All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 69
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News
Kinowelt takes flight with Entertainment takeover
Kinowelt, Germany's fast growing mini-major, claims to have become the world leader in in-flight entertainment after completing the take-over of in-flight content provider Entertainment Concepts.The Los Angeles-based Entertainment Concepts will be merged with Kinowelt's existing in-flight company Atlas Air Film + Media Service, which supplies movies and other programming for ...
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Yes inks VoD supply deal with u-direct
Yes Television, the UK's pioneering video-on-demand (VoD) group, has signed its second content supply deal within a week of announcing plans to float on the stockmarket (Screendaily, Mar 21).Yes has inked a deal with Digital Broadcasting Co (DBC), which trades as u-direct films, to create a u-direct channel on Yes' ...
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Splendid profits surge on back of library titles
German rights trader Splendid Medien improved its profits last year thanks to the performance of its library and video titles.Gross earnings (EBITDA) rose 43% from $9.9m (DM19.8m) to $14.1m (DM28.3m) in 1999, while operating profits soared from $1.8m (DM3.6m) to $5.1m (DM10.3m). Net profits after tax and the $4.6m (DM9.3m) ...
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VCL takes 25% stake in next two Terminator films
Germany's VCL Film+Medien is to take a 25% stake in the next two Terminator films being produced by Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna's C2 Productions and Japan's Toho Towa.VCL, which went public last year, will get a 25% share of world revenues in all media and an option on the ...
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Kinowelt posts 159% increase in pre-tax profit
Kinowelt, the fast expanding distribution and production group, underlined its growing strength by reporting a 159% increase in pre-tax profit, from $9.9m (DM20.1m) in 1998 to $25.6m (DM52m) in 1999.Turnover climbed 76% from $103m (DM210m) to $182m (DM370m) over the same period. Operating margins widened from 10% to 14%. The ...
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German pics break BBC drought
Marking a break with the recent buying drought, the BBC is back in the market for German-language films. Digital channel BBC Knowledge is buying a package of six contemporary German films which it intends to screen from May.In a deal brokered by Iris Kehr, UK representative of the German Federal ...
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EC probes Microsoft, Telewest deal
The European Commission has today opened a full investigation of the proposed acquisition of a 29.7% stake in UK cable network Telewest by Microsoft.The deal was announced in May last year when AT&T, which owns Liberty Media, took over Media One, which owns the stake. The EC said it expects ...
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Mixed fortunes for Kirch as BSkyB deal approved
It was a mixed day yesterday for German media giant Kirch which saw its pact with BSkyB waved through by Europe's competition authorities, albeit with significant conditions attached. It lost the latest round in its battle with Universal over film channels, but cemented its alliance with Italy's Mediaset by giving ...
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Fortissimo picks up Sabu's Monday
Fortissimo Film Sales has picked up world sales rights to Monday, the Japanese film which scooped the FIPRESCI critics award at last month's Berlin festival.The film, directed by Hiroki Tanaka (aka Sabu), is the story told in flashback of a man who wakes up in a luxury hotel without knowing ...
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EC expected to greenlight BSkyB, Kirch deal
UK satellite TV operator BSkyB is expected to get the green light to buy into Germany's KirchPayTV today (March 21).News Corp-controlled BSkyB agreed in January to pay DM2.9bn for a 24% stake in the division of giant Kirch Medien that comprises the merged DF1 and Premiere digital pay-TV operations. Since ...
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Buena Vista, Warner Bros commit to Yes flotation
UK video-on-demand (VoD) pioneer, Yes Television, is to float on the London Stock Exchange. By the end of the year it may be followed by rival Video Networks. Yes has already secured separate commitments from Buena Vista and Warner Bros International Television to buy into the company at the time ...
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UPC set to float broadband division
Dutch cable giant, UPC is to float chello, its broadband Internet subsidiary. The move is expected to herald rapid expansion of its services in Europe and Latin America.UPC, which this month announced the takeover of TV group SBS Broadcasting, said that chello will probably be floated in the next three ...
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Bertelsmann exits AOL joint ventures
European media giant Bertelsmann and America Online (AOL) have decided to patch up their differences over AOL's expansion strategy. Under a deal heralded as a $250m "strategic global alliance" Bertelsmann has secured an outlet for its on-line content and has agreed to sell its interests in AOL Europe and AOL ...
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Quiero secures output deal with Universal
Quiero Television, the Spanish group which is poised to launch Europe's second digital terrestrial broadcasting operation, has struck its first output deal with a major studio. The outfit, previously known as Onda Digital, is poised to unveil a wide-ranging supply deal with Universal Studios. The deal, which is arranged through ...
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Iosseliani appointed head of Camera d'Or jury
Veteran Georgian director Otar Iosseliani has been appointed as head of the Camera d'Or jury as the Cannes festival begins to take shape. The prize, given during the closing ceremony of the official selection, is awarded to the best first feature in any section of the festival. Iosseliani, whose films ...
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Midem confirms no MIP Asia for 2000
The MIP Asia TV programme market will not take place this year in the December slot that it has occupied for the last six years.The Reed Midem Organisation, which also operates the MIPTV and MIPCOM markets, said that MIP Asia will re-appear in December 2001. But it did not reveal ...
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Thomas The Tank Engine movie racks up sales
With a head of steam at the AFM, family film Thomas And The Magic Railroad has been sold by Kathy Morgan International to a raft of territories including Germany where it has been picked up by Telemunchen.Other sales include South Africa (New Metro), Portugal (Eco Filmes) and the Middle East ...
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Critics' Week confirms Bellyful premiere
The Critics' Week section of the Cannes film festival has confirmed that Melvin van Peebles film Bellyful (Le Conte Du Ventre Plein) will get its world premiere at a special screening.The Critics Week (May 11-19) said the decision to programme van Peebles' picture is "the first of a new kind, ...
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Strand Releasing wins US rights to Suzhou
Suzhou, the clandestinely-made Chinese film that became one of the hottest films at this year''s European Film Market in Berlin, has secured a US theatrical release through Strand Releasing.The Shanghai-set melodrama, which is the second feature by Chinese director Lou Ye, was produced on a budget of $600,000 by Essential ...
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Eurimages unveils new funding round
Eurimages, the European production finance body, has made its first round of funding decisions since changing its rules at the beginning of the year.At a three-day funding round (March 6-8), the Council of Europe-backed organisation said that it is investing a total of $3.8m (Euros3.95m) to back ten features. Decisions ...