All articles by Wendy Mitchell – Page 66
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Film London says London shooting up 42% in last three years
Film London said that filming in the UK capital has grown 42% over the last three years. The figures represent shoots for film, TV and commercials in all of London's 33 boroughs. There were a record1 3,802 filming days in 2006, making London the third-busiest production city in the world. ...
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South West Screen backs Writers competition
In addition to its work with the Screenwriters' Festival, South West Screen is also launching a new Screenwriter Development Competition. Oscar-nominated writer William Nicholson (Gladiator), will mentor the winner of the award, who will also receive about $6,000. The competition will be open to writers in the South West region ...
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Companies sign up for London Finance Market
Film London's new Production Finance Market (October 22-23), held in association with the Times BFI London Film Festival, has announced some major players who have confirmed their attendance, including Working Title, Focus Features, Paramount, Pathe, The Weinstein Company and StudioCanal.The market will address private film finance and new distribution avenues. ...
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Senator strikes deal with Dresen and Rommel
Germany's Senator Film has established a long-term deal with director Andreas Dresen and producer Peter Rommel, the team behind Summer In Berlin and Grill Point. The first project under the deal will be Wolke Neun, a Rommel production which Senator will distribute.The film is the story of a woman who ...
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First Star plans its Boer War Siege
New York-based First Star Pictures is in Cannes unveiling Siege Of O'Kiepe, a $37m epic set during the Boer War of 1901. The project will shoot in 2008 in Australia and South Africa with producers Olivier French and Bruce Bisbey. Bisbey also wrote the screenplay.The movie is set in the ...
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Revolver dances along with Vida Ballet documentary
Revolver Entertainment has pre-bought the UK rights to feature documentary Vida Ballet from director Beadie Finzi, who previously co-directed and produced Unknown White Male.Giorgia Lo Savio produced the film, which is executive produced by Tigerlily's Nikki Parrott. Vida Ballet follows a year in the life of two teenagers, Irlan and ...
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Film4 locks into Winterbottom's new five-year prison project
Film4 is on board for a new project from Michael Winterbottom, entitled 7 Days. The film for Channel 4 TV is based on the fictionalised story of a UK prison inmate and his relationship with his wife and four children. John Simm, who Winterbottom worked with on 24 Hour Party ...
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Target strikes six-film deal with Finch's Pink Sands
UK-based Target Entertainment has struck a six-film deal with Charles Finch and Kate McCreery's production outfit Pink Sands.Target's slate will focus on UK films with a budget of about $2m, and the line-up includes Kfir Yefet's The Smell of Apples, based on the novel by Mark Behr and starring Gillian ...
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ICA picks up six films including Chabrol's Comedy Of Power
ICA Films has picked up six new titles for UK distribution.They are Sandhya Suri's I For India from Celluloid Dreams; musical documentary When The Road Bends: Tales Of A Gypsy Caravan from Fortissimo; Marwan Hamed's The Yacoubian Building from BAC Films; Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon from Match Factory; Claude Chabrol's ...
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Draper joins Slingshot's new distribution arm
New UK digital film company Slingshot Studios has announced a new UK distribution arm, Slingshot Distribution, which will handle 10-12 films per year.Slingshot will acquire third-party projects and also work on Slingshot's own productions.Elizabeth Draper, a veteran of Fox Searchlight UK, Icon and Pathe Film Distribution, has been named managing ...
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High Point takes on hot politics of Rendition
High Point Films has taken the world rights, outside the UK, to Jim Threapleton's debut feature Rendition, starring Andy Serkis and Omar Berdouni.Andy Noble produced for Ultra Film.The politically charged feature is about a British Muslim teacher who is suspected of terrorism and through the controversial practice of extraordinary rendition ...
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Not Quite Hollywood goes to Madman, Magnolia and Optimum
Several distributors have come on board early for the Australian project Not Quite Hollywood, about Australian genre cinema in the 1970s and 1980s. Deals have been struck for Australia and New Zealand (Madman Entertainment), North America (Magnolia Pictures), and the UK (Optimum Releasing).Director Mark Hartley is in production now on ...
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ContentFilm thunders on with sales for Elephants feature
ContentFilm International is working with new nature project Elephants Of The Okavango and has already closed deals with Germany (Falcom), France (Euro TV), CIS and Baltics (MGN), Hungary/Czech/Slovak Republics (Intersonic), Latin America (SWEN), the Middle East (Gulf) and The Netherlands/Belgium (A Film).The narrative-style documentary feature follows a family of African ...
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Optimum and Lionsgate get lifted with UK DVD company Elevation
Optimum Releasing (and its parent company StudioCanal) has set up a joint venture with Lionsgate UK to jointly acquire home entertainment company Elevation Sales. Elevation will now handle the sales and distribution of all DVD product for both Optimum Home Entertainment and Lionsgate UK. The company will also carry third-party ...
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ICA picks up six films including Chabrol's Comedy Of Power
ICA Films has picked up six new titles for UK distribution.They are Sandhya Suri's I For India from Celluloid Dreams; musical documentary When The Road Bends: Tales Of A Gypsy Caravan from Fortissimo; Marwan Hamed's The Yacoubian Building from BAC Films; Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon from Match Factory; Claude Chabrol's ...
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Arthouse Films takes sales rights to Alice Neel documentary
Arthouse Films has acquired worldwide rights, including all North American rights, to the feature documentary Alice Neel.The documentary on the American painter was directed by Andrew Neel and produced by Ethan Palmer, Rebecca Spence, and SeeThink Productions.Arthouse is handling the US release as well as world sales here in Cannes.
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Screen East gets $4.4m investment boost from ERDA
UK regional screen agency Screen East has secured a $4.4m (£2.2m) investment fund for the East of England that will support a minimum of 20 fictional features, documentary, TV and digital media projects.The Content Investment Fund is backed by the European Regional Development Fund and will be used for production ...
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Opening weekend frenzy goes online with moviePol.com
Here in Cannes, film-maker Mary McGuckian has launched a new online network, moviePol.com, for online film premieres. The secure site has been developed during the last year, designed by film-makers for film-makers. moviePol.com is now accepting online submissions from all industry sources, directly from film-makers, their representatives, sales agents or ...
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Northern Ireland gets $24m boost in new three-year plan
The Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission has unveiled a new three-year strategy and restructured its funding programmes. In a nod to the digital era, the group has been renamed Northern Ireland Screen, and has gotten a new $24m package of support from Invest Northern Ireland.The new Northern Ireland Screen ...
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New Cinema Fund backs new Winterbottom and Warp X titles
The UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund is backing several new projects including Michael Winterbottom's next film and thriller Donkey Punch, being sold in Cannes market by Lumina. The Film Council has awarded:$1.3m (£659,331) to Olly Blackburn's thriller Donkey Punch, in post-production for Warp X and being sold by Lumina ...