Small MPU – Page 531

  • News

    Washington Square to represent domestic sales on three Sundance titles

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    WashingtonSquare Films (WSF) will be acting as North American sales agent on the Sundancetitles Flannel Pajamas, Old Joy and Salvage.In Joshua andJeffrey Crook's thriller Salvage, a college student played by newcomer Lauren Currie Lewis relivesthe day of her grisly death over and over again. Seventh Level produced inassociation with The ...

  • News

    Van Galder named domestic marketing chief at Sony

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    Former TriStarPictures president Valerie Van Galder has been named president of domesticmarketing for the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group following the departureof worldwide marketing chief Geoff Ammer.Van Galdercommences work immediately on a high-powered slate from the combined pipelineof Columbia, Revolution, TriStar and Sony Pictures Animation that includes TheDaVinci Code, Casino ...

  • News

    The Alchemist set for 2006 shoot

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    The $100 million adaptation ofPaolo Coehlo's TheAlchemist is set for a 2006 shoot across the Middle East -possibly in a mooted new Dubai studio - according to producer Barrie Osborne.A long-cherished project forLaurence Fishburne, who will adapt, direct and starin The Alchemist, Osborne is lookingto finalise financial commitments by the ...

  • News

    World premiere for Albert Brooks at the Dubai Film Festival

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    AlbertBrooks became the first US film-maker to world premiere his film at the DubaiInternational Film Festival yesterday - with the potentially controversialtitle Looking For Comedy In The MuslimWorld, a sub-$25m cross-cultural comedy bankrolled by Steve Bing's Shangri-La Entertainment.Brooks, whotravelled to the Gulf state with Bing to show his film to ...

  • News

    New head of European MEDIA Programme appointed

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    Aviva Silver was today appointed as the successor to Domenico Raneri as the head of the European Commission's MEDIA Programme. The University of London law graduate has worked for the Commission since 1993, initially in the Internal Market Directorate General where she dealt with media issues. From 1997-2002, she worked ...

  • News

    Momentum picks up UK, Spanish rights to Miss Potter

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    MomentumPictures has acquired UK and Spanish rights to Beatrix Potter biopic Miss Potter. Thefilm is set to start Renee Zellweger as thechildren's book author and Ewan McGregor as herpublisher and love interest. ChrisNoonan (Babe) is directing the film,which will shoot in the UK's Lake District in spring 2006. Miss Potter ...

  • News

    Garrel's Amants charm Prix Louis Delluc jury

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    The Prix Louis Delluc for 2005 has been awarded to Philippe Garrel's Les Amants Reguliers. The three-hour black-and-white drama set against the May 1968 uprisings in France was also a competitor in Venice where it took the best director award.Meanwhile, Anthony Cordier's Douches Froides was handed the trophy for best ...

  • News

    Lovefilm to offer 500 titles in new VoD service

    2005-12-19T06:00:00Z

    Lovefilm, the online DVDrental company, has launched the first UK mass-market film download service. Lovefilm expects to offerabout 500 titles by early 2006, and downloads will be priced from £2.99.The VoD servicehas signed content deals with Warner Bros. including titles such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,Alexander, Batman and ...

  • News

    Shanghai Dreams triumphs in Tallinn

    2005-12-16T00:00:00Z

    Wang Xiaoshuai's Shanghai Dreams won the best film prize at this year's Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.Best director was Hou Hsiao-Hsien for Three Times

  • News

    3 Degrees Colder producer launches distribution arm

    2005-12-19T04:00:00Z

    blue eyes Fiction, the producer of FlorianHoffmeister's 3Degrees Colder (3 Grad Kaelter), has launched anin-house theatrical arm blue eyes Pictures to release the Silver Leopard-winnerin German cinemas on March 16.Accordingto the Munich-based production company, blue eyes Pictures will not berestricted to handling its own arthouse productions,but will also operate as ...

  • News

    Barrandov Studios to expand in 2006

    2005-12-19T06:00:00Z

    Barrandov Studios has announcedthat its owners have approved plans to build new stages to handle increasingdemand at the Prague studios. Work is expected to begin in the spring and willcost roughly $4.2m (3.5m Euros). The new complex will include severalsoundproof studios, one of which will be completed in 2006. Other ...

  • News

    Israel, New Zealand projects make the cut for Sundance Screenwriters Lab

    2005-12-17T00:00:00Z

    The Sundance Institute has selected 12 projects for the annualScreenwriters Lab taking place from Jan 13-18 at the Sundance Resort in Utah.The five-day writer's workshop gives independent screenwriters theopportunity to work intensively on their feature film scripts with the supportof established writers.The selected projects are: Kit Hui's A Breath Away ...

  • News

    Huffman gets breakthrough performance award at Palm Springs

    2005-12-17T00:00:00Z

    Golden Globe nominee Felicity Huffman will receive theBreakthrough Performance Award at the 17th Annual Palm Springs InternationalFilm Festival (PSIFF).Huffman, who earned a Globe nomination in the best dramaticactress category for Transamerica, will collect the honour at the awards gala on Jan 7."It has truly been abreakthrough year for Huffman with ...

  • News

    Das Werk expands overseas with En Efecto merger

    2000-06-05T15:02:00Z

    German facilities group Das Werk is to merge with En Efecto, a Barcelona-based post-production and animation group. En Efecto groups together four companies: post-production companies Video Efecto and Cinefecto, laboratory Image Film and Film & Tape, which distributes materials. The group recently joined the Max European Post-Production Alliance. Financial details ...

  • News

    Fox Searchlight takes US rights to Fast Food

    2005-12-19T04:00:00Z

    Fox Searchlight has picked up North American rights to RichardLinklater's Fast Food Nation, which recently completed principal photography in Mexico, Texasand Colorado.Based on Eric Schlosser's food industry expose of the same name, FastFood Nation is acharacter study of the lives behind the stories in the book.Linklater met Schlosser fouryears ago ...

  • News

    Dubai festival ends with buzz about international shoots

    2005-12-18T00:00:00Z

    Thesecond Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) wrapped on an optimistic notein the Gulf state on Saturday, with a palpable buzz surrounding the DubaiStudio City project and several high-profile expressions of interest in filmingthere following on from Warner Bros' recent shoot for Syriana.Apartfrom producer Barrie Osborne (The Lord of The Rings) ...

  • News

    Film bodies fear EU budget plans could damage MEDIA Programme

    2005-12-20T04:00:00Z

    Film industry bodies claim the European Union MEDIA Programme's work could be damaged by reductions in spending on culture after 2006.This weekend, the European Union (EU) member states, under the presidency of the UK, agreed a financial framework for the EU from 2007 to 2013.The European Producers Associations Alliance (EPAA) ...

  • News

    Fitchett appointed to leading Australian film role

    2005-12-18T00:00:00Z

    The AustralianFilm Commission (AFC) has appointed Chris Fitchett as director of filmdevelopment.Fitchett- a former chief executive of the AFC's Commercial Television ProductionFund - has been acting director since October. Therole has the potential to be the most influential in Australia in terms of whatprojects get developed.

  • News

    MK Pictures set to enter China partnership

    2005-12-18T20:30:00Z

    Korea's MK Pictures has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Eastern Dragon and Beijing Polybona Film Publishingto enter into a partnership encompassing several areas of the film business.The MOU, signed on Dec 14, coverscollaboration in the construction and management of multiplexes, filmproduction and distribution, talent management and advertising. Although ...

  • News

    Korean film industry launches labour union

    2005-12-18T20:30:00Z

    The South Korean filmindustry's first official labour union has been launched in Seoul in response to unstable working conditions. At launch, the Federation ofKorean Movie Workers' Union has around 400 members with the primary aim of improvingwork conditions through collective negotiation.Despite the phenomenalgrowth of the Korean industry since the late ...