Category: International

A search warrant approved by a Houston judge allowed authorities to seek “property or items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that go to show that Dr. Murray committed the said criminal offense.”

A receipt for the search warrant detailed items seized when federal drug agents and Los Angeles police descended on Murray‘s clinic on Wednesday. Among them 27 tablets of the weight loss drug

phentermine, a tablet of the muscle relaxant clonazepam, two hard drives, notices from the IRS and a controlled substance registration were found.

Murray‘s lawyer, Edward Chernoff, referred queries to the statement he made a day earlier in which he confirmed a search warrant had been executed and that none of the items seized had previously been requested by authorities.

Murray, a cardiologist, was hired as Jackson‘s personal physician not long before he died. He was in Jackson‘s rented Los Angeles mansion when the pop star was found unconscious the morning of June 25 and tried unsuccessfully to revive him.

Joel Stillerman, senior vice-president original programming, production and digital content, has been hands-on in the development process and will continue to do so, sources said.

Previously Fitzgerald was the president of Barry Josephson‘s 20th TV-based production company.

She spent three years overseeing TV creative for Darren Star Prods., where she shepherded ABC‘s Cashmere Mafia and the CW‘s Runaway.

As president, International, Kosse will strategically guide Universal Pictures‘ films through the lifetime of their release and capitalize on opportunities across traditional and new media platforms, thereby providing greater consistency and profitability. He‘ll work closely with the Universal Pictures International Home Entertainment president Eddie Cunningham who reports to Universal Pictures vice chairman and Universal Studios executive VP Rick Finkelstein and International Television Distribution president Belinda Menendez who reports to Finkelstein and NBCU International president Pete Smith. Kosse will continue to run UPI and report to Shmuger and Linde.

Shmuger and Linde said, “David understands global markets better than anyone in our business and has been a primary reason for the success of UPI. This promotion is a much-deserved recognition of his enormous contributions to shaping and enhancing Universal‘s international profile. As our company expands to become even more globally focused, his experience and steady hand will provide greater leadership across Universal‘s film divisions.”

Under Kosse‘s leadership, UPI shepherded Universal two of its best years at the international box office. In 2008, international grosses increased by 67 per cent over the previous year, with the 2008 total reaching $1.714 billion. This figure shattered 2007‘s box-office total of $1.034 billion with successes including Mamma Mia!, which was embraced by audiences across the globe; the film grossed more than $459 million at the international box office and more than $600 million worldwide.

He says, “I look forward to working with my colleagues in all of Universal‘s international divisions to continue the success we‘ve had in the past two years. This company recognises the need to maintain a global focus and international concentration that capitalizes on the unique and ever-changing markets outside of the U.S. This new role will allow me to build on what we‘ve done at UPI and give further support to my partners in home entertainment and television.”

“Bloody proms and zombies seem to pop up as main themes, but I‘ve made sure to inject some truly bizarre action into the mix with animated plastic toys from Belgium and Russ Meyer inspired fighting femme fatales.”

Films likely to feature in the Midnight Madness programme are Jennifer‘s Body (World Premiere), A Town Called Panic, Bitch Slap (World Premiere), Daybreakers (World Premiere), Survival of the Dead ( World Premiere),The Loved Ones (International Premiere),Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (Canadian Premiere) [REC] 2, Solomon Kane (World Premiere) and Symbol (International Premiere).

Starring Bierlein, Vincent Pastore and Nicholas Turturro, it opened the Detroit-Windsor fest on 25 June and faced seven other feature films, including Dear Mr. Fidrych and David Carradine in The Rain in its bid for top honours.

Nearly 40 films, documentaries, short films

and announcements were shown during the festival.

Explained, Elasticity Managing Director Graham Perkins, “Investment is going into setting up the studio in Singapore, further development in Toronto and we are investing in people, stories, scripts and technology. We are looking at developing quality content for a global audience.”

“In time to come, we will focus on the integration of story-driven production and emerging technologies such as holographic projection which will drive new forms of entertainment, making it more engaging and appealing”, added Paul Wollenzien, co-founder and director of Rune Entertainment.

The consultations seek to address how Canadian copyright laws should be updated to drive economic growth and keep Canadian content competitive on a global scale.

“Canadians are concerned with copyright and its implications in our increasingly digital environment,” said Minister Clement. “Our goal is to give Canadians from across the country a chance to express their views on how the government should approach the modernization of copyright laws. Your opinions and suggestions will help us draft new, flexible legislation so that Canada can regain its place on the cutting edge of the digital economy.”

The Cove has already won twelve awards including 2009‘s Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, Sydney Film Festival Audience Award, Seattle International Film Festival and bagged an award for the best feature documentary at the Galway Film Festival.

The new version will be debated by legislators in the National Assembly all of this week, but a vote won‘t occur until after lawmakers return from their summer recess in September.

Sony

, in contrast, has decided not only to embrace Redbox but also to deal with the Illinois-based company directly. While Sony refused to comment on the terms of the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported that Sony is selling Redbox its DVDs at a lower price than Redbox would pay a wholesaler. Redbox, in turn, has agreed not to sell used Sony DVDs.

“Our consumers have always been the best barometer of where our business needs to go, and clearly Redbox has become an important distribution option,” SPHE president David Bishop said.