away goes out on 800 screens in the US; The Pianist goes out on 60 screens in Italy and Nowhere In Africa gets a 100-screen re-release in Germany.In Italy, The Pianist, which was first released in ...

  • News

    Sodano resigns from Eagle Pictures

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    Giampaolo Sodano, one of the Italian film industry's leading figures, has resigned from his position as president of Eagle Pictures, after helping the company more than double its revenue over the last three years."I simply decided it was time to move on. I had completed my task, so to speak. ...

  • News

    Shooting starts on Taviani bros' Luisa San Felice

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    Production has got underway on Luisa San Felice, a Euros12.5m picture directed by the celebrated Taviani brothers, Paolo and Vittorio.The cast is headed by supermodel-turned actress Laetitia Casta (pictured) and Adriano Giannini in a romance and revolution story adapted from the Alexandre Dumas classic novel La San Felice. Principal photography ...

  • News

    Telecino is Spain's only profitable broadcaster

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    Telecinco has posted 2002 year-end net profits of Euros 85.9m, making it the only profitable broadcaster in Spain last year.The network said it boasted the second highest audience share in Spain with 20.24% thanks to its in-house productions, and had earned the highest percentage locally of the advertising market: 27.3%."These ...

  • News

    Media Business School appoints eight-member advisory council

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    Pan-European training initiative the Media Business School (MBS) has appointed a new eight-person advisory council for its Master in Audiovisual Management (MEGA) program.The council appointees, named by MBS director Juan Pita, will each be responsible for co-ordinating lectures and shaping content for individual areas of instruction in the MEGA, now ...

  • News

    Cape Town film permit office suspends staff

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    South Africa's Cape Town city council's film permit office has been closed until further notice after six staff members were suspended pending an internal investigation into alleged irregularities in the issuing of film permits. City of Cape Town spokesperson Charles Cooper said in a statement that the Cape Film Commission, ...

  • News

    Italy's DeAngelis Group picks up major classic library

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    Italian production and distribution specialist DeAngelis Group has picked up a catalogue of some 200 classic feature films including Cinema Paradiso and Divorce Italian Style.DeAngelis will handle worldwide sales and distribution of the Cristaldi Films catalogue which dates from the 1940s to the early 1990s. The catalogue also contains a ...

  • News

    New HQ planned for Toronto film festival

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    The Toronto International Film Festival has plans to construct its own headquarters and cinema. A purpose-built facility can only heighten the profile of the festival, which is widely considered second only to Cannes in terms of importance. It currently does not have its own public screening facilities; moreover, the closure ...

  • News

    Clooney, Wenders in frame for Golden Cameras

    2000-02-04T16:06:00Z

    Actor George Clooney and German director Wim Wenders are among the names who will be honoured at the 25th Golden Camera Awards (Feb 8), on the eve of the Berlin Film Festival (Feb 9-20).Wenders' film The Million Dollar Hotel is opening the 50th Berlin Film Festival, and also featuring in ...

  • News

    DVD comes to the rescue

    2003-03-27T04:05:00Z

    With TV markets seemingly as off-colour as the independent film sector, producers and broadcasters are increasingly turning to the fast-rising DVD sector for new revenue and profits."The success story of 2002 was video, not video-on-demand," said Gilles Fontaine, head of media market researcher IDATE. "Home video in Europe last year ...