Category: International

MUMBAI: Sony has promoted Marisa McGrath as senior vice-president of national theatrical publicity.

McGrath will report to Sony Worldwide Marketing & Distribution‘s executive vice-president of motion picture publicity Andre Caraco. However, she will continue to play a key role in orchestrating and overseeing the national launch of several films each year.

McGrath oversaw publicity campaigns for 2012, Zombieland, Julie &Julia and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and will take charge of one of two PR teams guiding releases from Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation and select acquisitions.

She started her career in 1994 at Jonas Public Relations before moving to BWR in 1997 and then on to Fox before joining Sony in 2001.

MUMBAI: Samson & Delilah annexed six of the ten Inside Film Awards given out last night to features.

Made by writer/director Warwick Thornton, and produced by Kath Shelper, the film won the best film, best director, best script and best music awards. The film‘s two teenage leads, Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson, won best actor and best actress awards respectively.

The ceremony, held at Luna Park overlooked by the Sydney Harbour Bridge, definitely belonged to Samson & Delilah, which grossed twice its $1.5m (A$1.6m) budget at the Australian box office. But it was another film with an indigenous story at its heart, Baz Lurhmann‘s Australia, that earned the box-office achievement award for producers Luhrmann, G Mac Brown and Catherine Knapman. Told on a much bigger scale, its final Australian gross was $34.8m (A$37.5m).

Lurhmann‘s body of work, which also includes Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge!, earned him the living legend award and the team behind Australia‘s first co-production with Iran My Tehran For Sale, produced by director Granaz Moussavi, Julie Ryan and Kate Croser, won the award for independent spirit.

The IF Awards came at the end of the first day of the annual conference of the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) which began with a stinging attack on the negative impact of direct government subsidy on Australian film.

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group (SPWAG) has entered into a three-year marketing and distribution deal with CBS Films under which the former will handle international theatrical distribution of the inaugural CBS Films releases and service DVD releases.

The deal builds on CBS Films and Sony‘s partnership on the upcoming action-thriller Faster, which will star Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton and is set to begin production in early 2010.

he alliance will start with CBS Films‘ first release, the inspirational drama Extraordinary Measures that will open on 22 January next year and stars Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell. CBS Films will handle domestic theatrical distribution of all its titles and retains rights in limited territories.

Next in line will be romantic comedy The Back-up Plan starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O‘Loughlin, followed by the July 30 release of the teen romance Beastly based on the story of Beauty And The Beast and starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer.

In addition to Faster, CBS Films is currently in development on action thriller Consent To Kill; thriller The Station; adventure story Gunsmoke; a remake of My Fair Lady to be co-developed with Columbia Pictures; romance I‘ll Be There, a remake of the South Korean film A Moment To Remember; and the comedy Permission.

MUMBAI: As part of a major overhaul of the organisation following its $41.9m (?25m) budget cut, the UK Film Council (UKFC) has proposed to merge its Premiere, New Cinema and Development funds in order to create a $25m (?15m) Film Production Fund.

The UKFC has launched a three month public consultation into the plans on November 17.

The fund will be used to support all production but will have an emphasis on first and second time film-makers, and will also support experimental, innovative and digital film-making.

The $25.1m (?15m) budget for the new fund is $3.3m (?2m) lesser than the total allocated to the three separate funds, although any money recouped by the UKFC from their investments will now go directly back into the Production Fund.

According to UKFC chief executive, John Woodward, the fund is expected to at least equal the current spend on the three funds, as a result of the reinvestment: “Instead of recoupment going back into the top of the Film Council, the money will go directly back into the production fund, so my expectation is that in three years time there will be slightly more money in the pot than there is now.”

It is understood that the fund will be led by four executives, who will be appointed by April 2010.
 

MUMBAI: Warner Bros, cinema chain Vue, retailer Tesco and NX Distribution are in consultation with producer/financier CinemaNX to promote Richard Linklater‘s forthcomng film Me And Orson Welles.

The film is a romantic drama about Richard (Efron), a young actor who crosses paths with young Orson Welles in the 1930s. 

Warner Bros‘ Entertainment UK will be the theatrical distribution partner, while other branches of the company will help to support its distribution via video-on-demand and TV.

Tesco, that has been given exclusive year-long retail rights, will promote the DVDs from spring next year and promote the tie-in book and soundtrack in the meantime.

Vue, that has recently signed a promotional deal with NX, said that the film‘s cast which includes Zac Efron, is expected to attract a large number of youth.

MUMBAI: Five nominated films will vie for the best animated feature Golden Globe Awards after members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) voted to expand the category.

The nominees for the 67th annual awards will be announced in Hollywood on 15 December before the prize-giving ceremony on 17 January next year.

Under the amended HFPA rules, in order to qualify as an animated feature, eligible films must be 70 minutes and not longer and should contain not more than 25 per cent live-action.

If less than eight animated films qualify the award will not be given. In that case the films would be eligible for best picture.
 

MUMBAI: The 24th Israel Film Festival will open on 5 December in New York with the presentation of the IFF Lifetime Achievement Award to Elliott Gould and the IFF Achievement in Cinema Award to Paul Schrader.

Kino International president Donald Krim will receive the IFF Visionary Award the same night.

The opening film will be Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor‘s A Matter Of Size and the festival will screen more than 28 films and close on 13 December.

MUMBAI: Veteran actor Edward Woodward, most famous for this role in the cult 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, has died aged 79 years old.

The Croydon-born star had been suffering from various illnesses including pneumonia and died in hospital, his agent Janet Glass has confirmed.

Woodward was also well know for his role in 1980s American television series The Equalizer, for which he won a Golden Globe in 1987. Other film roles included Commander Powell in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins and the title role in the 1980 biopic Breaker Morant. More recently he appeared in the 2007 Edgar Wright comedy Hot Fuzz.

He is survived by his wife Michele and four children.
 

MUMBAI: A new blog that has been opened for Sherlock Holmes fans is keeping them updated on the latest news about the new Sherlock Holmes film set for a Christmas release.

Featuring movie trailers, film stills, reviews and more the site that gives information about Guy Ritchie‘s 2009 Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson.

Said Anne Mitchell, the website developer and a Sherlock Holmes fan, “Although www.thesherlockholmesmovie.com i features the new Sherlock Holmes film, it has been built to celebrate Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from 1887 to the present.

“He is still popular over 100 years later, so popular that they‘ve made a new movie based on his character. That is pretty remarkable I think. I want to share my love of all things Sherlockian on this website.”

There have been over 200 Sherlock Holmes films made so far. This new Sherlock Holmes movie is based on a story by Lionel Wigram, inspired by the classic tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and promises to bring the legendary detective to life as he has never been seen before.
 

MUMBAI: Paramount Studios has announced that Paranormal Activity has grown from its midnight-only showings to become this year‘s biggest movie phenomenon and has crossed $100 million at the box-office after five weekends of its US release.
In so doing, the film has become the top grossing R-Rated thriller of the past decade.

The film began released with midnight-only screenings in 12 college towns across the US and quickly became a hit with fans visiting the ParanormalMovie.com website and demanding the film be brought to their city.

After more than 1 million such requests, Paramount expanded the film nationally where it has been playing to packed theaters ever since.

Says Paramount Pictures chairman and CEO Brad Grey, “What is truly amazing about Paranormal Activity is the depth of commitment from fans who demanded to see it. Adam Goodman, our head of production, believed in the film and championed it from the very first screening. This box-office milestone is also a testament to Oren Peli‘s considerable talents as a filmmaker. All of us at Paramount are proud to have been involved with his revolutionary project.”

In the film after a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban “starter” tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly most active in the middle of the night.