Small MPU – Page 499
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News
Really Terrible Orchestra takes EIFF short doc prize
TheEdinburgh International Film Festival has given its short Scottish documentaryaward to Edward Brooke-Hitching for The Really Terrible Orchestra.Brooke-Hitchingalso gets $1880 (£1000) with the honours. Thejury members for this year's prize were film-maker Laura Poitras, AllisonGardner from the Glasgow Film Theatre and Glasgow Film Festival, and MoragAnderson and James Anderson of ...
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News
Billi Productions plans to expand CGI short into feature
BilliProductions and Glasgow Animation are seeking to turn their animated short filmSir Billi into a full-lengthfeature.Theproducers expect they need to raise $5.6m (£3m) to get the CGI feature made in12 months. BilliProductions is a company owned by husband and wife team Sascha and TessaHartmann and Sean Connery, who has signed ...
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News
Snakes falls short of hype with $15.25m domestic opening
Despite the hype, New Line's Snakes On A Plane had a disappointing opening weekend inNorth America, taking $13.85m on 3,555 screens in three days and $15.25mincluding 10pm shows on Thursday night.Over the three days, without previews, the film was actuallybeaten by Sony's Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby in ...
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Pirates week seven: BVI blockbuster takes $25.5m
In its seventh consecutiveweekend on release, Buena Vista International (BVI)'s Pirates Of TheCaribbean: Dead Man's Chest led theinternational box office with a $25.5m take from 51 territories on 6,222screens.The blockbuster has nowtaken $522.7m, the 12th biggest gross in history. Globally the filmhas reached $923.8m, marking it out as Disney's biggest ...
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News
Wide notches up sales on Locarno doc Carla's List
France's Wide Management has announced sales on its Locarno presentation Carla's List. The film, by Marcel Schuepbach, is the first documentary ever shot inside the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.Rights were sold in France's Pierre Grise Distribution, Italy's Ripley's Film and Croatia's HRT with discussions ongoing in Germany ...
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News
Match Factory takes on Venice competitor Euphoria
Cologne-basedThe Match Factory has picked up world sales rights for the Venice competitiontitle Euphoria by Russian writer-directorIvan Vyrypaev. Theromantic drama produced by Russia's First Movie Partnership is Vvrypaev'sfeature debut and won a special diploma at the Kinotavr Open Russian FilmFestival in Sochi at the beginning of June, where it had ...
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News
India's UTV signs production pacts with Hollywood
Indian entertainment giant UTV has signed a co-productiondeal with Will Smith and his production company Overbrook Entertainment andSony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) for two films to be created and distributedworldwide. The $30 million agreement will include a live-action filmbudgeted at $10 million and a CG animated motion picture at $20 million. ...
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News
TWC acquires worldwide rights to Dixie Chicks doc
The Weinstein Company has picked up worldwide rights toBarbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing which will have its world premiere at the TorontoInternational Film Festival next month. It is the first documentary in 14 yearsto be screened in Toronto as a gala presentation.Produced by ...
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News
Sano, Gamst named SPRI managers in Japan, Spain
Sony Pictures Releasing International has named two newterritorial general managers in Japan and Spain.Noriaki Sano has been appointed senior vice president andgeneral manager, Japan, and Ivan Losada Gamst has been appointed generalmanager, Spain.Sano will be based in Tokyo and Gamst in Madrid and bothwill be charged with overseeing sales, marketing ...
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News
Nelson named to run Warner Bros new direct-to-DVD arm
Diane Nelson (pictured) has been namedpresident of Warner Premiere, a newly created direct-to-DVD production divisionof Warner Bros Entertainment. She will report to both Kevin Tsujihara,president of Warner Bros Home Entertainment Group, and Jeff Robinov, presidentpf production at Warner Bros Pictures.Warner Premiere was founded to develop, produce and market15 features a ...
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News
Universal dubs specialised arm Universal Focus
Universal Pictures has named its domestic specialised film division Universal Focus. Created in 1999 as the studio's marketing and distribution unit for "niche-oriented productions and acquisitions", Universal Focus is run by executive vice president Claudia Gray and senior vice president Paul Hardart and will handle films from sources including WT2 ...
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News
The Secret to open Tahoe-Reno Film Festival
The Tahoe-Reno International Film Festival, which stagedits first event last year with a specific mandate to showcase sociallyresponsible films, has set The Secret asits opening night film on Aug 23.The film is a historic account of an age-old secret saidto be 4,000 years in the making and known only to ...
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News
Viacom upgrades MTV Films, Nick Movies to Paramount labels
Viacom has elevated thestatus of its subsidiary production companies MTV Films and Nick Movies fromon-the-lot producers to "full labels" under the Paramount Motion Picture Group(PMPG) umbrella alongside Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Vantageand Paramount Classics.The company has hiredproducer Scott Aversano (pictured), who is an independent producer on the lotand previously ...
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News
Intertainment settles legal battle with Samaha, Franchise
Germanlicence trader Intertainment has settled its longstanding legal battle withElie Samaha, former chief executive of Franchise Pictures, and productioncompany Sidonian Holdings (formerly Glickson Investments International).TheMunich-based company had been forced into insolvency after failing to recoupdamages of $121.7m awarded by a court against Samaha, Franchise Pictures andSidonian and 15 further production ...
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News
Richard Laxton starts shoot for The Allotment
Warp Films and Art in Action have started shooting a comedywith the working title of The Allotment.Richard Laxton, who recentlycompleted Life & Lyrics, willdirect from a script by Frank Cottrell Boyce with Carl Hunter. The Allotment follows a refugee familytrying to fit into the community of their gardening allotment. The ...
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News
Europa Cinemas names jury for Venice Days prize
Europa Cinemas has announced the jury for its Europa Cinemas Label award in Venice (Aug 30-Sept 9). The jury of four exhibitors willjudge the best European film in the Venice Days programme.The jurors will be MariannePiquet from Le Rex in Chatenay-Malabry, France; Ted Chiaradia from Luxin Nijmegen, Netherlands; Kalle Somnitzwho ...
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Constantin sales up 25% in first half of 2006
German producer-distributor Constantin Film generated sales of $159m (Euros 124m) inthe first six months of 2006, an increase of 25% over the same period in 2005,and remains on track for its planned sales target of $321m (Euros 250m) for thefull year.The increased sales volumewas largely achieved with the Constantin Group's ...
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News
Melbourne audiences praise Thank You For Smoking
Thank You For Smoking, which releasesin Australia this week, wasthe most popular film among Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)audiences.Director Jason Reitman and his long-time producing partner Daniel Dubieckiwere guests of the event with Dubiecki, whose father is Australian, exploringAustralian opportunities while in the country. The top five MIFF films according ...
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News
San Sebastian's pearls include Inarritu's Babel
American films are the starsof the "Pearls" section and Spanish documentaries lead the Special Screeners inthe Zabaltegi sidebar of the upcoming Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival (Sept21-30).Among the "Pearls" competingfor the TCM Audience Award, which offers $38,503 (Euros 30,000)to the Spanish distributor, are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu'sCannes best director winner Babel,starring ...
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Reviews
Material Girls
Dir: Martha Coolidge. US.2006. 110mins.US teen icon Hilary Duff may never have exhibited theacting chops of, say, Lindsay Lohan, but she does atleast usually project some sort of likeable presence on screen. The problem' Duff is the same presence in every film that she'sever been in - and it's never ...