Category: Movies

MUMBAI: Despite objections from the Motion Picture Association of America and lawmakers from California and elsewhere, the Commodity Trading Futures Commission (CTFC) has approved a proposal by Media Derivatives Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz. to open a futures exchange dedicated to trade movie futures. The CFTC had pushed its decision back several times because of the formidable opposition.

Media Derivatives Inc. is backed by Veriana Networks LLC, an investor in media-related businesses, also based in Scottsdale with an office in Chicago. The company intends to offer futures contracts on domestic box-office receipt later in the year. The company is dedicated to meeting the needs of the entertainment industry while allowing institutional investors to hedge investments in motion pictures. 

Another company applying to offer movie futures, Cantor Futures Exchange LP, also known as Cantor Exchange, is a new subsidiary of New York brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald. The exchange hopes to receive CFTC approval on Tuesday as a futures market and for its movie box-office futures contract that would begin trading at the end of the month.

Earlier this month, the Motion Picture Association of America, along with several large movie associations, wrote a forceful letter to the commission urging a rejection of the proposed online movie-futures wagering for Media Derivatives and Cantor Futures Exchange.

The letter asserted that the proposals of movie futures “are based on faulty understanding of the film industry and create a risk of rampant speculation and financial irresponsibility at a time when the nation is still seeking to recover from an economic meltdown of the financial markets.”

The opposition arguments are plentiful. Some critics assert there is no real commodity involved, while others claim that there isn‘t a standardized commodity. Traditionalists also claim that movie futures contracts would corrupt the market.
 

MUMBAI: The Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) has a new name Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF).

Festival authorities have launched Sanad, a film fund to support outstanding productions from the Arab region through grants totaling $500,000 every year.

The fund will provide grants in two categories – development and post-production for feature-length films and documentaries by filmmakers from the Arab world. Development grants will be up to US $20,000 while those for post-production will be up to US $60,000.

The selection committee will comprise of members of the Festival‘s programming and management teams along with highly qualified professionals from the film industry. With the aim of encouraging artistic innovation, the selection committee will seek out bold and remarkable projects from both new and established filmmakers.

As the first fund to be launched by a film festival with the specific aim of supporting filmmakers from across the Arab world, Sanad also aims to build stronger networks within the region‘s film industry.

“Sanad is a concrete way in which the festival can support the region‘s filmmakers in developing their own voices and taking their place in the international film community. There‘s an amazing amount of untapped and unrecognized creative potential in the Arab world and these grants are an important building block in the creation of a vibrant and viable cinema here, especially since they come with the kind of international opportunities and support we can offer,” said Peter Scarlet, the Festival‘s Executive Director.

Applications for the fund are now open until July 15 this year.

MUMBAI: French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been signed to appear in a new Woody Allen film that is due to roll this summer in Paris.

The film that also stars French Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, has Hollywood actors Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams in the cast.

Bruni-Sarkozy‘s role in the film is expected to be announced later this week.

Allen, one of America‘s most prolific film writers and directors, said last year that he would like to use the former supermodel in one of his films but then he did not have a story for her.

Bruni-Sarkozy, 42, who married French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008, appeared briefly on the big screen as herself in Robert Altman‘s 1994 fashion satire Pret-a-Porter. She is also a successful singer-songwriter with a string of albums.

Allen, who has made a film almost every year since 1971, won an Oscar for his film Annie Hall starring Diane Keaton.

MUMBAI: New York-based marketing executive MT Carney, most likely, will be named as Disney Studio‘s new head of marketing.

Disney has been without a marketing head since Jim Gallagher was ousted as marketing president in the fall, and Ross had indicated that he was looking for a replacement.

Carney is a Scotland-born former account planner at Ogilvy & Mather in New York. She was tapped by London-based Naked Communications in 2006 to launch and co-head Naked Communications New York.

With Carney‘s appointment, Ross will have completed the overhaul of the studio would be complete, having early on appointed Bob Chapek as incharge of distribution and also named Sean Bailey as head of production.