Small MPU – Page 394

  • News

    Italian locations: empire building

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    Though Italy may not be able to count on national production incentives to attract shoots from overseas, the territory figures high on international location managers' wishlists, thanks largely to its stunning locations.Last year Martin Campbell shot parts of Sony's Casino Royale at Lake Como and in Venice, while parts of ...

  • News

    Italian locations: historical monuments

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    As any Italian film commissioner knows, movie producers en route to Italy come armed with ambitious shooting agendas involving the nation's most treasured and ancient locations.While permits are granted on a site-by-site basis, major locations such as Rome and Venice have dedicated permit offices which are well versed in granting ...

  • News

    Italian locations: film commissions

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    Italy has 16 regional film commissions, all battling to create their own film funds and bolster production in their regions.The undisputed frontrunners are the Turin Piedmont film commission and the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia film commission, based in north-east Italy, both of which offer cash funds for approved projects.The Turin commission has just ...

  • News

    Italian locations: Sicily

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    The beautiful, but under-employed island of Sicily has lured some of the world's most renowned film-makers to its shores, from neo-realists such as Roberto Rossellini to contemporary Oscar winners such as Giuseppe Tornatore for Cinema Paradiso.Today, with support from regional, national and EU funding, the island is hoping to create ...

  • News

    Italian locations: Cinecitta at 70

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    Cinecitta Studios, located on the southeastern outskirts of Rome, celebrates its 70th anniversary this month. And with a reputation built on more than 3,000 films, cinema legends and Oscar-winning craftsmen, Cinecitta's board of directors is determined to stay ahead of its international competitors.Over the years, Cinecitta has handled films ranging ...

  • News

    Montreal's Telescene faces cash crunch

    2000-08-04T13:11:00Z

    Montreal-based film and television producer Telescene Film Group is running out of cash credit and may be unable to finance its autumn television production slate. The company has been seeking a backer - it says it needs $24m to meet its obligations - so far without luck. Now, having exhausted ...

  • Features

    Set Report - Cracking the code

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    Alex de la Iglesia has built a reputation across Europe as a comedy director with a larger-than-life persona and spontaneous style of film-making. So it came as little surprise to find him painting the walls of St Edmund Hall in Oxford and bellowing at his crew to work faster when ...

  • Features

    High-disappointment DVD

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    About two weeks ago, Jeffrey Katzenberg said in the course of an interview he was not particularly impressed with the new high-definition DVDs such as Blu-ray. He did not see much in the way of improvements from the standard format discs. Neither the image nor the sound did much to ...

  • Features

    The Bean counters rejoice

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    Mr Bean's Holiday held firm at the top this weekend generating $13.5m over the three-days, bringing its total to a whopping $145.3m in just five weeks. BVI comedy Wild Hogs was not far behind, taking $11.6m - a 30% increase on last weekend - after expanding to a further 18 ...

  • News

    UK box office: the golden lining

    2007-04-27T00:00:00Z

    UK admissions are set to increase 21% by 2011 - boosting box-office revenue by $673m (£336.1m), according to Dodona Research.The industry analyst says strong upcoming film product, benefits from digital technology and a turn in the investment cycle in new cinemas will increase admissions by 34 million to 190 million ...

  • News

    The Bothersome Man racks up more prizes in Norway's Canon awards

    2007-04-26T18:54:00Z

    Norwegian director Jens Lien's The Bothersome Man added four prizes to its string of 20 national and international kudos, when the Norwegian film industry handed out the Canon awards at the the Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival, which ended yesterday.Decided by the business organizations - actors' prizes are voted by ...

  • News

    EFP selects 21 producers for Cannes Producers on the Move

    2007-04-26T23:00:00Z

    The Hamburg-based, pan-European promotional organisation European Film Promotion (EFP) has selected 21 aspiring European producers for its Producers On The Move networking initiative to take place during the Cannes Film Festival next month. Since being launched in 2000, Producers On The Move has enabled over 120 up-and-coming European producers to ...

  • News

    Ben Hopkins starts shoot in Turkey for The Market

    2007-04-26T22:57:00Z

    Simon Magus and The Nine Lives Of Alex Katz director Ben Hopkins started shooting in Turkey today for his third fiction feature, The Market. The project is the first co-production between Kazakhstan, Turkey, Germany and the UK. The Market will be shot in the Turkish language.Producers are Roshanak Behesht Nedjad ...

  • News

    Initial's Next predicts business before Spider-man onslaught

    2007-04-27T00:40:00Z

    The eye of the storm passes over the international arena this weekend, as the pre-Spider-Man 3 onslaught looks like creating one of the quietest overseas weekends in a while.The only excitement comes from sci-fi thriller Nextstarring Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore, which launches day-and-date withNorth America in a slew of ...

  • News

    Tributes flood in for Jack Valenti, dead at 85

    2007-04-27T05:01:00Z

    Jack Valenti, the former head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and chief architect of the modern film ratings system, has died. He was 85.The longtime lobbyist and former aide to President Lyndon B Johnson suffered a stroke in March and never fully recovered, eventually succumbing to complications ...

  • News

    Media Most denies sale to gas giant Gazprom

    2000-08-04T13:15:00Z

    Russia's Media Most has denied reports that it is in talks to sell out to key shareholder, state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom.Local media has speculated that Russian president Vladimir Putin is putting pressure on the company to sell Gazprom a bigger stake, in lieu of unpaid debt, following the government's decision ...

  • News

    Weinsteins plan 30 films over six years with Asian film fund

    2007-04-27T05:07:00Z

    Harvey and Bob Weinstein are reported to have set up their Asian film fund in a move that had been expected ever since they launched The Weinstein Company in October 2005.Goldman Sachs is understood to have raised approximately $270m in debt and equity for the venture, with the brothers said ...

  • News

    Screen-backed Cannes forum considers digital future

    2007-04-27T06:22:00Z

    Cinema in the digital age comes under the spotlight at Cannes next month in the festival's opening forum, backed by Screen International.Cinema: Towards The Audiences Of Tomorrow will focus on the impact of new delivery platforms on audiences and film-making itself.Film industry representatives, new media experts, journalists and sociologists will ...

  • News

    Screen-backed Cannes forum focuses on digital future

    2007-04-27T06:49:00Z

    Cinema in the digital age comes under the spotlight at Cannes next month with the forum Cinema: Towards The Audiences Of Tomorrow.The Opening Forum, organised by the Marche Du Cannes and in collaboration with Screen International, will focus on the evolution of audience practices and the ties between cinema creation ...

  • News

    Koepp's Sons wins top prize at Nyon

    2007-04-27T07:20:00Z

    Veteran German documentarist Volker Koepp was awarded the 'Visions du Reel' Grand Prix for his latest film Sons (Söhne) at the festival in Nyon. In addition, the International Jury, which included the Canadian actress Arsinee Khanjian and last year's Grand Prix winner Andres Veiel, gave the 'Prix SRG SSR idee ...