Ascot Elite acquires 'Passion,' 'Filth'

BERLIN -- Territory deals ongoing in Germany inside the wake in the Berlinale's European Film Market. Swiss-German entertainment group Ascot Elite acquired a slew of high-profile game game titles for German-speaking Europe, including John P Palma's thriller "Passion," starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace, from Mentioned Ben Said's SBS Productions, and John S. Baird's black comedy "Filth," an adaptation in the Irvine Welsh novel starring James McAvoy and Jamie Bell, from producer Egoli Tossel and Sierra/Affinity. Ascot Elite also nabbed Sierra/Affinity's approaching werewolf thriller "Wer," by William Brent Bell ("The Demon Inside"), who composed the script with Matthew Peterman. Graham King's FilmDistrict is disseminating the pic inside the U.S. Likewise venturing out via Ascot Elite will probably be Current Pictures' "Don Jon's Addiction," Ernest Gordon-Levitt's feature film debut of a youthful guy fighting by getting an online porn addiction Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson star. Additional purchases incorporated ZDF Enterprises' Swedish hit political thriller "Agent Hamilton -- Inside the Interest from the u . s . states,Inch an adaptation of Jan Guillou's best-selling novel directed by Kathrine Windfeld SC Film's supernatural thriller "When the Lights Went," by Pat Holden and Content's Sundance screener "The Pact." Koch Media also inked a greater volume of deals, acquiring such game game titles as Catherine Hardwicke's erotic thriller "Plush," starring Evan Rachel Forest and John Krokidas' fact-based murder drama "Kill Your Darlings," featuring Daniel Radcliffe as beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Also in Koch Media's basket is Sue Kramer's "The Neighborhood people," starring Shirley MacLaine and Alan Arkin Kevin Greutert's mental thriller "Jessabellem" and Oskar Thor Axelsson's Icelandic crime drama "Black's Game," which was professional produced by Nicolas Winding Refn. Individually, Koch Media inked an internet-based distribution deal with Lovefilm, Europe's leading online entertainment subscription service. Incorporated inside the agreement are such films as Oliver Hirschbiegel's "a few minutes of Paradise" Jan Kounen's "Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky" and Roger Spottiswoode's "The Children of Huang Shi," additionally to genre game game titles for instance "The Six Partners of Henry Lefay" and "Evening Train." Contact Erection dysfunction Meza at staff@variety.com

Is AMPAS still relevant?

Visual effects pioneer Jonathan Erland spoke at the Acads Sci-Tech Awards on Feb. 11. With the movie biz buffeted by challenges on many fronts -- from piracy to competition from other media forms to the rapid pace of technological change -- observers sometimes question the relevance of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Jonathan Erland, a visual effects pioneer and one of the movie industry's most admired technologists, tackled the question head-on in his acceptance speech of the Academy's Bonner Medal at the Feb. 11 Sci-Tech Awards ceremony.On the eve of the 84th Oscars, his observations -- excerpted here -- spotlight the Academy's purpose and activism. As Erland puts it, "The show exists to support the Awards, and the Awards exist to support the Academy's mission to foster the pursuit of excellence in our art form."For some time now, we've been hearing, both from within and from without, that the Academy has to be fundamentally transformed to stay relevant to current trends. In my personal view, that's the same erroneous "tail wag the dog" notion that holds that the TV show we're so famous for is why we have an Academy. Nonsense. When this Academy was founded, we not only didn't have a TV show, we didn't even have awards, and the record shows that it was by no means certain that we would ever have awards.But Mary Pickford and her fellow founders certainly did have a crystal clear vision and a wonderful mission; a mission shared down the years by the likes of John Bonner; a mission just as relevant today as the day it was minted: the pursuit of excellence of motion pictures. And it was precisely to foster that pursuit of excellence, by the way, that we did create the Academy Awards -- and the show that celebrates them. But, the show exists to support the Awards, and the Awards exist to support the Academy's mission to foster the pursuit of excellence in our art form. And we should be ever cognizant of that hierarchy.If our Academy still stands for excellence in motion pictures -- and it must -- then the real task before us is to manage the trends such that motion pictures stay relevant to the Academy's mission and the ideals we espouse and not the other way about. When all motion pictures are excellent, then we can perhaps talk about a new vision for this Academy.We hear that young people don't like the films our Academy honors with awards; that the Academy is for old people -- or is that simply code for adults? If we're now supposed to become what some people think young people want us to be today, then what the hell is there left for them to grow up for? We, and what we do, are why they grow up, and the fact that they do grow up, and grow up to want excellent films, is why we're here. With time and experience, come maturity, knowledge, perspective, discernment and, above all, wisdom. Armed with these, we can resist becoming unduly perplexed by the turbulence of future shock.All this underscores what many of you know about me already: that I look to history to light our way to the future. I've often said that our Academy is, at once, "the guardian of our past; and the guarantor of our future." Our heritage, its preservation and restoration looms large for all of us. Restore films, we must; build a museum, we must; but, to guarantee our future, we have also to restore and reassert the conviction, consistency and the focus of our core mission.It's that mission, the high standard of excellence, symbolized by this Bonner Medal, the Sawyer, and all our awards, that drives the selection process for entry into our Academy. A very rigorous process that selects for seasoned professionals, with demonstrably excellent credentials, who have a key creative role not only in the films they make but in the life of the Academy they join.For ultimately, it is these people, and not the edifice on Wilshire nor the Awards, nor the Show, but these people and the staff and volunteers who share our devotion to this cause, that comprise this family and this Academy.And so, to borrow a phrase from an American president, "Ask not what your Academy can do for you; ask what you can do for your Academy." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Gannett plans paywalls at papers

TV and newspaper giant Gannett saw its shares shoot greater Wednesday since it introduced expects to follow along with other industry players in putting pay walls around its local papers and mentioned it'll return $1.3 billion to traders by 2015, accelerating its stock buyback. "Gannett is once again playing offense, poised for growth and price creation," mentioned Boss Gracia Martore," calling 2012 "an inflection point." She told traders inside a meeting in Gotham the brand new subscription model for U.S. community posting - which doesn't include flagship USA Today - will boost ad revenue substantially and add $100 million yearly to earnings beginning next season. The McLean, Virtual assistant.-based group, which has 82 newspapers and 23 television stations covering over 18% in the U.S. market, mentioned that starting with USA Today it'll re-launch all desktop, mobile and tablet programs over the following 12 to 24 several days. The stock was up 4.5% at $15.66 in midday purchasing and selling, well outpacing the overall market and shutting in on its 52-week high. By 2015, Gannett needs overall annual revenue rise in all the different 2% to 4%, pre-tax margins to enhance to between 15% and 19%, and cost savings of $100-$150 million. Tv producers should see $90 million in retransmission revenues this year, up 13% from 2011. Gannett also spoken in regards to a completely new online marketing services unit specific at small , medium size companies, prone to generate between $275 million and $350 million in annual revenue by 2015, as well as the development of USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com