All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 46
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Singing Horse strikes right note with China Star
Singing Horse Productions, a company owned by director Joe Ma Wai Ho International Pacific Artists head Thomas Leong and producer Ivy Kong, has struck a deal to produce three pictures for Hong Kong powerhouse China Star Entertainment.All three will be directed by Ma, who has notched up a string of ...
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New Emperor chief sets out on twin-track course
Taking over last week as chief executive of Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG) Carl Chang has set out a twin track strategy stressing regional Asian film-making and smaller Hong Kong productions."We will be making big-budget action pictures, but I cannot promise to greenlight another Highbinders inside the next six months," said ...
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German solution looms as Kirch prepares insolvency
German media giant Kirch could file for insolvency today following the failure of weeks of refinancing talks. The company's bankers are expected then to outline details of a "German solution" that would keep parts of the company going and leave out Kirch's foreign minority investors News Corp, Mediaset and Kingdom ...
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NTL set to announce
NTL, the UK's largest cable network operator, is expected this week to announce that it has reached terms with banks and major shareholders for a recapitalisation and rescheduling of its $17.2bn debt.The company, which is US registered, is then likely to apply for 90-days of Chapter 11 court protection from ...
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AOL Time Warner shrinks as shares hit record low
Shares in AOL Time Warner hit $21.65 on Friday, a record low for the company since it was formed from the merger of internet service provider and entertainment giant Time Warner over a year ago.As the world's largest media consortium, AOL Time Warner has been the focus of investor disillusionment ...
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Metro Tartan snares Fortissimo's Party Monster
Marking one of the highest profile deals at the Hong Kong Asia Screenings, leading UK art-house distributor Metro Tartan has struck a three picture deal with Fortissimo Film Sales.The trio are headed by biopic Party Monster, which marks Metro Tartan's biggest acquisition to date. Continuing its growing portfolio of Asian ...
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Hong Kong Asia Screenings gather momentum
The inaugural Hong Kong Asia Screenings appeared to cement its status as a permanent fixture this week with an endorsement from influential local industry body the MPIA.The support should mean that the screenings get backing from the Hong Kong production majors in addition to the Hong Kong Arts Development Council ...
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Korea's Cat takes care of international business
Take Care Of My Cat, screening this week in the Hong Kong International Film Festival, is to make the leap into Europe after it emerged that Swedish-based Willmar Andersson Film has picked up all Nordic rights.Andersson, a well-known intermediary between the Nordic countries and Far Eastern film-makers, has secured a ...
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Asia Screenings open with Golden Network pick-up
The first ever Hong Kong Asia Screenings, an industry companion piece to the Hong Kong Film Festival, kicked off this weekend with expanding world sales outfit Golden Network unveiling its latest pick-up, Girls' Friends.The film, about the friendship amongst five teen friends, joins a clutch of Thai titles on the ...
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Leo Kirch ready to face the inevitable handover
A change of the guard is only hours or days away at the Kirch group, the media colossus that for so many years bestrode the German and European film and TV arenas.The 75 year old Leo Kirch is now negotiating an exit that saves face for himself and saves his ...
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Moulin Rouge, Amelie win alternative awards bash
In a not entirely serious ceremony in Vilnius, Lithuania, Moulin Rouge came tops in the inaugural Golden Earring (Auskaras 2001) awards. In total it won four prizes: best director (Baz Luhrman), best actress (Nicole Kidman), best drama/ melodrama and best music. But it was beaten to the best film Auskaras ...
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Cannes Critics' Week adopts slimmed-down look
Under its new chief Claire Clouzot, the Critics' Week sidebar of the Cannes festival is to present a tightened-up programme.With Clouzot as artistic director, Critics' Week (May16-24) will screen seven features and seven shorts. In recent years the event had expanded to take in a number of other films not ...
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Kirch Group to unveil Premiereworld restructure
The Kirch group is expected to unveil plans to restructure Premiereworld, its loss-making pay-TV division. Premiereworld has cost Kirch billions of Euros and has seen a succession of chief executives. Today it is the turn of Georg Kofler, who was drafted in only a few months ago, to present to ...
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India's film & TV industry set to double by 2006
India's entertainment sector is set to double in size within five years, according to data presented over the weekend at the Frames 2002 industry seminar in Bombay. Consulting firm Arthur Andersen said that the local film industry would grow steadily at a compound annual rate of 15%, to reach a ...
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Advanced launches probe into E28m loss
German licence trader Advanced Medien has launched an investigation into its 1999 and 2000 accounts and warned that it may have to re-state these years financial figures,The company said that the measure had become necessary "because of the current course of the lawsuit against the principal debtor of Advanced Medien." ...
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Perry, Poirier to scout UK films for Cannes fest
Simon Perry and Agnes Poirier have been appointed as UK scouts for the Cannes Film Festival. The hirings were confirmed earlier this week by Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux during a short visit to London where he screened possible festival films and met leading industry figures.The pair is expectedto maintain ...
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MIP-TV market seeks relevance with dates switch
MIP-TV, the Spring TV programmes market in Cannes, is to shift its dates from April to March as of next year.The move is intended to make the festival more relevant to buyers and sellers and will mean a March 24 start in 2003 compared with April 15 this year. Organisers, ...
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Vultures circle as Kirch misses debt repayment
Studios and other creditors are poised to pick choice morsels from the body of the Kirch group. The once glorious German media group this week also flirted with insolvency after it missed a loan repayment.According to the heavyweight Suedduetsche Zeitung Kirch is seeking to shed part of the debts accumulated ...
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An uncertain regard at Cannes' Lynch-mob hopefuls
While Cannes Film Festival selector Thierry Fremaux is said to have been given freer rein this year by festival president Gilles Jacob, there seems a good chance that many familiar, arthouse heroes will be strutting the Croisette than ever before.Despite selectors from all of the festival's sections said to be ...
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MIFED plans two-day market extension
Following a meeting with representatives of several AFMA-affiliated sales companies at the AFM, the organisers of MIFED are considering adding two days to the end of the autumn sales market.The Milan market, which is currently scheduled for Nov 3-7, would only become longer if the London Screenings were to ...