Small MPU – Page 693
-
News
Banderas to play Cortes in Conquistador
Antonio Banderas will portray Hernan Cortes in Hollywood Gang's upcoming$40m Spanish-language epic Conquistador to be directed by Andrucha Waddington.Based on a screenplay by Nick Kazan, the project charts the 16thcentury Spanish expedition that brings Cortes and his men into bloody contactwith the Aztec empire led by Moctezuma.Gianni Nunnari of Los ...
-
News
Gooder gets new position between LA and Sydney at Icon
Mark Gooder is moving to Los Angeles in the newly createdposition of president of film acquisitions and development at Icon Productions.Gooder will continue to serve as chief executive officer of IconFilm Distribution Australia and will divide his time between California and Sydney.He will report directly to Icon Productions president Bruce ...
-
Reviews
Alien Autopsy
Dir: Jonny Campbell UK.2006. 95minsFitfully entertaining, but undermined by its owninanity, Alien Autopsy is muddled anduneven fare which shows yet again how difficult it is for the best Britishcomic talent to make the transition to the big screen. Its stars Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, hugely popular TVpersonalities in the ...
-
News
Universal appoints new MDs for Scandinavia, Iberia
Universal Pictures International (UPI) has appointed Ivor Viljoen as managing director of Universal Pictures Nordic (encompassing Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland) and Edgar Adelmund as managing director of Universal Pictures Iberia (Spain and Portugal). Viljoen's appointment was effective from April 3. He formerly served as senior VP, Europe for Paramount ...
-
News
Blockbusters bunch up in Oz
While the European box office fights soccer-mania and pre-summer seasonal box office lows, Australia's chart is riding high with help from the southern hemisphere winter and two hits carrying a high level of Australian content.Mission: Impossible 2 at number one has scooped $7.6m (A$13.3m) after just 12 days, a record ...
-
News
Nyon documentary festival adds pitching forum
The Visions du Reel International Documentary Festival (April 24-29) inNyon, Switzerland, has joined forces with theEuropean Documentary Network to stage its first pitching forum aimed atcreative documentaries focusing on an artistic visual approach.Twelve projects have beenselected for the Pitching du Reel session on April 24and will be presented to a ...
-
News
ContentFilm says revenue is up 72% over last year
London-based film and TVsales company ContentFilm has announced that it expects to meet marketexpectations for the financial year that ended March 31. The company said that,subject to audit, it expects revenues for the year to be about $18.4m (£10.5m),up 72% from 2005. Earnings beforeinterest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is ...
-
News
Fauveau to head Paramount Home Entertainment France
Pascal Fauveauhas been named managing director of France for Paramount Home Entertainment International, tooversee all operations in France including sales and marketing. Fauveau most recently served as senior vice president andmanaging director of MGM Home Entertainment, France, a unit he createdstarting in 2002. He is also a veteran ofUniversal Pictures ...
-
News
New UK documentary festival to launch in July
The Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundationis launching a new UK-based documentary festival, Britdoc, to be held at Keble College in Oxfordfrom July 26-28.The event seeks to bringan international scope to the UK documentary world. "We want to encourage UK documentary filmmakers to be involved in theinternational co-production of feature ...
-
News
Hrebejk's Beauty In Trouble to premiere in Karlovy Vary
Jan Hrebejk's newfilm Beauty InTrouble has been announced as the first competition film inthe Official Selection of the 41st Karlovy VaryInternational Film Festival. Thefilm is produced by Ondrej Trojan, who also produced Hrebejk's 2001 Oscar nominee, Divided We Fall. "Whenwe were writing the script for Beauty in Trouble, we were ...
-
News
UK Film Council supports 19 new shorts
TheUK Film Council has announced short film projects that will receive fundingthrough the New Cinema Fund's Digital Shorts Plus programme. Thescheme works with directors previously supported by the Digital Shorts Schemewho are now working on projects budgeted up to $35,039 (£20,000). The FilmCouncil's regional partners put up $17,519 (£10,000) for ...
-
News
Cannes selects Vincent Cassel as master of ceremonies
French actorVincent Cassel will handle master of ceremoniesduties for the 59th Cannes Film Festival, organisers announced Wednesday.Cassel's responsibilities will include overseeing the opening andclosing ceremonies. It is uncommonfor the festival to choose a master, rather than a mistress, though Cassel's selection does keep things in thefamily. His wife, actress Monica ...
-
News
MGM Channel pacts with Liberty for eastern Europe launch
MGM Networks has signed a deal with broadband cable operatorLiberty Global's European division chellomedia to launch the MGM Channel andDTH (direct-to-home satellite) systems in local languages throughout centraland Eastern Europe.The 50-50 joint venture aims to launch the MGM Channel in theCzech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary by the fourth quarter of ...
-
News
Nashville-based Amity picks up Little Hippo for North America
Nashville-based production, distribution and licensing companyAmity Entertainment has picked up North American rights to the Little Hippoanimation feature and series.The acquisition includes a 90-minute feature and 52 15-minutetelevision episodes.Belgium-based Neuroplanet produced the 2001 feature, which wasdirected by Bernard Deyries and has been released theatrically in France andGermany.The television series has ...
-
Reviews
Tout Va Bien (On S'En Va) Everything's Fine
Dir: Claude Mourieras. France. 2000. 94 mins.Prod co: Rezo Productions. Int'l sales: Flach Pyramide International (+33 1 4296 0220). Prods: Jean-Michel Rey, Philippe Liegeois. Scr: Mourieras. DoP: William Lubtchansky. Prod des: Wouter Zoon. Editor: Monique Dartonne. Main cast: Michel Piccoli, Miou Miou, Sandrine Kiberlain, Natach Regnier.No big build-up: in true ...
-
News
Carr promoted to vp of exhibitor marketing at Focus Features
Eric Carr has been promoted from Focus Features' director ofexhibitor marketing to the unit's vice president.Effective immediately, Carr will oversee planning and deployingin-theatre marketing materials for Focus and Rogue Pictures releases.He will remain in the company's West Coast offices and continuesto report to Focus Features executive vice president of theatrical ...
-
News
Palm teams with Rockstar Games on Sunday Driver
Palm Pictures and video game publisher Rockstar Games have teamedup to co-market and co-distribute the low-rider documentary Sunday Driver in the US.The first documentary production from Grand Theft Auto creator Rockstar follows The Majestics,a group of California-based African-American former gang members who inspireeach other through their love of customised cars.Sunday ...
-
News
Mixed Doubles to close LA Indian Film Festival
Rajat Kapoor's comedy MixedDoubles will close the 4th IndianFilm Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) on Apr 23.Mixed Doubles premiered recently at the Rotterdam InternationalFilm Festival and follows a man's desperate efforts to spice up his 10-year-oldmarriage.Festival Director ChristinaMarouda announced that the audience choice and the jury awards for bestfeature, best ...
-
News
Poseidon to have May 6 world premiere at Tribeca
Tribeca Film Festivalorganisers have scored another coup by booking the world premiere of WolfgangPetersen's disaster movie Poseidon.Warner Bros and VirtualStudios' adventure story is the latest high-profile world premiere destined forthe New York event, which will open with Working Title/Universal's United 93and also screens DreamWorksAnimation's Over The Hedge.Poseidon tells of a ...
-
News
TWI to acquire UK's Darlow Smithson Productions
Sports media company TWI has announced that it will acquire London-based DarlowSmithson Productions, best known in the film world for its first feature, Touching The Void. TWI will finance the acquisition with capital from its parent company,US-based IMG.The move will let TWI expand into factual non-sports programming. DarlowSmithson currently delivers ...