All articles by Ralf Ludemann – Page 2

  • News

    Broadbent, Czernin exit Mission

    2004-02-18T04:00:00Z

    UK-based producers Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin are leaving Mission Pictures, the UK-US production company Broadbent founded with Andrew Hauptman and Damian Jones.Mission has simultaneously beefed up its US office, promoting Tracy Falco from vice president of production to senior vice president. Falco, who previously spent six years at Ted ...

  • News

    New bidders emerge for UCI cinema circuit

    2004-02-18T04:00:00Z

    UK independent investment firm Terra Firma Capital Partners has expressed an interest in bidding for United Cinemas International (UCI) the multinational exhibition company owned by Vivendi Universal and Viacom, according to The Times newspaper.The move on the 120-site estate, which spans Europe, Asia and Latin America and is valued at ...

  • News

    UK producers seek alternative film investment schemes

    2004-02-13T00:00:00Z

    The UK Film Council, together with representatives from BSAC and PACT, met yesterday with Inland Revenue officials and made the case for transitional arrangements following the changes to the rules covering losses through partnerships announced on 10 February.The Council proposed to the Revenue that transitional relief should be available to ...

  • News

    Multiplex building continues apace across Europe

    2004-01-14T04:00:00Z

    More than 1,000 multiplex screens a year are still being added to the European total, according to a report by industry analysts Screen Digest.25,306 multiplex screens were in operation across the EU in 2002 - up 4.6% year on year.The report predicts that within two to three years half of ...

  • News

    Warner Theatres plans Chinese expansion

    2004-01-08T04:00:00Z

    Following its groundbreaking deal last July to build a circuit of up to 10 cinemas in China in a joint venture with Shanghai Film Group, Warner Bros. International Theatres (WBIT) has agreed a new deal 'in principle' with Guangzhou Performance Co to invest an estimated $30m to build 8 - ...

  • News

    FACT launches UK anti-piracy campaign

    2003-12-08T00:00:00Z

    The UK's Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) will this week launch a new campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers associated with film and video piracy.The thirty second-long cinema trailer, sponsored by DHL and produced by Hunkydory Productions, highlights recent evidence that organised crime and international terrorist groups have ...

  • News

    Exhibitors set for alternative content bonanza

    2003-11-04T04:00:00Z

    Exhibitors are set to reap major financial benefits from alternative content screenings such as sports events, according to a new report.The report - Alternative Content: The New Cinema Profit Engine by Screen Digest - says exhibitors should take advantage of new opportunities created by digital technology and that there is ...

  • News

    Lenin! crosses UK box office landmark

    2003-10-24T04:00:00Z

    Good Bye, Lenin!, has passed the £1m mark at the UK box office, making it only the seventh European subtitled film in the last ten years to achieve such success, the UK Film Council has revealed. The film's UK release - by UGC Films UK - was supported by the ...

  • News

    UGC Cinemas expands UK circuit

    2003-10-22T04:00:00Z

    As part of its expansion strategy, European cinema operator UGC Cinemas has announced a number of initiatives including the acquisition of the Warner Village Cinema in Nottingham as well as plans to invest £20m in its existing UGC Cinema in Ealing, West London.UGC plans to add an additional two screens ...

  • News

    Film industry 'little to fear from internet piracy'

    2003-10-21T04:00:00Z

    According to a new report from the Informa Media Group titled ‘Film on the Internet’, peer-to-peer piracy and CD/DVD burning will result in relatively limited losses for the film industry - and in fact, Hollywood will thrive from the internet.As global internet access spreads, the value of relatively underused ‘soft’ ...

  • News

    Magical cast lines up for Pathe's Roundabout

    2002-10-09T00:00:00Z

    A host of star names, including Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue are to provide the voices for Pathe Pictures' CGI animated feature The Magic Roundabout.The $20m movie, to be directed by Dave Borthwick of Bristol-based animation studio bolexbrothers, will also feature the voices of Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone, Joanna Lumley, ...

  • News

    Go gets Golden Star at Marrakech Int'l film festival

    2002-09-23T00:00:00Z

    Japanese director Isao Yukisada's (pictured) Go has been awarded the top prize, the Golden Star (Etoile d'Or), at the second Marrakech International film festival.The prize was presented by Emmanuelle Beart on Sunday 22 Sept at the closing night ceremony in a spectacular open air cinema specially created within the ruins ...

  • News

    Marrakech left deserted by Scorsese, Almodovar

    2002-09-20T00:00:00Z

    The embarrassing absence ofboth Martin Scorsese and Pedro Almodovar from this year's secondMarrakech International Film Festival stole much of the limelight away from anotherwise glittering event where an outdoor public screening of David Lynch'ssexually-charged Mulholland Drivefurther raised the temperature in this Islamic hot zone.On the eve of King MohammedVI presenting ...

  • News

    Kinepolis abandons cinema box office

    2002-01-09T00:11:00Z

    Belgian cinema group Kinepolis, is planning to replace box office ticket desks in all of its multiplexes with public-access computers to allow patrons to buy tickets via the internet. The company also intends to install terminals in local bars and restaurants. In addition to on-line ticket sales, film-goers will ...

  • News

    British film classification rules set to change

    2001-07-04T03:59:00Z

    The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has revealed plans to change the existing 12-certificate to a new 'advisory' category, bringing the territory into line with the rest of Europe and the US. Coinciding with the current media attention on cuts made to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in order to ...

  • News

    Eastern European admissions boom predicted

    2001-02-21T17:18:00Z

    Box office revenues in Central and Eastern Europe are forecast to soar by 80% over the next four years, notwithstanding the increasing problem of overscreening in many key cities as well as consolidation among some international exhibitors.According to a new report, Cinemagoing: Central and Eastern Europe, published by film industry ...

  • News

    Zoo launches new UK cinema company

    2001-02-19T16:02:00Z

    The launch of a new British exhibition company was announced February 19 by its founding members. Zoo Cinema Exhibition Ltd has been formed by Clare Binns, managing director of Chris Blackwell's Oasis Cinemas, one of the UK' most established independent exhibitors.David Wight, formerly managing director of Film Network Ltd, joins ...

  • News

    Arenaplex launches digital cinema production

    2001-02-18T23:25:00Z

    Arenaplex,LLC, a new company established to provide non-feature film programming fordigital cinemas, revealed plans on 16 February, to produce and distributeoriginal content for the future generation of digitally-equipped multiplexes. The company, comprising founder and CEO Ivan Chea, who lefthis position as SVP, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Warner Bros.International ...