All articles by Tim Dams – Page 62
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Lions Gate mulls $1bn bid for HIT Entertainment
Independent film and television studio Lions GateEntertainment is considering a roughly $1bn bid for children's media companyHIT Entertainment, according to reports over the weekend.Lions Gate, which is based in Vancouver Canada, but has mostof its staff in Santa Monica, California, would gain London-based HIT's popularcharacters, including Barney the purpledinosaur, Bob ...
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Disney shares climb following Weinsteins split
Shares in Walt Disney Coclosed higher on Wednesday, the day after the media conglomerate announced thatit had finalised its negotiations to sever ties with Miramax co-chiefs Harveyand Bob Weinstein.Disney shares on the NewYork Stock Exchange were up 45 cents, or 1.61%, at $28.35.The long expected move waswelcomed by analysts who ...
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Fortissimo takes on sales for Berlin winner U-Carmen
Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide distribution rights (outsideof South Africa) to U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, Mark Dornford-May's adaptation of the Carmen opera, which won the Golden Bear at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.Nelleke Driessen, Fortissimo co-managing director, and NicoleMackey, senior vice president international sales, saw the film in Berlin. Mackey said, ...
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European indie players move into profit
Three European independentfilm outfits - Germany's Constantin and the UK's Civilian Content and Metrodome- unveiled positive financial results for 2004 this morning (March 30).Leading German producer anddistributor Constantin Film announced 2004 net profits of $9.1m (Euros 7m) onrevenues of $319.8m (Euros 246.9m). This compared with a net loss of $12.8m(Euros ...
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Indian film industry on course for rapid growth
The Indian film industry is projected to be worth $3.3bn(R143bn by 2010, up from R$1.35bn according to a new industry report.India is the world's largest producer of films by volume,producing almost 1,000 movies a year but accounts for only 1% of global filmindustry revenues, the report by consultant KPMG India ...
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Candy cranks up in Sydney
Principal photography has begun in Sydney on Candy,the big screen debut of theatre director Neil Armfield which stars HeathLedger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush.Based on Luke Davies' best seller of the same name, Candyis described by director and co-writerArmfield as "a convention-defying romantic tragedy that is at once inspiringand heartbreaking."Candy ...
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Indian Festival of Los Angeles unveils galas
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) (April20-24) has announced its line up of special gala presentations.The Festival will kick off with the Hollywood Premiere of SanjayLeela Bhansali's drama Black.The Centerpiece Gala is the Los Angeles Premiere of AnuragKashyap's thriller based on true events, Black Friday.The Closing Night Gala ...
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UK Budget: film-makers win Section 48 extension
Chancellor Gordon Brown said today that he would provide new tax creditsfor film-makers to replace the existing Section 48 and Section 42 tax reliefs.Brownunveiled the plans as he announced his Budget for 2005 in the House Of Commons.The UK Treasury later confirmed that the Government would review the Section 42relief ...
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Jackson says Hobbit on hold for three years
Lord Of TheRings director PeterJackson has said he will not start shooting an adaptation of J.R.RTolkein's The Hobbit for several years.Asked how longit would take to begin shooting the prequel to the Rings trilogy, Jackson said:"Three or four years would be accurate." Jackson was inSydney to talk to fans about ...
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'Big Mac' index for cinema unveiled
Research outfit Screen Digest has launched the Cinema Index,a new piece of research which it says provides a picture of the comparative costof entertainment around the world.Itlikens the Cinema Index to the Big Mac index, which helped leading economic thinkersanalyse inflation and growth rates across the world's economies.According to the ...
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South African Drum takes top African fest prize
South African director Zola Maseko's Drum has wonthe top prize at Africa's leading film festival, Fespaco, in Burkina Faso'scapital Ouagadougou. Drum, a film about apartheid set amid the jazzclubs of 1950s Johannesburg, was awarded the Golden Stallion of Yennenga and acash prize of $20,000 at the closing ceremony on Saturday ...
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Sony names foreign chief to lead it out of slump
Sony has named Howard Stringer as its new chairman andchief executive, handing the reins of the struggling conglomerate to aforeigner for the first time. Sony's board agreed to appoint Stringer - the Welsh-bornhead of its U.S. operations and entertainment division - at an extraordinarymeeting in Tokyo on Monday morning. Current ...
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Bafta compensates for hot air of awards ceremony
If you've ever suspectedthat awards ceremonies are a load of hot air, now there is proof.This Saturday's Orange BAFTAceremony will produce almost 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide accordingto climate change company Future Forests. Its calculations are based on theamount of energy, travel and waste used to put on the event ...
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Goal kicks off without Diego Luna
Kuno Becker has replaced Diego Luna as the lead actor infootball drama Goal!, which started shooting in London on January 29. Buena Vista International have picked up Internationalrights to the film, while Latino targeted film label Arenas Entertainment hasUS rights.Mexican actor Becker, whose credits include ImaginingArgentina, stars in the rags ...
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London Critics honour Scorsese, Sideways
Martin Scorsese was nameddirector of the year for The Aviator at the 25th Awards ofthe London Film Critics' Circle last night.Scorsese was presented withthe award by Cate Blanchett, one of the stars of the film, at a ceremony in aidof the NSPCC at the Dorchester Hotel in London.However The Aviatormissed ...
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Pathe joins Marshall's Descent as shooting wraps
Celador Films has concluded principal photography on TheDescent, Neil Marshall's follow up to his 2002 hit, Dog Soldiers. Pathe Pictures International is to handle worldwide salesand Pathe UK will handle UK distribution.Shooting began on location in Scotland at the end of lastyear and moved to Pinewood Studios in January where ...
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Women In Film, UIP launch third Directing Change scheme
Directing Change, a UK scheme to address theunder-representation of women directors in the industry, is to run for a thirdconsecutive year in 2005.Runby Women in Film and Television (WFTV) and backed by United InternationalPictures (UIP), it gives women directors the opportunity to work alongside anexperienced and internationally established director during ...
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Guadalajara to open with Waters' Shame
TheGuadalajara International Film Festival will open on March 11 with thescreening of John Waters' new film Dirty Shame.The filmis the story of an employee who suffers a brain concussion and becomes a sexaddict. It stars Tracey Ullman, Selma Blair and Johnny Knoxville.TheMexican festival will also play four of Waters' previous ...
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Survey highlights pay inequality for film industry women
Women working in the UK film industry earn less thantheir male counterparts despite being better qualified, according to a majornew survey conducted by the UK Film Council and Skillset.The Feature Film Production Workforce Survey, which isbased on responses from 903 people working in feature films, also found that mostpeople working ...
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Renaissance gets Pretty, sells Dogs
RenaissanceFilms has acquired international rights to Marcos Siega's PrettyPersuasion,and has concluded a string of sales on Rwandan genocide drama Shooting Dogs.UKbased international sales financing outfit Renaissance will give PrettyPersuasion itsfirst market screening at the European Film Market during this year'sBerlin Film Festival. RoadsideAttractions/Goldwyn recently acquired the North American rights at ...