8th
Sithengi in Cape Town
The 8th Edition of The Southern African International Film and Television
Market, Sithengi 2003 will be held from the 13th to the 16th of November
at the Artscape complex in Cape Town.
Sithengi 2003 features an exhibition/trade show, conferences, educational
meetings, workshops, a co-production pitching forum, a film festival,
an animation festival, a children’s broadcasting festival, market
screenings, seminars, training workshops and numerous networking functions.
Sithengi’s core programmes are the Product Market, which deals in
the buying and selling of completed product and The Coproduction Market
which aims to
Venice considers collaboration
with Mifed
Cinecitta holding president Pupi Avati has approached the Venice Film
Festival and Mifed with plans to establish a new film market on the
Lido to run alongside the festival.
The collaboration between the three organisations is believed to involve
several initiatives, although the market element is likely to create
the most buzz - particularly with Mifed facing direct rivalry from the
American Film Market which will move to compete with its autumn slot
in 2004.
“The idea is to create a joint company [between Cinecitta, Mifed
and the Venice Film Festival]”, said Venice artistic director
Moritz de Hadeln. “Mifed has realised the importance of the backing
of the Venice Film Festival, and Venice would greatly benefit from the
backing of Mifed.”
For the time being, there are no plans to change Mifed’s location
from Milan to nearby Venice, according to de Hadeln. Instead, Mifed
would “help Venice build a market” which would be housed
in five large empty airplane sheds near the Lido airport.
“There is plenty of space there for offices and stands. Venice
could also build a permanent structure to replace the screen that is
currently housed in a temporary PalaBNL tent - which is very expensive
to keep taking down and setting up again every year,” de Hadeln
told Screen Daily.
De Hadeln said rumours are also circulating that the city of Venice
may buy the space near the airport. “There is a lot of potential.
The Lido is a dying place and needs new life”, de Hadeln added.
This year, the Lido will again host the Venice Screenings and provide
office space for visitors to conduct business. However, de Hadeln says
a reduction in government funding for festivals has stopped the screenings
from really taking off.
“The festival currently operates on a budget of Euros 5.5m, which
is very low - even lower than Locarno”, he said. “We really
need Euros 7m.”
Neither Avati nor Mifed could be reached for comment at press time.
Kapur
enlisted to helm New Line Cinema’s
‘Full Measure’
”The Four Feathers” director Shekhar Kapur is in negotiations
to helm New Line Cinema’s military drama “The Last Full Measure.”
Based on a true story, “Measure” centers on a young Pentagon
staffer who learns the true meaning of heroism when he fights to get a
Medal of Honor for a brave Air Force officer who was killed in Vietnam.
The project was written by Todd Robinson, who also is producing with Sidney
Sherman. New Line production execs Cale Boyter and Matt Moore are overseeing
for the studio. Kapur, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work
on 1998’s “Elizabeth,” most recently helmed the Paramount
Pictures epic “Feathers.” “Measure” marks the
first time he has worked with New Line. Kapur is repped by CAA and attorney
Howard Frumes.
Eastwood’s
‘Mystic’ N.Y. bound
After serving as one of the final selections at the Festival de Cannes
last month, director Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River”,
from Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow, will open the 41st New York
Film Festival on Oct. 3. Based on the best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane,
“Mystic” stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence
Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney in the story of three working-class
boys in a Boston neighborhood whose friendship is disrupted when one of
them is abducted. Years later, another tragedy occurs that reconnects
the now-estranged friends and their families.
The Discovery Channel is getting into the movie business. For the first time in its 18-year history, the cable network will air an original film. Scheduled for early 2004, “12 Days of Terror” chronicles the series of real-life shark attacks in
Amped-up star power and a return of home video categories marked The Hollywood Reporter’s 32nd Annual Key Art Awards Friday evening at the International Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Virtually every high-level studio marketer seemed to be in attendance as Sony captured the night with six wins, four of those tied to its summer 2002 blockbuster “Spider-
With the new “Harry Potter” book hitting retail shelves this week, the movie industry has trained an eye on whether the films about the British boy wizard can continue casting their lucrative spell over merchandise sales. The stars, Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Potter, and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who portray his sidekicks Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, are aging beyond the range of their characters, and the series’ loyal fans are growing older, too. The movies have been major moneymakers for AOL Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., which produced them and has an option to make movies of all of the seven planned books in the
ESPN on Wednesday announced a partnership with Sega Sports that the cable network said will attract new viewers and subscribers to its television programs, magazine and Web site. Sega’s critically acclaimed “2K4” line of sports games will now carry the ESPN brand prominently on the box art and all marketing materials as yet another traditional media company turns to the $11 billion video game industry for growth opportunities. Additionally,
It’s about time Steven Spielberg got his Of the thousands of Walk of Fame stars dotting Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, you might think that by now at least two or three of them belonged to Spielberg. But no—not until today. Johnny Grant, the Walk of Fame chairman, told The Associated Press this was the first time the Oscar-winning director had made himself available to get a star. “We’re just pleased that we finally got him”, Grant said. “He could have been approved 20 years ago.” Spielberg, whose latest film, Catch Me If You Can, is making a bundle at the box office, will be the first Hollywood-ite to receive the Walk of Fame honors in 2003.
Star Wars creator George Lucas is bringing his four Northern California-based companies Lucas Digital, LucasArts Entertainment, Lucas Licensing and Lucasfilm Ltd. into one organization. During the past 10 years, the companies have functioned relatively independent of each other.
“As we look to the future, we have decided to bring these entities together into a unified, cohesive group to create a dynamic entertainment company that builds upon their mutual strengths. We have a unique array of talent in the areas of special effects, sound design, interactive games, licensing, distribution, and
Lucas promoted Lucasfilm CFO Micheline Chau to chief operating officer to oversee the new unified company and to guide all of the business units.
George Lucas will remain chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Lucas Film Ltd.