Small MPU – Page 1239
-
News
Leading German broadcaster issues profit warning
Germany's broadcast leader, ProSiebenSat1 has become the latest casualty of the advertising slowdown that has spread from the US to Europe. Today it warned that profits in the current year may not beat the record set in 2000 and unveiled a 20% drop in pre-tax profits for the first half ...
-
News
UK's Peakviewing to build SA animation studio
The UK's Peakviewing Transatlantic has announced plans to open an animation studio in South Africa.The Johannesburg facility will produce both 3D graphic animation and claymation features, in a move intended to bolster Peakviewing's programming capabilities.Current production schedules aim at producing one claymation and two animated films per year, and the ...
-
News
September International makes first Chinese sale
September International, the sales and distribution arm of September Films, has made its first sale in China. The agreement consists of four programmes: Secret History of Hacking, Playboy Prince, Tammy Wynette an American Tragedy and Dressing for the Oscars. The programmes will be broadcast throughout China to over 100 city ...
-
Reviews
The Lawless Heart
Dirs: Neil Hunter and Tom Hunslinger. UK. 2001. 99 min.A middlebrow sensibility informs The Lawless Heart, a soft, mildly enjoyable melodrama about a web of tangled, constantly shifting relationships among the residents of a small, provincial English town. NeilHunter and Tom Hunslinger, who earlier made the 1995 gay film, Boyfriends, ...
-
News
USA Films names Glenn Williamson production head
As expected, Glenn Williamson - a former senior production executive at DreamWorks SKG - has joined USA Films as president of production, succeeding Donna Gigliotti who is leaving after two years to return to producing.Gigliotti will continue to work with USA through the release of the last two productions she ...
-
News
Australia wins big at Palm Springs Short Film Fest
The seventh annual Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films closed on Sunday night having screened 284 films from around the world. And in the closing night award ceremony, winners of the 21 festival prizes, which shared a total of $43,000 in prize money, came from across the globe. Australian ...
-
News
Bill Block resigns from Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment president Bill Block is resigning from the company to seek "other investment and restructuring opportunities". Block, who will remain a shareholder in the company, says he plans to consult with other companies on their merger and financing strategies.Block's departure leaves Artisan CEO Amir Malin in sole charge of ...
-
Reviews
Lucky Break
Dir: Peter Cattaneo. UK. 2001. 108minsThe Full Monty has been an impossible act to follow. Producer Umberto Pasolini's whimsical follow up Closer To You and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy's depressing The Darkest Light were minor footnotes to the ongoing global phenomenon of the steelworker strippers. Director Peter Cattaneo has waited longer ...
-
News
Brazilian cinema admissions leap 23%
Brazilian cinema admissions during the first half of 2001 have surged by 23%, compared to the same period last year, according to local marketing research company Filme B. While Brazilian cinemas saw 6.9 million admissions between January and July 2000, a massive 8.5 million visits were recorded during the same ...
-
News
Spirited Away on target for Japanese record
After only 25 days on release, the Hayao Miyazaki smash Spirited Away has already passed the Y10 billion ($82m) mark -- the fastest to do so of any Japanese film in history.By August 13, the blockbuster animation about a young girl's search for her parents in a strange world of ...
-
News
Edinburgh: one surprise down, but more to come'
Mick Jagger may be wavering, but Tim Roth paid an unexpected visit to the Edinburgh International Film Festival last night (August 15) to introduce the event's surprise film - Planet Of The Apes.The festival is now hoping that Jagger, who was to have been the star guest this weekend, changes ...
-
News
Ad slump hits Germany's Das Werk
Leading German postproduction group Das Werk has been hit by the economic slowdown in the advertising industry, according to its results for the first half of 2001.While the group posted a 57% increase in revenues from Euro 32.9m in the first half of 2000 to Euro 51.5m this year, it ...
-
News
Cinemark: revenues up, losses down
Cinemark USA has reported that for the six month period ended June 30, 2001, revenues increased 9.8% to $398.4m compared to $362.8m for the same period last year.EBITDA for the first six months of 2001 increased 23.8% to $71.9m from $58.1m in 2000. The company's net loss for the six ...
-
News
German audiences warm to crowd-pleasers
Despite having a key role in international film funding, Germany has long struggled to gain recognition for its locally produced films. Its film-makers were accused of "lacking an unmistakable style" by the Cannes artistic director this year when, for the eighth consecutive year, no German film was chosen for the ...
-
News
South African film industry gets house in order
More than seventy key representatives of the South African film industry met last week in Johannesburg to address out the persistent problems plaguing them - and for once in an industry beloved of seminars and conferences the meeting seemed to yield some positive results. The event involved four panels ...
-
News
German talent lines up for $99 films
German actor Peter Lohmeyer (Playing Swede) is to make his directorial debut with one of the 12 shorts for the "99Euro Film" initiative which was launched by this year's Oldenburg Film Festival (September 5-9) along the lines of the Slamdance Film festival's $99 programme.Other participants who have agreed to the ...
-
News
US plexes adopt technology for blind, deaf patrons
A second multiplex theatre in California has installed Motion Picture Access - a new technology which enables blind, visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing patrons to further enjoy the film. The technology - comprised of the DVS Theatrical and Rear Window Captioning systems - was developed by Boston-based Media ...
-
News
Filmstar recruits Lantern Lane to sell two
LA-based production company Filmstar Productions has enlisted Lantern Lane Entertainment to handle sales on its latest two films, The Courier, which is in post-production, and Third Eagle, which is in pre-production.David L Garber, the president and CEO of Lantern Lane, will negotiate all domestic and international distribution deals for the ...
-
News
121% rise in 2nd quarter revenues for First Look
First Look Media has announced a rise of 121% in its second quarter 2001 revenues to $9.8m from $4.4m in the second quarter 2000. Operating results for the three-month period ended June 30 showed an operating loss down to $0.5m from $0.8m in the same quarter last year.The revenue rise ...
-
Reviews
The Emperor's New Clothes
Dir: Alan Taylor. UK. 2001. 105 mins. Alan Taylor's 'what if' reverie on the last days of Napoleon, The Emperor's New Clothes had its world premiere in the best possible circumstances for such a middlebrow entertainment: under the stars in Locarno's Piazza Grande. Originally titled My Napoleon, the film turns ...