All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 67
-
News
Saredi, Pandora launch joint sales outfit
Leading art-house film seller World Sales Christa Saredi and Germany's Pandora Films are to set up a new outfit Orfeo Films International.The two firms have a long history of co-operation and now hope to assemble a wider range of art-house productions.Orfeo will be based in Cologne, but Saredi will remain ...
-
News
Kinowelt makes exhibition move
Germany's fast expanding Kinowelt group has made its first move into exhibition by acquiring a 50.1% stake in the Theile Hoyts Kinopolis group. It has also taken control of a ticketing service and clarified its plans for a move into broadcasting.The THK joint venture, Germany's number five exhibition circuit, operates ...
-
News
German lobby group rallies round De Hadeln
German film industry lobby group SPIO (Spitzenorganisation de Deutschenfilmwirtschaft) has mounted a stern criticism of the Berlin festival organisers and their handling of Moritz De Hadeln's recent dismissal.In a statement, SPIO this week said that De Hadeln had been fired without notice "after successfully heading the second most important A-List ...
-
News
Senator first up for Roth slate
Germany's Senator Film has become the first international distributor to sign up to the highly anticipated package of studio-level films being put together by former Disney chief Joe Roth. The five-year deal initially gives Senator all media rights in all German-speaking territories. It is promised a minimum of six films ...
-
News
Constantin adds Propaganda to production stable
Bernd Eichinger's Constantin Film has unveiled its third US venture inside a week, setting up a production joint venture with Propaganda Films.The move is designed to deliver three or four films per year using Propaganda's unusual stable of directors and actors. Propaganda said under the deal it "will be taking ...
-
News
Constantin, Impact team for US-based venture
Bernd Eichinger's distribution and production group Constantin Film has set up a Los Angeles-based joint venture with Anglo-US production group Impact Pictures.The deal with Jeremy Bolt and Paul Anderson's London and Los Angeles-based Impact Pictures sees the creation of an as-yet-unnamed production company that will be 51% owned by Constantin. ...
-
News
Co-Production Office passes Takashi's Audition
Philippe Bober's boutique production and sales outfit The Co-Production Office has picked up world sales duties to Miike Takashi's psychological horror picture Audition.The film which scooped the FIPRESCI and KNF awards at the Rotterdam festival in January is a tale of a man who advertises for a wife by auditioning ...
-
News
Advanced, Petersen form joint producing venture
Advanced Medien, which earlier this week announced a $34m rights issue, is committing some of that cash to a new joint venture with Wolfgang Petersen, director of Das Boot, In The Line Of Fire and Air Force One.The five-year deal sees the creation of a Los Angeles office that will ...
-
News
CLT-Ufa unveils English-language quintet
European powerhouse financier CLT-Ufa International has unveiled a slate of five new English-language pictures for Cannes, including films by Yves Simoneau, Claire Denis and Bob Spiers. The line-up is headed by Denis' Trouble Every Day, a psychological thriller starring Vincent Gallo, Beatrice Dalle and Alex Descas. The film is produced ...
-
News
Advanced to raise $34m for acquisitions spree
Readying itself for a raft of acquisitions, German distributor, producer and licensor Advanced Medien is to raise more than $34m (euros37m) through a rights issue.The company said that it will issue 3.325 million new shares, raising its capital base by a quarter. The exact price will be determined during the ...
-
News
CineMedia strikes output deal with Buena Vista
Germany's CineMedia has secured an output deal for theatrical distribution in German-speaking territories of its film titles with Buena Vista International. The long-term deal covers all current feature films where CineMedia has German territorial rights and kicks off with What Women Want, the Mel Gibson film that goes into production ...
-
News
Cannes unveils Directors' Fortnight
Bulging with the most titles to ever screen in the section, Cannes' Directors' Fortnight unveiled its 32nd edition on Wednesday.Highlights in the section, which takes place 11 - 21 May, are expected to be Karen Kusama's Girlfight, which wowed critics and buyers alike at its Sundance premiere; Silvio Soldini's Bread ...
-
News
Intermedia, Pacifica bare flotation teeth
Despite the recent stockmarket storms, International Media, the newly-renamed German company formed from the merger of the UK's Intermedia Film Equities and Los Angeles-based Pacifica, is pressing ahead with flotation plans. The aggressive sales process could see the company triple its share capital. Some 5.6 million shares in the new ...
-
Reviews
Twelve Nights
Dir: Aubrey Lam. HK. 2000. 100 mins.Prod cos: Golden Harvest Film Productions, Golden Harvest Pictures China Ltd. Int sales: Golden Harvest (+852 2352 8222). Exec prod: Stephen Chu. Scr: Aubrey Lam. DoP: Deng Cheng Siu Keung. Cast: Cecilia Cheung, Eason Chan, Stephen Fung, Candy Lo, Cheung Sum Yuet. Twelve Nights ...
-
News
Urbanchillers.com to finance short films
Dir: Tony Barbieri. US. 2000. 109 mins.Prod cos: Lumiere International. Worldwide sales: Lumiere Films (+1 323 650 6773), UGC International (+33 1 40 29 89 00). Exec prods: Claude Leger, Luciano Lisi, Wendy Cary, Mickey Cottrell. Prod: Lila Cazes. Scr: Tony Barbieri. DoP: Matthew Irving. Prod des: Victor R Syperek. ...
-
News
VCL issues shares for buying spree
Germany's VCL Film+Medien is raising an estimated euros54m ($51.4m) through a placing with institutional investors today, which it intends to spend on purchasing "extensive film packages" and restarting its TV licensing business.The company is selling some 1.56 million new shares and increasing its capital by 10%. The new shares are ...
-
News
Cannes Critics' Week mirrors main competition
Confirming the European and Asian-heavy weighting of the Cannes main competition, the Critics' week boasts two Far Eastern films - one from Korea, one from Taiwan - and two from France.Francophone film-makers are also heavily represented among the short films in the section. Two are from France, one more each ...
-
News
Kinowelt buys digital, Trebitsch stakes
Germany's aggressively-expanding Kinowelt group has acquired a clutch of old and new media companies to add to its production and technical stables and underlined the strength of this strategy by reporting better than forecast profits.The company is acquiring a 26% stake in Trebitsch Produktion Holding, a group with close links ...
-
News
Fortissimo picks up Wen's Foreign Devils
Fortissimo Film Sales has picked up world rights to highly anticipated Chinese title Foreign Devils At The Door (provisional title), the second picture from actor-turned-director Wen Jiang.The film, which is expected to be included in today's Cannes competition list, is a story about the last days of Japanese occupation of ...
-
News
Pyramide, Arc Light team up for Chinese collection
France's Pyramide group plans to co-produce a collection of six films by some of the hottest young directors in the greater China market, with Peggy Chiao's Taiwan-based Arc Light Films.The six films - two each by directors from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong - are all contemporary tales but ...