Small MPU – Page 1360
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News
SearchParty embarks on global film rights hunt
SearchParty Films, the new "distribution services" outfit looking to hoover up films that have been ignored by conventional buyers, has picked up its first eight US-made indie acquisitions and is now training its ambitious sights on international features of all languages.SearchParty, jointly spearheaded by co-chairman Larry Estes and Scott Rosenfelt, ...
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Berlin unveils further Panorama, Forum titles
Bela Tarr's Werckmeister Harmoniak and Renny Bartlett's Eisenstein are among another batch of titles confirmed for the International Forum of Young Cinema sidebar at this year's Berlin Film Festival. Meanwhile titles from Jean-Jacques Beineix, Lea Pool and Gerardo Herrero have been added to the Panorama line-up.Hungarian feature Werckmeister Harmoniak has ...
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News
Epsilon launches theatrical sales outfit
Epsilon, the programming and acquisition joint venture between European broadcasters Kirch and Mediaset, has launched an international sales company, Beta Cinema, to focus on distribution of theatrical features.The new operation is in addition to the group's Beta Film sales subsidiary which has traditionally concentrated on TV. It will be headed ...
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Norwegian Film Workers bid for Norsk library
In a surprise move, The Norwegian Film Workers' Association has expressed interest in acquiring Norsk Film's back catalogue of around 170 films, that are to be sold together with the government's 77.5% stake in the state-owned company.Earlier this week, the Norwegian culture ministry decided to consider the sale of Norsk ...
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News
Das Weisse Rauschen wins Max Ophuels Prize
Austrian-born director Hans Weingartner walked away with this year's $28,700 (DM60,000) Max Ophuels Prize for his psychological drama Das Weisse Rauschen while the Prize of the Saarland Prime Minister went to Austria's Florian Flicker for Der Ueberfall.The awards were handed out during the Max Ophuels Prize Film Festival in Saarbruecken, ...
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News
Village Roadshow to cut debt via Austereo float
Australian entertainment conglomerate Village Roadshow Ltd (VRL) is expected to raise more than $222.5m (A$400m) from the partial float of its Austereo radio division, part of which will be used to reduce its $406m (A$730m) on and off balance sheet debt. VRL will retain a controlling interest of at least ...
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News
Dancer In The Dark to kick off Belgrade FEST
Lars von Trier's Dancer In The Dark will open the 29th International Belgrade Film Festival, FEST (February 1-10), optimistically dubbed "Life Again, Fest Again" after the October changes in Serbia.Altogether the festival will feature 99 films including Jafar Panahi's The Circle, Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, the Coen Brothers' O ...
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News
Butler moves to Pathe marketing post
UK distributor Pathe Distribution has appointed Anna Butler as director of marketing, deputy managing director Ian George announced on Friday.Butler formerly spent five years as head of press and marketing at UK film and TV cultural body the British Film Institute. She will report directly to George, who was promoted ...
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News
Skarsgard joins von Trier's Dogville
Sweden's Stellan Skarsgard has joined the cast of Lars von Trier's new feature film Dogville which will be shot in English with mostly US and UK actors.Von Trier recently completed a $313,000 (DKr2.5m) test for the project in Zentropa's studios in Filmbyen outside Copenhagen, which according to producer Vibeke Windeloev ...
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Reviews
Chopper
Screening at Sundance (World Cinema). Dir: Andrew Dominik. Australia. 2000. 94mins.Writer-director Andrew Dominik spent a year working on commercials and music videos with producer Michele Bennett before the pair set to work on this, a haunting debut feature that depicts Australia's best known serial killer Mark 'Chopper' Read. A stylised ...
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News
UK production up but facing strike threat
Underlining the potential impact of the threatened Hollywood production hiatus, the volume of overseas-financed production in the UK rose 33% last year, according to the British Film Commission's annual report.Overseas-backed feature and high-end TV production hit $788m, eclipsing last year's $591m with such high-profile studio-backed fare as Harry Potter And ...
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News
TEAM profit warning sends shares on 25% slide
TEAM Communications, the German-US film and TV licensing group, saw its shares plunge 25% to Euros2.7 on Frankfurt's disaster strewn Neuer Markt after it put out a profit warning.The company said: "revenue and earnings for the financial year ended December 31, 2000 will be below the company's prior expectations." It ...
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News
Crouching Tiger the real winner at Globes
In a year when no one film has taken the lead in the race for the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night offered no pointers. While Ridley Scott's Gladiator was named Best Picture (drama), its victory was overshadowed by the success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden ...
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News
Fox Searchlight buys the world on Super Troopers
In the first deal of the Sundance Film Festival, Fox Searchlight Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Supertroopers, a crazy comedy directed by Jay Chandrasekhar which screened as a midnight movie on Friday.The company is believed to have paid some $2m for the picture which was represented by John Sloss ...
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News
Sony Classics buys Polish Brothers' Jackpot
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired rights in North America, Australia and New Zealand to Jackpot, the second movie from Mark and Michael Polish whose first film Twin Falls Idaho was also picked up by SPC at Sundance 1999. Currently in post-production, Jackpot was written by both Polishes but directed by ...
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News
Moscow court freezes sale of NTV shares
CNN founder Ted Turner has hit a major obstacle in his attempts to buy into Russian broadcaster NTV, owned by the beleaguered Media Most group, as a Moscow court has blocked the sale of 19% of the company, pending a court hearing in mid-February. Russia's state-controlled gas giant, Gazprom Media, ...
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News
Loews Cineplex to close 675 screens
North America's second-largest exhibitor Loews Cineplex plans to shutter 675 of its nearly 3,000 screens in North America as it reported a third quarter loss of $185m. The closures represent 23% of its screens in the US and Canada. The company also suggested it will file for bankruptcy protection in ...
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News
Kirch acquires TM3 and sells it to H.O.T.
Germany's Kirch Media has acquired News Corp's shares in commercial free-TV channel TM3, and transferred them to EUVIA Media, a 100% subsidiary of the home shopping management and holding company H.O.T. Networks. News Corp has taken a 2.48% stake in Kirch Media as part of the deal.H.O.T. Networks' chairman Georg ...
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News
Yugoslavia opens airwaves to outsiders
The new Yugoslav government's telecommunications minister Boris Tadic has announced that the country's airwaves will be opened up to foreign entities. A group of experts has been assembled to draw up new broadcasting legislation in line with EU countries.Tadic also announced that he will annul all licences in Yugoslavia (which ...
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News
Jupiter consortium to launch CS movie channel
A consortium of Japanese companies, including Jupiter Satellite Broadcasting, Jupiter Programming, Sony Broadcast Media, Nihon Keizai Shimbun and TV Tokyo, has launched Interactive, a broadcaster that plans to operate six specialty channels, including a movie channel, on the N-SAT-110 communications satellite from March 2002. Jupiter Satellite Broadcasting will own 30% ...
