Month: June 2020

Downtown Music Holdings CEO Justin Kalifowitz announced today the appointment of Mike Smith to the newly created position of global president of Downtown Music Publishing. Effective September 1, 2020, Smith will assume day-to-day operations for Downtown’s eponymous music publishing division. He will be based in London and will report directly to Kalifowitz. Smith, who received
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Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, who scored a best international Oscar nomination earlier this year for “Corpus Christi,” will direct “Anniversary,” a drama of social apocalypse. “Anniversary” will be produced by Nick Wechsler and Chockstone Pictures partners Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz. Wechsler and the Schwartzes are no strangers to dark and edgy projects —
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“Jackie” filmmaker Pablo Larrain may be set to direct Kristen Stewart in Lady Diana film “Spencer,” but the pair will first collaborate in a new collection of short films from Netflix. Filmed during COVID-19 and across various states of global lockdown, “Homemade” unites 17 leading filmmakers in a compendium of short films — available to
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MIFA’s Work in Progress presentations offered online delegates a glimpse into some highly anticipated features, series and interactive projects in the second week of Annecy’s online festival. Leading the pack was upcoming America-Canadian animated TV series from Netflix “The Cuphead Show!” – based on the characters in the best-selling Canadian “gun and run” video game
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Discussing the challenges and opportunities in a landscape radically altered by the COVID-19 lockdown, Richard Lorber of U.S. distrib Kino Lorber said Monday that his company was quickly transforming into a media and technology company due to the focus on its Kino Marquee virtual theatrical exhibition initiative. Speaking at a Cannes Marché du Film Online
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Grasshopper Film has acquired U.S. rights to Camilo Restrepo’s critically acclaimed feature debut, “Los Conductos,” which won the best first film award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. “Los Conductos” — represented in international markets by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever — was expected to have its North American premiere at New Directors/New Films but the
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Latido Films, Amazon Prime Video and Vértice Cine have boarded vet Spanish filmmaker Fernando Colomo’s comedy project “Poliamor para principiantes” (“Polyamory for Beginners, or a Swindlers’ Hot Dream”). Produced by Álvaro Longoria at Madrid-based Morena Films, the film will begin shooting in early October. It starr high-profile Spanish thesps María Pedraza (“La Casa de Papel,”
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TrustNordisk has closed key international deals on “The Crossing,” its WWII-set Norwegian family drama. The company will be hosting a market screening at Cannes’ virtual Marché du Film on June 24. After selling the film to the U.S. (Menemsha Entertainment) and Former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group) during the European Film Market in Berlin, TrustNordisk has now
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Cimarrón, an ambitious pan-Latin American production shingle, is readying new high-profile features by Cannes-prized Agustín Toscano and Sundance best director winner Lucía Garibaldi as it gears up to shoot its first drama series in Mexico and Brazil, backed by two global platforms. Cimarrón, headquartered in Uruguay’s Montevideo and with offices in Brazil and Argentina and
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STX Entertainment has secured worldwide distribution rights to psychological thriller “Run Rabbit Run,” from Emmy-nominated “Handmaid’s Tale” director Daina Reid (“The Outsider”) and starring Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss (“The Invisible Man”). While STXfilms will directly distribute “Run Rabbit Run” in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland, STXinternational will introduce the project to buyers at the ongoing
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Mouse House streamer Disney Plus is set to launch in eight more European countries on Sept. 15. The new territories include Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The service is currently available in the U.K., Ireland, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. In Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Iceland and Luxembourg, the service
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As coronavirus ravaged Spain in April, the country’s central government took one significant step toward building for a post-COVID future.The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked — paradoxically — a new bullishness in Spain’s international production industry. On May 5, Spain’s government greenlit a critical hike to tax breaks for Spanish and international productions, suddenly and significantly
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Americans now subscribe to more streaming-video services than ever: The average U.S. consumer currently pays for four different services, up from three pre-COVID-19, per a new study from Deloitte. But the quarantine-driven binge on subscription VOD may be short-lived — many people could cut back once coronavirus restrictions are lifted or because of economic hardship,
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Obviously, the summer of 2020 is not an ordinary season, and Spotify’s predictions for the Song of the Summer reflect that. There are songs like DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR” (feat. Roddy Ricch), Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” (feat. Beyoncé), “TKN” by Rosalia (feat. Travis Scott) and “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles, which was released in 2019 but continues
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The Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) has unveiled 22 feature projects shortlisted for its Work-in-Progress Program. The project will take place exclusively online, running Aug. 26-28, 2020 in parallel with this year’s virtual HAF and FilMart Online. Production of all the shortlisted projects has been completed or is near completion. They include
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