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Germany 's Maze Pictures & Red Balloon & Italy 's Palomar have teamed up to co-produce promising family pic Grisella, based on a German classic about a talking donkey, German - Kurdish helmer Huseyin Tabak is attached to direct. The project is being developed in English with financing from an Italy - Germany co-development fund. Grisella is being pitched to prospective partners at Locarno Festival 's Alliance For Development initiative which aims to help develop & co-produce projects from France , Germany, Italy & Switzerland .

Poland is jumping into the incentives fray in Eastern Europe, with lawmakers expected to approve a 30% rebate for qualifying productions out of an overall kitty of 46 million ($53.8 million). A draft bill in the Polish parliament is intended to make the country more competitive in the contest for international productions by offering the cash back on qualifying filming expenses. The rebate plan, to be administered by the Polish Film Institute, sets aside 10% of the money for animated films & animated series. Producers who submit final reports after spending in Poland will have their claims evaluated within 28 days.

            German media giant ProSiebenSat.1 Group has reported a 4% drop in revenues to 1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) & adjusted the net income at 230 million ($267 million) over the 1st ever half of the year 2018. EBITDA stood at 459 million ($532 million) in the 1st half of the year 2018, on par with last year, while the adjusted EBITDA margin went up by 25.6%,, reflecting cost - management measures taken in the entertainment division as well as higher revenues from distribution activity ProSiebenSat.1's ratings were also on par with last year, with a 26.9% market share, in spite of the Winter Olympics & the FIFA World Cup.

         Italy's Centro Sperimentale Di Cinematografia is ramping up production of restored Italian cinema gems with several high-profile titles set to screen at upcoming fest's including the Taviani Brothers' Good Morning Babilonia which played on Thurs on Locarno's Piazza Grande, Presented by Paolo Taviani.          The fablelike Babilonia, which is about 2 immigrant stonemasons who work on the sets for D.W. Griffith 's Intolerance has been praised by Locarno's artistic director Carlo Chatrian as " not just a homage to the great Italian tradition of art & craft workshops, but also an insightful interpretation of what cinema is all about." The film's restoration was supervised by its original cinematographer Beppe Lanci, as CSC chief Felice Laudadio points out.

           Irish director Nick Hamm 's John DeLorean biopic Driven is all set to close Venice Film Fest. The film is inspired by the true story of FBI's sting operation to bring down maverick auto executive DeLorean. Set in the opulence of early 1980's California, it follows the meteoric rise of Delorean & his iconic DeLorean Motor Company; his friendship with a charming ex-con-turned-informant, Jim Hoffman; and the drug scandal that brought DeLorean low. Driven is scheduled to world premiere out of competition on Lido on 8th Sept 2018.            The fest described Driven as a wickedly comedic look at a bromance gone bad. Lee Pace stars as an automotive engineer 7 designer DeLorean. jason Sudeikis plays Jim Hoffman, Judy Greer stars as Jim Hoffman's wife, Ellen, and Corey Stoll plays an ambitious FBI agent named Benedict Tissa. 

Ursula Meier, one of Europe's most highly rated women film directors, will make her English language debut with Quiet Land, a noirish drama - a thriller set in the US and backed by high pedigree producers. Produced by Switzerland's Bandita Films, France's Cinefacture & US-based Animal Kingdom Films, the movie, Ursula Meier's 3rd full-length feature, marks a palpable attempt to raise the ambition, reach & budget of a striking women auteur's career.

Hello Mr. billionaire continued its dominance of the Chinese box-office turnstiles for a 2nd week. Its 3 day tally of $65.5 million made it the 2nd biggest film worldwide over the weekend. Data from Ent Group show the comedy down exactly 50% in its 2nd weekend, but it opened a gap on 2ndplaced Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings. Hello Mr. Billionaire has a cumulative score of $295 million after 10 days of release. Detective Dee managed $12.5 million over the weekend (to take 10the place worldwide according to comScore) and a 10 day total of $76.9 million.  The weekend total for Hello Mr. Billionaire included $2 million scored from 483 IMAX screens. Operating from an overall screen count largely similar to Detective Dee, new fantasy animation Wind Guardians managed the 3rd place. it had a score of $8.95 million in 3 days. Shoplifters, the Japanese drama which took the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, opened in 4th place. Distributed (like Detective Dee) by Huayi Brothe...

China's Momentum Sports, marketing, brand consulting & athlete rep company, has merged with CAA China, which was created last year to foster cross-border business between China & US Under the deal, Legend Capital, an investor in Momentum Sports, will become a shareholder in CAA China. momentum Sports founder & CEO Mark Gao will work closely with CAA China CEO Mary Gu to help guide & grow CAA China's efforts in sports.

Netflix has picked up rights outside China to Chinese romantic drama TV series Here To Heart . The show premiered on Human Satellite Television, one of China's leading broadcasting groups. Rights sales are handled by China International Television Corporation (CITVC). Adapted from the novella of the same name, Here To Heart follows the dramatic love story between a man & a woman who become entangled after a 10-year separation. The former lovers, played by Zhang Han & Janine Chang struggle to overcome resentment, rebuild trust, & perhaps rekindle a love long past.

The reality genre bug seems to have bitten the video on demand (VoD) platforms as well. After Amazon Prime Video . ZEEL-owned VoD platform ZEE5 was launched its 1st ever nonfiction musical show namely Lock Down on 17th Aug 2018. Lockdown is a ZEE5 Original music reality show where Bollywood artists & digital sensations are locked down to create music videos within 24 hours.  Bollywood artists Badshah , Kailash Kher , Raftaar , Sachin-Jigar will collaborate with digital sensations like Jonita Gandhi , Shirley Setia , T Bridge to create epic music videos. The show will bring together 20 artists from different genres together on 1 platform. The artists belong to different genres such as Bollywood, rock, pop, rap, EDM, Sufi & digital sensations amongst others. 

After giving a scare many times, Times Now has finally pipped Arnab Goswami 's Republic TV   to emerge as #1 English news channel in week 31 of BARC ratings. Republic TV has been ruling the English news genre right from its debut in week 19 of the year 2017. Republic TV's entry had relegated Times Now to #2 channel. Arnab Goswami had left Times now in Nov 2016 to launch his own republic TV in May Last Year. Till the time, Arnab Goswami was at the helm the channel was the top English news channel. Times Now has been giving close competition to Republic TV and had extremely close to beating it on a couple of occasions. The 2 channels have been bitter rivals ever since Republic TV arrived on the scene.

&flix will be premiering Tao Fraser 's apocalyptic thriller The Dead Lands on 12the Aug 2018. Showcasing this tale of vengeance 7 valor, the film stars James Rolleston in the lead role along with Lawrence Makoare & Te Kohe Tuhaka in pivotal roles. The film is based on 2 rival tribes spearheaded by Tane (George Henare), the chief of Maori & his nemesis, Wirepa (Te Kohe Tuhaka).

           Hindi movie channel Zee Cinema hosted the world television premiere of Paramanu-The Story of Pokhran on 15th Aug 2018. Helmed by Abhishek Sharma , the movie features John Abraham , Boman Irani , Diana Penty & Anuja Sathe amongst others. in pivotal roles.

              Jayantilal Gada 's film production & distribution company Pen India Limited is planning to expand its reach across TV & digital verticals. After launching its 1st ever satellite TV channel "Wow Movies & Music" recently, the production company is entering into the over the top (OTT) market.                      In the coming 6 months, Pen India is planning to launch its subscription video on demand (SVOD) service Play My Movie (PMM). PMM is developed & operated by Play my Movie, a 100% subsidiary of Pen India. The platform will offer a wide range of Hindi movies, regional movies in Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali & Bhojpuri, and also global movies that are dubbed in varied languages. 

                            The video streaming platform Amazon Prime Video has collaborated with music legend A R Rahman to launch its 2nd non-scripted music show "harmony with A R Rahman" on 15th Aug 2018. In this 5 part series, A R Rahman will strive to revive some of the forgotten music composers will collaborate 7 jam with traditional artists such as Bahauddin Dagar , Sajith Vijayan, Louremban Bedabati Devi & Mickma Tshering Lepcha, A R Rahman will not only collaborate with the artist but will also bring forth their musical stories, paying homage to the rich culture of India.              The new series has been shot in Maharashtra , Kerala , Sikkim & Manipur amongst other states. earlier, the platform had launched the 1st ever digital singing reality show The Remix, featuring Sunid...

          Michael Weber's The Match Factory is on board as a sales agent of Locarno Film Festival 's International Competition title Wintermarchen ( A Winter's Tale ), the company announced on Tues. The film is German writer-director Jan Bonny 's follow-up to black comedy Counterparts, which played in Director's Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival in 2007. Wintermarchen explores how special problems & emotional disorientation can result in violent right-wing terrorism.

            Looper, a highly coveted platform in the US has recently released a list of top martial artists across the globe and Vidyut Jammwal is the only Indian to have made it to this prestigious list. Jammwal whose dream has been to bring "Kalaripayattu" to the world seems to be succeeding and has given Indians another reason to celebrate.                         Vidyut Jammwal has recently finished shooting for his upcoming family adventure film "Jungle" with the renowned filmmaker Chuck Russell ( director of the Mask, Scorpion King, and The Eraser). Other martial artists on the list include Ilram Choi, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Lateef Crowder, Wu Jing and Johnny Nguyen.

                       TV Today Network's net profit for the quarter ended 30th Jun 2018 has almost doubled to Rs 40.99 crores from Rs. 20.82 crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. The Company's revenue from operations jumped to Rs. 181.8 crores from Rs 164.6 crores in the year-ago period. Expenses jumped to Rs 126.3 crores as against Rs. 124.6 crores. The operating profit from TV broadcasting segment jumped to Rs 57.1 crores. Revenue from the segment was up to Rs 158.8 crores from Rs 144 crores. Radio broadcasting operating loss reduced to Rs 1.01 crores from Rs 2.37 crores in the year-ago period. The revenue dropped to Rs 5.78 crores as against Rs 6.83 crores.                 The India Today group promotes TV Today Network . It broadcasts 24-hour news channels Aaj Tak , Tez & Dilli Aaj Tak (regional news) in Hindi & India Today Television ...

Taapsee Pannu celebrated her 31st birthday this week. On her special day, the Pink star gave fans a special surprise with the launch of her personal app named 'Taapsee Pannu Official App' The versatile actress announced the same on her Twitter handle with a quirky video,   writing, "Hey guys! Here's the big surprise for you all on my birthday !! I have my own App now.. make sure you download it...I really can't wait to see you there." The app will give a sneak-peek into Pannu's real as well as reel life, where fans will be able to interact with the star at a more personal level.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Wednesday urged people to extend support to acid attack victims. The 'Baadshah' reposted Vogue's heartening video on his Instagram, sharing a powerful and important message. "Most acknowledge the need to empower victims of acid attacks, and yet, these women struggle with things as basic as acceptance. Vogue has joined hands with @Kulsumshadab's @hothurfoundation and Shah Rukh Khan's @meerfoundationofficial, in their resolve to give victims of these heartless acts of violence, a new lease on life. #BravelsBeautiful #SkinBanking" read the caption.

          Singapore will launch the Asian Academy Awards as a new event in Dec, 2018 that will form part of Singapore Media Fest cluster. The AAA takes the place of troubled Asian Television Awards.            The Asian Academy Awards will combine an awards show with industry development elements. It will run on 6th Dec, 2018 & 7th Dec, 2018. They are developing the event using the Triple A's or AAA   as an informal working title. The formal name will be unveiled at an industry event on 16th Aug, 2018

          Google Doodle celebrated the 85th birth anniversary of Meena Kumari , the yesteryear actress remembered as the "tragedy queen". Meena Kumari was born on August 1, 1993, to Ali Baksh and Iqbal Begum, as Mahjabeen Bano. She was just six years old when she made her debut in Leatherface, Produced and directed by Vijay Bhatt.                     The iconic actress has inspired generations with her memorable performances in movies like Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam , Pakeezah, BaijuBawra, Yahudi, Bahu Begam, among others. In her career spanning 30 years, she acted in over 90 movies.

           Following Cannes  Film Festival & Annecy Film Festival's, Locarno is the latest international fest whose chiefs have agreed to sign a pledge ensuring gender equality and inclusion in programming. Organized by Swiss Women's Audiovisual Network (SWAN), the pledge will be signed by Locarno Fest's President Marco Solari & Vice President Carla Speziali on Sun. The film begins on Wed.                     The pledge signing event will be attended by prominent Swiss industry figures & members of SWAN. notably filmmaker Ursula Meier , along with producer Pauline Gygax & SWAN'S 3 co-presidents & authors directors Gabriel Baur, Laura Kaehr & screenwriter Stephane Mitchell.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on Monday welcomed Katrina Kaif to the cast of Bharat in style, by calling her "Sundar" (beautiful) and "Susheel" (virtuous). "Ek Sundar Aur Susheel Ladki Jiska Naam hai Katrina Kaif... 'Swagat hai Aapka ' Bharat ' ki zindagi mein', Salman tweeted on Monday. Katrina, who has given several hits with Salman at the box office. will play his love interest in Bharat, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar .

          Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is till date grateful for everyone's prayers, which brought him back to life after he sustained a near-fatal injury while shooting for the 1983 film Coolie . Fans across the globe are marking the day by wishing the 75-year-old 'Happy Rebirth Day'.                         Big B took to social media to thank everyone who prayed for him when he was fighting for his life. "To them that have sent greetings for my 2nd birthday Aug 2, a recovery from my Coolie accident, I send my gracious thanks. It shall be difficult for me to acknowledge and thank all. But I do know that it was your prayers that saved my life," tweeted the Thugs of Hindostan star.