All articles by Staff writers – Page 10
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Culture ministers greenlight Media Plus budget
EU culture ministers have voted unanimously to accept a budget of Euros400m for the European Commission's audiovisual programme MEDIA Plus. The UK, Germany and the Netherlands had initially opposed the budget which is already Euros150m lower than the sum proposed by the European Parliament. MEDIA Plus' predecessor, MEDIA II, had ...
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Dutch drama All Stars shines at Int'l Emmys
Dutch TV series All Stars was the surprise winner in the drama category at this year's International Emmys in New York on Monday night (Nov 20), beating hotly tipped UK mini-series Warriors, which has already clinched several major awards so far this year.All Stars, a spin-off of Jean van de ...
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Saudi prince in talks for Sky Global stake
Saudi financier Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is in talks to invest in Rupert Murdoch's global satellite business, Sky Global Networks, according to the UK's Financial Times.The prince already holds a 3% stake in Murdoch's News Corp, and is also an investor, along with Murdoch, in German media group Kirch. Microsoft ...
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Taiwan's Eastern, Pacific team for digital TV
A potent pay-TV rights buying force emerged in Taiwan this week after two of the country's most powerful communications groups announced they would combine to launch a $200m digital TV joint venture.The new company is to launch by the end of the year or early 2001 with equal investment from ...
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EIB set to unveil audiovisual fund
Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture and Audiovisual Policy, has announced that the EU's European Investment Bank (EIB) will unveil details of a venture capital fund for film and TV production within the next two weeks.The fund, which was anticipated (ScreenDaily, October 6), will be used to leverage ...
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Bertelsmann, EMI confirm merger talks
Germany's Bertelsmann and UK music company EMI have confirmed that they are in talks about merging their music assets. Privately-owned Bertelsmann has reportedly proposed folding its music arm into EMI in return for a majority stake in the company, which is listed on London's Stock Exchange.The talks follow a series ...
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Contact 2000 co-production market unveils line-up
Contact Europe 2000, a co-production market aiming to connect North American and European projects with potential financiers from both regions, has announced a line-up of 22 projects for its second edition, set to roll November 24-26 in Berlin. Titles seeking funding include Peter Greenaway's The Tulse Luper Suitcase and Robert ...
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Daldry renews pact with Working Title
Hot UK director Stephen Daldry, whose debut Billy Elliot has become both a critical and box office sensation on home turf, has signed a three-year deal with Working Title Films to direct a minimum of two films. The pact follows on from Working Title's previous first-look arrangement with Daldry which ...
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Bertelsmann restructure prompts top execs to quit
BMG Entertainment's top two executives - chairman Michael Dornemann and president and CEO Strauss Zelnick - are leaving their posts as part of a wide-ranging reorganisation of parent company Bertelsmann.In a statement, Bertelsmann said that Dornemann will step down from the company's board on December 31 and will quit the ...
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Blue Dolphin to reissue MGM library titles
The UK's Blue Dolphin Film & Video is teaming up with Hollywood Classics and MGM to handle and distribute the MGM Library, which incorporates MGM/UA, Orion, PolyGram and Cannon for theatrical and non-theatrical distribution in the UK.This library is the largest film library in the world with a range of ...
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UK regulator appoints Morris as policy director
The Independent Television Commission, which regulates private TV in the UK, has appointed Dominic Morris to the new position of director of policy. Morris has been controller, policy development at the BBC since 1996, where he was responsible for leading the corporate policy function of the public broadcaster covering both ...
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Rosetta takes honours at Belgian Oscars
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's Rosetta took four Joseph Plateau Awards for Belgian Cinema at this year's 16th edition of the Night Of Cinema Musica, dubbed the Belgian Oscars. The Palme d'Or winning film picked up the prizes for best actress, best director, best film and top grossing Belgian film. Meanwhile, ...
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Microsoft in talks for Sky Global stake
Microsoft is in talks to take a small minority stake in Rupert Murdoch's global satellite platform Sky Global Networks, according to The Wall Street Journal.The deal would make Microsoft the second high-profile investor in Sky Global following John Malone's Liberty Media which signed up for a 4.76% stake last month ...
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Amores Perros takes top prize at Flanders
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's Amores Perros took the Grand Prize of the Flemish Community at the 27th Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent.Other prize winners included Lukas Moodysson's Together, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Faithless. A big local winner was Pleure Pas Germaine, directed by Alain de Halleux, which took three ...
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ONdigital postpones float; doubles subscribers
UK digital terrestrial broadcaster ONdigital has reportedly postponed its planned flotation until next spring, due to unfavourable market conditions and parent company Granada Media's recent share slide.Granada and Carlton Communications, the two ITV companies that each own 50% of ONdigital, had been expected to sell about 20% of the pay-TV ...
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UPC in talks to buy Germany's Tele-Columbus
Dutch cable giant UPC has confirmed that it is in talks with Deutsche Bank to acquire Germany's second-largest cable TV company, Tele-Columbus, in a deal worth about $1.3bn.The deal forms part of UPC's plans to build a broadband network across Europe, offering telephony and high-speed internet access. The Dutch company ...
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Lachlan Murdoch rises at News Corp
Rupert Murdoch's eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, has been appointed deputy COO at News Corp, making him the company's third highest ranking executive behind his father and president and COO Peter Chernin. The 29-year-old is currently in charge of News Corp's US print and publishing operations, and has been chairman and ...
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Leak bags four Golden Calves at Netherlands fest
Jean van de Velde's Leak (Lek) grabbed four top awards, including the Golden Calves for best feature and best director, at this year's 20th Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht (September 20-29). The film, hotly tipped as the Netherlands' official entry for next year's foreign-language Oscar, also picked up Golden Calves ...
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Vivendi reports 67% rise in first-half profits
France's Vivendi, currently awaiting approval from the European Commission (EC) for its proposed merger with Seagram, has reported a 67% rise in first-half profit to Euros1.4bn on turnover up 16% to Euros19.4bn. The growth came mostly from Vivendi's SFR mobile phones unit.Meanwhile Vivendi has given the EC "voluntary undertakings" over ...
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News Corp unveils Liberty Media tie-up
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has confirmed that it plans to strengthen ties with John Malone's Liberty Media by acquiring its 21% stake in Gemstar-TV Guide. Liberty Media is transferring its Gemstar stake to News Corp in return for 121.5 million News Corp American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), making it the ...