All articles by Tim Dams – Page 50
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Arts Alliance acquires Danish DVD rental outfit
Arts Alliance Media, the owner of the UK's DVD rentalcompany LOVEFiLM, and lScandinavian operator Boxman AB of Sweden, has furtherincreased its European network with the acquisition of Digitarian A/S,Denmark's largest online DVD rental company.Theacquisition was made through Boxman and means the group will now serve over20,000 customers in Scandinavia."Boxman choseDigitarian ...
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Service of Thanksgiving for Lord Brabourne to be held in London
AMemorial Service of Thanksgiving for Lord Brabourne CBE, who died last month,is to be held in London on November 15 at The Guards Chapel at 3:00pm.Lord Brabourne was a much respected film maker, whoproduced and co-produced 16 international feature films, which collectivelyreceived 25 Oscars/ Oscar nominations.Lord Brabourne was also a ...
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Kindred makes US play for Hoffman's Game 6
Kindred Media Group hasacquired North American distribution rights to Michael Hoffman's dramaticcomedy Game 6, starring Michael Keaton and Robert Downey Jr.Exploring the existentialcrisis of a Broadway playwright and baseball fanatic, Game 6 is based onan original screenplay by acclaimed novelist Don DeLillo. It is directed byMichael Hoffman and produced by ...
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Narnia set for royal world premiere in London
TheChronicles of Narnia: The Lion,The Witch and The Wardrobe is tohave its world premiere in London on December7 as the 2005 Royal Film Performance in aid of theCinema and Television Benevolent Fund.The film will screen in thepresence of HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchessof Cornwall at the Royal ...
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Economists weigh up impact of UK film industry
The UK film industry is asubstantial contributor to the UK economy, directly contributing £960m to GDPand employing 31,000 people, according to a new report published today byOxford Economic Forecasting.Published at a sensitivetime for the film sector - the Treasury's consultation period on its tax creditproposals ends on October 21 - ...
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Graham, Calderwood take key Pact roles
Wall To Wall chief executiveAlex Graham is to become the next chair of UK producers body Pact, while SlateFilms managing director Andrea Calderwood has been named vice chair, film.Both stood unopposed for thekey positions, which will come into effect from January 2006. MalcolmBrinkworth, managing director, Touch Productions, was also named ...
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Celador readies Marshall, Webber projects
Celador Films, the UK production outfit behind StephenFrears' Dirty Pretty Things and Neil Marshall's The Descent hasunveiled its new development slate. The slate includes a string of projects in the £3-5mbudget range from acclaimed directors such as Neil Marshall and Peter Webber (GirlWith A Pearl Earring) that Celador plans to ...
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Warners takes US rights to heavy metal documentary
Seville International has sold all U.S. rights to thedocumentary film Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, directed by Sam Dunn,Scot McFadyen and Jessica Joy Wise to Warner.Thedocumentary, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International FilmFestival on September 14, follows Sam Dunn, a professional anthropologist andlong-time heavy metal fan, as he ...
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Sony Classics buys Waddington's House
Sony Pictures Classics has acquiredNorth American rights to Andrucha Waddington's House Of Sand fromBrazil's Conspiracao Filmes after its premiere at the Toronto film festival.House Of Sand stars leading Brazilian actressesFernanda Montenegro (Central Station) and Palme D'Or winner andMontenegro's daughter, Fernanda Torres (Parle-Moi D'Amour). It tells thestory of three generations of ...
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Webber's Young Hannibal lines up for Prague shoot
PeterWebber's Behind The Mask: Young Hannibal is to start shooting on October10th in Prague. Dinoand Martha De Laurentiis, Tarak Ben Ammar of Quinta Communications and Britishco-producers Chris Curling and Phil Robertson of Zephyr Films will produce thefilm with Petr Moravec of Czech production company, Etic Films.Bestselling novelist Thomas Harris has ...
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Video Island acquires Scandinavia's Brafilm
UK online DVD rental serviceVideo Island is to acquire Brafilm, a company Video Island says is the largestplayer in Scandinavia. The deal follows on from theUK acquisitions of DVDs365 in June 2005 and ScreenSelect.co.uk in August 2004.It forms part of VideoIsland's plans to become the number one online rental operator ...
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Saudi officials break up huge piracy operation
Saudi Arabianofficials have seized over 2.2m pirate DVDs, VCDs, DVD-Rs and VHS cassettes ina raid on a major pirate distribution centre in Dammam, in the Eastern Provinceof Saudi Arabia.It isone of the biggest ever seizures of pirate product in the entire EMEA (Europe,the Middle East and Africa) region.Three Indian nationals ...
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BAFTA to host debate on portrayal of older women on screen
Women in Film and Television (WFTV), Equity and the BritishAcademy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) are holding a joint event, entitledMirror Mirror - From Snow White to Wicked Queen, to discuss theportrayal of older women on screen.The event kicks off with the UK's first public screening ofRosanna Arquette's feature ...
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Pinewood blames tax policy for profit plunge
Pinewood Shepperton has blamed uncertainty over UK film taxpolicy and the weak US dollar for disappointingfirst-half results.The studio reported today that pre-tax losses for the firstsix months of 2005 were £108,000 compared with £1.63m for the same period lastyear. Revenues tumbled from £20.4 million to £13.3 million.Pinewood chief executive Ivan ...
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Fortissimo takes on sales for Cuesta's Twelve
FortissimoFilms is to handle worldwide sales on Twelve And Holding, the secondfeature from director Michael Cuesta (L.I.E).Thefilm is to world premiere at next month's Toronto International Film Festival(Sept 8-17) in the Contemporary World Cinema section.TwelveAnd Holding is the story of three twelve year olds, who sparked by the tragicdeath of ...
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High Point takes on sales for French pair
London based High PointFilms have taken on international sales for French language titles, Montreal competitor Miss Montigny and Julie Depardieu starring Moon on the Snow.Starring Cesar nomineeSophie Quinton, Miss Montigny isthe first feature for documentary director Miel van Hoogenbemt. It tells thestory of a 19-year-old girl who is coerced into ...
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Directing Change names Dalton to work with Eyre on Scandal
BAFTA award winner Hattie Daltonhas been selected as the latest female director to benefit from Women in Filmand Television (WFTV) initiative Directing Change.She will work alongside SirRichard Eyre on upcoming feature Notes From A ScandalDirecting Change is designed to address theunder-representation of women directors in the UK industry. It gives ...
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Commercial UK pics spark optimism at Edinburgh
After all the doom and gloom about the state of the British filmindustry this year, the Edinburgh International Film Festival (August 17-28)has provided some cause for optimism.That's largely because a string of British features with decentcommercial prospects have unspooled at this year's event.Richard E Grant's Wah Wah, NickLove's The Business, ...
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Urie named as Metrodome managing director
Peter Urie has beenappointed Managing Director of UK distributor Metrodome, following theresignation of current head Andrew Keyte, who is leaving for an as yetundisclosed job in the television industry.Urie worked for the BBC invarious roles for 12 years before founding TSS Ltd. and Media Merchants Ltd,along with 2 other partners. ...
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Sizer joins Icon as head of development
Chloe Sizer has joined Icon Entertainment Internationalas head of development, reporting to CEO Martin Bigham. Sizer, who most recently served as Magic Light Pictures'head of development, will start with the company at the beginning of September2005. Bighamcommented: "Icon's London based operations have gone through many key changesthis past year. Chloe's ...