All Features articles – Page 485

  • Features

    United Kingdom - Positive Signs

    2008-09-26T00:00:00Z

    The world of visual effects has changed immeasurably since London's Double Negative set up shop 10 years ago.Co-founders Alex Hope, Peter Chiang and Matt Holben had all joined the industry when editing was done on videotape. "It was a world apart from the wonderful things we can do today," says ...

  • Features

    International - Springboard for Hitler

    2008-09-26T00:00:00Z

    Russian comedy Hitler Kaput! enjoyed a $6m opening weekend in three territories, and was the highest new entry in this week's Screen International chart. Distributed by Central Partnership, it played across 773 screens in three territories.The film, directed by Marius Balchunas, stars Sam Arutunian and Andrei Baliakin. Despite a good ...

  • Features

    Boxing clever

    2008-09-26T00:00:00Z

    UK distributor Revolver Entertainment is planning the territory's first all-platform day-and-date release.The Boxing Day release of Steven Sheil's low-budget horror film Mum & Dad will open simultaneously in theatres, video-on-demand, electronic sell-through and rental. A similar US release is planned for Mother's Day 2009.The move will reopen the often fractious ...

  • Features

    Belgium - Jungle fever

    2008-09-26T00:00:00Z

    How do you shoot an epic Apocalypse Now-style drama in the Far East on a budget of $5.1m (EUR3.5m)' That was the challenge Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz set himself with Vinyan, the follow-up to his critical hit, Calvaire.The new film, shot in English and starring Emmanuelle Beart and Rufus ...

  • Features

    Australia - Blind Ambition

    2008-09-26T00:00:00Z

    Matthew Newton has a passion for stories about male relationships. Three Blind Mice, which he wrote, directed and starred in, follows three young Australian navy officers who have one last night in Sydney before going to Iraq. It won a special commendation when it premiered at the Sydney Film Festival ...

  • Features

    United Kingdom - Spirit of the ages

    2008-09-26T00:00:00Z

    Jamie J Johnson, a former Screen International Star of Tomorrow, had an unusual tour of Europe making his debut feature documentary, Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary, which had its world premiere in Toronto.The film, about several contestants in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, took Johnson to Romania, Belarus, Ukraine, ...

  • Features

    United States - The yes man

    2008-09-19T00:00:00Z

    One of Ryan Harrington's first priorities as the head of the new IndiePix Studios is to make sure people understand exactly what he is doing there. Bob Alexander founded IndiePix as a film download and DVD distributor in 2004 (known especially for documentaries including Billy The Kid) but IndiePix Studios ...

  • Features

    International - Money money money

    2008-09-19T00:00:00Z

    Universal's Mamma Mia! The Movie has crossed $300m internationally, keeping its top spot in Screen's international chart.Still playing in 4,303 screens, the Abba-inspired musical took $20m after opening in six more territories, including France, Hong Kong, India and Belgium, where it topped the chart.Takings improved 24% week on week. ...

  • Features

    United States - The Brothers Boom

    2008-09-19T00:00:00Z

    Mark and Adam Kassen do things their own way. The gregarious New York writers and producers emerged from the theatre world to teach themselves about the film business without any formal film school education. As a result they have been prolific in the low-budget independent arena, culminating in 10 Emmy ...

  • Features

    Belgium - Saying it like she means it

    2008-09-19T00:00:00Z

    Fien Troch's new feature Unspoken, starring French actors Emmanuelle Devos and Bruno Todeschini, screened at Toronto and is now heading to San Sebastian. This may provide a logistical challenge for the young Belgian writer-director who - like Lars von Trier - has a fear of flying.Unspoken, which is being sold ...

  • Features

    United Kingdom - Enlightened approach

    2008-09-19T00:00:00Z

    It could be said the output from London's Enlightenment Productions is like the old adage about buses: you wait a long time for one and all of a sudden, two show up.Writer-director Shamim Sarif and producer Hanan Kattan are in the unusual position of finishing two features within several months ...

  • Features

    International - Mamma topples knight

    2008-09-12T00:00:00Z

    The total gross of Screen International's international chart was down 7.8% week on week for the first box-office weekend of September. Warner Bros' The Dark Knight was knocked from the top spot for the second time, ousted by Universal Pictures' Mamma Mia! The Movie which opened in a further six ...

  • Features

    VIP Suite - Who to know in Galicia - Perro Verde Films

    2008-09-12T00:00:00Z

    Set up in 2006 by Manuel Cristobal who previously worked as an executive producer at Dygra Films, and is a partner in the Madrid-based agency 6 Sales. Cristobal recently bought the rights to Fernando Aramburu's novel The Fish Of Bitterness about terrorist group ETA and is looking for a director.Zombie ...

  • Features

    Viva la republic

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    Content Republic sounds like a new nation state, but in fact it is a new state of mind about digital distribution.Teun Hilte, who co-founded the company with Michel Peters, explains the concept: "We're licensing films to internet platforms," he says. "For companies like iTunes which have the ambition to work ...

  • Features

    Editorial - D-day for d-cinemas

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    Digital cinema is inevitable but I no longer believe it is a good thing." That was the surprising conclusion of a senior European figure this week who had once been an advocate if not a downright enthusiast for the switch to D-cinema.His is not a lone voice. Those who once ...

  • Features

    Festival talk - 'Eclectic cinema that pushes the limits'

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    What are your favourite film festivals'I go to Berlin, Cannes, Pusan and those that I organise. (Deauville's festival programmer) Jerome Lasserre goes to Sundance. I prefer Cannes.What's the blueprint for a good festival'A welcoming town where everything can be done on foot, a policy of assuming cultural choices, a demanding ...

  • Features

    United Kingdom - There will be blood

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    It is mid-June in London, and James Corden is sweating in a yellow raincoat as he runs through a foggy forest, carrying a condom full of holy water. Director Phil Claydon calls out his instructions: "Vampire fighting formation, please!"This is the set of Lesbian Vampire Killers. "The title tells you ...

  • Features

    International - Batman battles on

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    Warner Bros' The Dark Knight's worldwide gross is still ticking off the key box-office milestones, crossing $400m in international markets and $500m domestically.The $1bn worldwide gross is tantalisingly close and the film held on to the top spot of Screen's international chart.The highest new entry in this week's chart is ...

  • Features

    Australia - Logic's animal cracker

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    When director Zack Snyder's animated fantasy adventure Guardians Of Ga'hoole opens worldwide in 2010, it will be Zareh Nalbandian's first credit as a feature producer - and Australia's first 3D feature.Nalbandian is co-founder and major shareholder of the privately owned Animal Logic at Sydney's Fox Studios. The company measures up ...

  • Features

    Deauville Festival of american film - America's french connection

    2008-09-05T00:00:00Z

    As the summer winds down and the French film industry makes its way back from holiday, the Deauville Festival of American Film has established a strong niche in the industry calendar.A bevy of US studio films as well as independent fare will be screened in the seaside town, which acts ...