Small MPU – Page 1257

  • News

    Pusan Promotion Plan features Imamura pitch

    2001-09-19T23:04:00Z

    Confirming the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) as one of the world's leading co-production workshops, two-time Cannes Palme d'Or winner Imamura Shohei is to submit his latest project for scrutiny and international funding at the forthcoming event (Nov 12-14).Imamura's Shinjuku Cherry Blossom Fantasy is joined by scripts from The Isle director ...

  • News

    Italy's Mifed cancels Gala, boosts security

    2001-09-19T23:07:00Z

    In a sign of solidarity to the US for last week's terrorist attacks, Mifed has announced the cancellation of a gala evening which had been arranged to showcase Italian cinema during the market. Instead, organisers said the (undisclosed) budget which had been allocated for the event will be given to ...

  • News

    Mannheim Meetings introduces Nyman's film debut

    2001-09-19T23:29:00Z

    Michael Nyman's directorial debut, and film version of his own opera Facing Goya and Icelandic filmmaker Hilmar Oddson's Cold Ice are among the film projects from Latin America, West and Eastern Europe and Canada already confirmed for this year's Mannheim Meetings co-production market (October 11-14) at the 50th International Mannheim-Heidelberg ...

  • News

    Canada's Remstar signs Prophecy output deal

    2001-09-19T23:34:00Z

    Montreal-based Remstar Distribution and Prophecy Entertainment have signed an output deal that gives Remstar a first-look option at the next four projects in development at the Vancouver-based production and sales house. The deal follows Remstar's acquisition of two Prophecy titles, Ripper: Letter From Hell and The Barber for distribution in ...

  • News

    BCE, Cogeco acquire Quebec TV network

    2001-09-19T23:36:00Z

    Canadian telecommunications and media conglomerate BCE has teamed with Cogeco, the nation's fourth-largest cable company, to purchase majority control of Quebec-based television network TQS. The US$47m deal was part of the regulatory divestiture by publishing and media giant Quebecor in the wake of its US$3.4bn takeover of Groupe Videotron last ...

  • News

    Davies controversially named chairman of BBC

    2001-09-19T23:37:00Z

    Gavyn Davies has been named chairman of the BBC, the government said in a statement.The appointment of the Goldman Sachs economist, who has close links to Labour, was met with protests from opposition parties. Davies, already vice-chairman of the BBC, succeeds Christopher Bland, who is to take the chair at ...

  • News

    Chicago selects Heist to open 37th edition

    2001-09-19T23:40:00Z

    The 37th Chicago International Film Festival has announced that David Mamet's Heist will open the 37th Chicago International Film Festival on October 4, 2001. The event is sponsored by Marshall Field's Project Imagine, community-giving initiative that designates 5% of federally taxable income to arts and cultural organisations.Heist replaces the previously-scheduled ...

  • News

    Sweden's STV gets Happy Life for three years

    2001-09-19T23:43:00Z

    Sweden's national broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) has signed an agreement with local media major Svensk Filmindustri (SF) and it's subsidy Happy Life, which will span three years and more than 80 hours of entertainment for kids. Kicking off from spring 2002, the deal will include alread- established characters like Karlsson ...

  • News

    UK's FilmFour signs first look deal with Tubedale

    2001-09-19T23:46:00Z

    FilmFour has struck a first look deal with Tubedale Films the production company of UK actor David Morrissey, former PolyGram Film International executive Carl Clifton and Morrissey's brother, Paul.The writer Esther Freud is also a partner in the company along with businessman Stuart Hatwell. David Morrissey, whose acting credits include ...

  • News

    Danish producer duo return to Early Bird

    2001-09-19T23:53:00Z

    Passing the reins of Zentropa Internationale to Kaare Schmidt, the producer duo Ole Sondberg and Lars Sund Duus have left Zentropa to set up projects via their own outfit Early Bird. Zentropa Internationale is the international arm of Denmark's progressive production outfit and was set up one and a half ...

  • News

    US theatres plan Sept 11 charity day next Tuesday

    2001-09-20T06:22:00Z

    Theatre circuits across the US are banding together to create a "Victims Benefit Day at the Movies" next Tuesday (Sept 25) on which 100% of ticket and concession sales will be donated to the September 11th Fund of the United Way and the American Red Cross.50% of the proceeds will ...

  • News

    Michael Nathanson renews contract at MGM Pictures

    2001-09-20T06:23:00Z

    Michael Nathanson, the president and COO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures, has entered into a longterm agreement with MGM to remain in charge of the production division. He has been in the job since 1997 and is one of the few senior managers to have survived the transition of management at ...

  • News

    Apes passes $150m, AI $100m in international takes

    2001-09-20T06:26:00Z

    Two more movies have hit powerful international box office milestones in the past week. 20th Century Fox's Planet Of The Apes topped the $150m mark over last weekend, while Warner Bros' AI Artificial Intelligence soared past $100m.Planet Of The Apes has now taken $156.4m after seven weeks on release. Over ...

  • Reviews

    The Martins

    2001-09-20T15:40:00Z

    Dir: Tony Grounds. UK. 2001. 84 mins. Tiger Aspect, a company which aims to foster television talent and has a short but successful track record in translating TV-generated projects to the big screen (Bean, Kevin And Perry Go Large), will be hard-pressed to tempt film-goers to this limp comedy. The ...

  • Reviews

    Joy Ride

    2001-09-20T17:21:00Z

    Dir: John Dahl. US. 2001. 98minsFasten your seat belts and hang on to your popcorn as director John Dahl unleashes a heart-stopping, scare-the-pants-off them, precision-engineered thrill machine. Unpretentious and unrelenting, Joy Ride provokes all the wild-eyed terror and hysterical laughter of a giddy childhood visit to a fairground attraction. A ...

  • Reviews

    Birthday Girl

    2001-09-20T17:22:00Z

    Dir: Jez Butterworth. UK-US. 2001. 85mins. After an unusually long time in the works, Birthday Girl emerges as a likeable and competent small-scale divertissement which represents a considerable advance on Mojo, writer-director Jez Butterworth's poorly received debut film adapted from his own stage play. Birthday Girl is notable above all ...

  • News

    Warner's double international hit

    2001-09-20T18:43:00Z

    Warner Bros had cause to celebrate this weekend in the international market as two of their titles carved up the box office. While Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence crossed the $100m barrier, even before opening in many key European territories including France, Spain and the UK, Swordfish secured top level ...

  • News

    San Sebastian honours absent friends

    2001-09-20T23:27:00Z

    The San Sebastian International Film Festival kicked off its 49th edition yesterday (Sept 20) with the screening of The Safety Of Objects by Rose Troche, and a surprise announcement that Warren Beatty would be the recipient of a third Donostia Award. Beatty, like fellow Donostia recipient Julie Andrews, will not ...

  • News

    Irish producers and unions failing to reach accord

    2001-09-20T23:44:00Z

    A report on labour relations in the Irish film industry prepared for the Irish Film Board by Frank McGettigan and released Sept 19 concludes "there is little likelihood, in the short term at least, of the negotiation of agreements which satisfy both parties." For more than a year producers' organisation ...

  • News

    Miyazaki beats own Japanese box office record

    2001-09-21T00:00:00Z

    Spirited Away, the Hayao Miyazaki animated feature that outperformed the Hollywood competition this summer, has broken the all-time box office record for a Japanese film, set in 1997 by Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. In just 56 days since its July 20 release, the fantasy about a young girl's adventures in a ...