ITV

Category: Movies

  • IPO of China film studio to ease funding crunch

    MUMBAI: Wang Zhonglei, the chief executive of China‘s leading filmmakers Huayi Brothers has said that the company‘s upcoming IPO would help other studios tap new funding for their productions.

    The production house hopes to raise 620 million Chinese yuan ($91 million) by listing on ChiNext, a new board for smaller companies that‘s expected to launch on the southern Shenzhen Stock Exchange later this year.

    Zhonglei told the press that he hopes the share sale will open up new funding sources in an industry that usually takes a longer time to recover initial investments.

    Wang said that the lack of capital is the biggest challenge for the booming Chinese entertainment industry. Government statistics show the Chinese box office surged from 920 million yuan in 2003 to 4.3 billion yuan ($630 million) in 2008 – compared to $9.8 billion in the U.S. last year.

    Founded in 1994 by Wang and his older brother Wang Zhongjun, Huayi Brothers is best known in the West for its 2008 kung fu movie The Forbidden Kingdom, a co-production with Hollywood that was the first on-screen collaboration between action stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

  • Danis Tanovic’s Triage’ to open Rome Intl film fest

    MUMBAI: Danis Tanovic‘s Triage will open this year‘s Rome International Film Festival (RIFF) on 15 October which the film‘s stars Colin Farrell and Paz Vega are expected to attend.

    Having recently having its world premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada, this event will be Traige‘s European premiere.

    The film tells the story of the impact of post-traumatic stress syndrome on a war photographer who returns to Ireland to be hit with the fact that his best friend has failed to come home.

    The Rome International Film Festival, now in its fourth season, will feature 12 films in competition. Triage will contend with other films such as Michael Hoffman‘s The Last Station, a dramatic exploration of Leo Tolstoy‘s wife starring Helen Mirren and James McAvoy and Jason Reitman‘s Up in the Air starring George Clooney.

    The Rome International Film Festival will run from the 15 to 23 October.

  • Drew Barrymore-directed Whip It releasing 2 October

    MUMBAI: Drew Barrymore makes her directorial debut with Whip It, based on a novel by Shauna Cross.

    The film that has already won recognition during the Toronto International Film Festival is a story about a girl who deviates from the path set by her beauty queen mother by joining a roller-derby team finding that she‘s a natural skater.
    “I have a tumultuous relationship with my mother, so obviously that story had a deep emotional interest to me – about women who are empowered and can be athletic and capable and kick ass out on the track and be their own heroes, and I think finding your tribe is everything,” said Barrymore.


    Barrymore will also play a supporting character as one of the main character‘s teammates. According to the Boston Globe, Ellen Page of “Juno” will star as Bliss Cavendar, who leads the underdog team to the championship.


    Barrymore decided to take on the supporting role in order to bond with her cast, writes the San Fernando Valley Sun. Of course, Barrymore had never skated before.
    Whip It will release in theatres on 2 Oct.

  • Shree Ashtavinayak plans to raise $150 mn in tough conditions

    MUMBAI: Film production and distribution company Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision is planning to raise up to $150 million (Rs 7.21 billion).

    The board has approved the fund-raising plan and is considering various routes including GDR (global depository receipts), ADR (American Depository Receipts) and FCCBs (Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds).


    The funding will be mainly towards film production. The company plans to make five films a year for the next three years. The company is set to release Blue, a mega budget movie, in mid-October.


    Analysts say the raising of $150 million will be very tough as the market cap of the company will not support it. “The amount to be raised will be significantly lower than this. The company has only taken an enabling resolution for raising up to $150 million,” an analyst at a brokering firm points out.

  • War against video pirates getting fierce

    MUMBAI: The war against video pirates is increasing by the day. On Sunday, crime branch officials arrested five more persons from Ahmedabad and Mumbai respectively actively involved in the heinous act. Reportedly, these people were big suppliers of pirated DVDs all over the country.


    The first group made copies of yet-to-be-released films when they were sent to laboratories for post-production processing jobs. They then sent those to their Pakistani associates through the web who would again copy and circulate them in other Asian countries.


    The second group bribed loaders when they were assigned to deliver the film reels to theatres in districts. The accused paid money and took the reels to Andheri studios and then got them copied in DVDs for circulation.


    The three arrested from Ahmedabad have been identified as Chirag Raval, Mois Roopwala and Rahul Mehta, while the duo picked up in the city are Imran Shaikh alias Wasim and Ashfak Baig.


    Said Association of Motion Picture Producers and Television Programme (AMPTPP) senior vice president Vikas Mohan, “The police is strongly after the pirates and I am confident that the way they are moving around in search of the pirates, very soon the industry will heave a sigh of relief.”


    The social service branch of the Mumbai police busted a video piracy racket last week and arrested eight persons, including Adlabs business development manager Durgadas Bhakta, UFO associate vice-president Rajesh Choudhary, Reliance Big Pictures manager (overseas distributions) Neerav Shah and Shemaroo overseas distribution head Nagda Kalapi.


    The number of persons arrested in the case now stands at 13. Crime branch sleuths say that more arrests were likely in a day or two.

  • K Sera Sera board approves stake sale to Times Group

    MUMBAI: The board of K Sera Sera Productions Ltd, the film production company, has approved the issuance of convertible warrants to Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL).


    Indiantelevision.com had reported first that BCCL, the company that owns The Times of India Group, is planning to pick up a 10 per cent stake in K Sera Sera.


    K Sera Sera said the board at its meeting held on 26 September approved the “issue of fully convertible warrants on preferential basis to the Times Group- Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.”



    The company also announced that the board has approved issue of optionally convertible redeemable bonds to Global Trade Finance towards settlement of their dues in full.

  • Fox, Star team up with Huayi Brothers to make Chinese film

    MUMBAI: Fox International Productions (FIP), Star Television Asia Limited (STAR) and China-based Huayi Brothers Media have announced a collaboration to produce and distribute a Chinese-language romantic comedy, Hot Summer Days.

    Hot Summer Days is co-directed by first time directors Wing Shya, an internationally renowned cinematographer and fashion photographer and screenwriter Tony Chan and screenwriter Tony Chan. Director Fruit Chan and veteran filmmaker Paul Cheng are co-producers.

    The film brings together acclaimed actors and pop stars from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, including Jacky Cheung (Perhaps Love), Nicholas Tse (Bodyguards and Assassins), Daniel Wu (Protege), Rene Liu (A World Without Thieves), Vivian Hsu (If You Are the One), Barbie Hsu (On His Majesty‘s Secret Service), Angelababy, Jing Boran, Duan Yihong (The Message), Fu Xinbo, and Gordon Liu (Kill Bill).

    “We are very excited to be making Hot Summer Days,” said Fox International Productions president Sanford Panitch adding, “China is undoubtedly one of the most exciting markets in the world today and we hope this is just the beginning for Fox to make movies in the region.”

    Set during a summer of record-breaking temperatures, Hot Summer Days tells six intertwined stories in which several people discover the myriad facets of love.

    Said Star director Daniel Cheung, “We are thrilled to be part of this joint film production featuring the hottest talent across Greater China. As a media company that owns the largest contemporary Chinese movie library and two popular Chinese movie channels, Star is a strong supporter of the Chinese film industry. Our participation in this film production is further testament of our commitment.”

    The principal photography of film began on 12 August and is shooting on locations in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It will wrap production in October and is scheduled for an early 2010 release in China by Huayi Brothers and by Twentieth Century Fox in all territories outside of Mainland China.


    Huayi Brothers‘ president James Wang says, “Huayi Brothers highly values the partnership. We admire Fox‘s courage and decision in going into a mainstream romantic comedy. With a superb story, high production values and star-studded cast from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Hot Summer Days will sure become the hottest movie for the Chinese New Year and Valentine‘s Day period.”


  • Oscar-winning director Megan Mylan coming to India

    MUMBAI: Megan Mylan, who won the Oscar earlier this year for the short film Smile Pinki based on treatment given to Indian children with cleft lip deformity, is coming to India next week on a five-city tour to celebrate her victory.


    The film was made by her for the non-governmental international organisation Smile Train.


    During her tour, Megan will share the Indian story with audiences across the country and help thousands of children across India suffering with clefts. The film is a celebration of Indians helping Indians and the work of the Smile Train.



    Director Megan Mylan, along with the children profiled in the film and the surgeon Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh, will tour with the film. They will travel to Mumbai on 1 October, Chennai (6th), Bangalore (7th), Delhi (8th), and Varanasi (9th).



    The journey kicks-off in Mumbai with a star-studded red carpet premiere. It will conclude in Varanasi, the sacred city where it was filmed. Each city will have a premiere event followed by a special one-week engagement open to the public.

  • Spielberg mulls making a TV series

    MUMBAI: Steven Spielberg is said to be in talks with Showtime, an American cable television company and DreamWorks TV about a series which has yet to titled.

    The director also intends to take the production itself on to the stage. Spielberg has been developing the concept for the show for years and is hoping to recruit producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who were behind taking Chicago and Hairspray from the stage to the big screen.

    Spielberg is also said to be interested in signing on Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman who co-wrote the score for Hairspray and the musical adaptation of Spielberg‘s 2002 film Catch Me If You Can.

    It is understood Spielberg wants to create a scripted series, as opposed to a reality television programme or documentary, although the fact that it will be made in tandem with the musical could create problems.

  • China picks ‘Forever Enthralled’ for Oscars

    MUMBAI: China has selected Forever Enthralled, a Peking opera biopic, to represent it in the annual run for the best foreign language Academy Award.

    Director Chen Kaige‘s ‘s biopic of China‘s most famous Peking opera performer stars Beijing-born pop star Leon Lai in the title role as Mei Lanfang and also Zhang Ziyi.


    This will be Chen‘s third-time representing China at the Oscars, having previously been nominated for Farewell My Concubine and The Promise.


    In 2001, Ang Lee‘s Mandarin-language film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon entered the Oscars on behalf of Taiwan.


    Forever faces two other Mandarin-language competing entries this year, the first being Hong Kong‘s film Prince of Tears and the second the Taiwanese official selection No puedo vivir sin ti.