Small MPU – Page 1663
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Cinema Park wins Foodfight! for Russia, buys three more
Cinema Park, Russia's newestfilm company formed by Russian financial and metals conglomerate InterRosGroup, Nikita Mikhalkov's production company TRITE and Andrei Konchalovsky'sDVD distributor Movie Stream, closed its first major acquisitions at AFM led bySeven Arts Signature International's $60m animated feature Foodfight! being produced by Larry Kassanoff's ThresholdEntertainment.The vertically integratedCinema Park, which ...
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Artisan ups Jones to key marketing role
Artisan Entertainment has promoted marketing executive Amorette Jones to the newly created position of executive vice president, worldwide marketing, Artisan Pictures.Jones will continue to report to Artisan's president of worldwide marketing John Hegeman, but she will assume more of his duties while he takes a more active role in developing ...
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ContentFilm acquires The King with Garcia Bernal
Contentfilm has acquiredworldwide rights to The King, anew project by Monster's Ballscreenwriter Milo Addica which he co-wrote with James Marsh. Marsh will directthe film which will star Gael Garcia Bernal, the Mexican actor who will make ithis next film after Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education.The King will be produced by Addica ...
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8 Mile opens big in Korea for Universal/UIP
Universal's drama 8Mile grossed $2.9m from 1,469theatres in 25 markets over the weekend, raising its international runningtotal to $77.7m with 12 markets still to open. The picture had a strong Koreanbow with $524,000 from 75 screens, and took $18,000 from nine screens on itsopening day in Slovenia, marking Universal's fourth ...
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Miramax music president Spendlove renews contract
Randy Spendlove,Miramax's president of motion picture music, has re-signed with thecompany and will continue heading up the music department, Miramax co-chairmenBob and Harvey Weinstein announced today (Feb 25). Spendlove will remain inMiramax's Los Angeles office and will report directly to the Weinsteins.Directors of music Joe Rangel and Rachel Levy will ...
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Ordesky moves to senior production post at New Line
Mark Ordesky, the presidentof Fine Line Features and the production executive who oversaw New Line'sLord Of The Rings trilogy, hastaken a major step up in the New Line hierarchy being named executive vicepresident and chief operating officer of New Line Productions. He will reportdirectly to Toby Emmerich who is president ...
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Mercier to represent UK/Ireland for Cannes Directors' Fortnight
Cannes Directors' Fortnight has appointed Chris Mercier, former manager of international distribution at Universal Pictures International, as its UK/Ireland representative, artistic director François da Silva announced on Wednesday.Mercier, who also had a stint at Castle Rock International in London, will work with the British Council to source feature-length and short ...
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Hong Kong - the sequel means business
With box office for local films down by nearly 25%, last year marked a low point for the Hong Kong film industry. So it's hardly surprising that filmmakers are now revisiting familiar material. At least three sequels are set to start shooting in Hong Kong over the next few months ...
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Spanish cinema takes heart from new figures
The Spanish box office looks to have enjoyed a better year last year than estimates predicted, as new figures from the state film institute ICAA reveal.Meanwhile, local films have started the year off with a bang thanks to the record-breaking performance of Javier Fesser's comic book-inspired action-adventure Mortadelo & Filemon ...
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German politician urges Jackass boycott
On the eve of its German opening, a Bavarian politician has called on cinema-owners to drop Jackass - The Movie from their programmes.In a statement, Markus Soeder, who is chairman of the of the conservative Christian Social Union party's Media Committee, said that "the series and film contain repulsive and ...
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Digital cinema and piracy top ShoWest 2003 agenda
The roll-out of digital cinema and the growing threat of piracy are to be among the chief talking points when industry delegates convene in Las Vegas for ShoWest 2003. With domestic admissions reaching record levels in 2002 and the relatively low 2.5% hike in ticket prices compared to other entertainment ...
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India's Tata steps in to film production
Indian conglomerate the Tata Group has entered the Indian film production business, stepping in to rescue stalled production on Bollywood title Aitbaar.The company announced its plans to co-produce the big-budget movie, starring Bollywood super star Amitabh Bachchan and model-turned-Indian actress Bipasha Basu (pictured), after funding failed to materialise for producer ...
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INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION NEWS IN BRIEF
GOLDBACHER COMMITS TO POND LIFE'S CORDOVALONDON The Governess director Sandra Goldbacher has committed to direct period piece Cordova from a script by Wonderland writer Laurence Coriat. The project, based at UK production outfit Pond Life Filmed Entertainment, is an adaptation of a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield. The ...
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Audiovisual Eureka to close by end of June
The European Union's enlargement eastwards and changes in its membership have resulted in Audiovisual Eureka deciding to close down in June, leaving Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and states of the former Yugoslavia without a broad support programme.In a statement, the Brussels-based body explained the context for the decision: "the geopolitical developments ...
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Mixed bag for international box office markets last year
2002 was the year the US majors clawed back market share at the international box office after the previous 12 months which had seen homegrown hits enjoy an unprecedented period of glory in their local markets.Record-breaking audiences were seduced by the second instalments in the Harry Potter (Chamber Of Secrets) ...
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Israeli film industry mourns indie pioneer David Shapira
The Israeli film industry is mourning the sudden death of David Shapira (68), one of the most prominent independent film distributors in the country. A popular figure in the local film business, he founded Shapira Films with his wife Dalia, in 1968. He was a pioneer in arthouse film exhibition, ...
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Italy's RAI loses president and last board member
After days of political pressure, Antonio Baldassare, president of Italian state broadcaster RAI and final remaining board member Ettore Albertoni have agreed to step down from their positions - paving the way for new executive appointments to be made by Silvio Berlusconi's government.Current RAI management has only been in place ...
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Distant Horizon options Echoes Of Love From Heaven Above
Distant Horizon,Anant Singh's London, Los Angeles and South Africa-based entertainmentgroup whose production credits include Sarafina and Cry The Beloved Country, has optioned feature film rights toMickey Nivelli's acclaimed biography, Echoes Of Love From HeavensAbove. Based on the truelove story of Lotte Sommers, a young German Jew at the time of ...
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Halle Berry named honorary chair at Spirit Awards
Halle Berry, who won lastyear's best actress Oscar for Monster's Ball, will serve as the honorary chair for the 2003 IFPIndependent Spirit Awards. 'Halle Berry has been incredibly generous toindependent film with her talent and with her support,' Dawn Hudson,executive director of IFP/Los Angeles, said in a statement.Berry also won ...
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Constantin, Impact option Driver game for movie
Video game publisher Infogrames has optioned the featurefilm and television rights to its Drivergame franchise to German independent production and distribution companyConstantin Film. Constantin's subsidiary UK-based Impact Pictures -run by Jeremy Bolt and Paul Anderson - plans to take the project intoproduction this year with Paul W S Anderson (Resident ...