Small MPU – Page 1869
-
News
Nadia Bronson quits Universal after 24 years
The only senior executive with a French background has resigned from Universal Pictures which recently came under the French ownership of Vivendi. International marketing veteran Nadia Bronson has left Universal after 24 years at the studio following the promotion last year of domestic marketing chief Marc Shmuger to vice chairman ...
-
News
Overseas Filmgroup renamed First Look Media
21 year-old Overseas Filmgroup has been renamed First Look Media, incorporating five divisions - Overseas Filmgroup, First Look Pictures, First Look Home Entertainment, First Look Artists and First Look Internet.Co-chairmen Robbie Little and Chris Cooney announced the reorganisation yesterday to reflect the expansion of the company following a $17m equity ...
-
News
Kamp set to step down as Icon sales chief
Ralph Kamp is understood to be close to stepping down as chief executive of Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey's London-based sales operation Icon Entertainment International.The move would come despite Icon's success this year with UK comedy Kevin And Perry Go Large, which Kamp executive produced, and US product including the ...
-
News
Berlin confirms Enemy At The Gates as opener
The Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed that it will open next month with Jean-Jacques Annaud's $90m Stalingrad epic Enemy At The Gates.The true-life story set against the battle of Stalingrad stars Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Bob Hoskins, plus local talent such as Matthias Habich ...
-
News
AOL, Time Warner poised to get merger greenlight
Time Warner shares rose 8% this week as market expectations grew that the last piece of the regulatory jigsaw delaying America Online (AOL)'s takeover of the media giant is about to fall into place.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to give its approval to the deal some time this ...
-
News
UK production outfit Talisman appoints film head
Hans Baernhoft has stepped down as head of film and TV at UK production house Cylo Film to join Talisman Films, the UK production outfit best known for 1995's Rob Roy.Baernhoft aims to step up feature activities at Talisman, which was set up in 1991 to develop and produce theatrical ...
-
News
Eichinger's Constantin confirms Perfume adaptation
Constantin Film chief Bernd Eichinger has beaten off rival bids from several directors and producers to acquire the exclusive film rights to Patrick Sueskind's international bestseller, Perfume; the story of a murderer.Once linked to Stanley Kubrick, Sueskind's 1985 German novel has been translated into 37 languages and was voted Book ...
-
News
Broadcasting chief exits at Spain's Antena 3
Juan Jose Diaz is stepping down as general director of broadcasts at Antena 3 Television.According to a statement from the broadcaster, Diaz "has reached an agreement with the channel to leave his position in the company and confront new professional challenges."In his position as general director of broadcasts, which he ...
-
News
Italy to take record nine films to Berlin festival
Next month's Berlin International Film Festival is set to screen a bumper crop of nine Italian films including two competition titles, Italian film promotion body Italia Cinema announced on Wednesday.The body confirmed that Giuseppe Tornatore's coming-of-age film Malena and Ferzan Ozpetek's drama Ignorant Fairies (Fate Ignoranti) have made the official ...
-
News
Australian critics nominate Chopper, The Dish
Chopper and The Dish led the annual awards nominations from the Film Critics Circle of Australia.The two pictures took nine nominations each, including best film and director. Innocence and Looking For Alibrandi will also be competing for best film and director when the awards are presented on February 9 in ...
-
News
Ted Turner moves on stake in Russia's NTV station
CNN founder Ted Turner has emerged as the front-runner to buy a stake in leading Russian independent TV station NTV after rival Rupert Murdoch decided not to pursue talks, according to wire reports on Wednesday.Turner is expected to pick up a stake of around a quarter of NTV, the network ...
-
News
Myriad sells on Chen Kaige's Killing Me Softly
US-based Myriad Pictures has racked up a string of international sales on Chen Kaige's English-language debut, Killing Me Softly. The erotic thriller, which stars Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes, has sold to European distributors including Metropolitan in France, Telepool in Germany, Tri Pictures in Spain and Scanbox in Scandinavia. Other ...
-
News
Korean murder mystery breaks admissions record
A murder mystery film thought to be Korea's first film shot on Super-35mm, has become the country's highest grossing film with 5.8 million admissions.Tipped for a slot at next month's Berlin International Film Festival, possibly in competition, Joint Security Area portrays the secret friendship between a group of North and ...
-
News
IFC Films picks up Modern Cannibal Tale docu
IFC Films, the domestic theatrical releasing division of the Independent Film Channel's IFC Entertainment, has acquired North American distribution rights to its fourth film - David and Laurie Gwen Shapiro's documentary Keep The River On Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale - from New York-based Next Wave Films, itself ...
-
News
RAI Cinema picks up four from Intermedia, New Line
Italy's RAI Cinema has bought a three-picture package from Intermedia including Harrison Ford-starrer K19: The Widowmaker as well as Irwin Winkler's family drama Life As A House from New Line International. The films were acquired on RAI's behalf by Lakeshore International which has signed an exclusive multi-year acquisition agency agreement ...
-
News
Two Soderbergh movies could split the vote
Steven Soderbergh, nominated just once before for his original screenplay of sex, lies and videotape in 1989, has swiftly and effortlessly assumed the mantle of America's most intelligent film-maker with a string of entertaining and provocative films. But while he's won every critics' award going for Erin Brockovich and Traffic ...
-
News
Unbreakable broken as local comedy hogs number one
Homegrown comedy Chiedimi Se Sono Felice (Ask Me If I'm Happy) has largely eclipsed Hollywood fare such as Unbreakable at the Italian box office, grossing $3,040,867 in its fourth weekend from 269 theatres.Co-directed by and starring local comic trio Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo, the film has taken a massive $23m ...
-
News
Japan's Toei readies SFX-laden ninja picture
Japan's Toei and Kadokawa Shoten Publishing are teaming to make Red Shadow, an effects-heavy ninja film based on a popular 1960s comic.Music video and commercial director Hiroyuki Nakano is to shoot the project for a summer 2001 release, making it Toei's big film of the season. The director's 1998 feature ...
-
News
Sogecable takes stake in Canal Technologies
Spanish multimedia group Sogecable has taken a 3.23% stake in France's Canal Plus Technologies in a deal valued at Euros 49.7m.The acquisition was made jointly with Sony and Thomson Multimedia for an overall 9.7% share in Canal Plus Technologies, a leading digital TV technology provider. As part of the deal, ...
-
News
RTL exits German pay-TV sector
Luxembourg-based RTL Group has withdrawn from the German pay-TV sector, exercising an option to sell its remaining 5% stake in pay-TV channel Premiere to majority shareholder KirchGroup. RTL's sale price of the Euro 124m holding follows its disposal of a 45% interest in the loss-making pay-TV operation to Kirch for ...