News

Content Media acquires Chinese production and distribution companies from tycoon Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Media; deal includes the Chinese theatrical release of Grace of Monaco.

Content Media Corporation has concluded a deal with Beijing-based Seven Stars Entertainment and Media and its principal, Chinese tycoon Bruno Wu.

The deal will include the acquisition by Content of the Alive Group of companies based in Beijing, a direct equity investment by Seven Stars into Content, and the appointment to the Content board of directors of Wu as chairman and Alex Cherepakhov as non-executive director.

The Alive Group is headquartered in Beijing and consists of several companies based in mainland China engaged in production and distribution of television programming to the Chinese market under the Alive TV Network brand; feature film production, co-production services and theatrical distribution in China; and sports programming, primarily mixed martial arts, under the Tiger Sports brand.

Alive also handles digital distribution of English-language programming to Ott...

Toronto -- Canadian producer Peace Arch Entertainment and Brit media rights firm ContentFilm have sold their stakes in 50/50 joint venture Peace Arch Home Entertainment to Phase 4 Films, a new company led by Pahe president Berry Meyerowitz.

Phase 4 will take on $7.8 million in Peace Arch debt and a loan guaranty of $2.95 million, and assume Peace Arch's 50% interest in the North American DVD operation.

In addition to cutting its debt load and remaining a 8.8% shareholder in Phase 4, Peace Arch said that spinning off its home entertainment division will enable it to focus on TV production and motion picture licensing.

In exchange for giving up its 50% stake in the old operation, ContentFilm will retain a 22.5% stake in the rebranded Phase 4 and get out from under its capital commitments to the joint venture.

ContentFilm CEO John Schmidt described the move as a "positive development" for his company. "In place of a 50% stake in a U.

London -- Media rights firm ContentFilm, listed here on the Alternative Investment Market, issued a profit warning Friday, saying that the economic climate is having an impact on its final quarter, which will likely affect full-year 2009 revenue and pretax profit.

"We now expect the FY09 revenue and normalized profit to be lower than market expectations, with revenue being approximately 10%-12% lower than the comparable period in 2008," a statement to the market read.

But Fireworks International, Content's television distribution division, is expected "to produce a positive and solid FY09 result" despite a "general slow down in trading and revenue."

ContentFilm International, the movie sales and distribution business, also will have a disappointing year.

"Alongside a generally challenging market, several of our titles which were expected to be delivered in FY09, have been delayed and are now expected to be delivered in FY10," the company said.

The latest Cfi productions include Woody Harrelson starrer "The Messenger,...

Thank You for Smoking, a satire about a D.C. lobbyist for Big Tobacco, takes pot shots at just about everything and everybody -- tobacco, guns, liquor, liberals, red-necks, anti- and pro-smoking advocates and self-serving politicians.

It's really about the Age of Spin, where with the right TV spokesperson even Adolph Hitler might come off as a misunderstood individual. If there is a problem with the feature debut of Jason Reitman, it's that the tone and tenor of the movie is far removed from the real world of a D.C. lobbyist. Put it this way: How many times do you suppose MPAA's Jack Valenti got kidnapped during his tenure in Washington?

The movie is amusing and clever but only skin deep. It lacks the acidity and rage of a satire such as Network. While often entertaining, the film keeps hitting the same comic notes. Smoking will find its audiences in upscale and university venues, although it may founder in, say, North Carolina.

Reitman's script, which derives from Christopher Buckley's 1994 novel, delves into the world of Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), a superb practitioner of spin. And what greater challenge than to lobby for the cigarette industry, which kills upward to 1,200 Americans daily? One of the movie's grand touches is frequent lunch sessions Nick has with fellow lobbyists, who speak on behalf of alcohol (Maria Bello) and guns (David Koechner). The group dubs itself the MOD Squad, as in Merchants of Death.

David is divorced from his wife Jill (Kim Dickens) and too often absent from the life of his 12-year-old son Joey Cameron Bright). When Nick takes a keener interest in Joey, especially on a trip to Hollywood, the two begin to bond over their discussions of strategies for making effective arguments in any debate. As Nick tells his son, "If you argue correctly, you're never wrong."

This is the one area where the movie feels real as the father presents his job in a way that makes sense to the boy. The rest of the movie indulges in implausible subplots involving a newspaper reporter (Katie Holmes), who uses sex to get a scoop; a kidnapping in which Nick receives an overdose of nicotine; a Godfather of Tobacco (Robert Duvall) with a dumb ticker; a Vermont senator (William H. Macy), who never has a snappy answer for opponents; and a Hollywood superagent (Rob Lowe), a transparent dig at former agent Mike Ovitz.

Under Reitman's direction, the acting is energetic and scenes flow smoothly and swiftly. Eckhart and Bright are convincing in their father and son roles, but most of the other actors fall back on caricatures, albeit pretty deadly ones. Sam Elliott has a solid sequence as a Marlboro Man dying of cancer.

Jams Whitaker's cinematography and Dana E. Glauberman's editing are sharp while the sound track makes clever use of vintage songs about smoking.

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

Room 9 Entertainment presents a David Sacks production in association with Content Film

Credits:

Writer/director: Jason Reitman

Based on the novel by: Christopher Buckley

Producer: David O. Sacks

Executive producers: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Max Levchin, Mark Woolway, Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt, Alessandro Camon, Michael Beugg

Director of photography: James Whitaker

Production designer: Steve Saklad

Costumes: Danny Glicker

Music: Rolfe Kent

Editor: Dana E. Glauberman

Cast:

Nick Naylor: Aaron Eckhart

Polly Bailey: Maria Bello

Joey: Cameron Bright

Jack: Sam Elliott

Heather: Katie Holmes

Bobby Jay Bliss: David Koechner

Jeff Megall: Rob Lowe

Sen. Finistirre: William H. Macy

BR: J.K. Simmons

Captain: Robert Duvall

Running time -- 92 minutes

No MPAA rating

Shopgirl

Buena Vista Pictures

Touchstone Pictures and Hyde Park Entertainment present

An Ashok Amritraj production

Credits:

Director: Anand Tucker

Screenwriter: Steve Martin

Producers: Ashok Amritraj, Jon Jashni, Steve Martin

Executive producer: Andrew Sugarman

Director of photography: Peter Suschitzky

Production designer: William Arnold

Editor: David Gamble

Costume designer: Nancy Steiner

Music: Barrington Pheloung

Cast:

Ray Porter: Steve Martin

Mirabelle Buttersfield: Claire Danes

Jeremy: Jason Schwartzman

Lisa Cramer: Bridgette Wilson-Sampras

Catherine Buttersfield: Frances Conroy

Dan Buttersfield: Sam Bottoms

Christie Richards: Rebecca Pidgeon

MPAA rating R

Running time -- 106 minutes...

Daryl Hannah and Paul Dano are near deals that will see them team with Gael Garcia Bernal and Sam Shepard in James Marsh's The King for Ed Pressman and John Schmidt's ContentFilm. Production is scheduled to start in March in Texas. ContentFilm is financing the drama, with Marsh helming from a script by Oscar-nominated writer Milo Addica (Monster's Ball) and Marsh. Addica also is producing with ContentFilm's Pressman, Schmidt; Sofia Sondervan is executive producing along with James Wilson.