All articles by Wendy Mitchell – Page 106
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Fox launches theatrical and DVD business in Russia
TwentiethCentury Fox International is establishing a theatrical and home entertainmentventure in Russia.Michael Schlicht, founder of leading Russiandistributor Gemini Film, will serve as managing director of Fox's new Russianbusiness.GeminiFilm's Russian office, which had been Fox's partner in Russia for morethan a decade, will now become Twentieth Century Fox Russia, and all ...
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Da Vinci Code cleared in copyright case
A UK High Court judge hasrejected a copyright infringement claim filed over The Da Vinci Code. Michael Baigentand Richard Leigh, the authors of the 1982 non-fiction work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, hadaccused US author Dan Brown and his publisher Random House of appropriatingcentral themes from their work ...
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UK pirate DVD raid results in five arrests
The UK's Federation AgainstCopyright Theft (FACT) worked with London's Metropolitan Police and Waltham Forest TradingStandards to raid a major pirate DVD manufacturing facility in Leyton, northeast London.Five arrests were made andmore than 300 titles were seized including Ice Age 2, which opens in the UK today.The facility contained morethan 500 ...
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Carnaby, Boda team for thriller starring Jaime Winstone
First timefeature writer-director David Evans has started principal photography on Daddy's Girl, a psychological thriller.The film started shooting inand around Cardiff, Wales on March 27. Boda and Carnaby Internationalare co-producing, with Carnaby also handlinginternational sales.Daddy's Girlis co-financed by Carnaby and the Arts Council of Wales,which developed the script with Film ...
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UK's Video Island and LoveFilm plan 50-50 merger
The UK's top online DVD rental companies,LoveFilm and Video Island, have announcedplans for a 50-50 merger. Video Island'sScreenSelect.co.uk brand will be consolidated under the LoveFilmconsumer brand.LoveFilm and Video Island said that the newcompany "plans to exploit synergies on marketing, technology, distribution andoperations to grow profits faster and accelerate expansion across ...
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TWI to acquire UK's Darlow Smithson Productions
Sports media company TWI has announced that it will acquire London-based DarlowSmithson Productions, best known in the film world for its first feature, Touching The Void. TWI will finance the acquisition with capital from its parent company,US-based IMG.The move will let TWI expand into factual non-sports programming. DarlowSmithson currently delivers ...
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New UK documentary festival to launch in July
The Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundationis launching a new UK-based documentary festival, Britdoc, to be held at Keble College in Oxfordfrom July 26-28.The event seeks to bringan international scope to the UK documentary world. "We want to encourage UK documentary filmmakers to be involved in theinternational co-production of feature ...
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UK Film Council supports 19 new shorts
TheUK Film Council has announced short film projects that will receive fundingthrough the New Cinema Fund's Digital Shorts Plus programme. Thescheme works with directors previously supported by the Digital Shorts Schemewho are now working on projects budgeted up to $35,039 (£20,000). The FilmCouncil's regional partners put up $17,519 (£10,000) for ...
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Fauveau to head Paramount Home Entertainment France
Pascal Fauveauhas been named managing director of France for Paramount Home Entertainment International, tooversee all operations in France including sales and marketing. Fauveau most recently served as senior vice president andmanaging director of MGM Home Entertainment, France, a unit he createdstarting in 2002. He is also a veteran ofUniversal Pictures ...
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Universal appoints new MDs for Scandinavia, Iberia
Universal Pictures International (UPI) has appointed Ivor Viljoen as managing director of Universal Pictures Nordic (encompassing Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland) and Edgar Adelmund as managing director of Universal Pictures Iberia (Spain and Portugal). Viljoen's appointment was effective from April 3. He formerly served as senior VP, Europe for Paramount ...
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ContentFilm says revenue is up 72% over last year
London-based film and TVsales company ContentFilm has announced that it expects to meet marketexpectations for the financial year that ended March 31. The company said that,subject to audit, it expects revenues for the year to be about $18.4m (£10.5m),up 72% from 2005. Earnings beforeinterest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is ...
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London's first East End Film Festival recruits industry experts
London's East End Film Festival has announced the programme for its inaugural event, to be held April 27-May 4. The festival opens with Richard E. Grant introducing the London premiere of his directorial debut Wah-Wah.Grant will also be the festival's director in residence, with a discussion and a screening of ...
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Commonwealth festival to open with Life With My Father
Manchester's fifth-annual Commonwealth Film Festival will open on April 28 with Sebastien Rose's Canadian drama Life With My Father. Sarah Watt's Australian hit Look Both Ways will close the festival on May 7.The festival, which promotes film production in the Commonwealth countries, will screen more than 200 features, documentaries, and ...
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James McAvoy on board for Joe Wright's Atonement
James McAvoy has joined the cast of Working Title Films' production of Atonement, starring alongside Keira Knightley. Knightley will be reuniting with director Joe Wright, who previously cast her in his debut film Pride & Prejudice. Atonement, based on the Ian McEwan novel, is about a man who falls in ...
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Romantic comedy All Bar Love to start London shoot
Romantic comedy All Bar Love will start shooting in London on April 3. Te Papa Films, founded by Aubs Tredget, is producing.James Derbyshire, who hasworked in fringe theatre, is directing from a script written by Julia Boggio with Kristen McGorry andDavid Hofmyer.The film follows Martin, afriendly man who is inept ...
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BBC Films developing Andy McNab's Boy Soldier
BBC Films has acquired the film rights to Andy McNab and Robert Rigby's thriller Boy Soldier and its sequel Payback.MacNab and Rigby are currently writing a screenplayadaptation of Boy Soldier, a thrillerthat is the first in a series of four books. The film is about Danny, an orphan who triesto ...
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Warner Bros signs Dutch download-to-own deal
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has struck a licensing deal with Dutch retailer Free Record Shop to offer 100 Warner Bros. films through Free Record Shop's new video-on-demand service. The deal will kick off by offering Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as a download-to-own in the Netherlands and ...
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UK's Metrodome acquires three films from Sundance and Berlin
UK distributor Metrodome has announced three new acquisitions on the heels of Sundance and Berlin. The company has struck deals for Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer's Quinceanera, Lukas Moodysson's Container, and Xavier Palud and David Moreau's Them.Kate Falconer, Metrodome's acquisitions and development manager, negotiated all three deals. Quinceanera is a ...
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Future Films invests up to $35m in seven new features
UK-based production and film financing company Future Films has announced its involvement in seven feature films now in production. All of the films are shooting now to take advantage of the UK tax laws set to expire with productions starting April 1 and afterwards. Future said its total investment in ...
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Odeon to show World Cup matches in UK cinemas
UK exhibitor Odeon Cinemas has announced plans to show select 2006 World Cup Matches in High Definition Television on its cinema screens.The chain says it will show all England games as well as the quarter and semi-final matches, the third place play-offs, and the final. That will mean a total ...