Small MPU – Page 4259
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New movie giant emerges in Asia
South Korean major CJ Entertainment signed a memorandum of understanding today to acquire a stake of up to 35.4% in Plenus Entertainment, the parent company of rival studio Cinema Service. The linking up of the two firms, which are by far the biggest film companies in Korea, is ...
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Paramount, SPC continue Sundance buying frenzy
Happy Accidents and Shadow Magic were the last two pictures to secure domestic distribution deals at this year's Sundance Film Festival, although offers are on the table for at least four more, making it one of the busiest, if most conservative, buyer frenzies in years.Paramount Classics is in the final ...
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German media funds raise over Euros 2bn in 2002
In spite of the German stock exchange crisis and the Federal Government dragging its feet on the future structure of its tax legislation, German investors channelled over Euros 2bn of equity into private media funds for national and international production in 2002.According to German fund specialist Vendura, the funds' overall ...
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Local market share slips (again) for Australian films
Australian films took only 4.9% or $24.7m (A$41.8m) of the total $498.9m (A$844.8) gross box office for 2002, compared to 7.8% in 2001 and 8% in 2000.However, according to the Australian Film Commission, the good news is that in only one other year on record did more films gross $590,000 ...
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Whale Rider riding high in Rotterdam
Two thirds of the way through the Rotterdam festival, Niki Caro's Whale Rider was streets ahead in the polls for the Canal Plus public prize. The film, which was previously an audience favourite in Toronto, appears in Rotterdam's main programme and received nearly three time as many votes as The ...
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Lock, Stock financier launches AV Pictures
Angad Paul, one of the businessmen that financed Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, has launched his own film business.The 31-year old executive has bought UK sales outfit Victor Film Co and formed AV Pictures with Victor chief, Vic Bateman. AV is a subsidiary of Caparo ...
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Women's Prison wins Amnesty Int'l award at Rotterdam
Women's Prison (Zendan-e Zanan) by Iranian director Manijeh Hekmat has won the first Amnesty International - DOEN Award of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). The Jury gave a Special Mention to Bus 174 (Onibus 174) by Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha.Ten films were nominated for the award. The jury consisted ...
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For better or worse - Canal Satelite Digital & Via Digital merge
Spain's two mammoth digital satellite pay-TV platforms are merging, an event which will drastically transform the Spanish media landscape - for better or worse.Partners Sogecable and Telefonica met the government's January 29 deadline for the merger of their platforms Canal Satelite Digital (CSD) and Via Digital. The merger of the ...
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Russian Ark breaks Los Angeles theatre foreign language record
US specialist distributorWellspring has reported that Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark has broken a house record at one of thecountry's most prestigious arthouse cinemas. The film has become thebiggest grossing foreign picture ever to screen at Landmark's NuartTheatre in Los Angeles with a $53,967 haul from one week (Jan 3-9).After opening ...
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AFMA hires Michael Kananack to spearhead recruitment drive
Veteran filmsales agent Michael Kananack has been brought in as manager of membershipdevelopment at AFMA to spearhead a recruitment drive for the LA-based tradeassociation, which currently represents 160 independent film and televisionproducers and distributors worldwide. He will report directly to director ofmember services Natasha Berechko.Kananack's arrival comes at an important ...
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Promark debuts three new Clubhouse Detectives films at AFM
Promark Entertainment Group,Jon Kramer's 15-year-old US and UK-based production and sales outfit, today(Jan 29) announced plans for three further instalments in its ClubhouseDetectives franchise that will beavailable for pre-sales at next month's AFM. Following on from the success of themost recent Clubhouse Detectivespictures, the company plans to begin production on ...
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Genies favour Felicia's Journey
Atom Egoyan's Felicia's Journey won four Genie Awards, including the best actor accolade for Bob Hoskins and best adapted screenplay for Egoyan, at the 20th edition of the Canadian film awards ceremony in Toronto on Sunday night. Alliance Atlantis' Sunshine, which had 14 nominations, many of them multiple nods in ...
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Ontario passes Breillat's Fat Girl uncut
Catherine Breillat'scontroversial Fat Girl will bereleased uncut in Ontario, more than a year after its initial rejection by theCanadian province's censors. The film, which has screened uncut in severalother provinces, was waylaid in November 2001 by the Ontario Film Review Board (OFRB),which objected to the depiction of sexual activity by ...
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Santa Barbara Film Fest unveils 2003 lineup under Fitzgerald
Ten world premieres areamong the line-up of more than 100 pictures for the 18th Santa BarbaraInternational Film Festival (SBIFF), which also features three new competitivesections - American Independent, Documentary and International. Announcing theprogramme today (Jan 29), SBIFF's new executive director Jon Fitzgerald saidthe event would also screen 11 US premieres ...
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Catch Me starts running in Europe
Steven Spielberg's latest film Catch Me If You Can received a strong positive reception in Spain this week, where it started its European roll out ahead of a mass launch next weekend.The UIP release claimed $2.2m (Euros 2m) from 286 screens in the territory to take the top spot away ...
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Russia spawns rival awards events
Russia's new Academy of Film Art founded by director Nikita Mikhalkov has rolled out the first ever edition of its new awards for cinema excellence the Golden Eagles. But the awards which are being touted as Russia's answer to the Oscars have sparked a major controversy as they are competing ...
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Toshiba to buy Japan's Amuse Pictures
Toshiba Corp. has announced the purchase of Amuse Pictures, the film and video distribution subsidiary of Amuse Inc. Toshiba will acquire 67% of Amuse Pictures shares on April 1 and the remainder by October. Also, Amuse Pictures will transfer its 73.5% stake in Amuse Soft Sales, a video and DVD ...
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Norway funds two new features from Maipo
The Norwegian Film Fund has greenlighted two new projects from Maipo Film, the outfit behind the local box office phenomenon Elling.Bent, Frank & Susie is based on The Jealous Hairdresser a short story by Norway's number one best-selling author Lars Saabye Christensen. Annette Sjursen's directing debut tells the story of ...
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Pathe plays Hopscotch with the Australians
Australian distributor Hopscotch has teamed up with London-based production, distribution and sales outfit Pathe to co-develop Australian films. Those that get made are likely to be distributed by Hopscotch in Australia, and by Pathe in the UK and France. Pathe will also handle international sales."Everyone sits around and talks about ...
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Berlinale awash with Talent
Festival directors know only too well that luck as well as judgement determines the strength or weakness of their competition programmes. The state of world cinema may vary enormously year by year - Cannes head Gilles Jacob has even admitted in the past that his programme has merely been the ...