Small MPU – Page 1352
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Palace Films makes Deadly investment
Highlighting the shortage of sales agents in Australia, local distributor Palace Films has put up an international distribution guarantee for Aussie rules football drama Deadly, Unna', despite the fact that Beyond Films is handling sales on the film.The move is a first for Palace whose owner-managing director Antonio Zeccola will ...
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BKN International plans US, Japanese expansion
German children's animation producer and distributor BKN International (BKNI) is in final talks to acquire an animation studio in the US by the end of this year as part of its ambitious strategy of international expansion.Speaking at this week's shareholders' meeting, CEO Nadia Nardonnet said that in addition to the ...
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Franchise to file suit against Intertainment today
Franchise Pictures has announced that it will file suit against Intertainment Licensing GmbH, Intertainment AG and Barrie Baeres in Los Angeles County Superior Court this morning. Details of the suit will be revealed during the morning.According to Franchise, the LA-based independent production company headed by Elie Samaha, Franchise had previously ...
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Crouching Tiger beats Traffic for Toronto critics
On the eve of taking the Golden Globe Awards nod for best foreign language picture, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was named best film of the year by the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA).The picture's closest rival was Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, for which Soderbergh was named best director. Although Traffic came ...
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EC greenlights Universal, NTL pay-TV film service
The European Commission has approved plans for The Studio Channel, a UK pay-TV joint venture between cable giant NTL and Universal Studios Networks.The greenlight came after the Commission's analysis showed that the creation of the library film service will neither create nor reinforce a dominant position in any market. The ...
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Kinowelt attacks RTL, Kirch buying tactics
Germany's Kinowelt Medien has slammed local broadcasters RTL and the Kirch Group for supposedly having an understanding akin to a "gentlemen's agreement" after passing on films from Kinowelt's $300m Warner Bros package.According to local newspaper Financial Times Deutschland, Kinowelt co-president Michael Koelmel said that the two groups of TV channels ...
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Gladiator, Traffic lead nods for Golden Globes
Ridley Scott's Gladiator and Steven Soderbergh's Traffic landed five nominations each as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nods for the 58th annual Golden Globes.Paramount's re-release of Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys seems to have paid dividends: the film received four nominations including a best actor nod for Michael Douglas. ...
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StudioCanal, RAI confirm Italian partnership
France's StudioCanal has finalised the long sought after Italian link in its European theatrical distribution chain, unveiling a partnership with RAI Cinema, the start-up film arm of public broadcaster RAI.The two partners will hold equal shares in the company, which is expected to complete StudioCanal's international distribution network. The operation ...
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Franchise fires back at Intertainment allegations
United International Pictures (UIP) chairman Paul Oneile and president Andrew Cripps have both renewed their contracts with the company, taking them through to 2006. The move comes as UIP enjoys a strong year, having already grossed $1.7bn this year thanks to films such as Shrek, Bridget Jones Diary and American ...
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Peter Mullan heads to Rotterdam's CineMart
Peter Mullan's Magdalene will be one of the projects seeking financing partners at CineMart, the industry market at January's International Film Festival Rotterdam.The UK actor-director's follow-up to his well-received directing debut Orphans joins another nine titles so far confirmed for this year's event. Also on offer are L'Amour En Blue ...
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Tom Tykwer heads Brussels line-up
The Princess And The Warrior, German director Tom Tykwer's follow-up to Run Lola Run, is expected to be one of the highlights of January's Brussels International Film Festival.The film is to screen as part of a showcase of work from new German directors of the 1990s, which has been organised ...
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Festival calendar gets FIAPF re-write
After a year which saw changes amongst top staff at many leading festivals, 2001 seems set to be the year of changes to the festival calendar.According to FIAPF - the organisation which regulates standards at festivals - there are major shifts at four of the 11 top non-competitive festivals. There ...
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Depardieu adds heft to Bornedal's gothic romance
Gerard Depardieu has joined the cast of Ole Bornedal's I Am Dina, an English-language gothic romance that is one of the most expensive Scandinavian film productions ever.The addition of the French actor, one of Europe's best paid stars, could further increase the $13m budget of the project, which is being ...
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Allegations fly between Franchise & Intertainment
Franchise Pictures has fought back against German distributor Intertainment Licensing, filing its own suit in the Superior Court of the State of California and issuing a second statement on Friday (Dec 22) saying that it was shocked at Intertainment's public revelations.Meanwhile Intertainment issued its own statement on Friday, explaining the ...
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AOL, Time Warner merger faces regulatory delay
AOL and Time Warner stocks slipped over the holiday period as investors tried to limit tax losses and the two would-be partners were left waiting for approval for their mega-merger from US regulators.The Federal Communications Commission, the final regulatory hurdle to creating the world's biggest entertainment concern, failed to give ...
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UIP acquires Spanish Big Brother feature
International distribution giant UIP has picked up Spanish theatrical rights to The Big Martian (El Gran Marciano), a hoax digital feature starring the (unwitting) cast of the Spanish version of Big Brother.UIP acquired the rights from start-up production outfit Zebra Produccciones, which shot Martian almost entirely without the knowledge of ...
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Dogme, Jan Troell bookend Gothenburg festival
Dogme film When The Nights Get Longer will open Scandinavia's largest film event, the Gothenburg International Film Festival, while Jan Troell's As White As Snow closes proceedings as a world premiere.When The Nights is a tragicomedy about the hidden conflicts at a family's Christmas reunion in a mountain cabin. The ...
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Splendid balks at acquiring further IEG shares
Germany's Splendid Medien has decided not to exercise an option to acquire further shares in its US production subsidiary IEG.Taking up the option on 2% of IEG's stock would have made the German concern majority shareholder with a 51% stake. In an adhoc statement to Frankfurt's Neuer Markt, Splendid said ...
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Sales surge for Sony's game console-cum-DVD player
Sony's game console-cum-DVD player PlayStation 2 has weathered a bumpy start to rack up domestic shipments of four million by the end of 2000, company sources have revealed.Worldwide sales of the console are expected to pass the 11 million mark by the end of March, one year after its debut. ...
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Planeta takes Triumph, Legend Of Zu
Planeta 2010, the acquisitive media division of Spanish publishing giant Planeta, has picked up all local rights on The Triumph Of Love and The Legend Of Zu.Triumph, a romantic comedy starring Mira Sorvino and Ben Kingsley, is currently shooting in Tuscany under director Clair Peploe. Peploe co-wrote the script with ...