Technology Business

As the resumed negotiations between the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the major Hollywood studios as represented under the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) continue comes the news that the WGA has signed interim agreements with Lionsgate and Marvel Entertainment.

The mega Hollywood-style studio project, first mooted by the Western Province in 2002 with Dreamworld confirmed as the preferred bidder in February 2004, seems finally set to become a reality.

The Academy Awards for the 2007 outstanding film achievements will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®

The International Film Festival Rotterdam which opens 23 January, expects 2,600 film industry delegates from around the globe to attend. One of the events that runs alongside the festival is the Rotterdam Lab, the international trainee project of Rotterdam’s CineMart.

Glen Marques who has been CEO of M-Net since 2000 has been appointed CEO of the Naspers’ US-company Mediazone, a group company focussing on the development of broadband video content services internationally.

Taxi to the Dark Side, one of the films in the SA coordinated global documentary project Why Democracy?  has been nominated in the documentary feature section for the Academy Awards to be held in Los Angeles on the 24 February. SA filmmaker Don Edkins was a producer of the Why Democracy? project and also executive produced the nominated documentary. 

MIPTV (7 - 11 April) which takes places in Cannes, France, has again organised a digital pitching competition and festival, known as Content 360, for new media companies or individuals with innovative ideas to obtain funding and work with leading media companies and brands.

Nicolas Cage’s "National Treasure 2' has found gold at the South African box office, having clocked up a total of R3.7m in one week of release (11 to 17 January).

Films like Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Sweeney Todd, Brideshead Revisited and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People were responsible for a total production spend of £723 million in 2007. 

Variety.com reports that following the tentative agreement reached between the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), the Writers Guild of America (WGA), on strike since 5 November, is wanting to hold informal talks with the AMPTP.