Small MPU – Page 1345
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OFT launches new probe into BSkyB
BSkyB, the UK's largest pay-TV broadcaster, faces a competition inquiry launched this week by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).The probe, expected to take six months, is to focus on BSkyB's supply of wholesale pay-TV to its rivals - known as bundling. If found guilty, the broadcaster could be fined ...
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UPC's Chello abandons merger with Excite
Broadband internet supplier Chello, owned by Dutch cable giant UPC, has called off its plans to merge with the international arm of similar US group Excite@Home.The move raises questions about future funding for Chello, which had been scheduled to float before UPC decided on the merger with Excite instead. UPC ...
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ABC journalists protest against Shier
Some of Australia's most respected current affairs journalists and commentators declared war this week on Jonathan Shier, who took up the post of managing director of Australian public broadcaster, the ABC, in March. Maxine McKew, Kerry O'Brien and Robin Williams were among eight senior employees of the ABC who made ...
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Flickering Lights puts Grinch in the shade
Danish films are coming out in force this autumn, fighting for a share of the local audience. Barely a week goes by without a new local film premiering, giving US fare a run for its money as never before. Flickering Lights, the feature directing debut from talented screenwriter Anders Thomas ...
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Apollo Media boards Kershner's Cecilia
German financier Apollo Media is backing five high-profile US projects via its fourth film fund, including Irvin Kershner's $15m historical romantic drama Cecilia, which is set to star Virginia Ledoyen and Jeremy Irons.Buena Vista has worldwide rights to the film about an affair between the composer Puccini and a young ...
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Exports drive Canadian film and video sales
It's not happening on a Hollywood scale but just as in Tinseltown the international market is driving Canada's film and video industry. For the first time, international sales accounted for more than half of sales of Canadian content production, according to surveys by Statistics Canada for the years 1997-98 and ...
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EM.TV fall from grace typifies Neuer Markt agonies
At a Wednesday morning price of Euros8.30, EM.TV & Merchandising's shares are so far below their peak as to be almost unrecognisable. They are 93% below their 2000 peak of Euros119.5.But EM.TV's demise represents more than the fall from grace of one overly ambitious firm. The company was one of ...
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FFC warns film-makers of funding shortage
The Australian Film Finance Corporation (FFC) has warned film-makers that it will only support projects with high levels of finance from other sources over the next six months.The funding body will also insist on attractive recoupment and other terms. This is because a large number of producers successfully sought finance ...
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Miracle scores at Copenhagen children's fest
Danish box office hit Miracle, directed by newcomer Natasha Arthy, was the winner of the BUSTER Grand Prix at the first BUSTER - Copenhagen International Children's Film Festival (November 27 - December 2).The award was voted for by a jury comprising Danish director Svend Johansen, Dutch distributor Dick de Jonge ...
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Sea That Thinks takes top prize at Dutch doc fest
Dutch film-maker Gert de Graaf picked up the main prize at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (Nov 21-29), for The Sea That Thinks. The film is the dramatised tale of a screenwriter trying to unravel his own plot. The Special Jury Award went to David Shapiro and Laurie Gwen Shapiro ...
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Cattleya in line for major cash boost
Italian production outfit Cattleya is set to receive two major tranches of investment from one of Italy's leading financial groups, San Paolo IMI Private Equity, and multimedia giant De Agostini.The company said it would use the cash injection to ramp up production to about eight or 10 features a year. ...
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Snapper options McNally's Perfect Ganesh
New York-based production outfit Snapper Films has acquired the film rights to Terrence McNally's award-winning play A Perfect Ganesh.Headed by director-turned producer Juha Wuolijoki, Snapper hopes to get the film into production in the early autumn, 2001, and is currently putting together the financing. Snapper last year produced Tony Bui's ...
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Vivendi Universal may divert Canal films to UIP
Vivendi Universal appears to be seriously considering channelling some StudioCanal-backed films though UIP, the international distribution venture it co-owns with Paramount Pictures.The title-by-title arrangement could extend to both European and US films bankrolled by Vivendi Universal's StudioCanal. UIP could even release certain films in markets where StudioCanal already has distribution ...
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Quills named best film by National Board of Review
Philip Kaufman's Quills was named Best Film of 2000 by the National Board Of Review Of Motion Pictures, kicking off an unpredictable awards season with its first surprise. The Marquis de Sade drama written by Doug Wright from his own play received mixed reviews from critics but has been performing ...
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Julian Senior to leave Warner Bros after 30 years
Julian Senior, the well-known head of European Regional Advertising and Publicity at Warner Bros Pictures, is to leave the company at the end of the year after 30 years at the company."We will certainly miss him and his contribution to our company and our films," said Richard Fox, executive vice ...
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Worldwide marketing chief Bob Levin quits Sony
Robert Levin, the president of worldwide marketing for Sony Pictures Entertainment, has resigned his post and will leave the company immediately. He joined the studio in 1996 and was responsible for all worldwide marketing activities for the company's theatrical releases and its consumer products organisation."I am quite proud of what ...
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Oz post sector to apply for infrastructure funding
Australia's post-production industry is applying for some of the $22m (A$40m) put aside by the federal government for the development of an advanced communications infrastructure. The sector hopes to improve performance by securing increased broadband access at better prices.Consultants Malcolm Long and Associates are preparing the submission, due on December ...
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Don's Plum set to screen at Berlin
RD Robb's Don's Plum, a controversial film about teenagers hanging out at an all-night diner, which was banned in the US by co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, has been selected for the upcoming Berlin Film Festival's Panorama section.The film, which was shot for $100,00 over six days in 1995 ...
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Ajax documentary withdrawn from Dutch cinemas
Arthouse cinemas in the Dutch cities of The Hague, Groningen and Utrecht have pulled Roel van Dalen's feature-length documentary Ajax: Where They Heard Angels Sings off their screens following anonymous threats from football hooligans.The film, which premiered at this year's International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), follows the internationally-renowned Amsterdam ...
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Wowow first-half profits plunge by 73%
Japanese satellite and cable broadcaster Wowow reported a 73% decrease in profit to $12m (Y1.32bn) in the first half of 2000, on turnover down 6.5% to $273m (Y30.02bn). Operating profit fell 79% to $9m (Y988m).Wowow officials attributed the disappointing results to slow growth in subscriptions and the high costs of ...