All articles by Agnes Poirier – Page 10
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Psycho, Vampire turn around Lions Gate fortunes
Lions Gate Entertainment achieved net income of $5.7m (C$8.7m) in its fiscal year ended March 31, 2001, compared to a net loss of $3.5m (C$5.3m) the previous year. The company credited the turnaround on a strong fourth quarter driven by theatrical releases such as American Psycho and Shadow Of The ...
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Universal sells Loews Cineplex stake for a dollar
Universal Studios has sold its 25.5% stake in exhibitor Loews Cineplex for $1. The studio, a division of Vivendi Universal, sold more than 15m shares to investment bank Goldman Sachs, in a tax move to offset capital gains. The stake was worth approximately $1.8m based on a share price of ...
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Shooting Gallery insolvent, leaves buyer on hook
New York-based production and distribution company The Shooting Gallery (TSG), producer of such films as Sling Blade and You Can Count On Me and domestic distributor of Croupier, is close to insolvency and may shut its doors. Less than two months after being purchased by Toronto-based new media incubator itemus ...
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Cinar goes straight, agrees final restitution
Cinar Corp., the troubled Canadian production company, has taken a further step in its return to legitimacy. Beset by scandals involving fraudulent credits and missing millions, the Montreal-based company has agreed to pay more than $1.7m in restitution to Telefilm Canada in order that its productions may once again qualify ...
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Canadians embracing satellite as cable subs slip
Canadians are embracing satellite delivery of television services, with the sector growing by more than 500% over the past five years, according to figures released by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). There are just under 1m customers with satellite dishes or multipoint distribution systems, up from just over ...
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De Laurentiis to give keynote address at Montreal
Actress Sophia Loren and producer Dino De Laurentiis will be feted at this year's Montreal World Film Festival as part of the event's 25th anniversary celebration.Loren will receive a Special Grand Prix of the Americas for her exceptional achievement in cinema. Loren's most recent film, Francesca E Nunziata, directed by ...
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Telefilm head LaPierre departs for Canadian Senate
The chairman of Telefilm Canada, Laurier LaPierre, is leaving his post, marking the third departure of senior management from the federal film and television agency. LaPierre, a respected journalist who has served since 1998, has resigned to accept an appointment to the nation's senate. His departure leaves something of a ...
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Canadian cable operators get federal ruling boost
Canada's media sector is likely to see further consolidation following a federal regulatory decision to allow the nation's cable companies to control speciality television channels.Companies such as Alliance Atlantis, which controls several such channels and which will be launching the Independent Film Channel later this year, and Astral Media, which ...
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PCG exits Loews Cineplex bailout as closures mount
One of three buyers involved in the $850m Loews Cineplex Entertainment distress sale is backing out but the remaining two partners say the bailout plan will go ahead regardless for the exhibition giant.Pacific Capital Group revealed on Thursday that it has decided to withdraw from the bankruptcy reorganization plan proposed ...
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Alliance Atlantis boards Girard's $25m Magician
The vigorous drive into larger-scale film productions by Canadian entertainment giant Alliance Atlantis continued this week with the closure of a deal to finance Francois Girard's latest - the $25m historical drama The Magician's Wife in which Geoffrey Rush will star. Kate Winslet is negotiating to join him, although her ...
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Egoyan's tough-sell Ararat finds French home
While a film within a film set against the 1915 Turkish massacre of Armenians might seem like a hard sell, Atom Egoyan's Ararat has already been picked up for France by ARP. Meanwhile, TMN has taken Canadian pay TV rights.Not that commercial considerations are upper most on the filmmakers' ...
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Alliance Atlantis takes world on Virginia's Run
Alliance Atlantis haspicked up world rights on Virgina's Run from Knightscove Entertainment. Directed by Peter Markle, the family-oriented equestrian drama stars Gabriel Byrne and Joanne Whalley. The screenplay is by Valarie Trapp, David Henry Lucas and Markle. It is being produced by Knightscove Entertainment in association with Wardenclyffe Entertainment and ...
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Bogosian, Koteas, Plummer join Egoyan's Ararat
Eric Bogosian, Christopher Plummer and Elias Koteas have joined the cast of Atom Egoyan's Ararat which is set to shoot mid-May in Toronto. The Serendipity Point film, backed by Alliance Atlantis, follows the production ofa historical drama about the Armenian Genocide and the ripple effect of the production on the ...
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Coote spearheads Intertainer's VOD launch in Asia
Intertainer Asia, the licensee of US VoD service Intertainer Inc., will launch a broadband entertainment-on-demand network with Singaporean telco SingTel at the end of May and is pursuing similar launches in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan.Executive Chairman Greg Coote told Screen Daily that the Singapore-based company is market ...
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Filmline founder Clermont dies suddenly
Nicolas Clermont, one of Canada's leading independent producers, has died aged 59. President of Montreal-based production company Filmline International, Clermont oversaw several major films, most recently The Art Of War, which was co-produced with Franchise Pictures and starred Wesley Snipes. It was the highest-grossing Canadian film of 2000. Clermont ...
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Canada's Corus eyes EM.TV's Henson
Toronto-based Corus Entertainment has expressed an interest in buying the Jim Henson Co. from German owner EM.TV. The television and radio broadcaster, which made international headlines last year when it paid $300m for Canadian animation studio Nelvana Ltd., says it is pursuing several acquisitions in order to boost its presence ...
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Lions Gate gets All Over The Guy for North America
Lions Gate Entertainment has acquired all North American rights to Julie Davis' All Over the Guy. The romantic comedy stars Dan Bucatinsky, who wrote the original screenplay based on his stage play. Davis directed I Love You Don't Touch Me and Amy's Orgasm.The new film, which is slated for an ...
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Metropolitan picks up 51st State for France
Metropolitan Filmexport has picked up Ronny Yu's The 51st State for France from Alliance Atlantis Pictures International. The $28m film, the first production through Andras Hamori's H2O Motion Pictures, features Samuel L. Jackson as kilt-wearing chemist looking to market his designer drug in Liverpool's rave scene. The Metropolitan deal was ...
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Warner signs free-tv deal with Greece's Star
Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBITD) has signed a multi-year free television deal with Greece's Star Channel. The deal, which extends an existing relationship, includes the free television broadcast rights to feature films from Warner Bros.,HBO's cable mini-series The Sopranos and TV television series such as ER, and The West ...
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Astral acquires Family Channel for $82m
Montreal based broadcaster Astral Media will take 100% control of specialty channel The Family Channel after agreeing to acquire the 50 per cent interest currently held by Corus Entertainment. The (US)$82m cash deal is subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition will also increase to 40% Astral's ownership of the Teletoon ...