All articles by Melanie Rodier
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News
Tribeca film festival - 'There's so much business to be done'
The Tribeca Film Festival (April 23-May 4) began life six years ago in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, with the aim of contributing to the revival of Lower Manhattan.Tribeca: Where are they nowSet up by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, the five-day event attracted ...
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The Fairytale of New York: Big Apple wins back movie productions
Frank Sinatra sung that he wanted to be a part of it, and it is certainly true for the footloose producers who stream into the city that never sleeps.Since New York's tax incentives were first introduced back in 2004, the city has played host to Sony's Spider-Man 3, Warner Bros' ...
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Features
Film hub - Has the big apple started to bruise'
"I came to New York because of the films of Martin Scorsese and the Velvet Underground," says New York producer Ted Hope, whose credits include the debut features of Ang Lee, Todd Field and Michel Gondry. "But New York City has now become the island of the super-rich. It's hard ...
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Features
Tribeca 2007 - Where are they now'
With more than 150 features screening last year, many criticised the sixth Tribeca Film Festival for offering a line-up that was too eclectic and of mixed quality, as well as for sky-rocketing ticket prices.Nonetheless, by the end of the 12-day event, a number of films had caught the attention of ...
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Features
United States - Niche operator
Perhaps the biggest challenge Lisa Nishimura-Seese has faced, since relocating from New York to Los Angeles last October on joining Netflix, is that there are not enough hours in the day.In her newly created role of vice-president of independent content acquisition in a new department, she is charged with acquiring ...
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Features
United States - Syvan's secret
New York-based producer Lemore Syvan is gearing up for The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee, the next feature from director Rebecca Miller, which starts shooting in Connecticut in April.The movie, which stars Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore and Winona Ryder, marks Syvan's fourth collaboration with Miller, following the director's critically ...
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Features
United States - Planting Marigold
Since setting up its US distribution operation last year, Indian entertainment giant Adlabs has released a swathe of Bollywood pictures to US-based Indian audiences, including sci-fi box-office hit Krrish, which took $2.2m across North America.Now, the company is gearing up for its first ever release to US mainstream theatres, with ...
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Features
Seasons of change
Vin Bhat, the founder of fast-growing New York-based Indian pay-TV service Bodvod, has been celebrating a successful year for Bollywood movies at the North American box office.Hits in 2006 included Kriish - India's first action superhero film - and Dhoom 2, about a malicious gang of Bombay bikers, which grossed ...
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Case study: The Meerkats
Billed as a coming-of-age tale, BBC Films' The Meerkats is an attempt to mount a resolutely big-screen experience. Melanie Rodier reports. Now in post-production, James Honeyborne's The Meerkats is the first theatrical nature documentary from the UK's BBC Films.Co-financed by The Weinstein Company (TWC), the film is a collaboration with ...
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News
Wildlife documentaries: nature calls
Following the global success of March Of The Penguins, animal films are the hot new genre. But is there a market for theatrical wildlife documentaries' Melanie Rodier reports. From meerkats to elephants, turtles to polar bears: in the post March Of The Penguins marketplace, a host of animal-based nature documentaries ...
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Features
France - Critical mass
Jean-Michel Frodon, director of France's venerable Cahiers Du Cinema since 2003 has spent the last couple of decades travelling the world to track the newest trends in world cinema. He is also the man behind the decision to launch an English edition of the Cahiers, the 50-year-old bastion of film ...
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Tribeca Film Festival: growing gains
Five years ago, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff launched the first Tribeca Film Festival to contribute to the revival of Lower Manhattan after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The five-day festival attracted 150,000 visitors to the downtown neighbourhood.By 2006, Tribeca had grown into an almost two-week ...
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Features
United States - Mountain men
Paul Hardart had been working in Los Angeles for nine years when he decided to move back to New York and set up Adirondack Pictures with his brother Tom.In Los Angeles, Paul created and co-ran (with Claudia Gray) Universal Focus, the specialty division of Universal Pictures. He also founded Universal's ...
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Rock solid
In The Bedroom producer Graham Leader has just locked production on Childless, his first feature since the 2001 Todd Field hit. It launches a slate of feature projects Leader is developing for his new company, New York-based Granite Films.'There has never been a better time for independent films,' says the ...
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News
Tribeca and Rome festivals announce collaboration
TheTribeca Film Festival (TFF) and the Rome FilmFestival have officially announced their collaboration.Duringits first edition, Rome, which runs Oct 13-21,will screen a selection of films that were shown at Tribecaearlier this year. The names of the films will be announced in coming weeks.Tribeca will screen several of Rome's films during ...
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News
The Departed and La Sconosciuta could be headed for Rome
GiuseppeTornatore's La Sconosciuta and Martin Scorsese'sThe Departed could be among thetitles that will screen at the first edition of the Rome Film Festival (Oct13-21).Accordingto industry gossip - but without any confirmation from Rome organisers - titlesthat could be heading to Rome also include Ridley Scott's A Good Year and Mira ...
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Mikado takes Italian rights for Hottest State and Retribution
Arthouse distributor Mikado Film has taken Italiandistribution rights to Venice titles The Hottest State and Retribution (Sakebi).Directedby Ethan Hawke, The Hottest State,which is screening in the Horizons competition, is about a young actor from Texas who tries to make it in Manhattan while struggling with arelationship with a singer-songwriter.StarringMark Webber, ...
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Venice competition includes 21 world premieres
The 63rd Venice Film Festival (August 30-Sep 9) has unveiled an eclectic line-up, with directors such as Stephen Frears, Darren Aronofsky, Emilio Estevez, Emanuele Crialese and Alfonso Cuaron vying for the Golden Lion.For the first time in Venice's history, all 21 films in competition will be world premieres. "This ...
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Venice Days line-up includes new films from Boe and Lerman
Christoffer Boe's Offscreen andDiego Lerman's Mientras Tanto are among the films that willscreen in Venice's Director's Fortnight,known as Venice Days. Offscreen is the third feature fromDanish director Boe, after his acclaimed Reconstruction and Allegro, which screened in the section last year. Produced by Alphaville Pictures, Offscreen focuses on an actor,played ...
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Giffoni festival competition includes Opal Dream
ElijahWood, Kathy Bates and Anna Paquin are among the guestswho will be attending the 36th edition of the GiffoniFilm Festival, one of the world's leading events for children's films.Filmsscreening in competition at Giffoni (July 13-22) includePeter Cattaneo's OpalDream about a girl who lives in a small Australian opal mining town ...