ITV

Category: International

  • Lightning Ent. acquires global rights of police thriller Verso

    MUMBAI: Lightning Entertainment has lapped up the international sales rights of Tarantula Productions‘ police thriller Verso excluding Switzerland.

    Lightning co-president Rich Goldberg will commence sales at AFM on the story directed by Xavier Ruiz about a Swiss SWAT officer who fears for his teenage daughter‘s safety when his former partner gets out of jail.

    Starring in the film are Laurent Lucas, Carlos Leal, Chloe Coulloud and Andres Andrekson.

    While Ascot-Elite will release the film in Switzerland in late November, Recreation Media will handle the US sales for the film.

    Guardian brokered the deal with Ariel Veneziano of Recreation Media.

  • Hollywood Film Festival announces 2009 nominees

    MUMBAI: The Hollywood Film Festival has announced five nominees for the year‘s Hollywood Awards‘ annual ‘Hollywood World Award‘.

    The nominees are Jane Campion‘s Bright Star, Luca Guadagnino‘s I Am Love, Jessica Hausner‘s Lourdes, Jacques Audiard‘s A Prophet and Michael Haneke‘s The White Ribbon.

    “These five films are not just among the best international films, but the best films made this year,” said jury chairman Mike Goodridge.

    “In addition, we are extremely proud to honor these titles with selection for the Hollywood World Awards,” he added.

    The winner will be announced at a gala ceremony on 26 October. Previous winners include Laurent Cantet‘s The Class, Pedro Almodovar‘s Volver, Cristian Mungiu‘s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Walter Salles‘ The Motorcycle Diaries.

    The Hollywood Awards additionally announced two more recipients of their annual pre-announced prizes. Christoph Waltz will receive supporting actor award for his work in Inglourious Basterds, while humanitarian Father Rick Frechette will be honoured with the ‘Hollywood Humanitarian Award‘.

  • Graham King delinks from Warner Bros gets attached to Sony Pictures

    MUMBAI: Moving away from Warner Bros Graham King has diverted his filmmaking priorities to Sony after signing a three-year, multi-film output deal with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group.

    Under the deal, King‘s GK Films will independently develop, finance and produce a minimum of two films a year that will be marketed and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures.

    King will continue to develop previously arranged films with the Warner Bros under his first-look deal with that studio as he transitions to Sony. King launched GK Films in May 2007 with business partner Tim Headington.

    Said King, “Working with Warners has been, and continues to be, a wonderful experience and I cherish the support and collaboration of the whole team. But the deal with Sony Pictures gives us guaranteed distribution for our films and the opportunity to work with a successful and respected studio that handles every type of motion picture equally well.”

    Said Sony president of worldwide affairs Peter Schlessel, “We have long admired Graham‘s consistent taste in commercial and critically acclaimed material. As a producer, he attracts high-profile talent to top-quality and audience-pleasing projects and we couldn‘t be more excited to enter into this relationship.”

  • Spain floats film commission to combat piracy

    MUMBAI: With its aim to combat piracy, the Spanish government has decided to launch a new film commission that will focus on protecting intellectual property rights. The commission that will launch by the end of year will consist of members from the judicial system, the Ministry of Culture and the wider film industry.

    One of the priorities of the commission will be to repair the fractious relations between Spain‘s internet service providers (ISPs) and rights owners, who have been unable to reach a compromise on how to solve the problem of illegal P2P file sharing in Spain.

    Spain is one of the world‘s biggest piracy offenders with an estimated 350 million illegal film downloads in 2008 that cost the Spanish film industry around $1bn (€668m) in lost revenue.

    Earlier this year, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) called on the Spanish government to develop an “effective action plan” to reduce the availability of unauthourised content online and for monitoring the ISPs.

  • Dan Glickman to relinquish MPAA office in September next

    MUMBAI: CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Dan Glickman will vacate his post as chairman when his contract expires in September next year.

    Said Glickman revealing his decision, “My guess is that I‘ll end up in the non-profit or academic world. People who know me know I‘ve had these great extra-curricular interests that have been very significant in driving me.”


    Arnold Schwarzenegger is among the list of possible successors along with Harold Ford Jr, Universal Music lobbyist Matt Gerson, Howard Berman, Richard Bates of Disney, MPAA COO Bob Pisano, and federal affairs chief Michael O‘Leary.


    After relinquishing office, Glickman would have served five years in the post and will leave behind an unremarkable track record.


    Glickman, who served as agriculture secretary under former President Bill Clinton, failed to make any headway in the fight against piracy and repeatedly declined to update data revealing the level of potential lost earnings to MPAA affiliates.

  • Odd Lot, Bold merge to form Affinity International


    MUMBAI: Bold Films and international sales arms of Odd Lot Entertainment


    have merged as Affinity International that will officially launch at American Film Market next month.
    Odd Lot Entertainment and Bold Films will remain as separate entities and both the highly-capitalised companies would continue their independent finance, development and production activities.


    Odd Lot‘s Brian O‘Shea has been appointed president of worldwide sales and distribution and will report to Bill Lischak, who will oversee the day-to-day operations as Affinity International‘s acting COO and retains the same role at Odd Lot Entertainment.


    Bold Films‘ Jim Harvey will join as executive vice-president of worldwide sales, and will report to O‘Shea. Both of them will commence sales on From Prada To Nada, Rabbit Hole, The Hole 3D and Spy High among others.

  • The Cove to show at Tokyo Intl Film Festival

    MUMBAI: The Cove, a documentary about the annual dolphin hunt in the Japanese fishing village of Taiji, will be shown to Japan‘s general public for the first time at the Tokyo International Film Festival tomorrow.

    The documentary features Ric O‘Barry, former dolphin trainer for the television show


    Flipper, in his pursuit to stop Taiji‘s fishermen from catching and killing the mammals.


    The film was added to the festival at the last minute because of growing worldwide interest in the U.S. documentary, said Tom Yoda, chairman for the event.


    “We were just carefully looking at the situation overseas and there was growing attention about this film,” Yoda said at a news conference on 17 September, a day after announcing the film‘s inclusion in the festival. Because the documentary “became so hot, we decided to screen this film,” he said.


    Japanese have been hunting dolphins for as long as 9,000 years, and Taiji‘s hunt is legal under international and domestic law, according to a website operated by the town‘s fishing association.

  • Independent laps international rights of Barafundle Bay

    MUMBAI: London-based sales and production outfit Independent has picked up international rights to award-winning director Hattie Dalton‘s first feature Barafundle Bay.

    The film written by Vaughan Sivell and produced by Sivell and Kelly Broad stars Tom Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, JJ Field and newcomer Adam Robertson.


    The film is billed as “the uplifting and often hilarious story of four childhood friends who take an ill-advised camping trip to the farthest reaches of West Wales.”


    Shooting is underway for the film being made under the Western Edge Pictures banner.


    Independent that is handling international sales will be introducing the film to international buyers at the American Film Market, next month.

  • The Good Guy is Roadside Attractions’ global attraction

    MUMBAI: Roadside Attractions has acquired worldwide rights of Julio DePietro‘s romantic film The Good Guy that stars Alexis Bledel, Scott Porter, Anna Chlumsky and Bryan Greenberg.

    The distribution house has scheduled a March 2010 US theatrical release for the film.

    Linda Moran and Rene Bastian of Belladonna Productions and DePietro produced the film that is about an ambitious Manhattanite who falls for a Wall Street whizz kid saddled with a jealous co-worker.

    Greg S Bernstein and Roadside‘s Howard Cohen brokered the deal with Andrew Herwitz of The Film Sales Company on behalf of the film-makers.

    Said Cohen,”This is an entertaining, provocative film about three great subjects – love, money, and New York City. We think the cast will attract a lot of young fans, but anyone who‘s ever dreamt of making it in the big apple will relate to this story.”

  • CBS Studios Intl opens office in Munich with Oliver Kreuter at helm

    MUMBAI: CBS Studios International has strengthened its presence in Europe with a new office in Munich which would be led by former Bavaria Media Television executive Oliver Kreuter.

    Kreuter joins CBS Studios International from Bavaria Media Television, where he headed its television section for the last four and a half years.

    Krueter, as managing director of CBS Studios International Germany, will report to Joe Lucas, the executive VP of sales at CBS Studios International. He has been assigned the task of driving the studio‘s programming and format sales in German-speaking European territories across all media platforms.

    With the Munich office, CBS Studios International now has a total of 11 offices worldwide.