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News stories from Jan 2006 to 2012..

  • 24 January 2007
    Film industry

The World's 'first free movie' is revealed!

Award winning film makers reveal plans for a movie which can be watch-for-free anytime, anyplace, anywhere on-line and off-line. Bournemouth based BAFTA nominated Writer - Director, Tim Clague, reveals plans to shoot Circumference, the world's first movie funded by advertising, with the launch of the films promotional conceptual web site. The modern day seaside romance about a British salesman will be available in 2008 and will be the world’s first watch-f…
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01 May 2006

Truck Of Dreams Wins World Cinema Award

Arun Kumar's directorial debut feature Truck of Dreams set around a travelling rural cinema in India, has won the World Cinema Award at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival. The film's European premiere is on 3rd May 2006 at Cineworld West Quay as part of the East End Film Festival. An exte…
22 July 2008

Young Writers and Filmmakers Given the Chance to Showcase Talent to Key Players in Film Industry

Get Connected, the charity that provides a helpline for young people, are launching Nobody's Perfect, a new website for young writers, actors and directors to showcase their talents to professional writers, producers and directors. Young people between 16 and 25 can submit film, script…
14 April 2006

FCUK Boosts Cinema P&A Spend

  The UK Film Council has awarded an extra £700,000 to boost P&A to promote access to arthouse cinema for film goers. The Prints and Advertising Fund aims to bring a broader range of films to audiences across the UK.   The P&A Fund, which distributes £2 mil…
  • 27 November 2006
    Festivals

Human Film's Ahlaam picks up Golden Globe Foreign Language nod

Mohamed Al Daradji's Ahlaam which is Iraq's entry for next year's Academy Awards has been announced as one of 56 films pre-selected for the Golden Globes Foreign Language Film prize. The announcement comes as Leeds-based Human Film, who produced the film and is running a the awards campaign, invites websites and bloogers to host For Your Consideration banners.     The list of films selected in full: 9th Company (Russia/Ukra…
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26 January 2006

Docs Crusader Raises New Capital

Crusading documentary filmmaker Franny Armstrong is seeking a second capital injecttion for her latest global project, a film about global warming. She has been working on the new film with Oscar-winning Producer John Battsek for the last 18 months. The film is destined for theatrical release. Arms…
13 September 2007

London Film Festival 2007 programme announced

The 51st London Film Festival, which begins on 17th October, announced its lineup today. The festival will open with the UK premiere of David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, starring Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen, and set amongst a notorious organised crime family in London. The…
19 March 2012

Multi Platform Business School training - August 2012 (Spain)

Submitted by Media Business School The Media Business School (MBS) is delighted to announce the launch of calls for applications to participate in the 2013 edition of MPBS – Multiplatform Business School. Geared to content producers and creators, MPBS is a project based course designed with the…
  • 27 April 2008
    Awards

Recent awards: Sick in Houston, Tantric Tourists in London and I Refuse To Forget wins feature funds

A quick roundup of recent award winners  We're pleased to hear that Alexander Snelling's debut feature Tantric Tourists, covered here recently, picked up the Best UK Debut at the East London Film Festival, where it had its Gala Premiere.   Mike Rymer's 15k short Sick, dealing with mental illness, has picked up the Gold award at the 41st Houston Film Festival. Endorsed by the Samaritans, the film looks at anxiety and depression and was funded almost entirel…
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24 January 2006

BBC's Drama Push Moves To Scotland

A BBC move promoting executive producer Anne Mensah to oversee drama production in Scotland is the latest step to boost drama in the nations and Regions following a pledge from Director of Television Jana Bennett two months ago. Mensah is currently at BBC Drama North and her credits include Bodies…
06 September 2007

Setback for Network Neutrality as US Department of Justice rejects it

 The US Department of Justice has declared themselves against Network Neutrality. The background of this issue is  that ISPs and internet providers earn £15 and upwards a month for providing access to the Internet. But unlike similar subscription services such as Sky Movies and Vi…
20 September 2006

Disney expect to make $50m in year one from iTunes

After a strong first week on the new iTunes Movies service, with  over 125,000 paid downloads, Disney chief Bob Iger has said he expects the company to make at least $50m on the service in its first year. In the same week that a Disney subsidiary has begun to experiment with allowing une…
  • 10 May 2010
    Environment & sustainability

Music Video Briefs With Budgets - RadarMusicVideos comes out of development

from RadarMusicVideo's CEO Caroline Bottomley  RadarMusicVideos is a fast growing network which introduces directors worldwide to music video commissioners and promoters. The site has just come out of development, with a new look and already over 4,000 members worldwide. Major labels, independent labels and management companies use the site to post briefs and scout for directors. Recent commissions include Fatboy Slim and Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip. Most briefs commission…
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08 March 2009

Haile Gerima's 'Teza', from Ethiopia, wins Africa's Golden Yennenga Stallion

In the heat of Bollywoods' renewal, it is interesting to read of the Fespaco Film Awards In Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, where Ethiopian Haile Gerima has continued the film's awards success, nabbing the top African film prize, for his feature Teza. It tells of the disillusionment of a young Ethiopi…
23 April 2006

Church Starts Holy War On Da Vinci Code

  According to reports in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, the Catholic Church in Scotland has launched into a holy war, with a crusade against the Da Vinci Code. The church is sending DVDs to parishes and schools lambasting what it calls the “nonsense” of the book and film. A l…
27 March 2006

Profit Dive at Pinewood as Hollywood shuns UK

Pinewood Shepperton, the studios group chaired by BBC chairman Michael Grade, has reported a near 60% fall in operating profits, reflecting the decision by many Hollywood studios to desert the UK because of uncertainties over tax breaks. Profits fell from £11.4m in 2004 to just £3.7m fo…
  • 06 September 2010
    Contests

New writing competition Killer Script launches

Killer Script Launches! Bournemouth, Dorset – White Lantern Film has teamed up with screen actor Mem Ferda to launch the exciting movie script search, KILLER SCRIPT! [Editor's note - many years ago Mem Ferda posted an advert on Netribution offering himself as a lead actor for short films.] Mem’s undeniable appeal first came to the attention of the media when he made his screen debut in Guy Ritchie’s controversial film Revolver. Now with over 40 credits to his name, Me…
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05 March 2010

Africa in Motion Film Festival 2010 - Call for Entries for Documentaries & Shorts

The theme of the fifth Africa in Motion (AiM) Film Festival is "Celebrations" and African filmmakers are invited to submit documentaries relating to this theme to be considered for inclusion in the October 2010 festival. This is an opportunity for African filmmakers to showcase their work at one of…
02 July 2006

Would-Be Producers - You Have Been Warned!

 Reality TV?  - or Real Life TV?  The Guardian newspaper's Media Monkey has given out a warning to wannabee producers, tempted to dive in at the deep end via a new TV reality strand. In fact, reading the small print of the contract it looks as if the show could be…
21 March 2006

Sheffield DocsFest Announces Oz Director

Sheffield International Documentary Festival has appointed Heather Croall as its new Director. Croall is formerly Director of the Australian International Documentary Conference and will start her new post early in April. Croall's career in the Australian screen industry has included worki…
  • 25 March 2006
    Film industry

Actor Sues Brokeback Producers Over Low Pay

US actor Randy Quaid has sued the makers of Brokeback Mountain for $10 million, claiming he was hoodwinked into accepting a low-ball salary for his role in the Oscar-winning movie. The star of Midnight Express and Independence Day — and the brother of actor Dennis Quaid — claimed in his suit filed in Los Angeles that producers falsely told him the movie would be "a low-budget, art house film, with no prospect of making any money". But…
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30 March 2006

Liverpool – Film's Star Turn

  Liverpool has secured its reputation as the Hollywood of the North West after new figures revealed filming in the city increased by 42% last year.Last year was a record-breaking period for the city's film and television industry with production levels the highest recorded.  …
18 January 2009

Hey - self-produced CGI music video

Guy Ben Shetrit writes in with details of the music video he directed, animated and composed. The visuals look like nothing else. Some really nice lighting and cell shading. "Sci-Fi Fantasy journey of a little girl with a special pet friend, a huge toad. Once the girl loses her pet, w…
25 February 2006

EXCLUSIVE: Shark Monster in Bed With Toxic Avenger

The Evolved, a feature film about a rogue shark monster terrorizing London and produced for only £1000 has been signed for distribution to the Legendary American film company, Troma Entertainment. Troma has helped bring to the world some of the best and brightest talents in entertainment. The…
  • 08 March 2009
    Awards

Haile Gerima's 'Teza', from Ethiopia, wins Africa's Golden Yennenga Stallion

In the heat of Bollywoods' renewal, it is interesting to read of the Fespaco Film Awards In Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, where Ethiopian Haile Gerima has continued the film's awards success, nabbing the top African film prize, for his feature Teza. It tells of the disillusionment of a young Ethiopian who returns from his studies in Germany to question his beliefs amidst a country under the brutal rule of Haile Mariam Mengistu. (from BBC online) At the end of the week-long F…
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20 May 2006

Rickshaw Driver Rises To Movie Director

  It's a real rags-to-riches story of the Hollywood variety, but this is a tale of a poor but talented auto-rickshaw driver who has now become a Bollywood film producer, director and actor. 39-year-old Waqqr Khan, from Uttar Pradesh, is apparently semi-literate, but has produced h…
15 September 2007

Hull Short Film Fest runs half-sized fest in October

With the recent decision to move the legendary annual Hull short film shindig to April, a special mini festival entitled the 5 ½ Hull International Short Film Festival will take place between 5th and 7th October 2007 for everyone who is worried about missing their fix of excellent short…
10 January 2008

Chris Jones' has Gone Fishing at BAFTA

Chris 'Guerilla Film Superstar' Jones has his Oscar 2009-hopeful short Gone Fishing premiering at BAFTA Saturday night, accompanied with a full day's masterclass about the making of the Bill Paterson starer. Billed as Jaws for Kids, Gone Fishing was put into production after financiers told Chri…
  • 01 March 2006
    Cross media

Lights! Camera! Mobile?

A feature-length film made using mobile phones. Sound improbable? Not in South Africa, where a feature has just been made using eight cellphones and USD160,000, and a good idea that might just be the future of film-making. South African director Aryan Kaganof believes this is the way things are going and to prove it, he made SMS Sugar Man, billed as the world's first feature film shot entirely on mobile phones. SMS Sugar Man was filmed on eight phone cameras, over 11 days…
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27 February 2007

Win lunch with Al Gore, Current TV Launch for UK Filmmakers

Current TV, the network that pioneered viewer-created-content (VC²), is celebrating its forthcoming UK launch by holding a contest to encourage young people to produce short, non-fictional video pieces (pods) sharing relevant and compelling stories  documenting their world. Pods…
08 June 2009

Young Film Academy, Bringing the UK Film Industry to Britain’s schools.

From Michael Gandy @ Young Film Academy Young Film Academy (YFA) is not your usual filmmaking teaching provider. YFA founders James Walker and Ed Boase are teaching young filmmakers and making waves in the professional film world too, with their award-winning film production company, Magma Picture…
02 July 2006

3D Tipped For Cinema Starring Role

  Titanic Director Says, Cinema Should Wake Up To Possibilities of 3D A leading Hollywood director has called on studios, film-makers and distributors to wake up to the role that 3-D films can play in winning back audiences to the big screen. James Cameron, showered with Oscars for T…
  • 16 July 2006
    Censorship

Screen Sex Violence Comes Under Scrutiny of BBFC

  Screen Scrutineers To Quiz Audiences For the First Time The British Board of Film Classification has commissioned a team from Aberystwyth University is to research how audiences react to sexual violence in movies. Researchers will now begin to quiz cinema-goers about some of the big screen's most controversial moments, in the first survey of its type commissioned by the UK film watchdog. The BBFC hopes to find out what "ordinary members of…
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27 March 2006

FCUK New Cinema Backs Three Good Runners on Form

  The UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund has announced support for three new films, totalling £1.67 million in production finance. All the filmmakers involved have previously been supported by UKFC in earlier projects.   Paul Trijbits of New Cinema Fund commented, &ld…
28 March 2007

Play Station 3 – Is it a Blu-ray Trojan Horse?

  Sony's Film Sale Back Door Platform It certainly looks that way to us - writes Charles Arthur of The Guardian Technical - particularly after talking to Matt Brown, executive vice president of Sony Pictures Europe, whose job it is to persuade us all to buy Blu-ray media. Formerly…
07 November 2006

Participant Productions Partners Errol Morris to Document Abu Ghraib

Legendary Oscar winning docs director Errol Morris, director of The Fog of War, is to document the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, it was announced at the AFM over the weekend. The film is to be produced by Particpant Productions, run by former eBay CEO Eric Skoll, behind such films as An Inconvenin…
  • 29 March 2009
    Publishing industry

Become A Red Bull Reporter

From Red Bull's PR firm: Red Bull Reporter is a nationwide search to find the best young music & culture, and sports writers, filmmakers, photographers and presenters, giving them the chance of a lifetime: to use their skills and indulge their passions as a Red Bull Reporter. The most talented young media makers could be selected for one of our many exciting assignments - each designed to give them an amazing experience as a working member of the media - covering world-cla…
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27 February 2007

Doc Searls on the next target for open source: media distribution

Doc Searls, one of the authors of Cluetrain, has written an illuminating article on the missing link online between artists and audiences.. "Let's ignore the record companies for a minute. Instead, lets look behind them, back up the supply chain, to the first sources of music: the…
12 March 2012

Submit your brush-stroke for Co-Op BYFA's crowd-animated Richard II

GET ‘ANIMATED’ BY ADDING FINISHING TOUCHES TO NEW MOVIE BY THE CO-OPERATIVE BRITISH YOUTH FILM ACADEMY A new movie by The Co-operative British Youth Film Academy is drawing on community creativity to add the finishing touches to its first ever animated feature. “Richard II” was shot during last y…
09 April 2007

WITHOUTABOX AND CANNES SHORT FILM CORNER PARTNER UP

  Leading Filmmaker Online Media Network  to Oversee Short Film Corner Withoutabox, the leading worldwide online media company dedicated to advancing independent film, and the Short Film Corner, a division of the Cannes Film Festival, the world's foremost film festival and m…