Small MPU – Page 453

  • News

    HBO Films, Maya Pictures team for Latino-themed projects

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    HBO Films has agreed to acquire the first six Latino-themed projects developed by MayaPictures, the new film and television production company launched by producerMoctesuma Esparza and Robert Katz. Maya is currently in the process of identifying emerging Latino filmmakersfor these projects which will touch on the contemporary US Latino experience. ...

  • News

    Crimson Gold, Distant take top prizes at Chicago

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Jafar Panahi's CrimsonGold from Iran won the Gold Hugo atthe Chicago International Film Festival on Saturday, while Nuri Bilge Ceylan'sTurkish film Distant took theSilver Hugo and Special Jury Prize.CrimsonGold was cited for "its compellingportrait of a man inexorably destroyed by social pressures" while Distant was cited for "its intense and ...

  • News

    Ewan McGregor gets on his bike with best friend Charley Boorman

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Elixir Films and Image Wizard TV are to produce a travelogueseries featuring Ewan McGregor and his best friend, actor Charley Boorman,crossing the globe on motorcycles.Filming on Long Way 'Round is due to begin in January 2004 and the programme will beavailable for the autumn 2004 television season.The intrepid pair plan ...

  • News

    HONG KONG

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Media Asia Films' local prequel Infernal Affairs II is riding high in Hong Kong. At the end of its first full week on release (it opened on Oct 1 to play one day the previous week) it had taken $1.5m and $2.2m over the eight days since its debut.Infernal Affairs ...

  • News

    NEW ZEALAND

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Older women definitely got their own back against the starlets in New Zealand when Calendar Girls opened in top position in its first official weekend in the charts. The film took NZ$332,452 from 38 screens for BVI, which was double the gross of the other major opener, 20th Century Fox's ...

  • News

    AUSTRALIA

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    The slick local gangster pic Gettin' Square has not lived up to the high hopes some had for it in its first weekend. It opened in eleventh position, taking A$359,197 from 132 screens for Hoyts. But it is still early days. The two other new faces in the chart are ...

  • News

    Premiere completes studio line-up with Sony deal

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Germany's digital pay TV service Premiere can now boast output deals with every one of the major Hollywood studios, having agreed a multi-year licensing agreement with Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) on Monday (Oct 13).Premiere already has deals in place with Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Buena ...

  • News

    October turns to seasoned players for debut slate

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    Billy Elliot producer Jon Finn is to executive produce Johnny Mullagh, the true nineteenth century story of a group of young Aborigines transported overseas to play England's cricket elite.The project, written by Mark Brickman, is part of the debut feature slate of October Films, the documentary production outfit known for ...

  • News

    Celluloid takes on sales for European trio

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    Paris based sales house Celluloid Dreams has picked up three new films, including Belgian Oscar entry Sea Of Silence. Silence is directed by Stijn Coninx and will have its market premiere at November's Mifed film market in Milan.The Warner Bros. release goes out on October 30 in Benelux and tells ...

  • News

    ...as Kill Bill smashes house record in London...

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    Kill Bill, Volume 1 launched on a single print platform at UCI's Empire Leicester Square at the weekend for a staggering $218,402 (£131,041) three-day weekend.The three-day result was the largest ever recorded for any film on the main screen at the flagship UK cinema, and confirms director Quentin Tarantino's popularity ...

  • News

    Valenti bangs anti-piracy drum in Ireland

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Jack Valenti, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), spoke to over 150 Irish business leaders on Monday (Oct 13) at an Institute of Directors (IOD) lunch in Dublin. In Ireland as a guest of Screen Producers Ireland (SPI), Valenti emphasised the need for legislation, education, ...

  • News

    Coppola's Translation to open Vienna

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    A gala screening of Sofia Coppola's Lost In Translation with the director in attendance will open this year's Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) on October 17. The main programme of 100 new feature films and documentaries will be rounded off on October 29 by Julie Bertucelli's Depuis Qu'Otar Est Parti ...

  • News

    BVI enjoys bumper UK weekend...

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    BVI enjoyed a stellar weekend in the UK this week with seven films in the top 15, Kill Bill, Volume 1 setting records at the UCI Empire Leicester Square (see separate story) and animated hit Finding Nemo crushing all competition to lead the box office with a $12.3m (£7.4m) opening.Nemo ...

  • News

    Ahrne takes key post at Swedish Film Institute

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    Marianne Ahrne has been appointed as the new film commissioner at the Swedish Film Institute, in charge of supporting feature films for the state's film funding body. The 63 year-old veteran of the Swedish film industry has worked as both director, writer and editor since the 1970s after graduating from ...

  • News

    Pita steps down from Media Business School

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    Juan Pita has announced he will step down from his position as director of the pan-European training initiative Media Business School (MBS) at the end of the month.Pita leaves to set up his own production company, the Madrid-based Decontrabando. Although his official end date is October 31, he will continue ...

  • News

    Goldenthal wins World Soundtrack Awards for Frida

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Elliot Goldenthal has won the Soundtrack Composer of the Year for the score of Frida at the World Soundtrack Awards, presented by the International Film Festival Flanders-Ghent.Frida also won the Best Original Soundtrack of the YearGuest of honour Maurice Jarre received a World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award. The song The ...

  • News

    Pullman boards Vinterberg's Dear Wendy

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    Bill Pullman has joined the cast of Thomas Vinterberg's Dear Wendy, which is based on a script by Lars Von Trier.The thriller, which started shooting on Sept 26 in Copenhagen, stars Jamie Bell, Chris Owen, Mark Webber and Michael Angarano, Danso Gordon and Alison Pill.The film is being shot on ...

  • News

    MIP TV lines up BBC chief, China focus for 2004

    2003-10-14T04:00:00Z

    Greg Dyke, director general of the BBC will be the keynote speaker at next year's MIP TV market 2004, which will be held from March 29 to April 2.The event will also host the first ever China day on March 31 with two discussions about how to partner with Chinese ...

  • News

    Baldwin to fight runaways at New Jersey's CSC/Cargo Films

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    William Baldwin has been named president of production at the New Jersey-based production company CSC/Cargo Films, one of the key players in the state’s high-profile drive to prevent runaway productions by offering incentives to film-makers.Since 2001 Baldwin has been a prominent supporter of the Garden State’s campaign, which took a ...

  • News

    IDA Awards names documentary nominees

    2003-10-13T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Jarecki's child abuse expose Capturing The Friedmans, Lauren Lazin's rap icon profile Tupac: Resurrection and Sam Green and Bill Siegel's account of 1960s radicals in The Weather Underground are among 13 feature nominees for the International Documentary Association's (IDA) 19th Annual Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards.Overall 28 titles will contest ...