Small MPU – Page 146

  • News

    RGM to co-finance Winged Creatures starring Forest Whitaker

    2007-03-26T12:25:00Z

    Singapore-based media financing company RGM Entertainment is co-funding and executive producing Winged Creatures, its third international project under the Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF) in collaboration with the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA). Directed by Rowan Woods, the ensemble drama is about survivors of a random restaurant shooting. The cast ...

  • News

    AAM to offer digital VOD service to Cannes Market

    2007-03-26T12:40:00Z

    Cannes' Marche du Film and Arts Alliance Media have announced a new partnership that will enable international buyers and sellers to watch films and projects for sale via the Internet from anywhere in the world. The new business-to-business video-on-demand service, Vizumi Pro, can replace the traditional posting of screeners. 'It's ...

  • News

    First co-production between Israel and Australia gets underway

    2007-03-26T13:07:00Z

    Joel Edgerton, Ben Mendelsohn and Claudia Karvan have joined Geoffrey Rush and Anthony LaPaglia as the voice cast for the animated film $9.99, the first co-production between Israel and Australia. The project has just started shooting in Sydney. New York-based director Tatia Rosenthal co-wrote the film with Israeli writer Etgar ...

  • News

    Film Council set for funding boost

    2000-08-01T13:08:00Z

    UK film body the Film Council stands to get the lion's share of a $3m (£2m) boost in annual government funding.The funding, announced by the government as part of last month's spending review, is expected to be split between the Film Council and the National Film and Television School (NFTS). ...

  • News

    BT Vision Download adds films from Warner Bros

    2007-03-26T15:01:00Z

    British Telecom has announced new content deals for its BT Vision Download Store, a UK-based download-to-own service. Warner Bros will let the BT service offer downloads of recent films including Happy Feet, The Prestige, A Scanner Darkly, and franchises including the Batman films, the Harry Potter series and the Matrix ...

  • News

    Paramount nabs multiple territories on Sleuth starring Jude Law

    2007-03-26T15:15:00Z

    Paramount Pictures International has acquired UK, Australia, New Zealand and South African rights to Kenneth Branagh's Sleuth. The film, recently shot at the UK's Twickenham Film Studios, stars Jude Law and Michael Caine in an updated version of Anthony Shaffer's play, with a new script by Harold Pinter. The screenplay ...

  • News

    UTV and ROMP reunite for four films over three years

    2007-03-26T15:31:00Z

    Indian entertainment conglomerate UTV and filmmaker Rakeysh Mehra's company Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions (ROMP),which teamed up for last year's hit film Rang De Basanti, have reunited. Together they will invest $64.9m (Rs2.8bn)in four films to be produced over three years. Among the films, to be directed by Mehra, are Dilli-6 ...

  • News

    Indian film industry to double in value to $4bn in five years

    2007-03-26T15:31:00Z

    India 's film industry is estimated to more than double in value to $4.05bn (Rs175bn) by 2011, compared to the $1.96bn (Rs84.5bn) it was worth in 2006, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report presented at the FICCI-Frames conference in Mumbai today. Domestic box office, which was worth $1.48bn (Rs64bn) in 2006, ...

  • News

    Kadokawa returns to directing with historic love story

    2007-03-26T22:00:00Z

    Genghis Khan producer Haruki Kadokawa has announced his return to the director's chair after a 10-year absence. At a press conference held in central Tokyo yesterday, Kadokawa announced he will direct a film starring 17-year-old Korean actress Ara, who made her film debut in a supporting role in the producer's ...

  • News

    CobraVision competition grows to 50-second shorts

    2007-03-26T16:12:00Z

    CobraVision, Cobra Beer's short film competition, is introducing a new format in its third year. For the past two years, CobraVision had screened slots of 10 five-second films during advertising breaks on itv2, itv3 and itv4. From May 1, the five-second slots will be replaced with a 50-second film playing ...

  • News

    Film London adds companies to work placement scheme

    2007-03-26T16:20:00Z

    Film London's Company Placement Scheme has added some new companies in its second year, including Film & Music Entertainment (F&ME), Headline Pictures, Ipso Facto and Warp X. Returning companies in the scheme include Diverse Productions, Number 9 Films and Tigerlily Films. The scheme offers six-month paid work placements to those ...

  • News

    Huayi's The Assembly adds new mainland China funding partners

    2007-03-26T16:24:00Z

    Shanghai Film Group, Beijing New Film Group and Zhejiang Film and TV Group announced that they will partner with Huayi Brothers to invest in Feng Xiaogang's $10m war movie The Assembly. The three groups signed the partnership deal Monday in Beijing. Together with Huayi Brothers, the four mainland Chinese investors ...

  • News

    Filmstreet gets rights to Beatles-signed band's story

    2007-03-26T16:29:00Z

    Los Angeles-based Filmstreet Productions has taken the film rights to new book All You Need Is Luck or How I Got A Record Deal By Meeting Paul McCartney. Paul Tennant's book is about three teenage musicians in Liverpool in 1967 who became the first group signed to the Beatles' Apple ...

  • News

    Revolver takes prizes for Kidulthood DVD marketing

    2007-03-26T16:35:00Z

    Indie distributor Revolver Entertainment beat the major studios at the British Video Association Awards 2007, taking the Best Feature Film Marketing Award for the DVD release of urban drama Kidulthood. The judges, which picked the Kidulthood campaign over those for bigger releases including Cars and The Da Vinci Code, said: ...

  • News

    Wowow subscriber levels reach six-month high

    2000-08-01T13:10:00Z

    Japan's Wowow recorded 2,550,874 subscribers at the end of June, the first time the satellite broadcaster has passed the 2.5 million mark in six months. Wowow officials attributed the boost to its Digital Passport promotional campaign which features free sign-ups, fee discounts and live broadcasts of European soccer. However nearly ...

  • News

    Artificial Eye buys Rivette and Costanzo titles after Berlin

    2007-03-27T04:00:00Z

    UK distributor Artificial Eye has announced two more acquisitions on the back of the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. The company has taken UK rights to Jacques Rivette's Don't Touch The Axe (Ne Touchez Pas La Hache) starring Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, Michel Piccoli and Bulle Ogier. It also acquired Saverio ...

  • News

    Harper named Regency chairman and CEO

    2007-03-26T22:47:00Z

    Fox Filmed Entertainment (FFE) vice chairman Robert Harper has been named chairman and chief executive officer of Regency Filmed Entertainment. He replaces David Matalon who left the company earlier this month to return to his own production company.Harper will oversee Fox-based Regency's film production unit, New Regency Productions, as well ...

  • News

    Emerging to screen Global Film Initiative programmes in US cinemas

    2007-03-26T23:24:00Z

    Distributor Global Film Initiative (GFI) is expanding its reach through a deal with Emerging Pictures that enables GFI's touring Global Lens 2007 series to screen in digitally equipped cinemas. 'Up to now we have been limited by the costs and logistics of screening only 35mm film,' GFI executive director Kristin ...

  • News

    Du Toit returns as programming co-director at PSIFF 08

    2007-03-26T23:49:00Z

    The Palm Springs International Film Festival has announced that Helen du Toit will return as co-director of programming alongside the current director of programming Carl Spence for the 2008 edition.Du Toit most recently served as programme director of the Vancouver Film and Television Forum, and also programmed for various film ...

  • News

    Pinewood Shepperton sees turnover up 22% in 2006

    2007-03-27T11:29:00Z

    Pinewood Shepperton today released its preliminary results for the year ended Dec 31 2006. It was a robust year for the company, with turnover up 22% at $80m (£40.7m) and operating profit 'before exceptional items' up 70% at $17.9m (£9.1m).The company's increasing diversification into television also seems to be bearing ...