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Byline: LIZA FOREMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY SIMON WATSON STYLED BY SEBASTIAN SERGEANTPalace CoupFrom throne room to sunken bath, a princely family's Genoa home is open to all psdPHOTOGRAPHY BY SIMON WATSON [...]

'I feel fabulous, man,' best actor and sup porting actor nominee Jamie Foxx said, adding that he felt like he'd been invited to play in the Super Bowl. Foxx said [...]

Byline: -Liza Foreman MOROCCAN MODERN With sleek shops and bustling beachfront cafés joining Art Deco villas and old-world markets, Casablanca is emerging as a glamorous travel spot with something for [...]

Variety's fourth annual Global 50 lineup of the world's largest media and entertainment companies saw little change from last year. The top 10 remain much the same, while merger mania [...]

Byline: TEXT BY LIZA FOREMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY SIMON UPTON PRODUCED BY ANITA SARSIDI HONOR GUARD Once the home of Chilean artist Claudio Bravo, an 18th-century Marrakech riad is now a [...]

Despite the US advertising market showing signs of recovery, there is lingering uncertainty about whether advertising revenues in Europe will follow suit. Liza Foreman examines how Europe's broadcasters are coping [...]

LONDON The past 18 months have felt like the end of an era in London's film sales scene. With an unprecedented number of mavens on the move and companies uprooting, [...]

Foreign sales players take wait-and-see approach The U.S. retaliation against terrorist attacks, the economic downturn and aberrations such as actors strike threats on both sides of the Atlantic are enough [...]

DINARD, France With the spate of cancellations by industryites to events like the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Mipcom TV market, it's good to know that a hop across [...]

MUNICH It's all go at KirchMedia, the core subsidiary of the KirchGruppe that includes Kirch's core assets in production, licensing and free TV, as well as sports rights, film technology […]

Public offering will spotlight broadcast MUNICH If five years back anyone had dared to predict the recent developments at German media monolith the KirchGruppe, few would have believed them. Once [...]

LONDON A camera crew from Ardent Prods., the TV company owned by Britain's Prince Edward, caused a stir after it was caught stalking the prince's nephew, Prince William. The crew [...]

The Sept. 25 AFMA elections will have a decidedly European flavor. Marking a stark contrast to the past, several players from European companies have been nominated for the 20-seat board […]

LONDON There's a revivalist spirit about this fall's TV skeds in Blighty, with webs more interested in revisiting old favorites than breaking new ground. Nowhere is this truer than on [...]

Tuetonic producer Constantin has been making its marks with local pics. In the past year, Constantin's top four films have all been German. And current box office hit, 'Der Schuh [...]

The dispute over rights to air the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament took a fresh turn when German media mogul Leo Kirch urged watchdogs to nix the joint bid for [...]

LONDON TV and film industry veteran Michael Grade and heavyweight TV journalist David Dimbleby are reportedly in the running to become the next chairman of the BBC. Grade, the former [...]

LONDON Thomas Haffa, founder of kidvidder EM.TV, which audaciously snapped up Formula One motor racing and Muppets creator the Jim Henson Co., called it quits July 25 after a turbulent [...]

In an ironic turn of events, EM.TV, the German kidvidder held largely responsible for bringing down the value of media stocks on the Neuer Markt, has pushed those prices back [...]

LONDON Cult British TV series "Fawlty Towers" is getting a German remake, but without mentioning the war. In the Teutonic version, being commissioned by commercial web RTL, 11 of the […]

MUNICH The 19th edition of Filmfest Munich, which wrapped July 7, highlighted showbiz talents such as Jacqueline Bisset, Terence Davies, Christopher Munch and Jean-Pierre Jeunet as well as a raft […]

Television advertising in Germany sank by 2.8% in the first half of the year to DM7.477 billion ($3.27 billion), according to industry analyst Spot-Control-Bilanz. While most of the channels in [...]

Teutonic distribbery Kinowelt is undergoing a drastic overhaul. With its stock price in the toilet, the company has offloaded its 40% stake in East German distrib Progress and folded its [...]

Hollywood is making hay out of a little-known Teutonic tax law. In the past month, Paramount, Universal, Fox and New Line have quietly tapped into $2 billion in production funds […]

Neuer Markt players regroup after market dip BERLIN It's changing-of-the-guard time on the German film scene. After two years of rapid-fire deal-making, the country's hot Neuer Markt-listed entertainment companies have […]

BERLIN Moviemakers are discovering there's a bit more to German history than WWII. Recently, everything from Teutonic novels to Cold War landmarks to legendary sporting heroes have caught the imagination […]

BERLIN "Shrek" producer John Williams has inked a multi-picture production and development agreement with local animator Greenlight Media to develop a slate of animated and live-action family entertainment properties. Greenlight […]

Can "Pearl Harbor" hold onto its Euro auds? That's the question, ,as the widely panned pic moves into its second or third week in major territories after strong bows in […]

Embattled entertainment group Kinowelt Medien is putting a stop to all new investments and nonessential expenditures and instituting a pay and hiring freeze. As part of the plan, outlined in […]

German pubcaster ZDF has unveiled a cuts package of DM800 million ($348 million) to avoid a projected deficit of $87 million by 2004. Outgoing director general Dieter Stolte said ZDF, [...]

BERLIN German flags are flying over more sales companies than ever before. Since Teutonic film distribs went from being mere takers to makers of major movies, an inhouse sales arm [...]

The rush to grab German film coin is on. Paramount Pictures will utilize two private German film funds to raise approximately $1.1 billion for its upcoming feature lineup, while New [...]

BERLIN Germany's LHI Leasing has launched a 113 million euro ($96 million) film fund to back the New Line Cinema features 'Blade 2' and 'All About the Benjamins.' Only last [...]

CANNES Veteran German film player Alfred Holighaus has been appointed special coordinator to the Berlin Intl. Film festival. Holighaus, who most recently worked as the distribution honcho for Senator Film, [...]

BERLIN Road Movies co-founder Ulrich Felsberg has stepped down from his post as chairman of film production and licensing at parent company Das Werk to concentrate on Road Movies' activities. [...]

BERLIN It's all quiet on the European front. As little as a year ago, Euro players were racing to set up pan-European distribution networks and snapping up the rights to […]

German kidvidder EM.TV saw losses last year of $1.29 billion, worse than analysts' forecasts and more than double the group's revenues of $590 million. EM.TV said the results stem from […]

Euro powerhouse broadcaster RTL is to push into the U.S. indie feature market, backed by the clout of the group's 18-odd TV stations. RTL CEO Didier Bellens said the company [...]

MGM is establishing a 24-hour digital branded movie channel in New Zealand to expand its presence in the international market, it was revealed at Mip April 4. The MGM Movie [...]

Recession, strike threat cramp style on Croisette A new reality show starring the international TV biz hit Mip last week: It featured global economic slowdown, broadcasters on tighter budgets and [...]

Output deals continue to rankle among foreign TV clients of the Hollywood majors. German powerhouse RTL is demanding $1.5 billion in damages and calling for a reduction of its payments [...]

After years of delays, private commercial television in Austria looks set to be greenlighted. Bill must still be passed by the government but looks likely to kick in early next […]

BERLIN The initial successes of 'Big Brother' and 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' prompted an explosion of similar shows, with the result that a majority of German viewers are [...]

LONDON Amberlon Pictures, the joint London-based sales and production entity of Senator Entertainment and Pleswin Entertainment, is shuttering after 17 months. Company honchos say news is a result of both […]

LONDON The tax man just made it tougher for German investors to put their money into the international film biz. In fact, the long-awaited interpretation of the Jan. 1 German […]

BERLIN Beleaguered German kidvidder EM.TV has confirmed that it is looking into selling the Jim Henson Co., just a year after it bought the Muppet creator for $680 million in [...]

It seems European media giants Vivendi Universal and Bertelsmann can't get enough of each other. Or is it just that the European media can't get enough of them? Last week [...]

Fallout from the pact between German media giant Kirch Group and cash-strapped kidvidder EM.TV continues -- former Kirch exec Rainer Huther has been appointed EM.TV's chairman of sales and marketing. [...]