Small MPU – Page 689
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News
Railroad All Stars to open Hot Docs in Toronto
Chema Rodriguez's TheRailroad All Stars will open the13th Hot Docs Toronto International Documentary Film Festival on April 28. The Spanish title, whichpremiered at the Berlinale, tells of the efforts of Guatemalan prostitutes whoform a football team in an effort to raise awareness and support. It's one of 99 titlesannounced today, ...
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News
Pike, Dillane cast in Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces
UKactors Rosamund Pike and Stephen Dillane will take key roles in Canadianfilmmaker Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces, the long-gestating project to be produced by Robert Lantos'Serendipity Point Films with Athens-based Cinegram SA. Croatianstalwart Rade Serbedzija is also cast in a lead role.Basedon the Orange Prize-winning 1997 novel by Anne Michaels, the ...
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News
Beijing Rosat lines up three-picture slate
Beijing-based Rosat Film andTV Productions is lining up a slate of three films including period martialarts drama Green Dragon Scimitarwhich is scheduled to start shooting in September. Budgeted at $12.5m, the filmis about the life of Guan Yu, a general in China's Three Kingdoms period. Rosat founder Li Shaohong is ...
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Lassally leaves LA management firm Kustom, Meisinger & Kolbrenner take the reins.
Robyn Meisinger and Adam Kolbrenner have been appointed to head upLos Angeles-based management and production outfit Kustom Entertainment followinga management transition.Tom Lassally, who along with CSI Capital Management founded Kustomin 2002, is moving to 3 Arts Entertainment and will take his client roster withhim effective immediately.'Tom has played a most ...
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Film London launches trainee programme
Film London has now opened traineeapplications for its new Company Placement Scheme, which is offering six-monthpaid posts at film and TV production companies. Film London already has thescheme's six companies on board: Karen Hamilton Productions, TwofourProductions, Diverse Productions, Number 9 Films, Tigerlily Films, andAdventure Pictures."It is often incrediblyhard for people ...
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News
UK publicity firm Premier PR acquires McDonald & Rutter
UK public relations agency Premier PRhas acquired another London-based publicity company, McDonald & Rutter. The two willmerge under the Premier PR name, and will be jointly run by Premier's chiefexecutive Sara Keene and McDonald & Rutterfounding partners Charles McDonald and Jonathan Rutter.Premier hasabout 40 staffers in its London headquarters and ...
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News
Ninja-style Romeo & Juliet drama bought for North America
US-basedNavarre subsidiary FUNimation Entertainment has acquired North American rightsto Shochiku's Shinobi. No theatrical release date has beenset, but the film will open sometime before its DVD release in autumn.Broadcast rights were also included in the deal.Describedas a ninja film meets Romeo and Julietand starring Joe Odagiri (Suite Dreams,Blood and Bones) ...
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News
Pinewood profits slump due to UK tax uncertainty
Film studio Pinewood Shepperton reported disappointing financial results on Tuesday, blaming the UK film tax uncertainty of the past year and the overall downturn in UK film production. Pinewood Shepperton said that operating profits were down 70% last year, from £6.4m in 2004 to £571,000 last year. Profits fell from ...
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News
Scapel Films scores raft of sales for football drama
Pierre Menahem's Paris-basedScalpel Films has scored a raft of sales on Icelandic gay football comedy-dramaEleven Men Out following its Berlinale Panorama screening.Currently playing at New Directors, New Films in New York, ElevenMen Out has been picked up by Here! Films for the US, France'sSwift, Vertigo in Spain, Salzgeber in ...
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News
Ramsay project secures Scottish lottery funding
Company Pictures' Morvern Callar, the latest project from writer-director Lynne Ramsay, was the main beneficiary in the latest round of Scottish Lottery Panel awards. The first awards under the administration of Scottish Screen rather than the Scottish Arts Council, announced a £500,000 production grant to the film which already has ...
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News
Budapest festival opens with Three Burials
Budapest deputylord mayor János Schiffer isscheduled to open the 13th Titanic Budapest International FilmFestival on March 29 with a gala screening of Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of MelquiadesEstrada.For the firsttime in the festival's history, an international jury will choose a competitionwinner from among nine contenders which have already ...
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News
VIP investors file for damages estimated at $30m
More than 200investors in the beleaguered VIP 3 and 4 private media funds have become the first to file fordamages.The claims against the German fund are estimated at around $30m (Euros 25m). The plaintiffs claim VIP Medienfondsprospectuses were misleading and that not all of the equity raisedwas actually channelled into ...
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Reviews
Volver
Dir: Pedro Almodovar.Spain. 2006. 111 mins.The literal Englishtranslation of Volver is "To Return" and Pedro Almodovar's newfilm represents several 'returns' for the iconic director. He returns to hispersonal roots in La Mancha, where he was born. He also returns to his roots asa filmmaker, working mainly with women and, after ...
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News
Greengrass-directed United 93 to open Tribeca
In a distinctly personal selection that reflects the origins ofthe Tribeca Film Festival, organisers have chosen the world premiere of PaulGreengrass' United 93to open next month's annual event.Greengrass' homage to the passengers and crew of United AirlinesFlight 93 that crashed outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11 2001was filmed in real ...
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News
Publicist Drutz joins Jeremy Walker in New York City
Judy Drutz has joined New York-based Jeremy Walker + Associates asa senior publicist following a six-year stint at Dan Klores Communications.Drutz spearheaded release campaigns at DKC for such clients as Lionsgate,The Weinstein Company, and Wellspring. She also handled corporate, unit andfilm publicity for clients.Drutz most recently served at DKC as ...
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News
Sony signs distribution deal with niche producer 360
Columbia Pictures has signeda deal with producer Frank Mancuso Jr (pictured) and entrepreneur Tom Gores' 360 Picturesto acquire and distribute 360 films for the domestic theatrical anddirect-to-home entertainment markets.Sony Pictures will secureNorth American theatrical and home entertainment rights to all 360 Picturesprojects it acquires, starting with the coming-of-age drama Crossover.The ...
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News
Shipps promoted to senior vp of marketing at WBITD
Andrew Shipps has beenpromoted to senior vice president of marketing at Warner Bros InternationalTelevision Distribution (WBITD).Shipps will develop andimplement global marketing strategies for all of the studio's content in theinternational television marketplace.He will oversee campaignsfor original series produced by Warner Bros Television, TelepicturesProductions and Warner Bros Animation, as well as ...
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Seldin stays at Miramax to oversee international distribution
Colleen Seldin (pictured) is staying inthe Miramax fold as senior vice president of international distribution andoperations beyond the company's transitional period.She will be based in NewYork and reports to Miramax president Daniel Battsek.Seldin has been a member ofthe Miramax team for the past six years and will oversee all aspects ...
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Pressman picks up rights to Indian maths genius bio
Edward R Pressman Film Corphas picked up feature rights to The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life Of TheGenius Ramanujan, Robert Kanigel's1991 biography of the self-taught Indian maths prodigy Srinavasa RamanujanIyengar.Ramanujan left the slums ofMadras during the First World War to study at Cambridge, where he partneredwith the brilliant professor ...
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Reviews
Basic Instinct 2
Dir: Michael Caton-Jones.US/UK. 2006. 113 mins.The crime of BasicInstinct 2 is not that it fails to achieve instant camp classic status, butthat it is never more than tragically mundane. 14 years ago Paul Verhoevenreinvented the sex thriller with the gloriously trashy original, teamingMichael Douglas with explosive new star Sharon Stone ...