Small MPU – Page 130
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Features
In Focus - UK tax - Chronicle of a death foretold
There is a sense of deja vu about the sudden tax changes in the UK last week. The government ostensibly clamped down on so-called sideways loss relief, whereby a wealthy individual could offset tax against accounting losses recorded by a partnership. It was a loophole that spawned what became known ...
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News
The US: the new hot location'
In recent years, Europe, Canada and New Zealand have been the hot locations for international film production. Now, though, those regions are seeing competition from the US - and the competitive inducements are not just keeping US producers at home but also beginning to lure non-US producers across the Atlantic.With ...
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Features
United states - Mapping culture in cyberspace
In between producing films such as David Fincher's new drama M, serving on the non-partisan Council on Foreign Relations, and spending time with the family, Mike Medavoy is occupying himself by writing a book. The veteran agent, studio executive and producer is co-authoring a tome with writer and editor Nathan ...
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Features
United States - Outside in
International film-makers are optimistic about the prospects for foreign-language films in the US - but they see pitfalls in working in Hollywood themselves. Those were two of the messages coming from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' symposium (February 24) with directors of the nominees for the foreign-language ...
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Features
United Kingdom - A Royal welcome
Producer Christine Langan may have left the Oscars without the best-picture statuette for The Queen, but she can bank on something just as important: she is producing the next film from the team behind that hit.Langan, who was one of the producers of The Queen in her role at Granada, ...
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Features
United Kingdom - Pirate Duty
Film piracy cost the UK industry $1.6bn (£800m) in 2005 and, with new platforms for distributing films illegally arising every year, the need to tackle organised crime has never been more urgent.This is where the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) steps in, led by its new director general Kieron Sharp, ...
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Features
Industry moves
Dunn joins Fox AustraliaTwentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (Tcfhe) has appointed Chris Dunn as managing director in Australia. He takes over from Steven Leighton, who moved to a similar role at Tcfhe UK.Focus features promotion for BowlesAdriene Bowles has been promoted to president of worldwide publicity and executive vice-president of ...
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Features
France - Rose-tinted history
Tackling the story of one of France's most beloved personalities is a daunting task, especially in a country which does not revere the biopic. But a few years ago, as Olivier Dahan rummaged through some photos in a book store, he was bitten by the Edith Piaf bug."I came across ...
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Features
Spain - The rain in Spain
It is easy to assume Summer Rain (El Camino De Los Ingleses) carries some autobiographical resonance for Antonio Banderas. The actor's second film as a director after Crazy In Alabama (1999) is set in his hometown of Malaga in the 1970s and relates the experiences of a group of friends ...
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News
Blockbuster season: the long hit summer'
The stars on screen will probably do their bit as well, but it is the stars in the sky that seem to be aligned this year for a huge box-office summer in the US and around the globe.For one thing, summer 2007 offers new instalments of four of the most ...
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News
InternetStudios hires three for film sales subsid
LA-based industry website InternetStudios has made three more appointments to its subsidiary OnlineFilmSales, an online digital marketplace for sales of film and television rights.Michael Bremer has joined the company as vice president of sales and marketing responsible for attracting sales companies to present their projects on the site and enlisting ...
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News
Blockbuster season: The Franchise Four
Summer 2007 has a dream line-up of franchise properties, with an average per-film domestic gross across the four biggest series of almost $350m.Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are back for Sony's Spider-Man 3. The film's May 4 domestic opening marks a return to the early ...
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News
Blockbuster season: the original spin-offs
Two of this summer season's tentpoles are not sequels but based on successful pre-existing properties.Paramount's Transformers is a live-action film from director Michael Bay, based on the robot action toys first introduced in the 1980s but relaunched several times since and brought to both the small screen and big screen ...
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News
Blockbuster season: the next tier of sequels
Three franchises whose previous installments each enjoyed $200m-$500m global box-office are also pitching into the sequel-heavy summer.Warner's Ocean's Thirteen will be the first entry in its crime-caper series to open in the summer (Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve, both pre-Christmas domestic releases, grossed $450.7m and $362.7m worldwide respectively) and Warner ...
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News
Blockbuster season: the long-delayed sequels
Three sequels are attempting to re-ignite audience enthusiasm this summer after long lay-offs or major cast changes.Universal's comedy Evan Almighty arrives in the US on June 22 with Tom Shadyac back as director but Steve Carell starring in place of Bruce Almighty lead Jim Carrey.Carell had a hit in summer ...
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News
Blockbuster season: comedy contenders
Raunchy or physical comedies often produce good summer results and this year's crop is a healthy one. Judd Apatow, writer-director of summer 2005 hit The 40-Year-Old Virgin, is behind the camera again for Universal's Knocked Up (June 1), about a man who finds out he has impregnated his one-night stand.Apatow, ...
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Blockbuster season: scary alternatives
Recent summers have produced a handful of lower budget horror and sci-fi hits and this year there are a number of potentially scary movies, several of them from international directors.The Screen Gems label of horror expert Sony opens Vacancy, with Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as a couple staying at ...
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Blockbuster season: counter culture
The counter-programming success of last year's The Devil Wears Prada - which opened on the same weekend as Superman Returns and went on to gross $122m domestically - will not be easy to replicate.Several distributors, though, will try their hands with female-oriented offerings that might find a niche between the ...
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Blockbuster season: animated animals
After last year's glut, there are only two non-sequel animated films this summer.Sony's Surf's Up comes from Toy Story 2 co-director Ash Brannon and Tarzan director Chris Buck, with voices by Shia LaBeouf, Zooey Deschanel and others.Like Warner's Happy Feet, Surf's Up (opening June 8 in the US and aiming ...
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News
Blockbuster season: dark horses
Every summer schedule has a few unknown quantities and among this year's is a handful of films that look intriguing on paper and may perform in the marketplace.Dark horses with mainstream label studio distribution include Disturbia, which Paramount/DreamWorks will open in the US on April 13 but which Paramount Pictures ...