All articles by Liz Shackleton – Page 154
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Mirovision leads Korean buying charge at AFM
South Korea is re-emerging as a buying force at this market with several Korean distributors making multiple acquisitions of hot US and international product. Mirovision has been the most aggressive on the buying front, acquiring nine titles, including Ed Zwick's Defiance from Essential Entertainment, The Women from Inferno Distribution and ...
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CJ pre-sells Park Chan-wook's new project to France, Russia
Korea's CJ Entertainment has pre-sold Park Chan-wook's Untitled Project, set to star Song Kang-ho, to France's Wild Side Films and Russia's Maywin Media. Currently in pre-production, the film is about a small-town priest who volunteers for a medical experiment which fails and turns him into a vampire. It was previously ...
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iDream takes on Santosh Sivan's Boy With Grenade
Mumbai and London-based iDream Independent Pictures has boarded Boy With Grenade, the latest project from Indian filmmaker Santosh Sivan whose Before The Rains screened at Toronto this year. iDream will fully finance and handle international sales on Boy With Grenade which was one of the selected projects at this year's ...
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Golden Network pacts with Dadi Century for three
Hong Kong-based sales agent Golden Network Asia has picked up three titles from China 's Dadi Century Film, including martial arts drama Wushu, which now has Jackie Chan on board as executive producer. Directed by Antony Szeto, the $6m drama follows a group of children under-going a gruelling training programme ...
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UFO beams up Empress And The Warriors
Hong Kong production house United Filmmakers Organization (UFO) is attending the AFM to directly sell romantic action picture An Empress And The Warriors, directed by Tony Siu-Tung Ching. The $15m production, which recently wrapped in mainland China, features a top Asian cast including Donnie Yen, Leon Lai and Kelly Chen. ...
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Asian Content Center launched with NHK support
Former Amuse executives Hisashi Yamamoto and Takaomi Deguchi have launched a film and TV production outfit, Asia Content Center (ACC), with an innovative financing model backed by its ties to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. NHK has first option to pre-buy ACC productions for up to 80% of each project's budget ...
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First Look takes US rights to Blood Brothers
First Look Studios has acquired US rights to John Woo and Terence Chang-produced Blood Brothers, which is being sold by Fortissimo Films. The $10m gangster noir closed this year's Venice Film Festival and features a top Asian cast including Daniel Wu, Chang Chen, Liu Ye and Shu Qi. Directed by ...
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Jaman seals strategic partnership with Terra.com
Online film community Jaman.com has signed a multi-year strategic partnership with leading Latino internet portal Terra.com. The deal see Jaman become a featured provider of Spanish-language and Latino-themed movies for Terra.com's community of 6.6 million unique users. In addition, Jaman will showcase to its users, the four short films that ...
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Phat Phishteams up with Morgan for international push
Start-up Indian production company Phat Phish has brought on board veteran sales agent Kathy Morgan as a consultant in its aim to secure international distribution for a slate of independent Indian features. Morgan will be helping the company pre-sell some of its upcoming projects and will advise on finding a ...
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Korea's M&FC makes market debut with Sword Of Zen
Korean film and music company M&FC is making its debut as a seller at the AFM with a varied slate including Park Heung-sik's action epic A Sword Of Zen. Set during the Goryeo Dynasty, the film follows a female contract killer who is wracked with guilt after accidentally killing the ...
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Chengtian acquires 25% stake in Golden Harvest
Beijing-based Chengtian Entertainment Group has reached a deal with Raymond Chow, chairman of Hong Kong 's Golden Harvest Entertainment, to buy his shareholding in the company. Chengtian will pay $26m (HK$202m) in cash for a 24.78% stake and $2.6m (HK$20m) in convertible notes in Golden Harvest from Chow and related ...
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Pretty Pictures stares into Jiang Wen's Sun
France 's Pretty Pictures has acquired Jiang Wen's Venice competition entry The Sun Also Rises from Hong Kong 's Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP). The deal was negotiated by EMP's Alan Ng and James Velaise of Pretty Pictures. Produced by Jiang's Buyilehu Films and backed by EMP, the $10m drama comprises ...
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J.A. Media picks up Lin's Somersault Punk
Beijing-based J.A. Media has picked up worldwide rights to Taiwanese filmmaker Lin Yu-hsien's upcoming sports drama Somersault Punk. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of a talented but disabled gymnast who becomes a street fighter when his mother prohibits him from practising the sport. Produced by ...
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Muay Thai Chaiya kicks its way to France, Germany
Thailand 's Five Star Entertainment has sold action title Muay Thai Chaiya to France 's Wild Side Films, Germany 's EMS and Brazil 's Global Media Holdings, among other territories. Five Star has now sold the film to more than 30 territories since it had its world premiere at the ...
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Asian buyers eat up Show East's Le Grand Chef
Korean seller Show East has closed a raft of Asian deals on foodie drama Le Grand Chef. Among sales concluded so far at AFM, Festive Films has acquired the film for Singapore and Taiwan, Sundream Motion Pictures for Hong Kong, M-Pictures for Thailand and AOE for Malaysia. Show East is ...
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Lau to produce Water Margin trilogy for Media Asia
Hong Kong filmmaker Andrew Lau, who was behind the three Infernal Affairs films, is lining up a second trilogy, this time based on the Chinese classic novel, Water Margin. Hong Kong-based Media Asia Films is backing and will sell the films, each budgeted at around $25m, with the first expected ...
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Fortissimo duo to receive excellence award at CineAsia
Fortissimo Films co-chairmen Michael J. Werner and Wouter Barendrecht have been selected to be the recipients of a special CineAsia 'Award of Excellence' for their achievements in promoting Asian cinema worldwide. Barendrecht founded Fortissimo in 1991 after working as a programmer for the Rotterdam Film Festival and press officer for ...
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Fortissimo dives in with Callahan's Against The Current
Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights to US drama Against The Current, directed by Peter Callahan and starring Joseph Fiennes. Callahan previously directed 2001 award-winning indie title Last Ball. His new project stars Fiennes as a man coping with grief who sets out to swim the 150 mile-long Lower Hudson ...
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Japan's Gaga Films arrives at AFM with co-production ambitions
Gaga's production and sales arm, Gaga Films, is attending the AFM with a slate of co-productions, underscoring the Japanese outfit's strategy to become active in pan-Asian as well as international co-productions.Cyborg She, financed by a Japanese production consortium and Korea's Centurion Movie & Knowledge 3rd Investment Fund, is being directed ...
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Japan's Fuji TV unveils big-budget AFM slate
Japanese broadcaster and film financier Fuji TV has announced a slate of big-budget titles which are being handled by sales agents Gaga Communications and Pony Canyon at the AFM. Gaga is handling international sales on Shaolin Girl which is being executive produced by Fuji TV's Chihiro Kameyama and Hong Kong ...