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All articles by Melanie Rodier – Page 35
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Murdoch sells Stream to Vivendi Universal
Rupert Murdoch has pulled out of Italy by closing a deal with Vivendi Universal that sees News Corp selling its ailing pay-TV arm, Stream to the rival media giant. The deal, which must now be approved by Italy's Antitrust Authority, paves the way for Vivendi's Telepiu' to become the only ...
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Italian minister condemns American Beauty
Italian government minister Umberto Bossi has condemned Oscar-winning picture American Beauty for corrupting Italian family values.Bossi, the controversial leader of Italy's Northern League movement who is currently pushing for a seat on Rai's new board of directors, charged that the movie, about a middle-aged man's obsession with his daughter's ...
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Australia's Darnley House boards $12m Jamil
Australia's Darnley House Productions has boarded Italian producer Leo Pescarolo's $12m picture, Jamil, The Last Goddess.Backing has also been secured from Italy's Rai Cinema for the movie, which is loosely based on H.Rider Haggard's novel She, a mythical late 19th century African adventure about an immortal woman who is ...
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Berlusconi's conflict-of-interest law criticised
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's government is trying to push through a polemical new conflict-of-interest law, days before it is due to appoint a new board of directors for state broadcaster Rai, the main rival to the premier's multi-billion dollar media empire.The proposed law states that the national watchdog should ...
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Venice fest denies Barbera resignation reports
The Venice Film Festival has denied reports that artistic director Alberto Barbera has already resigned from his position. Rumours about Barbera's resignation and replacement began to emerge at the end of last week, when the Venice Biennale's board of directors stepped down three months before their contract officially expired. ...
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Revamped Taormina festival hires Steve Klain
In a bid to boost the US profile of the Taormina Film Festival, director Felice Laudadio has hired Steve Klain, Miramax's veteran New York-based international marketing director, as a deputy director. The festival, which is non-competitive and screens only English-language movies in the Sicilian town's ancient Greek amphitheatre, has also ...
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Rai Trade closes string of sales on Jurij
Italian sales agent Rai Trade has closed a string of sales ahead of next month's Berlin and AFM markets on Jurij, a drama directed by Stefano Gabrini starring Charles Dance and Sarah Miles.The movie, about a blind 10-year-old violin prodigy, has been sold to Japan's Gaga, Mexico's Quality Film, South ...
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Rings breaks Italian box office record
New Line blockbuster The Lord of The Rings has smashed the all-time Italian box office opening record briefly held by Harry Potter, by grossing a massive $5m (Euros 5,841,147) from 503 screens on its first weekend.Six days after its Jan 18 release, the Peter Jackson picture had grossed $7.1m (Euros ...
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Berlusconi to privatise state-run TV channels
Three weeks before Italy's Berlusconi-led government appoints a new board of directors at state broadcaster Rai, the premier and media magnate who owns rival private broadcaster Mediaset has confirmed plans to privatise two of Rai's three television channels. During an interview broadcast by France's Europe 1 radio, Berlusconi is reported ...
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Rome's Dinocitta studios to be re-opened
Paris-based Tarak Ben Ammar, head of the rights trading venture Quinta Communications, has teamed up with Italian entrepreneurs Riccardo Pisa and Raimondo Lagostena to re-open Dinocitta, the famous Rome studios built by producer Dino De Laurentiis in 1964. Pisa, a real estate developer, and Lagostena, a Milan television entrepreneur, acquired ...
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The rise and fall of Italian cinema admissions
Annual box office revenues for Italy's new generation of multiplex cinemas appear to be growing at roughly the same rate as the decline in the profitability of the country's traditional theatres, according to latest industry estimates.Italian box office revenues rose by 4.89% to $384.6m in 2001 compared to $366.6m in ...
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Italian pay-TV merger plan withdrawn
Italy's antitrust authority has announced that Vivendi Universal and News Corp have withdrawn their plan to merge their Italian pay-TV arms, pre-empting the watchdog's widely expected ruling against the operation. Despite initial industry confidence that the merger would receive swift regulatory approval, last September the antitrust authority opened an investigation ...
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Cannes' Fremaux explores Italian talent
Having visited Germany and the UK, Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux has turned his attention to Italy, visiting Rome to meet key players from the local film industry and find out more about new Italian talent. During his three-day visit, Fremaux reportedly met a number of producers, including Angelo Barbagallo, ...
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Venice Biennale gets unexpected new president
In a sudden and unexpected move, Italy's Culture Minister Giuliano Urbani has appointed ex-Eni and Telecom Italia manager Franco Bernabe to replace Paolo Baratta as president of the Venice Biennale, the organisation that manages the Venice Film Festival. News of Bernabe's appointment at the weekend caught many industry insiders off ...
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Cecchi Gori in court over cash-for-votes flap
Embattled movie mogul and former senator, Vittorio Cecchi Gori is set to appear in court this week on corruption charges.He will answer questioning on charges of paying $9,000 (L20m) to a middle-man in the Sicilian town of Acireale in exchange for a package of political votes allegedly controlled by a ...
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Controversy looms at Italy's state-backed orgs
A high ranking member of Silvio Berlusconi's Italian government has openly criticized Cinecitta Holding's decision to appoint Antonio More managing director of state-run distributor Istituto Luce, after president Angelo Guglielmi stepped down last week. Leading Italian daily La Repubblica quoted Culture under-secretary Nicola Bono as saying: "The fairness which the ...
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Italian film distributors unveil their 2002 slates
Italian state distributor Istituto Luce, whose president Angelo Guglielmi recently stepped down, has unveiled its 2002 distribution slate which includes Wong Kar-Wai's widely anticipated new film 2046, Theo Angelopoulos's upcoming film about Greek exiles, The Weeping Field, and French actor-writer-director Michel Blanc's Embrassez Qui Vous Voulez. Other distributors who unveiled ...
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Mein Stern scoops Turin Festival's top prize
Valeska Grisebach's Mein Stern has scooped the top prize at this year's Turin Film Festival, Italy's prestigious cutting-edge event which is dedicated to emerging directors.The Austrian-German film about teenage love was awarded $18,000 (40,000,000 ITL), after being praised by the jury for its "timing and perfect, realistic acting." Meanwhile, Iran's ...
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Italy's Eagle feathers its nest with books
Italy's Eagle Pictures, which recently received substantial acquisition and production funding from financial group Interbanca (Screendaily Nov 20, 2001), is just one of the internationally-minded Italian companies filling its production slate with screen adaptations of literary masterpieces.In particular, hot on the heels of last year's Oscar contender Chocolat, Eagle scooped ...
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Italy's Eagle Pictures gets huge cash boost
Ambitious Italian distributor and producer Eagle Pictures has secured a major cash injection from leading financial group Interbanca, which has acquired a 13.79% stake in the film outfit for a value of Euros 10.3m. In addition, the bank has also awarded the company a Euros 50m fund to be invested ...