All articles by Geoffrey Macnab – Page 165
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News
Velvet Octopus strikes major deals for The Moon Princess
UK sales outfit Velvet Octopus, which will be unveiling Peter Howitt's Dangerous Parking to buyers at the London UK Film Focus (June 25-28), has done brisk business on its Cannes slate. ' Cannes was a fantastic market for us,' Simon Crowe, managing director of Velvet Octopus, said. Following on from ...
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BBC Fiction boss Tranter spells out her plans for BBC Films
Controller of BBC Fiction Jane Tranter has defended the recent decision to move BBC Films out of its West End offices and back into BBC Television Centre. She told ScreenDaily.com that the move, likely to happen 'by around the end of the year,' is intended both to 'underpin the enormous ...
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Trust closes its new local Danish distribution arm
Zentropa has pulled the plug on its recently launched Danish distribution outfit, Trust Film Distribution. The division, set up late last year, is now being disbanded. Jimmy Bredow and Maja Giese, who oversaw the distribution arm's activities, will be leaving the company. 'I looked into it (Danish distribution) for the ...
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Artificial Eye picks up three Cannes Competition titles
UK arthouse distributor Artificial Eye has acquired three Competition titles at Cannes.The company has picked up Cristian Mungiu's Romanian drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days from Wild Bunch, Catherine Breillat's Cannes Competition debut An Old Mistress from Pyramide International and Christophe Honore's Love Songs (Les Chansons d'Amour) from ...
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Reviews
Magicians
Dir: Andrew O'Connor. UK-US. 2007. 90mins.These are boom times for British TV comedy. There is a wealth of talent working on the small screen. The continuing paradox is that so few of the best British comedians (Sasha Baron Cohen notwithstanding) make a successful transition to cinema. Magicians, made by the ...
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European MEDIA Programme plans investment in VOD and digital
MEDIA 2007 is setting aside $5.4m(Euros 4m) this year to invest in Video On Demand and Digital Cinema Distribution. The money will be invested in six projects, with applications open until July 9 and services expected to be running by June 2008.'We think it is important that Europe gets off ...
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Vertigo plans to unleash Cage Rage
Vertigo (the UK outfit behind Football Factory and Outlaw) is to partner with Cage Rage Championships to co-produce the new movie, Cage Rage, likely to have a budget of around $9 million. It is envisaged that this may be the start of a Rocky-like franchise.Brock Norman Brock is writing the ...
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Revolver pockets Loose Change for UK
Controversial documentary Loose Change (Final Cut) has been picked up for UK release by Revolver to be shown to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11. The feature doc was financed by Alex Jones' Prisonplanet.com. The original versions of Loose Change are among the most downloaded films in internet history. The ...
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News
Ruiz ramps up $36m epic Love And Virtue
Raoul Ruiz has revealed further details of his $36.3m (Euros 27m) historical epic, Love And Virtue (on Echo Bridge Entertainment's slate). Damian Lewis, Saffron Burrows, John Malkovich, Virginie Ledoyen, Darryl Hannah, and Jonathan Rhys Meyer are all attached to appear in the film, scripted by Mia Sperber and Stefano Pratesi.The ...
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Germans woo Cannes producers with film fund
The German film industry has been in Cannes bullishly promoting its 'lean, straightforward' new Federal Film Fund to an audience of international producers. The Fund, worth $240 (Euros 180m) from 2007 to 2009, is open to international co-productions. In the five months of its existence, it has already backed 24 ...
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News
Cyclops and Little Mo forecast Hitler's Weatherman
Pint-sized UK comedian Lee Evans (Mousehunt, There's Something About Mary) is to star as Adolf Hitler's personal meteorologist in $8m comedy, I Was Hitler's Weatherman, being produced by Cyclops Vision with Little Mo Films.The part of Hitler is under offer to Stanley Tucci.The film is scripted by Stuart Silver and ...
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Scanbox co-produces three new Swedish features
As it gets more involved in Swedish production, Scanbox Entertainment has announced details of three new Swedish features it is co-producing. The move into co-production includes the films Iskariot, directed by Miko Lazic and produced in cooperation with Ironwood Films, Tjuvarnas Marknad by Jan Guillou, which will start shooting in ...
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News
Latido pre-sells The Horn Of Plenty to CNC
Spanish sales outfit Latido has pre-sold The Horn Of Plenty, directed by Juan Carlos Tabio (Guantemara, Strawberry and Chocolate), to Belgium (CNC).Latido has also sold its Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary Running With Arnold to Madman (Australia) and Turkey (Barbar) and is in advanced negotiations with Italy, Switzerland and German. The Spanish ...
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News
Big Sister dances with Johnny Clegg documentary
South African musician Johnny Clegg is the subject of a major new feature documentary, The Last Dance Of A White Zulu. The film, due for release, is a French-South African co-production. It is being put together by French outfit Big Sister and Big World Cinema.The film will tell the story ...
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News
Kensani starts first institutionally backed South African fund
Kensani Entertainment, a subsidiary of Kensani Capital has announced details of the first institutionally backed film fund in South Africa.The Kensani Film & Television Fund (KEF) will make available an initial sum of R200 million ($28.5m) for the production and acquisition of film and television projects to be made or ...
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News
New German $242m fund already backs 24 projects
The Germans were in bullish mood in Cannes yesterday, talking up their 'lean, straightforward' new Federal Film Fund to an audience of international producers. The Fund, worth $242m (180m) Euros from 2007 to 2009, is open to international co-productions. In the five months of its existence, it has already backed ...
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News
Spain's Gomez re-elected as FIAPF president
Oscar-winner Andres Vicente Gomez from Spain has been re-elected as FIAPF's General Assembly as FIAPF President. Argentinean producer Luis Alberto Scalella was newly-elected as 1st Vice-President, alongside representatives of Asia and Australasia, Europe, North and South America. The International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), which gathers 26 producers' associations ...
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Irish Film Board backs new Glawogger film
The Irish Film Board has committed $404,785 (Euros 300,000) to Michael Glawogger's new feature, Das Vaterspiel, about a man developing a computer game in which players kill their fathers. The investment comes as the Irish Film Board (IFB) moves more aggressively into co-production. The idea is that the body will ...
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News
Bavaria slides onto Finland's Black Ice
Munich-based Bavaria Films International has picked up all rights outside of Finland and Norway to thriller Black Ice by Finnish director Petri Kotwica. Also in post-production on Bavaria's slate is Shadows (formerly titled Bones) by Macedonian auteur Milcho Manchevski (Before The Rain.)Bavaria is also taking the plunge into animation for ...
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News
Belgian tax shelter looks shaky
Is the Belgian tax shelter in danger' This week, the EU sent back proposals for the renewal of the shelter, the fiscal incentive that has provided a major boost to the local industry as well as supporting international production. It is understood that the EU had reservations about the lack ...