All articles by Tim Dams – Page 53
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Aviator takes off in BAFTA nominations
The Aviator has emerged as the front-runnerin the nominations for the forthcoming Orange British Academy Film Awards.The Martin Scorsese directed film, which won the best dramaprize at last night's Golden Globes, received 14 BAFTA nominations, ahead of FindingNeverland and Vera Drake which both received 11 nominations each.Foreign language films also ...
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Odyssey takes on August Rush sales
Ralph Kamp and Louise Goodsill's OdysseyEntertainment is to handle worldwide sales and distribution on SouthpawEntertainment's August Rush. To be directed by Kirsten Sheridan, August Rushis billed as a modern-day fairy tale about a ten-year-old orphan whose musicalgifts lead him on a journey to find his parents. It will be scored ...
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Pathe takes on sales for Swedish Heaven
Pathe Pictures International is to represent thisyear's Swedish Oscar entryAs It Is In Heaven forworld-wide sales. As It Is In Heaven iswritten and directed by Kay Pollak and is about an internationally acclaimedmusic conductor who retires to his childhood village in the North of Sweden- and rediscovers his long lost ...
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BAFTA puts cap on membership
BAFTA has decided to place a cap of 6500 on its worldwidevoting membership, effective immediately. The organisation said the decision followed many months ofdiscussion about how best to manage its membership base following an'enormous increase in membership applications over the past fouryears.'The American Academy has already capped its membership at6000. ...
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Berlinale unveils Panorama line-up
TheBerlinale's Panorama section has announced the first films to make itsselection.Thearthouse strand, which plays alongside the Berlinale's official Competition,includes a string of features from high profile directors including KevinSpacey, Fruit Chan, Dominic Savage and Sally Potter as well as notable films by newcomers.The wide-ranging selection has aparticularly strong focus on ...
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Five titles nominated for BBC Four's World Cinema Award
UK broadcaster BBC Four hasannounced the nominations for the BBC Four World Cinema Award 2005, as voted byUK film critics, film school heads and exhibitors. Two Asian martial arts films- Zhang Yimou's Hero and Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi - make thefive strong shortlist. The other competitors are Pedro Almodovar's BadEducation, Walter ...
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UK home video market growth hit by piracy in 2004
The UK video retail market grew by 12% last year, according to figuresreleased by the British Video Association. Although impressive, the 12% growth in 2004 is significantly down fromthe 30% growth posted in 2003 - a slowdown blamed on a maturing market and anincrease in piracy.First reports from the BVA ...
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Woolworths blames DVD piracy for poor Christmas
High street retailer Woolworths has blamed DVD piracy forcontributing to disappointing trading results over the Christmas period. Chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones told The DailyTelegraph that Woolworths was particularly hit by DVD piracy, losing £1.5m ofsales on some individual titles. The latest Harry Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban,released in November, sold ...
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Sands confirmed as DreamWorks president
Miramax chief operating officer Rick Sands has joined DreamWorksSKG as president and chief operatingofficer. Sands' long anticipated departure comes as Miramax grapples withrecent layoffs and an ongoing contract dispute between parent company Disney andMiramax co-chief executives Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein. Sands will be primarily responsible for day-to-day management ofDreamWorks ...
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BBC viewers vote for best films of 2004
Viewers of the BBC's leading film review programme, Film 2004 with Jonathan Ross, have voted The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King astheir Film of the Year.Massappeal blockbusters such as Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles lineup in the top 10 alongside the subtitled martial arts epic Hero ...
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Berlinale unveils first competition films
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 10-20) has namedthe first films that will play in its Competition section as well as unveilingGerman director Roland Emmerich (The Day AfterTomorrow) as president of the International Jury.Including Régis Wargnier's opening film Man to Man, eleven films have been selected for the Competitionsection - ...
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Beatwax founder launches kids brand campaign
Beatwax and Firstmovies founder Chris Ward has launched anew venture called iKnow, a not for profit business aimed at making youngchildren more aware of how brands are created and work.iKnow says it is not an anti-brand initiative, but thatit wants to help counter the potential negative effects of brand marketing ...
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Taylor parts company with UGC Cinemas
UGCCinemas UK and Ireland managing director Margaret Taylor has left the company,just weeks after the exhibitor was taken over by US buyout firm the BlackstoneGroup.Taylorwas in charge of the 42 UGC cinemas in the UK and Ireland. During her tenure,she was responsible for introducing the company's cinema loyalty card, theUnlimited ...
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Butler named as FilmFour development chief
FilmFour have appointed Katherine Butler as head ofdevelopment.Butler was executive producer with the New Zealand FilmCommission until 2002 where she developed projects including the Academy Awardnominated Whale Rider. Most recently she has been working as head of developmentwith Alison Owen at Ruby Films and Gwyneth Paltrow at Go Go Pictures, ...
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Rotterdam festival names Dutch film premieres
A raft of Dutch films will have their world premieresduring the upcoming International Film Festival Rotterdam (Jan 26-Feb 6)They are: Souls Of Naples (Zielen Van Napels) byVincent Monnikendam, Voorland by Eugenie Jansen, The Mystery Of TheSardine (Het Mysterie Van De Sardine) by Erik van Zuylen, CinemaInvisible: The Book (Cinema Invisible: ...
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Berjon named as Cannes Critics' Week director
Jean-Christophe Berjon has beennamed as the new director for International Critics' Week at Cannes.Elected by the French Unionof Film Critics, he succeeds Claire Clouzot.The 40-year-old Berjon is atheatre director and drama professor for the Florent School in Paris. Since1998 he headed the Annuel du cinema publication and also serves as ...
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Clark confirmed as UIP international marketing chief
Internationaldistributor UIP has confirmed the appointment of Nigel Clark as executive vicepresident international marketing, effective from Jan 4.Hereplaces Tomas Jegeus, who left to join 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles as headof international marketing.Clark is currently based in Los Angeles were he was mostrecently senior executive vice president of international ...
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China to allow more foreign films in cinemas
China will raise the quotas on imported films from othercountries, according to a report on Chinese news agency Xinhua.In recent years, China has imported about 50 films annually,with about a half coming from the United States.Since many Chinese are unable to watch many films from othercountries, the country's Film Bureau ...
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BBC should invest more in UK films, say MPs
The BBC should invest more inBritish film production and in showcasing UK films on its television channels,says an influential report drafted by Members of Parliament.The House of Commons CultureCommittee investigation into the BBC is published today as part of the processleading up to the corporation's Charter renewal at the end ...
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MPAA takes legal action against file-trading networks
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) istaking legal action to shut down file-trading networks it says distributemillions of unauthorised copies of Hollywood films and TV programmes.The MPAA said it was filing civil suits and pressing forcriminal actions against networks with the names BitTorrent, eDonkey andDirectConnect.The association said the three ...