Small MPU – Page 241
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News
Helkon right on track for meeting 2001 targets
While other Neuer Markt-listed German media companies have been issuing profit warnings in the past few weeks, Helkon Media is still on course to post the $138m (DM318m) sales and $19.5m (DM45m) EBIT which were forecast for the financial year 2000/2001 last September. Announcing results for the nine months from ...
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Psycho, Vampire turn around Lions Gate fortunes
Lions Gate Entertainment achieved net income of $5.7m (C$8.7m) in its fiscal year ended March 31, 2001, compared to a net loss of $3.5m (C$5.3m) the previous year. The company credited the turnaround on a strong fourth quarter driven by theatrical releases such as American Psycho and Shadow Of The ...
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News
Spain confirms new film promotion laws
Spain's Ministry of Culture confirmed that a much debated new Cinema Support and Promotion Law was approved by Parliament on Friday, June 22.The law mostly codifies existing film initiatives. However, it does pass into effect a new requirement that Spanish broadcasters invest 3% of their annual earnings in Spanish ...
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News
$5m Night Witches readied for Russian shoot
Night Witches, a new $5m Russian-UK co-production, is set to begin shooting in Russia in autumn, it was announced at the Moscow International Film Festival. Actor Alexander Siddig, best known as Dr Bashir from TV's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, will make his feature directorial debut with the film which ...
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News
German toon house RTV snags Australia's Energee
German animation production-distribution entity RTV Family Entertainment has taken over full strategic and operational management at the Australian animation studio Energee Entertainment.The Travers family, founders of the studio, have resigned from all operations and board seats but will continue to hold a minority interest of 32% for the time being.Commenting ...
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Reviews
La Spagnola
World premiered at the 2001 Sydney Film Festival, this finely textured local feature proudly proclaims its multiculturalism. Subtitles translate the mainly Spanish and Italian dialogue: the film's title - The Spanish Woman in Italian - is itself testimony to the film's mix of cultures and language. This is admirably, even ...
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News
StudioCanal is subsumed within Universal Pictures
Europe's StudioCanal is set to lose its independence by being delisted from the Paris stock exchange and then folded into Universal Pictures, its stable-mate within the VivendiUniversal empire. The integration comes less than 15 months after StudioCanal was first floated on the bourse as a standalone force in international production ...
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News
Clear Blue, USA, ARP all ascend to Haynes' Heaven
Clear Blue Sky Productions, the US film production outfit founded by billionaire Paul Allen and run by his sister Jodie Patton, agreed on Friday to co-finance Todd Haynes' $12m-$15m Far From Heaven under a novel arrangementthat sees it sharing in all revenues with both USA Films and ARP of France, ...
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News
Jason Isaacs stars in US indie romcom Passionada
Jason Isaacs, the English actor whose credits include key roles in The Patriot, The End Of The Affair and Armageddon, has taken the lead role in independent drama Passionada, currently shooting in Massachussetts.Directed by Dan Ireland (The Whole Wide World), Passionada is a romantic comedy about a Portugese widow whose ...
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News
Actor negotiations continue past Saturday deadline
The deadline came at midnight on Saturday (June 30) but negotiators for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation Of Radio And Television Artists (AFTRA) returned to the table on Sunday morning (July 1) to continue discussions with the Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers (AMTP) - ...
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News
The Believer wins top Moscow prize
The 23rd Moscow International Film Festival ended on a high note on June 30th with Jack Nicholson attending the closing ceremony to accept the Stanislavsky Award for lifetime achievement.The actor who was attending the festival for a special screening of The Pledge dominated the event with a 90 minutes press ...
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News
Hong Kong's FilMart struggles to sell itself
For all the enthusiastic efforts of its organisers, FilMart, Hong Kong's annual film and television programmes market continues to fight for its place in the calendar. The fifth edition of FilMart, ended on Friday with a whimper, rather than a bang. "This year, 130 film and TV companies from 17 ...
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Reviews
An American Rhapsody
Dir: Eva Gardos. US. 2001. 106 mins.An ode to America as the land of freedom and opportunity, Eva Gardos' An American Rhapsody relates a heartfelt coming-of-age story, centring on a bright Hungarian-American adolescent (magnificently embodied by Manny & Lo discovery Scarlett Johansson), who insists on determining her own fate against ...
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News
The Believer wins top Moscow prize
The 23rd Moscow International Film Festival ended on a high note on June 30th with Jack Nicholson attending the closing ceremony to accept the Stanislavsky Award for lifetime achievement.The actor who was attending the festival for a special screening of The Pledge dominated the event with a 90 minutes press ...
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News
Domestic favourites tipped for Norwegian Oscars
Local box office hits predominate the nominations for the 2001 Norwegian Amanda Awards, Norway's equivalent of the Academy Awards.Pal Jackman's thirtysomething romantic comedy Detector produced by Norway's Christiania Film, which got three nods, and Norsk Film's documentary Cool and Crazy by Knut Erik Jensen about a male choir in a ...
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News
StudioCanal acquires 45% of Sogepaq for $36m
StudioCanal, the European film division of Vivendi Universal, is buying into its Spanish partner Sogepaq.StudioCanal, which is itself set to be absorbed within Universal, is paying Euros42.75m ($36.2m) to Sogecable for a 45% stake in Sogepaq. Sogepaq, which is responsible for Sogecable's film and TV acquisition, management and marketing activities, ...
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News
German film fund launches minimum guarantee scheme
German producers and filmmakers are set to benefit from a new private film investment fund, entitled German Film Productions (GFP), which is to be launched within the next six weeks to raise $21.6m (DM 50m) from private investors by the end of 2002. A total of 20 projects, split between ...
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High ticket tax in Argentina bites into box office
Higher taxes onbox office tickets have forced exhibitors to raise ticket prices in Argentina.These have gone up as much as 15% in some areas, further aggravating dwindlingadmissions in a country deep in recession.According to a leading distributor, last year a mid-sized film such as Heartbreakers could have drawn an average ...
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News
Cuaron causes stink over Mexican ratings system
Mexican directorAlfonso Cuaron and his producing partner Jorge Vergara are demanding anoverhaul of the Mexican ratings system after Cuaron's current box office hit Y Tu Mama Tambien was slapped with a C rating, restricting it to local audiences aged 18 andabove.Although commerciallylimiting, the C certificate has not stopped the raunchy ...
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News
AI has biggest admissions opening ever in Japan
Opening day and date with the North American release, Warner Bros AI Artificial Intelligence has scored the biggest two day opening in admissions terms in Japanese box office history. Scoring admissions of 1,037,879 over Saturday and Sunday, it outpaced previous record-holder Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace which ...