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News stories from Jan 2006 to 2012..

  • 18 December 2006
    BBC

New BBC Trust Outlines Channel Aims and Objectives

  The BBC Trust - replacement body for the BBC Board of Governors - have released the first drafts of a series of Service Licences. The TV related service licences have been published on the BBC Trust website. Each TV, radio or on-line channel operated by the BBC will have a document stating the channel's aims and objectives. A formal review process will make certain that  future changes continue to reflect the BBC's public service ethos.  …
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25 September 2006

DFG and Channel Five Films call for entries

There is a month left to get applications in to the FiveNews / Documentary Film Group Five Films competition. The new talent initative, now in its second run, sets out to produce five three-minute topical documentaries using the medium in 'an innovative way'. The application deadline…
21 May 2006

Red Road Gets Cannes Red Carpet Treatment

  The Scottish movie that was a surprise late entry to the official selection for Cannes is looking likely to be elevated to the feted by the festival this year. Red Road, the feature film debut of Oscar-winning short film maker Andrea Arnold, had its world premiere at the glamorous res…
19 May 2009

Milk, Chocolat and Pi as the Co-Op moves into the film business

Finally some exciting news out of the Croisette - Britain's fifth largest retailer, the UK's biggest farmer and the world's biggest seller of fair trade, non-animal tested and ethically sourced products and services, the Co-Op, is moving into film distribution, starting with the hotly awaited docs…
  • 21 September 2006
    Art

Swedish art exploring 'aesthetics of ephemerality' distributed only on P2P networks

Artist Anders Weberg has created a 73 minute experimental video, made for - and only available on - peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing networks. The work was offered by the artist until one other user downloaded it, on 15th Sepetember, after which point he deleted the original file and all the materials used to create it. "There's no original" said the artist, pointing to the fact that the work now only exists as a digital copy, and possibly will be distri…
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02 April 2006

Gnarls Barkley Loons Large As Crazy is 1st UK No1 from iTunes Alone

“You are the best. You are the worst. You are average. Your love is a part of you. You try to give it away because you cannot bear its radiance, but you cannot separate it from yourself. To understand your fellow humans, you must understand why you give them your love. You must realize…
22 April 2006

Loach says Cannes is better than Oscars

  When the veteran director Ken Loach found himself shortlisted for the Palme d’Or trophy for an eighth time this week, he proclaimed it a greater honour than the Oscars. Loach said that Cannes, the world’s leading showcase for international cinema, was not only the premier fil…
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…
  • 09 April 2008
    Awards

Submit to Raindance Film Festival 2008!

The Raindance Film Festival is probably the UK's leading independent film festival, and is currently looking for submissions for 2008. Here's what they submitted to Netribution: We want you to be a part of it! We are currently accepting submissions from ALL OVER THE GLOBE. Have a fantastic short film? The next-big-thing-feature? Represent your corner of the world and send us your work! For our Film Festival Toolkit, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. f…
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18 April 2007

Apple Unveils Final Cut Studio 2

  Apple® has unveiled Final Cut Studio® 2, a significant upgrade to the industry's leading video production suite that delivers new creative tools designed expressly for editors. Final Cut Studio 2 includes Final Cut Pro® 6, which introduces Apple's ProRes 422 format fo…
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.  …
13 November 2009

Edgar Wright announced as judge for Jameson Empire Awards competition

From Naomi Li @ Jameson Empire Awards: Edgar Wright, director of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, has been announced as a judge of the Done In 60 Seconds short film competition. As the name suggests, film fans are invited to re-create a popular movie in 60 seconds for their chance to attend and…
  • 23 July 2006
    Politics

Peace Activist heads to Lebanon to get less 'biased' coverage

Caoimhe Butterly, an Irish social justice activist and one of Time Magazine's Heroes of 2003 is heading to the Lebanon next week. She is aiming to get more impartial and unbiased reportage from the ground of the desperate situation in the country, amidst western indifference and what she describes as 'sanitised' reporting in the mainstream media. Having spoken with people she had met in Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut and the South of Lebanon las…
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23 September 2006

Raindance Film Festival Kicks off this Week

Wednesday sees the opening of the 14th Raindance Film Festival, with the Tony Grisoni-penned conjoined twin punk film Brothers of the Head. Other festival highlights include a Stanley Kubrick retrospective, a music documentary filmed a few days before Johnny Ramone's death, discussion pane…
03 April 2006

Map of Movies Made in Wales Could Boost Tourism

 The magic of the movies is set to create a million pound bonanza for North Wales. Tourism bosses have created a map showing the locations of films and television programmes shot in North Wales. The aim is to cash in on the phenomenal interest in the movie and television industries by attracti…
24 February 2010

Yorkshire/Iraqi feature gets two awards in Berlin, makers donate 10k prize to charity

While BAFTA was making history on Sunday with all four directing awards going to women, Yorkshire based Mohamed Al Daradji's Iraq set feature follow-up to Ahlaam became the only British film* to take any awards at the 60th Berlinale. Following its success in Sundance, Son of Babylon - a road movie…
  • 26 March 2006
    Cross media

BT & Hollywood Talk Film Streaming

UK telephone giant BT is in advanced talks with several Hollywood studios to give its internet customers access to a comprehensive film library this autumn. It has already signed a deal with Paramount.      CUSTOMER CHOICE  Dan Marks, the chief executive of BT TV Services has been quoted as saying: “The film service is designed to provide BT customers with a choice of hundreds of films and we intend to provide a comprehensive lib…
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24 September 2007

Reconstructing Iraq's Film Industry: Antonia Bird and Human Film in Jordan

When the United Nations imposed sanctions on Iraq in August 1990, the cinema industry went into steep decline. New equipment, film stock, and chemicals for film laboratories were forbidden under import rules and no new feature films were made until Mohamed Al Daradji's Oscar nominee Ahlaam…
13 November 2009

Edgar Wright announced as judge for Jameson Empire Awards competition

From Naomi Li @ Jameson Empire Awards: Edgar Wright, director of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, has been announced as a judge of the Done In 60 Seconds short film competition. As the name suggests, film fans are invited to re-create a popular movie in 60 seconds for their chance to attend and…
28 May 2006

Cannes 2006 - A Retrospective

  Whilst this year's Cannes Festival remained as glamorous as ever, with the requisite number of the great and good of Hollywood and beyond all making their way up the red carpet, the general consensus is that the festival lacked a certain ‘ooomph'. With no real stand out…
  • 25 April 2006
    BBC

Out of Tune BBC Plans Radical Shakeup

  According to Mark Thompson, Director General, The BBC risks "losing a generation forever" if it fails to adopt radical and wide-ranging programming and content plans unveiled today, designed to satisfy and retain existing audiences and reach out to develop new ones. His remarks follow on quickly Media Secretary Tessa Jowell's remarks that the BBC will not get the licence fee deal it has asked for.   Presenting the findings of the Creativ…
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01 May 2008

Edinburgh goes Under The Radar

After being inspired by John Waters’ visit to the Edinburgh International Film Festival during 2007, EIFF Artistic Director Hannah McGill has announced a new strand of cult films for 2008’s edition.  Under The Radar will play host to films that ‘deploy low budgets…
13 August 2007

INVESTMENT NEEDED IN SCOTTISH FILM

  Glasgow-based producer Gillian Berrie is urging Scotland's Holyrood Parliament to invest in studios and other facilities to help the country match the output of foreign rivals. Berrie, of Sigma Films the company behind Hallam Foe which opens the Edinburgh International Film Festival this…
03 March 2006

Politicians! Get Off Our TV!

Too much politics on the box? If you have ever felt that politicians get a little too much exposure on TV screens, especially in the run up to elections, you will understand why there's been a call for a one-day TV walkout in Italy, where elections are held with great frequency as governments fall…
  • 14 April 2007
    Film industry

First James Bond Actor Dies

  The first actor to play James Bond on screen, Barry Nelson, has died aged 89. The BBC reports Nelson played the famous British spy in a one-hour TV adaptation of Casino Royale in 1954. He signed to movie giants MGM in the 1940s and went on to appear in several of the studio's films, including Shadow of the Thin Man and A Yank on the Burma Road. His wife Nansi said Nelson died on 7 April while travelling in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She said th…
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02 July 2006

Academy Amends Foreign Film Rules

  Films submitted for the Oscars' foreign language feature award need no longer be in the country's official language, under new rules approved this week. As long as the dominant language is not English, a film from any country may be in any number of tongues. Last year…
20 May 2009

New free carbon calculator for film production from Film London

As Obama continues to walk on water with plans to cut car emmissions drastically, Film London - perhaps the UK's most pioneering screen agency - has released in Cannes its Green Screen plan, with a Carbon Calulator Excel file for calculating a film's carbon footprint. With Hollywood film production…
07 March 2013

Oska Bright Film Festival 2013

  Festival: The Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome Sunday 17 – Tuesday 19 November 2013 The 6th international festival of short films made by people with learning disabilities is ready to roll. Oska Bright is unique. It is the first and only festival managed and promoted by learning disabled art…
  • 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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19 March 2006

Bollywood Seduces the West

The glossy, glamorous and prolific movie industry of India - biggest in the world outside of Hollywood - is after European and American mass audiences. - and not just audiences. Bollywood is also beginning to seek out western investment.. Bollywood movies, known mainly for their chaste…
30 July 2007

Brits Up For Venice Awards

  British films by directors Kenneth Branagh, Ken Loach and Peter Greenaway are in competition for the top prize at this year's Venice Film Festival. British and US films dominate this year's selection, with Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, previously ann…
04 June 2006

UK Government Inquiry into DRM calls for full disclosure

"once someone has purchased a great deal of protected music for an iPod then if their next player is not manufactured by Apple this music could become inaccessible to them."   The All Party Internet Group's public inquiry into Digital Rights Management (the software…
  • 23 April 2008
    Advertising

Orange Film Funding Board gets a step closer, while Nokia employs Spike Lee

Advertisers to start funding film and TV as WPP moves to production  In a long-feared response to the rise of free video, Martin Sorrell's advertising giant WPP has announced plans to join forces with Hollywood stars and media companies to help finance films and TV series in which it can promote it's clients products. As both OFCOM and the European Union consider relaxing the rules preventing excessive product placement, WPP confirms that a number of trials have bee…
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23 January 2007

Iraq documentary nominated for Best Documentary Oscar

  James Longley’s feature Iraq in Fragments - currently screening at the ICA - has been nominated in the Best Documentary category at this year’s Academy Awards. The film is one of five titles nominated for the Best Documentary award. Other nominated films in the cate…
25 September 2006

Bridging the Gap with seven 16k awards

Bridging the Gap, is another documentary talent initative which, like Five Films, offers training alongside production. Now in its fourth year it is commissioning seven documentaries with an £8k cash, £8k in-kind budget. Although the scheme and associated training is based in Edinb…
23 May 2006

Connery to Attend Edinburgh 60th

  Sir Sean Connery is to spend 10 days this summer attending the Edinburgh International Film Festival of which he is patron. In this 60th anniversary year he is to host a special "60th Edition" party on the 19th of August and he will also take part in a Festival of Politics, org…
  • 27 June 2006
    Screen Agency

Cream of Cornwall Pitch to Awayday Execs

  Creatives are flocking to Cornwall; sun, sea and scriptwriters on annual migration have joined many permanent media professionals who having learned their craft elsewhere have returned across the Tamar and set up shop on their own. Today they will be pitching their scripts and projects to another group of media moguls. Channel 4, BBC Films and UK Film Council have all arrived on awayday tickets to hear the pitches - Dragon's Den style - and to watch "Crea…
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14 February 2007

fmx/07 is taking form...

For the fmx team, January and February are the hottest months of the year: we now have the first confirmations from speakers and companies with exciting ideas to present at fmx/07 – the 12th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content. The international digital commun…
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…
08 October 2006

Google Picks up You Tube for $1.65bn

Having previously turned down MySpace, Google has paid more than three times the amount of money NewsCorp paid for that community to pick up the video sharing social network YouTube. Conceived in February 2005 by three ex PayPal employees and with only $11.5m in venture capital funding to dat…