All articles by Adam Minns – Page 2
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BAFTA sets awards date for 2006
The British Academy of Filmand Television Arts has announced that next year's film awards will takeplace on Sunday Feb 19. The Aviator and Vera Drake shared the major honours at this year's Baftas. MartinScorsese's epic won best picture but it was British director Mike Leighwho took home his first directing ...
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Renaissance takes Macbeth onto world stage
UK-based sales agencyRenaissance Films has acquired world sales rights to Macbeth, anadaptation of the William Shakespeare play starring Jennifer Connelly as LadyMacbeth and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Macbeth.Director Todd Louiso is tostart shooting late this year. Louiso, who adapted the play with his writingpartner Jacob Koskoff, previously directed Hoffman in ...
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Gavin appointed chief of Odeon, UCI cinemas
Rupert Gavin, the formerhead of the BBC's commercial arm BBC Worldwide, has been appointed chiefexecutive of Odeon Cinemas and UCI Cinemas.The appointment is a majorstep in combining the two UK cinema chains after they were taken over byprivate equity firm Terra Firma. Together, the circuits are the largest cinemaoperator in ...
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Pinewood, Ealing lead London Plus production drive
Pinewood Shepperton andEaling Studios head a group of UK studio facilities and post productioncompanies that have teamed to launch London Plus, a consortium that aims toboost production activity in London and south east England.The affiliated companies aim for producers to use London Plus asa single entry point for arranging to ...
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Linklater to serve up Fast Food Nation for HanWay
It must be one of thehardest books to adapt into a feature film: a sprawling, non-fiction expose ofthe fast food industry, encompassing exploited immigrants, teenagers skippingschool to work in restaurants and the impact on agriculture and the global environment.But Eric Schlosser'sbestselling Fast Food Nation iscoming together as a Traffic-stylefilm to ...
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UK industry spells out challenges at Film Council forum
Changes in tax financing andcashflowing pre-production topped the list of key issues facing the productionsector at support body the UK Film Council's first industry forum.Council chairman StewartTill, chief executive John Woodward and vice chair Andrew Eaton alsohighlighted deferred fees, producers' equity, or lack of it, and accessto capital as central ...
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Silent Hill embarks on Canada shoot
Shooting started this week on Silent Hill,the Samuel Hadida-produced adaptation of the hit horror video game.SeanBean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates and Jodelle Ferland, the young star of Terry Gilliam's Tideland, havejoined Radha Mitchell in the cast of the Canada-France co-production.Principalphotography started on Monday in Canada, with Christophe ...
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Smith's Intandem debuts on London stock-market
Gary Smith's UK-basedsales company Intandem raised £1.15m on Friday (April 22) when it floated onLondon's AIM stock-market.Smith said that the listingwould provide working capital for the group and development funds. His formercompany, Winchester Entertainment, was one of the first UK film companies tofloat on AIM. It was taken over in ...
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UK launch for post-production trainee scheme
Industry-backedpost-production alliance the Post Production Training Initiative and trainingagency Skillset have launched a trainee scheme for post production staff.Titled First Post, theinitiative will be open to up 25 trainees at companies in London and aims tohelp employers provide structured development for runners. The deadline for applicationfrom companies is April 29. ...
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Fiennes, Mortimer sign for Who Killed Norma Barnes'
RalphFiennes and Emily Mortimer are to star in Who Killed Norma Barnes', acontemporary tale of sexual obsession based on Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. MalcolmMcKay, whose credits include big-budget BBC TV adaptation Gormenghast,is directing from his own script, with Eliza Mellor producing for the UK'sCompany Pictures. Shootingis scheduled for the autumn in ...
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Kuhn to deliver Pact's inaugural film lecture
MichaelKuhn, chairman of UK production company Qwerty Films and former head ofPolyGram Filmed Entertainment, will deliver the inaugural film lectureorganised by producer's body PACT.Kuhnwill talk about the state of the British film industry in the lecture, whichtakes place in London on May 9. The Bank of Ireland are sponsoring the ...
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HanWay beefs up back catalogue
UK-based sales agency HanWayFilms has beefed up its back catalogue by acquiring rights to two libraries.The director-driven companyhas taken on the Wim Wenders films in the Reverse Angle Library and selectedpictures from HanWay's sister production company, Recorded Picture Company.The Wenders films include Paris,Texas, Wings Of Desire and Buena Vista Social ...
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Icon drafts in Hamilton as UK president
Alex Hamilton has joined Icon Film Distribution in the UK as president,reporting to newly-appointed CEO Martin Bigham. Hamilton, who most recently served as director of sales and businessdevelopment at fellow UK distributor Momentum Pictures, will start with thecompany next week. "I'm delighted to be joining Icon and very much look ...
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Snow Cake cranks up in Canada
Snow Cake, the long-gestating drama starring Alan Rickman,Sigourney Weaver and Carrie-Anne Moss, has finally started shooting in Canada.The UK-Canada co-productionbegan shooting in Ontario this week and relocates to Toronto at the end of themonth, wrapping on May 19th. Marc Evans, whose creditsinclude Trauma and My Little Eye, is directing, with ...
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Mitchell wins Buena Vista International promotion
Robert Mitchell has beenpromoted to senior vice president, marketing/sales and deputy managing directorat Buena Vista International (UK).Mitchell, previously vicepresident, marketing/sales and deputy managing director, has worked alongsideBVI UK chief Daniel Battsek almost since the division's birth in 1992. 'I not only respect andadmire Robert's expertise in the field of marketing, ...
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Loach plants Barley in Ireland
Director Ken Loach is to start shooting his next film, thetentatively titled The Wind That Shakes The Barley, in Cork, Ireland,next month.The Irish Civil War drama is written by Loach's regularcollaborator, Paul Laverty. Named after a 19th century politicalsong, the film revolves around a family and one of the so-called ...
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UK's Warp Films moves into distribution
WarpFilms, the film division of music label Warp Records, has launched adistribution arm.The distribution label will be DVD driven, although it aims for mostfilms to have a theatrical life. Mixing in-house films and acquisitions, itwill sub-distribute to companies in other European markets as its sistercompany does with music. Warp's Luke ...
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Celador promotes Colson to joint managing director
Celador Films, the film armof the UK TV company behind Who Wants To Be A Millionaire', has promotedChristian Colson to joint managing director.Colson, previously directorof production and development, will share the role with chairman and Celadorfounder Paul Smith. Since joining Celador fromMiramax Films in 2002, Colson has completed Separate Lives, ...
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Jordan readies Our Lady for FilmFour
FilmFour,the film division of broadcaster Channel 4, and production company Wild Child Films haveacquired the rights to the novel Our LadyOf The Forest, with Neil Jordan to direct.ConorMcPherson, best known for the acclaimed play The Weir, wrote the screenplay, based on David Guterson's novelabout a troubled teenage girl who claims ...
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Pinewood Shepperton hit by weak dollar, tax uncertainty
The UK's Pinewood SheppertonStudios warned on Monday that its first half results for this year would bedown year on year, citing a weak dollar and an unstable tax landscape in theUK.The studio combine warnedthat the two factors had caused delays in the timing of some key productionsprovisionally booked at Pinewood ...