All articles by Jennifer Green – Page 48
-
News
Portugal Telecom buys out Lusomundo
Portuguese telecommunications company Portugal Telecom (PT) has acquired the 58% it did not already own of local media and film giant Lusomundo in a transaction valued at Euros267m.The deal marks the full-blown entrance into the Portuguese feature film sector of a new heavyweight player. PT, which acquired 42% of Lusomundo ...
-
News
Almodovar to stay at home for next film
Still basking in the worldwide success of All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre), Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has decided to shoot his next film on home turf, postponing indefinitely his much anticipated English-language debut.The provisionally titled Hable Con Ella (Talk To Her) will shoot in Spain sometime next ...
-
News
Spain chooses One as Oscar contender
Jose Luis Garci was nominated this week for the sixth time to represent Spain in the foreign-language category of the Academy Awards with his latest film, the black-and-white You're The One. The Garci nomination came as a surprise in some corners: in 1999 a scandal erupted when Garci was accused ...
-
Reviews
Masterpiece (Obra Maestra)
Dir: David Trueba. Spain. 2000. 115mins.Prods: Fernando Trueba PC, Buenavida Producciones. Backers: Amiguetes Entertainment, TVE, Via Digital. Domestic dist: Lola Distribucion. Intl sales: Lolafilms (34) 91 436 7400. Prod: Cristina Huete. Scr: David Trueba. DoP: Javier Aguirresarobe. Sound: Pierre Gamet. Music: Roque Banos. Ed: Pablo G. Del Amo. Main cast: ...
-
News
Dream, Town share Valladolid's Golden Spike
The 45th annual Valladolid International Week of Film (Oct 20-28) handed out its awards with no single film standing out as a walk-away winner.Top awards were evenly dispersed across a handful of competing films, with US filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and France's Robert Guediguian sharing the top award, the Golden Spike, ...
-
News
Sogepaq, Wild Bunch have a Devil of a time
Spanish sales outfit Sogepaq and France's Wild Bunch have closed a string of sales on the highly anticipated Spanish-language thriller The Devil's Backbone (El Espinazo Del Diablo) from director Guillermo del Toro. Sogepaq and Wild Bunch are jointly handling international sales on the film outside Latin America.All rights were sold ...
-
News
Filmax develops English-language trio
Fresh from the sales success of forthcoming English-language feature Darkness, Barcelona-based mini-studio The Filmax Group is prepping three new English-language co-productions as part of its international push.Luis Sepulveda's political drama Nowhere, a co-production with Surf Films of Italy and Buena Vista/Telefonica Media-backed Patagonik of Argentina, is being prepped for a ...
-
News
Zebra unwraps Big Brother for big screen
Spanish producer Antonio Saura has unveiled the first feature film out of his start-up outfit Zebra Producciones, an innovative reality show spin-off shot entirely in secrecy and starring the cast of Gran Hermano, the Spanish version of hit TV programme Big Brother.According to the film's director, Antonio Hernandez, the project ...
-
News
Via Digital secures Euros640m loan
Spanish digital satellite TV platform Via Digital is set to receive a cash injection of Euros640m via a loan organised by the Chase Manhattan Bank.According to a press statement released jointly by Via and Chase, the loan will be used to finance the platform's plans for expansion which include continuing ...
-
News
Prisa invests $10m in Bolivia's Garafulic
Spanish multimedia giant Grupo Prisa plans to pump $10m into leading Bolivian media group Garafulic to develop new and existing TV, internet, print and radio ventures in Bolivia.The move forms part of Prisa's expansion into the Spanish-speaking Latin American market. Among other interests, the group already owns publishing giant Santillana ...
-
News
Filmax partners with Miramax on Darkness
In the highest-profile pre-sale during the London market screenings so far, Spanish mini-studio Filmax Group has partnered with Miramax Films on Jaume Balaguero's horror flick Darkness for English-speaking territories including the US. Miramax snagged the English-language title during the London screenings after a bidding war for US rights on the ...
-
News
Quixote struggles against collapse
Producers in Spain are fighting to keep Terry Gilliam's new film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote alive after shooting stalled last week when 70 year-old lead actor Jean Rochefort suffered a double disk hernia. Sources close to the production say that shooting can't resume until at least January, which ...
-
News
Via Digital, ICO ink co-financing pact
Spain's national credit institute (ICO) has signed an agreement with digital satellite platform Via Digital and the Spanish producers federation (FAPAE) whereby ICO will make available up to $18m worth of credits for film and TV product to which the Telefonica-backed Via acquires rights.According to the terms of the agreement, ...
-
News
Spain's Ono postpones flotation
Following an international trend, Spanish cable supplier Ono (Cableuropa) has announced that it will postpone its IPO, planned for Thursday, due to the "poor conditions" of stock markets globally.Ono planned to float at least 20% of its shares on the recently launched "New Market" index of the Spanish stock exchange, ...
-
News
UIP, MBS kickstart joint training programme
UIP and the pan-European Media Business School (MBS) kicked off the inaugural edition of their joint training initiative in Seville, Spain on Tuesday, describing it as the "first international marketing and distribution training programme given by practitioners and for practitioners."MBS director Juan Pita, UIP president and COO Andrew Cripps and ...
-
News
Ed Gein wins best film award at Sitges
US title Ed Gein, directed by Chuck Parello, walked away the big winner on Saturday from the International Film Festival of Catalunya, better known as Sitges (October 5-14).The horror film about the real-life serial killer who inspired films such as Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence Of The ...
-
News
Planeta set to sell 10% stake in Telecinco
Spanish publishing and multimedia giant Grupo Planeta looks set to sell off its entire 10% stake in private broadcaster Telecinco, and not just 5% as previously rumoured. Sources at Planeta said that talks are underway with Telecinco backer Mediaset to take at least a 5% share. But Planeta president Jose ...
-
News
April Captains to open Huelva fest
Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros' directorial debut, April Captains (Capitaes De Abril), will inaugurate this year's 26th annual Iberoamerican Film Festival of Huelva, Spain (Nov 10-18).Medeiros will also sit on the festival's official jury alongside Spanish director Juan Pinzas, Spanish critic Mirito Torreiro, and Brazilian producer Esdras Rubim, among others.The ...
-
News
Arbol buys stake in Capa Barcelone
Spanish TV production house Grupo Arbol has acquired a 50% stake in Capa Barcelone, the local subsidiary of French production outfit Capa, according to a report in financial paper Cinco Dias.The two companies complement each other: Arbol is home to Spain's leading TV fiction producer, Globo Media, while Capa Barcelone ...
-
News
Common Wealth in line for English-language remake
Spanish outfit Lolafilms, headed by CEO Andres Vicente Gomez, is negotiating the sale of remake rights on Alex de la Iglesia's Common Wealth (La Comunidad) to US-based producer Arthur Sarkissian (Rush Hour, Last Man Standing).The film - which opened the San Sebastian International Film Festival last month to strong reviews ...