Small MPU – Page 553

  • News

    Celluloid Dreams starts sales for The Elementary Particles

    2006-01-31T12:52:00Z

    French sales agent CelluloidDreams has kicked off sales on Berlin Competition entry The Elementary Particles, with Lucky Red picking up the Oskar Roehler-directed title forItaly, ABC/Cinemien taking Benelux, Ekaterinburg Art weighting in for Russia and HollywoodClassics coming on board for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.Based on Michael Houellebecq's worldwide bestseller ...

  • News

    Film London launches low-budget film scheme

    2006-01-31T14:10:00Z

    Screen agency Film London has announced a new low-budgetfilm scheme in the UK,Microwave, which will fund ten low-budget films in the next three years. Each project can get up to $133,000 (£75,000) cash funding through FilmLondon (including some BBC support), and film-makers can also raise additionalsupport up to a total ...

  • News

    78th Academy Award nominations

    2006-01-31T00:00:00Z

    78th Academy Award Nominees: Best Picture Brokeback Mountain Capote Crash Good Night, And Good Luck Munich Best Director Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain Bennett Miller - Capote Paul Haggis - Crash George Clooney - Good Night, And Good Night Steven Spielberg ...

  • News

    Tornasol Films to back new prize at Guadalajara

    2006-01-31T14:32:00Z

    Spanish producer Tornasol Filmsis backing a new prize for the winning film at the two-day Ibero-American Co-Production Meeting of Mexico's Guadalajara International Film Festival (March 24-31).Tornasol will bring $302,812 (250,000Euros) to the winning film as co-producer, taking an agreed upon percentage ofthe production depending on the budget. The winner is ...

  • News

    Tony Grierson joins Sydney Film Festival as CEO

    2006-01-31T14:51:00Z

    Tony Grierson is to leave his roleas head of distribution and finance at the NSW Film & Television Office andjoin the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) as chiefexecutive from February 16.He was executive officer of Queer Screen for the four yearsup to 1999, has worked at Beyond Distribution, and has held ...

  • News

    Minghella renews role as BFI chair

    2006-01-31T14:54:00Z

    Director Anthony Minghella hasbeen reappointed as chair of the British Film Institute.Minghella's second three-year termtakes effect immediately."I am very happy to be able to renew my commitment to the bfi," Minghella said."These past three years have been a time of scrutiny and transition. Theorganisation is emerging from that period with ...

  • News

    Filmax to distribute Lauren Films' catalogue of titles

    2006-01-31T17:20:00Z

    Spain'sFilmax has signed a deal to distribute Lauren Films'catalogue of titles on DVD in Spain.Starting this month, Filmax willhandle all Lauren catalogue titles and new releases. Recent titles include Beautiful Boxer andThe Importance OfBeing Ernest, while among the cataloguetitles encompassed by the dealare The English Patient, The Cider HouseRules, Life ...

  • News

    Chinese masters crank up new productions

    2006-01-31T00:00:00Z

    Two of mainland China's leading film-makers - Zhang Yimou and Jiang Wen -are currently working on new projects that look set to raise considerableinterest in international markets.Following his quietdrama Riding Alone ForThousands Of Miles, Zhang Yimou is returning to the big-budget arenawith a $45m costume drama, starring Chow Yun-fat and ...

  • News

    Chello puts back flotation for second time

    2000-06-07T15:02:00Z

    Mark Schneider, chairman and chief executive of Dutch cable network giant UPC, said on Wednesday (June 7) that the flotation of its Chello Broadband division would not go ahead as planned on Friday, June 9. The float had already been postponed for at least a week, last Wednesday (May 31).The ...

  • News

    Brokeback Mountain leads Oscar nominations

    2006-01-31T00:00:00Z

    Focus Features' Brokeback Mountain confirmed its reputation as the frontrunner for this year's 78th Annual Academy Awards with eight nominations, as Hollywood's specialty divisions dominated the major categories with a raft of provocative work.Ang Lee's acclaimed drama wasnominated for best picture, director, lead actor for Heath Ledger, supportingactor for Jake ...

  • News

    MPAA names two key appointees

    2006-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Lisa M Pierozzi has joined the MPAA as chief financial officer andexecutive vice president of finance and administration and will begin work inthe Los Angeles office on Feb 6.In addition, Michael Robinson becomes the new director of US anti-piracy operationsand assumed his position early last week.He will report to executive ...

  • News

    Village Roadshow expands co-production war-chest

    2006-02-01T00:00:00Z

    The Village Roadshow Pictures Group (VRPG) has increased its film facilityfrom $900m to $1.4bn and extended the term of the deal until January 2011.Those close to the move said it would enable VRPG, the recentlyformed strategic alliance between Village Roadshow and Crescent Entertainment,to substantially expand its co-production capabilities.The company has ...

  • News

    Oscar race heralds new breed of daring financier

    2006-02-01T00:00:00Z

    As befits the provocative subject-matter that characterises thisyear's Academy Awards race, the major Oscar categories are dominated by storiespartly bankrolled by a dynamic new breed of wealthy financier willing to takethe kind of production risks being increasingly outsourced by studioconglomerates.Of the five best picture nominees, Brokeback Mountain was made for ...

  • News

    Shochiku, Celluloid Dreams join forces for Hana

    2006-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Japan's Shochiku and France's Celluloid Dreams have partnered to handleinternational sales of Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's upcoming samuraidrama Hana (Hana Yori Mo Naho). Celluloid Dreams will handleEuropean sales for the film while Shochiku's international sales division handlesthe rest of the world. The deal marks the firstcollaboration between the two companies, ...

  • News

    Sleeper hit becomes Korea's third biggest ever film

    2006-02-01T14:36:00Z

    Korean sleeper hit King And The Clown has clocked up morethan 8.2 million admissions, making it Korea's third biggest box office hit of all time after Taegukgi with 11.7 million admissionsand Silmido with 11 million. A month after the film'srelease, local distributor Cinema Service upped the number of screens from ...

  • News

    Japan's box office down by 6% according to Eiren

    2006-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Japan's box office generated $1.69bn (Y198bn) in 2005, a 6% decrease from2004, according to data released by the Motion Picture Producers Association ofJapan (Eiren). This was in line with a dropin admissions from 170 million in 2004 to just over 160 million last year. Figures were more positivefrom a domestic ...

  • News

    Luc Besson to attend Cinema and Literature Forum

    2006-02-01T11:58:00Z

    The fifth annual International Cinema and Literature Forumis set to welcome Luc Besson this year for a roundtable on adapting works for young adults. Besson iscurrently adapting his own children's book to the big screen in the big-budget Arthur And The Minimoys. The Forum runs from April 7-9 in Monte ...

  • News

    Czech box office at lowest level since 2001

    2006-02-01T13:14:00Z

    Czech distributors knew early in the year that 2005 wouldnot be a record-breaker, but that didn't make the year's bitter figures easierto swallow. Box office admissions and sales both fell in 2005 more than 20%below 2004 level dropping to their lowest levels since 2001. December was theonly month that saw ...

  • News

    Czech box office at lowest level since 2001

    2006-02-01T13:47:00Z

    Czech distributors knew early in the year that 2005 wouldnot be a record-breaker, but that didn't make the year's bitter figures easierto swallow. Box office admissions and sales both fell in 2005 more than 20%below 2004 level dropping to their lowest levels since 2001.Box office for the territory slipped 22.7% ...

  • News

    Canal Plus to sponsor Deauville fest

    2000-06-07T15:03:00Z

    Canal Plus is to become the principal sponsor of the Deauville Festival of American Film.The value of the endorsement by the pay-TV giant was not disclosed, but the contract is understood to cover three years from 2000 to 2002. The move appears to underscore the revival of Deauville, which is ...