All articles by Liz Shackleton – Page 149
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News
Fortissimo Filmsacquires Killer, Epoch'sGigantic
Fortissimo Films has picked up Gigantic, an off-beat comedy with a stellar cast headed by Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano and John Goodman, from US production outfits Killer Films and Epoch Films. The debut of Matt Aselton, the film revolves around a mattress store worker who falls for a potty-mouthed ...
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News
Edko to launch Claustrophobia at Cannes
Hong Kong-based Edko Films will commence international sales at Cannes on Claustrophobia, which is one of the first films to be backed by Irresistible Films, a film fund established by Bill Kong and Japan's Avex Group Holdings. The film is the directorial debut of award-winning screenwriter Ivy Ho (July Rhapsody). ...
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News
Fortissimo to debut Dance Subaru! at Cannes
Fortissimo Films has boarded pan-Asian co-production Dance Subaru! as sales agent outside of Asia, and will be introducing the film at this year's Cannes film festival.Several Asian powerhouses are joining forces on the film (see related articles below), including Japan's Avex Entertainment, Korea's SM Entertainment, Singapore's MediaCorp Raintree Pictures and ...
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Yim joins animation house Imagi in Hong Kong
Former Media Asia executive Cora Yim has joined Los Angeles and Hong Kong-based animation house Imagi as director of marketing and strategic planning with immediate effect. She was formerly senior manager of acquisitions and marketing at Hong Kong-based Media Asia. In her new role she will report to Imagi co-CEO ...
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News
iDream bolsters Cannes slate with Ocean Of Pearls
London-based sales agent iDream Independent Pictures has added Ocean Of Pearls, directed by Dr Sarab Singh Neelam, to its Cannes line-up. Shot in Los Angeles, the film tells the story of a young US-born Sikh surgeon who finds that his religious beliefs of wearing a turban and beard make him ...
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News
Focus: the changing face of Japanese distribution
As the world's third largest box-office territory behind the US and UK, Japan is a hugely influential player in the international sales business. And until a few years ago, Japanese distributors would regularly stump up 10%-12% of the budget of heavyweight independent films.So it is not surprising Usen Corp's recent ...
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News
Oh quits CJ Entertainment to join Fox Korea
Fox Korea has appointed Tom Oh as managing director, replacing Jay Shim, effective from May 9. He will report to Fox vice president, Asia Pacific, Sunder Kimatrai. Oh was formerly senior vice president at CJ Entertainment, where he managed the international sales & distribution and festival activities for CJ and ...
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News
UK film-maker wins top prize at Nyon doc fest
Martin Blaney in NyonUK film-maker Molly Dineen has been awarded the Grand Prix for The Lie Of The Land about the hard daily routine of English farmers at Nyon's Visions du Reel documentary film festival which closed on April 23.In addition, the International Jury, which included US producer Claire Aguilar ...
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News
Polybona sets up international sales outfit
Beijing-based distributor Polybona is entering the international sales arena by taking a 51% stake in start-up sales outfit Distribution Workshop, established by Hong Kong film industry veterans Nansun Shi and Jeffrey Chan. Distribution Workshop will handle projects that Polybona has invested in - the company has been quietly moving from ...
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News
TWC's Shanghai to shoot in UK, Thailand from May
The Weinstein Company has confirmed that Mikael Hafstrom's Shanghai, starring John Cusack, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe, will start shooting on May 5 in London. The film will also shoot in Thailand, and possibly China, for a North American release on Christmas day. It was previously refused shooting permission by ...
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News
The Warlords rules the roost at Hong Kong Film Awards
Peter Ho-sun Chan's epic war drama The Warlords dominated the Hong Kong Film Awards last night (April 13), scooping eight prizes including best film, best director and best actor for Jet Li. The film, which was a big hit in China last year grossing more than $29m, was also awarded ...
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News
Celestial launches two movie channels on Now TV
Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures is launching two new movie channels - Celestial Movies Asia (CMA) and Celestial Classic Movies (CCM) - which will be carried by PCCW's now TV IPTV service in Hong Kong. CMA will screen blockbusters from across Asia such as Erika Sawajiri's Closed Note, Francis Ng's One ...
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News
Celestial pacts with Kadokawa, MGM Central Europe
Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures has signed two new distribution deals for its Shaw Brothers library with MGM Channel Central Europe and Kadokawa Entertainment in Japan. The deal with Kadokawa includes video, pay-TV, free TV, video-on-demand and mobile distribution rights. Kadokawa will offer different genres from the Shaw Brothers library - ...
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News
Frames: Indian industry leaders sound note of caution
India's entertainment industry may be booming, and Mumbai-based film companies eyeing global expansion, but local industry leaders rang several alarm bells at the FICCI-Frames conference this week. A recurring theme was the lack of management expertise and a lack of talent, with only a handful of stars able to guarantee ...
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News
Adlabs cinema chain set for global, digital expansion
India's largest exhibitor Adlabs, owned by Reliance Entertainment, has unveiled plans for global expansion, as well as the roll-out of a D-cinema circuit in the domestic Indian market. The company has acquired 240 screens across the US, some from players such as Landmark and Regal, and has also partnered with ...
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Features
In focus - Closing the deal
Although box office is still booming in many parts of the region, the Asian film market presents unique challenges to Western sales companies. Local product has a market share of at least 40% in the major territories, and as US studio product is also strong, there is little room for ...
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News
Heart, Yasukuni take top prizes at Hong Kong fest
Takahashi Izumi's What the Heart Craves has won the Golden Digital Award in the Asian Digital Competition section of this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF). Peng Tao's Little Moth won the Silver Digital Award in the same section.Meanwhile, the Humanitarian Award for Best Documentary went to Li Ying ...
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News
Ellis promoted to president of MPA Asia Pacific
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has announced the promotion of Michael Ellis to president and managing director of its Asia Pacific operations. Ellis is a former litigator and law enforcement veteran and has served as an MPA executive in the region since 1999.'With so many Asian countries emerging as pivotal ...
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News
Film finance: India INC extends its global reach
It has been a busy year for the Indian film industry's corporate players, what with floating on stock markets and signing content deals with local producers, not to mention forging partnerships with Hollywood.India's film finance giantsFICCI Frames line-upSince last year's Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (Ficci) Frames conference in ...
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SPECIAL REPORT: HONG KONG & CHINA 2008
SCREEN SPECIAL REPORT CONTENTS (click to view)Hong Kong: Territory overview Hong Kong: Indie finance Hong Kong and China: Hot projects Hong Kong: Box office China: Territory overview China: Rising stars Filmart preview Hkiff preview Haf preview Filmart highlightsNow heading into its fourth year, Entertainment Expo Hong Kong (March 17-April 13) ...