All articles by Leon Forde – Page 9
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UK film industry focuses on training
UK support body the Film Council and training body Skillset are to launch a major initiative to improve film skills and training in the UK, seen as key to improving the British film industry's worldwide standing.Stewart Till, deputy chairman of the Film Council and Skillset, and CEO/chairman of UIP, this ...
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Likely buyer named for Odeon Cinemas
A likely buyer appears to have emerged for Odeon Cinemas, after reports earlier this month that the UK's largest cinema chain was being put on the auction block by owner Cinven.According to a report in the UK's Sunday Telegraph, investment bank WestLB is in advanced negotiations to acquire the circuit ...
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IMAX to add three new sites in China
Toronto-based large format operator IMAX is to open three new theatres in China, expanding the country's number of IMAX theatres to eight by 2005.The new developments - in Beijing and South Chinese city Dongguan - come just six months after IMAX officially launched in the territory with a Chinese and ...
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Consolidation boosts UK independent cinema sector
City Screen, the UK's leading specialist exhibitor, is expanding its business and launching a cinema programming and management division.The new arm will be headed up by Clare Binns, previously managing director of Zoo, the cinema programming and management outfit. In a significant move towards consolidation in the UK's specialised and ...
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UK's Optimum makes Discoveries with BBC Four
UK independent distributor Optimum Releasing is teaming with BBC Four to release an annual package of six world cinema titles, designed to increase the number of foreign titles distributed in the UK.Dubbed Discoveries, the programme will focus on new films from first time directors, as well as more established film-makers ...
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UK's Momentum restructures home entertainment arm
UK distributor Momentum Pictures is to restructure its home entertainment division, with director of retail video Conrad Withey leaving the company this month to set up his own production company and rights business.Peter Dutton, head of Momentum's rental video division for the past three years, is promoted to the newly ...
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Ster Century puts Euro cinemas on the block
Ster Century Europe, the South African-owned cinema operator, has announced it is to sell its nine sites in the UK, Ireland and Spain in a move that will leave the company with only one site in Slovakia.According to a statement, the decision to put the sites on the auction block ...
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Start-up UK distributor launches with Balzac
New London-based distribution outfit Soda Pictures is to launch with Dai Sijie's Golden Globe-nominated Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress, which it has picked up for release in the UK and Eire in early May.The film, based on the novel of the same name written by the director, follows two ...
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IMAX announces major European expansion plans
In the wake of expansion into China, Russia and India, Toronto-based large format operator IMAX Corporation has announced its intention to establish itself in more European markets.Speaking in London at the European launch of the company's DMR technology - which digitally re-masters 35mm films for projection on IMAX systems - ...
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Beyond takes world rights on Conspiracy Of Silence
Australian-owned Beyond Films has picked up world rights on UK drama Conspiracy Of Silence.Written and directed by John Deery, the Ireland-set film explores celibacy in the Catholic church and was produced by Flick Features, with backing from Little Wing Films and Mogirl Films.Hugh Bonneville, John Lynch, Jonathan Forbes and Brenda ...
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Pathe, Momentum strike joint venture UK aquisition deal
UK distributors Momentum Pictures and Pathe Distribution have struck a joint venture deal which will see the companies sharing acquisition and distribution costs on larger budget titles. Under the deal, the companies will take turns handling theatrical and home entertainment releases.The first film acquired under the joint venture is Robert ...
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Stephen Fry starts shooting Bright Young Things
Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Richard E Grant, Sir John Mills and Peter O'Toole are all set to play cameo roles in Stephen Fry's directorial debut Bright Young Things, which started shooting this week in and around London and at Pinewood Studios.An adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies, the ...
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Solid Air starts shooting in Glasgow
Shooting started in Glasgow today (Oct 30) on Solid Air, director May Miles Thomas' follow up to the Bafta-winning DV feature One Life Stand.A complex drama set in the twin worlds of litigation and high-stakes gambling, Solid Air tells the story of a compulsive gambler who comes home to his ...
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Shooting starts on Cheeky black comedy
Shooting started this week on Cheeky, a black comedy which marks the feature directorial debut of UK actor David Thewlis.Thewlis, best known for his role in Mike Leigh's Naked, has also scripted and will star in the film, produced by Trudie Styler's Xingu Films outfit. Luc Besson's Europa Corp is ...
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Shooting starts on Helen Of Peckham
Shooting has started on Helen Of Peckham, the feature debut of writer-director Emily Young, starring Peter Mullan and Ingeborga Dapkunaite.Helen Of Peckham - a working title - tells the story of an aid worker in war-torn Eastern Europe who travels back to his family in London, unaware of a tragedy ...
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MIPCOM TV market ends on a cautiously positive note
Attendance was solid at this year's MIPCOM programmes market in Cannes, despite the current depression in the TV market which has put the squeeze on many players in the sector. Michael Weatherseed, director of the television division at MIPCOM and MIP-TV organiser Reed Midem, was upbeat at a market press ...
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Italy's RAI Trade readies major DVD push
RAI Trade, the sales arm of Italian public broadcaster RAI is to release a string of opera and ballet titles - including Franco Zeffirelli's staging of La Traviata - on DVD from November, to be distributed worldwide by TDK.RAI has so far released six classical music titles through a distribution ...
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Carlton International announces MIPCOM deals
Carlton International, the media rights distributor of the UK's Carlton group, has announced a number of film deals to various European channels and distributors during this week's MIPCOM TV programme market in Cannes.As part of its existing output deal with Carlton International, TF1 has acquired a range of TV movies ...
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Beta Film takes 12 titles from Intertainment
Beta Film, the German-based international rights and sales arm of the insolvent Kirch Media, has sealed a European distribution deal for twelve feature films from Neuer Markt-listed financier Intertainment.The deal will see Beta distributing titles such as The Art Of War, starring Wesley Snipes, across TV, video and some theatrical ...
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Super RTL takes three from Buena Vista Int'l Television
Buena Vista International Television has licensed three animated features to Super RTL - Movietoons, in a deal which shows that business is still being done in the troubled German TV sector.The features - The Tigger Movie, Recess and Doug's First Movie - fit into Super RTL's Disney Playhouse pre-school strategy, ...