Small MPU – Page 1671
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News
Lopez has it Maid in the UK
Columbia TriStar's Maid In Manhattan made good in the UK last weekend, with the Jennifer Lopez vehicle claiming the top spot and a three-day gross of $3.9m from 422 sites.Despite poor reviews, that's a sterling site average of over $9,000 for the rags-to-riches romantic comedy, in which J-Lo plays a ...
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Gary Oldman to star in Dead Fish
Gary Oldman, one of the UK's most bankable stars, is confirmed to star in Dead Fish, an $11m thriller about a locksmith and a contract killer who accidentally switch mobile phones. Dead Fish is being directed by Charley Stadler, a top Munich-based commercials director making his feature debut. The ...
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News
Universal Video restructures following UPI closure
The UK arm of Universal Pictures Video (UPV) has restructured its management team as a result of the closure of theatrical operation United Pictures International (UPI).Eddie Cunningham, previously UPV managing director, will become chairman of UPV, reporting directly to Peter Smith, president of Universal Pictures International. Cunningham replaces David Kosse, ...
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Jade Warrior finds finance after Screen International Summit
Jade Warrior, a film pitched at the Screen International European Film Finance Summit in Berlin, has now been financed and will shoot at the end of this year. San Fu Maltha's Dutch production house Fu Works has boarded the film which is being produced by Tero Kaukomaa of Finland's Blind ...
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Skolimowski to return to film-making after 10-year absence.
Polish film-maker Jerzy Skolimowski, who won awards at both Cannes and Berlin, is set to return to film-making after a 10-year absence. Working with producer Jeremy Thomas, Skolimowski is developing Las Vegas-set project: The System on a budget likely to be around $12m, with the director aiming for an autumn ...
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New Zealand film industry calls for tax breaks
Key members of the New Zealand film industry have called on the country's government to introduce tax incentives to encourage private investment in the local industry. The recommendation, which forms part of the findings of a specially appointed Screen Production Industry Taskforce, says that tax incentives should be available to ...
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Rance joins Spain's City of Light studio complex
Spanish studio complex City of Light (Ciudad de la Luz) has contracted former Pinewood Studios executive David Rance as its operations manager.Rance worked for nine years at Pinewood, where he also oversaw operations. In his new position he will co-ordinate the new complex's services to the requirements of each production.Still ...
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Argentinian actors voice concern over use of non-professionals
Argentina's actors' union is to look into limiting the number of amateur actors allowed to be cast in feature films in response to protests by local actors against the trend in the New Argentine Cinema to use non-professionals.At a heated meeting between representatives of the Asociacion Argentina de Actores and ...
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News
Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum to feature 24 new projects
Top name directors including Taiwan's Tsai Ming Liang and Chang Tso Chi, Australia's Clara Law, Hong Kong's Mabel Cheung, Korea's Jang Sun Woo and Thailand's Nonzee Nimibutr are among the 24 artists unveiling their next projects at the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) next month (April 7-9).HAF, which ...
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Canal Plus to announce lay-offs today
The axe falls today. A long anticipated announcement will come from Canal Plus' Paris headquarters regarding what could turn out to be massive lay-offs. Although Canal management is keeping quiet about what the news will entail, Bertrand Meheut, the newly-installed president of Canal Plus told French daily La Tribune, "I ...
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News
French films see increase in foreign investment
French film production is still up, foreign investment is high but local investment is slowing, according to latest figures from France's National Cinema Centre (CNC). Two hundred films were produced in France in 2002, 163 of which were majority French efforts. Those figures are down, but only slightly, from 2001 ...
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News
Fries and Sneller launch US home video distribution arm
Independent film producersJeffrey Sneller (The Adventures of Pinocchio) and Charles Fries have formed home entertainmentdistribution company Santa Barbara Home Video, a distribution subsidiary ofSanta Barbara Filmed-Entertainment that they say will give film-makers greateropportunity to participate in the marketing of their films.Santa Barbara Home Videowill distribute its own productions as well ...
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News
Iron Ladies 2 enjoys huge opening in Thailand
Iron Ladies 2, the sequel cum prequel to the 2000 Thai smash,opened in Thailand with a blockbusting 37m Baht ($0.88m) in its first threedays over the weekend, a 78% increase on the original's opening total of20.8m Baht ($0.49m). Produced and distributed in Thailand by VisutePoolvoralaks' Tai Entertainment Co, the film ...
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Nora premiere to open Dublin Film Festival
This year's Dublin Film Festival (April 6-16) will open with the world premiere of Nora, directed by Pat Murphy, about the early relationship between Nora Barnacle and novelist James Joyce.The screening will take place at UGC's city centre Virgin Cinema and the lead cast of Ewan McGregor, Susan Lynch and ...
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News
Golden Network Asia arrives at AFM with expansive slate
Golden Network Asia, one of only two specialist film sales companies from Hong Kong, has arrived at AFM with a busy slate and promise of further expansion following financial restructuringCompany principal Carrie Wong is currently finalising a raft of new finance that will allow the company to expand its activities ...
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Mirovision sells Sword abroad
Mirovision has achieved record prices in several territories for its martial arts period piece Sword Piece to Nobelo & Partners in Scandinavia, Metro Tartan in the UK and A-Film in The Netherlands. The same three buyers all grabbed horror title Phone, which also went to Rapi Films for Indonesia. Older ...
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Reviews
Spare Parts (Rezervni Deli)
Dir: Damjan Kozole. Slovenia. 2003. 87 mins.Three films in competition at this year's Berlin dealt with the trade in illegal immigrants towards the European Union: Michael Winterbottom's Golden Bear winner In This World; FIPRESCI prize winner Distant Lights (Lichter), by German director Hans-Christian Schmid; and this small but well-crafted Slovenian ...
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Reviews
Babij Jar
Dir. Jeff Kanew. Germany-Belarus, 2003. 108mins.Babij Jar is the kind of entry that festivals will find hard to reject, but once accepted, will tear their hair out trying to find a slot for. Devoting a fictional film to one of the most barbarous massacres of WW2 is a praiseworthy initiative ...
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Reviews
You Can't Stop The Murders
Dir: Anthony Mir. Australia. 2003. 97mins.Miramax Australia's first local distribution purchase since upgrading its Sydney office is, bravely, a gentle humanistic comedy from a director making his "first film ever of any kind". Anthony Mir is a local stand-up comedian, and his feature debut, You Can't Stop The Murders is, ...
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Canal Plus announces staff redundancies
Following a meeting with union representatives, Canal Plus today released details of a long-anticipated redundancy program at the company. Out of a total 3,038 France-based employees, 305 are set to lose their jobs over the coming months. In a press release Canal explained that the layoffs are part of a ...