All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 24
-
News
Film industry 'disappointed' by European VAT ruling
European film trade associations have reacted with "deep disappointment" to last week's European Commission (EC) ruling on value added tax (VAT), which keeps charges on DVDs and video cassettes at high levels.The EC's internal markets commission said that the objective of its sixth VAT revision was to simplify and rationalise ...
-
News
Korea's Mirovision takes world rights to Doppelganger
Korean independent group Mirovision has picked up world sales rights to Doppelganger, the next film by cult Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa.The film, which is being targeted for a world premiere at one of the major autumn festivals, is a sophisticated thriller with elements of comedy and black humour about a ...
-
News
Korea's Save The Green Planet wins PiFan festival
Local Koreanpicture, Save TheGreen Planet took multiple honours at the closing ceremony of the 7thPuchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) this weekend.The film, a first- feature directedby Jang Jun-Hwan, won the Best of Puchon award for bestfeature and also the Citizen's Choice public prize. Save The Green Planet is a ...
-
News
Jeong to take over as COO at Showbox
Jeong Taesung, known as the international face of thePusan Promotion Plan (PPP) projects market is to become chief operating officerof the major Korean film conglomerate Showbox. Thehigh profile move means that the forthcoming PPP (5-7 October), held inparallel to the Pusan International Film Festival, will be Jeong's last in ...
-
News
Mirovision picks up Klockworx' Battlefield Baseball
In a rare deal signed at Korea's Puchon International Film Festival (PiFan) Japanese sales and production house Klockworx marked its first licence agreement for Battlefield Baseball. The film was sold to Korean indie distributor Mirovision.Battlefield Baseball, which features in PiFan's World fantastic Cinema and Industry Screenings sections, is a live ...
-
News
Euro film to benefit from EIB bank deal
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided Euros40bn of credits to Natexis Coficine and Cofiloisirs, two French banks specialising in film lending.The two Euros20bn loans are continuations of previous loans arranged in November 2001. They are expected to have the twin effects of boosting Coficine and Cofiloisirs' lending capacities while ...
-
News
Phileine Says Sorry to open Netherlands film fest
Phileine Says Sorry (Phileine Zegt Sorry), anticipated as one of the highlights of a big year for Dutch films, has been set as the opening picture for this year's Netherlands Film Festival (24 Sept-3 Oct) in Utrecht.The film is a romantic comedy, adapted and directed by Robert Jan Westdijk from ...
-
News
Rising ticket prices to drive European box office
Pan-European cinema admissions will reach 1 billion in 2005, rising from 910 million in 2002 - 20% over the three year period - according to a new report by research house, Screen Digest. Box office revenues will rise at an even faster rate over the same period - by 33% ...
-
News
Field narrows in Vivendi Universal race
A trio of companies from the original six which expressed an interest may now head the race to buy Vivendi Universal's US entertainment assets which include Universal Pictures film studio.According to published reports, MGM, Liberty Media and Viacom are likely to make a shortlist that gives them access to a ...
-
News
Global entertainment spend set to recover from 9/11 shock
Global entertainment spending is set to grow from $1.1 trillion in 2002 to $1.4 trillion in 2007, a compound average growth rate of 4.8% per year. That GDP-busting growth is the forecast of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in the latest edition of its Global Entertainment and Media Outlook. It acknowledges that 2003 ...
-
News
Global film industry losing up to $3.5bn from piracy
The global film industry is currently losing $3bn-$3.5bn per year to illegal piracy operations, according to a new report The Impact Of Piracy On The Film Industry, by UK based management consultancy firm Deloitte & Touche.The new report attributes most of the current loss to "hard copy" video piracy, ie ...
-
News
Cannes artistic director reflects on 'year of thorns'
Thierry Fremaux, the man chiefly responsible for this year'sprogramming selections at the Cannes Film Festival, has hit back at the barrageof barbed criticism and hopes that a more level-headed assessment of the 2003 Official Selection will emerge over time.Fremaux, who has been Cannes' artistic director for the past threeyears, suggests ...
-
News
Digital advertising far outstrips digital screenings
According to a new report from Screen Digest the use of digital technology for pre-film advertising far outstrips full-on electronic cinema.Eight different exhibition chains, operating in five continents have digitised more than 2,750 cinema screens with low-cost networked projector solutions. This number is set to double by year-end 2003, says ...
-
News
RCV wraps up a dozen Cannes buys
Dutch distributorRCV Entertainment bought a dozen high profile English-language titles at Cannes. Although the prices paid have notbeen disclosed, the company's willingness to pre-buy so many titles that haveyet to go into production underlines the competitiveness of the Dutch market. RCV'sshopping list was headed by Monkeyface, the racing ...
-
News
French indie banks on next generation festival auteurs
Independent French production label Aeternam Films unveiled a raft of art-house pictures produced by some of the world's edgiest talents.The company, headed by Francesca Feder, will co-produce The Moon Also Rises, the next picture by Lin Cheng-Sheng, whose Robinson's Crusoe appeared in Cannes competition last week. The drama focuses on ...
-
News
Mr Ibrahim goes to Japan
Powerful French sales and production operation ARP Selection sold Japanese rights on Mr Ibrahim to Gaga Communications. The film (aka Les Fleurs Du Koran, aka Momo) by French director Francois Dupeyron, stars Omar Sharif as an elderly Arab grocer who develops an enduring friendship with a 12 year-old Jewish boy."Gaga ...
-
News
Kitchen Stories sells like hot cakes
Bent Hamer's kitchen-sink drama Kitchen Stories (Salmer Fra Kokkenet), which was one of the hits of the Cannes Directors' Fortnight section, has proved as popular with buyers as it has with critics and the public. Handled by France's Celluloid Dreams it was sold to SPO Inc (Japan), Cinelibre-Cineart (Benelux), Lady ...
-
News
Paradiso enjoys buying spree
Paradiso Entertainment bought all Benelux rights to After The Sunset and Rush Hour 3. From the UK's Portman Entertainment it bought Intermission. From Odyssey Entertainment it picked up The Libertine. From Pandora it concluded a three picture deal including Casa De Los Babys, A Home At The End Of The ...
-
News
Osama is first title for five-strong buying alliance
Osama, the first Afghan film to be made since the fall of the Taliban, was jointly acquired by five European distributors which last year formed a loose buying alliance.The currently unnamed company is owned by Lucky Red of Italy, Frenetic Films of Switzerland, Haut Et Court of France, Cineart of ...
-
News
Rai Trade sells its Heart out
Rai Trade did good business with Pupi Avati's competition film A Heart Elsewhere (Il Cuore Altrove), selling it in over 20 territories.Deals included ones struck with Axiom Films for the UK, Ocean Film for France, Palace for Australia, Art Film for Brazil, Cine Video Y TV for Mexico, Alliance Atlantis ...