It was 1974 and Mr. Lansky was still pissed off at the World for not letting him buy it. I had been with Meyer since 1968, in my own world, in upstate N.Y. My mentor was my father, who worked for Meyer and Doc Farone, an old ally and bootlegger with Meyer. Doc was the first legitimate Molsen Beer Distributer in America. I learned in 68 that he had just used Molsen as a front to ship moonshine back into Canada. Doc would put me on errands with money to Ray Patriarca in Providence, R.I. and giv...

Between now and March 2009 the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) is programming a special selection of films to celebrate some of the best work chosen for the NSI Online Short Film Festival during 2008. Each week NSI will spotlight one film.   Week of December 7: Breathless directed by Kyle Sandilands (Vancouver, BC) Spanning the rise and fall of a young couple’s three-year relationship in 90 seconds, Breathless follows one man’s reflections on how his own des...

List of panelist/Cannes MingleTalk Distribution and Blockbuster panel: May 20 and May 21stOur esteemed panelists included (for the MingleTalk Distribution) Colleen Nystedt: founder of movieset http://www.movieset.com/ MovieSetTM founder, Colleen Nystedt, has an extensive background in film production, finance, business affairs and creative development. Nystedt has produced or supervised production on numerous feature films and TV movies for Universal Pictures, Paramount, MGM, CBS, NBC, ABC, USA...

  List of panelist/MingleTalk Distribution and Blockbuster panel: May 20, 3pm and May 21st 10-12 amEsteemed panelists includeColleen Nystedt: founder of movieset  http://www.movieset.com/MovieSetTM founder, Colleen Nystedt, has an extensive background in film production, finance, business affairs and creative development. Nystedt has produced or supervised production on numerous feature films and TV movies for Universal Pictures, Paramount, MGM, CBS, NBC, ABC, USA, Showtime and Lifetime Networ...

“Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer”, a horror comedy by writer/director Jon Knautz (debut) and starring Robert Englund of "Nightmare on Elm Street" fame, is the first acquisition purchased out of the Slamdance Film Festival this year. Several distributors were chasing “Jack Brooks” for domestic rights after a successful premiere on the first Saturday night at Slamdance, but it was Anchor Bay Entertainment who ended up with the domestic distribution rights for a mid-six figures deal, with a th...

The Middle East International Film Festival – Abu Dhabi announces the Official Competition slate, with filmmakers competing for the coveted Black Pearl awards. “The production support awarded with the Black Pearl is truly one-of-a-kind,” said Nashwa Al-Ruwaini. “We are confident that it will help propel its recipient into the next level of filmmaking.”“We are thrilled with the line-up of films we have in Competition,” said Festival Director Jon Fitzgerald. “They represent world-...

AWARDSPrize-winners of films in competition in the Creative Crossroads sectionJURYPresident: Lorraine Pintal (Québec)Alain Jaubert (France), Adriano Kestenholz (Switzerland)Robert MacNab (United Kingdom), Yann Martel (Canada)Pratt & Whitney Canada Grand Prize ($5,000)CAR-MENBoris Paval Conen (The Netherlands)Emile-Nelligan Foundation Jury Award ($5,000)SIGRID & ISAAC Anders Wahlgren (Sweden)Ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions Award for Best Educational Film ($5,000)THE ART OF HE...

Nicktoons Announces Festival WinnersAfter a highly successful second season, with hundreds of entries received from around the world, Nextoons: The Nicktoons Film Festival proudly announces that Arthur de Pins, the French filmmaker who entered "La Révolution des Crabes," is the $10,000 Grand Prize winner.The short film was selected as the best of the fest by a grand jury that included actor Mark Hamill, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" Co-Creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Director/Ani...

IMAGINA AWARDS 2005 2005, an excellent year for the Imagina Awards!The competition has had unprecedented success and has not finish growing.654 works registred this year and 62 countries participating in the IMAGINA AWARDS 2005 : Europe, USA, Canada, Malaysia, India, China, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Moldavia, Israel, Brazil, Ireland, Poland, New Zealand, Lithuania, Finland...It’s the most important competition of computer graphics and SFX in the world. A very high level competition which rhy...

BANFF to Celebrate 25th Anniversary with a Salute to CanadaLast week in Ottawa Pat Ferns, president and CEO of the Banff Television Foundation, unveiled the first details on the silver anniversary Banff Television Festival, June 13-17. During the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s annual conference, Pat Ferns announced that Tuesday, June 15 will be a day of celebrations including a special Salute to Canada during the evening Tribute show. The Salute to Canada will feature th...