Category: International

MUMBAI: Summit Entertainment has promoted Brad Kembel and Deborah Tellis as executive vice-president and senior vice-president of international distribution, while Jill Jones has been upgraged to the post of senior vice-president of international marketing and publicity.

The three executives have been instrumental in success for the company, where releases like Twilight, RedCliff and P.S. I Love You propelled Summit‘s films to $568m at the international box office in 2008.

Kembel will continue to oversee international distribution of all Summit productions and third party titles in all media, as well as supervising sales administration and distribution finance activities for the company.

Tellis will continue to handle the execution of film and video releases as senior vice-president of international distribution. Her new role will increase her presence within 83 international territories, working closely with local distributors on distribution strategy, dating, and the execution of marketing campaigns.

Jones will continue to supervise the creation of international marketing campaigns and publicity activities as well as overseeing all international markets, festivals and press junkets.

“Brad, Deborah and Jill have made significant contributions to our studio‘s international division and their promotions are well deserved,” Summit COO Bob Hayward said.

MUMBAI: Richard Linklater‘s Me and Orson Welles, which premiered at last year‘s Toronto International Film Festival, will be released theatrically in the U.S. on 25 November.
A coming-of-age drama that involves the legendary director‘s 1937 staging of Julius Caesar, the film stars Zac Efron and Claire Danes and introduces Christian McKay as the young Orson Welles.

UK-based producer and financier Cinemanx has struck distribution deals with Freestyle Releasing, which will secure theatres and Warner Bros. Home Video that will handle the DVD release.

MUMBAI: Coinstar Inc. has reportedly sold its entertainment services business to Colorado-based National Entertainment Network Inc. (NEN) for a nominal consideration to focus on its Redbox DVD rental kiosks and coin-counting machines.NEN was formed last month in anticipation of acquiring the division. Coinstar said that it expects to receive a net gain of between $25 million to $35 million on the sale.

“Our core DVD and coin kiosk businesses provide a solid foundation and, with the sale of our entertainment services business, we are better positioned to maximize the substantial market opportunity in automated retail,” said Coinstar CEI Paul Davis in a statement.

NEN operates coin-operated gumball and toy machines, kiddie rides, skill cranes and video games and other amusement vending machines at malls and supermarkets.

MUMBAI: Moving forward with its two films of The Hobbit, Warner Bros. has resolved a legal battle with the heirs of J.R.R. Tolkien over a profit issue from the Lord of the Rings films.

Last year, two of Tolkien‘s children, Christopher, 84, and Priscilla, 80, sued New Line, now a unit of Warner Bros., for an estimated $150 million that they claimed had to come from the three Lord of the Rings films that amassed $2.96 billion at the worldwide box-office and around $3 billion from DVD and other ancillary sales, according to the lawsuit.

MUMBAI: With 335 films from 64 countries, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) opens today with a star-studded array of guests. Opening the 10-day cinematic event will be Creation that stars Paul Bettany as Charles Darwin and his real-life wife, Jennifer Connelly, as Mrs. Darwin.

The Toronto festival marks the unofficial opening of the festival year and is also seen as an awards-season barometer – the winner of the festival‘s 2008 People‘s Choice award was Slumdog Millionaire that went on to win best picture at the Academy Awards.

TIFF can also serve to strangle films in their cradle: “All the King‘s Men” with Sean Penn was shown in 2006, and essentially left the festival on life support.

Expected celebrities to grace the event are George Clooney, Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Colin Firth, Colin Farrell, Michael Douglas, Michael Sheen, Michael Cera, Michael Caine, Naomi Watts, Ellen Page, Woody Harrelson, Mariah Carey and Viggo Mortensen.

MUMBAI: Executive director Scott Rosenbaum has been signed by Fox for a Western drama. The untitled project, from Warner Bros. TV and McG‘s studio-based Wonderland Sound and Vision, has landed a script commitment with a significant penalty.

Described as an epic Western with a sci-fi twist, the show will revolve around “a gunslinger caught between worlds” and will feature a nod to Planet of the Apes said Rosenbaum.

MUMBAI: Coinstar Inc that provides coin-counting machines and DVD rental kiosks has said that it has sold its entertainment services business to National Entertainment Network Inc for a nominal consideration.

The company is expecting to record a pre-tax loss of between $52 million to $57 million and realize a one-time tax benefit of between $82 million and $87 million from the sale.

Also, Coinstar, which provides DVD rental kiosks through its unit Redbox Automated Retail LLC, said that it is publicly offering $175 million of convertible senior notes due in 2014 and will use the proceeds to repay debt.

The cost of shares of Coinstar was down about 3 per cent at $31.10 and closed at $31.96 on Nasdaq on Wednesday.

MUMBAI: The 14th Pusan International Film Festival will open with director Jang Jin‘s new comedy Good Morning President.

The film is about three Korean presidents including the youngest one played by Jang Dong-kun who was earlier seen in The Promise.

The festival which runs from 8 to 16 October brings a record of 355 films from 70 countries, with 98 world premieres and 46 international premieres.

MUMBAI: Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and Akon are among the first group of artistes who will feature in the Michael Jackson tribute concert on 26 September 26 in Vienna. The show is being put together by the late pop singer‘s brother Jermaine Jackson.

Organizers of the show also announced that veteran actors like Natalie Cole and Sister Sledge will perform outside the 17th-century palace of Schönbrunn in the Austrian capital.

The first group of performers also includes boy band US 5, protégés of imprisoned boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman, and actress Angela Bassett, who portrayed family matriarch Katherine Jackson in the TV-film The Jacksons: An American Dream.

The performers will be backed by Jackson‘s touring band with whom he had rehearsed for weeks before his untimely death on 25 June at the age of 50.

Jermaine will sing a virtual duet with his late brother that he promises will be a “magic moment for all who loved his music.” Among the songs that will performed by various artistes are Man in the Mirror, Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller, Black or White, Earth Song, Smooth Criminal, Bad, Dirty Diana, Will You Be There, You Are Not Alone, Remember the Time, Heal the World, The Girl Is Mine and Scream.

MUMBAI: This year‘s Gucci Group Award has been bagged by journalist Mark Boal for his screenplay of Katheryn Bigelow‘s The Hurt Locker. The award was presented during the ongoing Venice Film Festival.

The Gucci Group Award, in its fourth year, recognises an artist who has made a “remarkable” contribution to a film during the past 18 months.

Boal was selected by a jury composed of actress Patricia Clarkson, director Zoe Cassavetes, photographer Mario Testino, editor Ingrid Sischy and Venice artistic director Marco Mueller.

The Hurt Locker is based on Boal‘s experiences when he was with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in 2004. Other nominees for the Gucci award included Shirin Neshat with Women Without Men and Pipilotti Rist‘s Pepperminta, both of which are in screening in this year‘s festival and Yann Arthus – Bertrand‘s Home.

The Venice Film Festival that started on 2 September will on 12 September.