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Stephen Chow was the closest Hong Kong Comedy ever had to an international star. Breaking out with “Shaolin Soccer” and “Kung Fu Hustle” he suddenly stepped back to focus on direction. Prior to this was a huge back catalogue of his work that apart from sporadic releases was hardly seen in the west. Eureka Entertainment start to rectify that with the upcoming release of “From Beijing with Love” his Bond Spoof from 1994. Comedy however can be a very acquired taste and what makes them roar in Kowloon may not necessarily do so in Kansas. So time to take a trip back to the nineties and experience Stephen Chow in his prime.

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The head of a dinosaur is stolen by a man in invincible armor and a golden gun. With numerous agents out of commission Ling Ling Fat (Stephen Chow...

Emmy-winning actor Guy Pearce and Jeffrey Dean Morgan have boarded “Neponset Circle,” a dark and gritty crime thriller based on a real-life murder that shook the Boston area and remains unsolved to this day.

The Exchange, handling the international sales rights, is introducing the title to buyers at next week’s American Film Market in Santa Monica, CA.

The film, written by John Chase, will be directed by Pauline Chan (“33 Postcards”), and produced by Landafar Entertainment’s Grant Cramer, Volition Media’s Cindy Bru and Adam Beasley, and Wild Lunch Entertainment’s Joram Moreka. Executive producers include Ford Corbett, Michael Jefferson, Len Gibson and Wayne Overstreet.

Cinematographer Toby Oliver (“Get Out”), who previously worked with Chan and Pearce on “33 Postcards,” will be behind the lens.

Against a backdrop of politics and corruption, “Neponset Circle” follows a brilliant but disgraced detective Jimmy O’Mannon, fresh out of prison and trying to rebuild his life.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival are set to welcome their largest contingent of visiting filmmakers.

There will be 100 filmmakers, three international delegations, international stars and industry representatives from dozens of countries across the region attending the festival and awards ceremony which runs from November 19-29.

Thirty-nine films from 22 Asia Pacific countries are nominated in this year's Apsa Awards, 34 of which will screen to local audiences at Bapff.

Red carpet arrivals will take place in King George Square from 5.30 on November 26, ahead of the ceremony in Brisbane's City Hall.

Guests include model and actress Evgeniya Mandzhieva (The Gulls), Filipino actress Shamaine Buencamino (Lorna),Korean star Jung Jaeyoung (Right Now, Wrong Then)

.Cinematographers.and Apsa nominee, Mark Lee Ping-bing (The Assassin), Australian filmmakers Rolf de.Heer and Molly Reynolds (Another Country), Tibetan actor and comedian.Shide Nyima(Tharlo), Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed.Arya (Avalanche), Korean...

Filmscope Entertainment has secured exclusive film and TV rights to Us author Margaret Weis. Star of the Guardians sci-fi novels. The protagonist is a Royal Guardian who battles her ex-lover, a powerful and ruthless warlord, in the ultimate fight to control a galaxy and to restore glory to the kingdom and the rightful heir to the throne. Filmscope partners Deidre Kitcher and John V Soto intend to start by adapting the first novel of the series, The Lost King, into two films. It.s the most ambitious undertaking yet by the filmmaking duo whose credits include Soto's The Reckoning, Needle and Crush, and almost certainly would require the backing of a Hollywood studio or mini-major . .We are talking to several Us based parties at the moment, although open to discuss this project with others,. Kitcher and Soto tell If. Kitcher first read the books in the 1990s and sparked to the strong female protagonist,...

Xin Cheng Jiang’s sci-fi love story wins at Beijing Film Market.

Sci-fi love story The Gate, a film about a tour guide who finds himself in a virtual gaming world, has won the Mpa Grand Prize in Beijing. The film’s writer/director, Xin Cheng Jiang, is known as an influential commercial TV director.

The award was presented at the Motion Picture Association (Mpa) - Beijing Film Market (Bfm) Film Workshop, held during the Beijing International Film Festival (Biff).

The prize includes sending Xin Cheng Jiang on “a week long film immersion course in Los Angeles”.

Mike Ellis, president and MD for the Mpa Asia Pacific, also awarded a President’s Special Recognition Prize to director Yang Jin for the project Instant Love - a comedic love story set in Tokyo about a Chinese man who will do anything to win the heart of a Japanese girl.

The prize will see Yang Jin attend the Asia...

More than 50 Australian producers and screen industry representatives are heading to China for the 5th Australia-China Film Industry Forum (Acfif) and the Beijing International Film Festival and Beijing Film Market.

That.s the largest ever delegation from Australia, including VFX and post-production businesses and federal and state government officials.

Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason and Ausfilm CEO Debra Richards are leading the mission to pursue co-production opportunities with China.

Co-hosted by Ausfilm and Screen Australia, the forum is part of the Beijing Film Market.s Industry Conversations program.

Two panels of Australian, Chinese and international producers and screen industry decision makers will discuss opportunities for co-production, locations, studios, facilities and visual effects, and. focus on Australia.s federal and state incentives for international production.

The participants will include Ellen Eliasoph, president/CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures Asia, director/producer Pauline Chan, Alex Sangston, Screen Australia.s senior manager, producer offset and co-productions,...

Great Aussie crime thriller droops at the end but pulls through thanks to Guy Pearce. Guy Pierce plays the tormented, ex-con lead of Pauline Chan.s .33 Postcards.. The star who made a sterling name for himself in .The King.s Speech. summons the dark forces that made his performances in .L.A. Confidential. and .Memento. his most memorable. Like his portrayal of the troubled Ed Exley in .L.A. Confidential,. Pierce is at his best as an all-to-sensitive man in the midst of a corrupt and brutal world. In this nearly perfect neo-noir; the lead falls for a woman who may well be the death of him. In this film the woman is sixteen year old orphan Mei Mei (Zhu Lin)...

Even though we’re already neck deep in the summer movie season, there’s always the time and often the desire to take a break from superheroes and blockbusters, and this weekend, Pauline Chan’s “33 Postcards” could be that source of relief. The film stars newcomer Zhu Lin as Mei Mei, a Chinese orphan who’s been sponsored by an Australian man (Guy Pearce) for years. When Mei Mei finally gets the opportunity to travel to Australia she’s determined to meet him, dreaming that he might make her part of his family, but is shocked to discover that he isn’t really the man he wrote about in his postcards. A script from the [ Read More ]

The post Interview: 33 Postcard’s Pauline Chan appeared first on Shockya.com.

33 Postcards is a film of special significance, as it marks the first official collaboration between China and New South Wales, Australia. At the 2011 Sydney Film Festival, where it had its world premiere, it won the Community Relations Commission Award. Just a couple of weeks later at the Shanghai International Film Festival, where it had its Chinese premiere, its lead actress Zhu Lin won the New Talent Award. Directed by Pauline Chan and inspired by real life events, 33 Postcards tells the story of a young Chinese orphan Mei Mei (Zhu Lin) who has been dreaming of meeting her Australian sponsor of many years, Mr Randall (Guy Pearce). Her opportunity comes when her orphanage travels to Australia to compete at a music festival. However,...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Haphazardly veering between bloody prison stabbings and angelic orphans out-wholesoming the von Trapp brood, the bilingual Aussie drama 33 Postcards is a film as rootless as its foundling protagonist. Director Pauline Chan wastes a novel premise—the real-life voyage of a Chinese teen to visit her generous Australian sponsor, who turns out to be a murderer in prison—by flattening all emotional interactions and ethical quandaries into a platonic ideal of two-dimensionality. Taking the place of the feisty Maria is implausibly naive Mei Mei (Zhu Lin, eager as a puppy but expressive as a newt), an aspiring children's choir director. When her orphanage is invited to sing in Sydney, Mei Mei seizes the chance to meet her longtime benefactor and pen pal, Dean (Guy Pearce), wh...

Millennium Entertainment and Gravitas Ventures have struck a deal to collaborate on the digital and theatrical release of a number of indie titles, acquiring the rights to films including Amanda Seyfried-Michael Cera starrer The End of Love and Minnie Driver musical dramedy Hunky Dory. Gravitas will handle digital distribution duties, including VOD, while Millennium will oversee the theatrical release. They also are partnering on home entertainment. The deal also includes Guy Pierce drama 33 Posters, directed by Pauline Chan, as well as the previously announced Millennium title Hell Baby, the 2013 Sundance Film Festival title written and directed by

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Screen Development Australia in association with its state-based organisations is calling for entries for competition, The National Pitch 2011.

The winner of the competition will represent Australia at the Motion Picture Association (Mpa) Asia Pacific partners with the China International Copyright Expo (Cice) Film Workshop in Beijing to compete at an international level against 13 representatives from other territories in the Asia Pacific region.

However, entrants must first win their state rounds.

Metro Screen’s Network Coordinator Craig Boreham told Encore, “It’s not about pitching a production so much – it might be: a producer pitching themselves or their slate; they might be looking to move into the long form because they’re experience in shorts has led to success at various film festivals; It might be a director who has the project they want to make; a scriptwriter to discuss their various ideas. It’s for someone ready to sell themselves...

Arts Minister Simon Crean has today announced a one-off funding grant of $45,000 to Dungog Film Festival for its Sydney-based script development program, In the Raw.

In a statement, Simon Crean said, “The one-off funding I am announcing today will enable festival organisers to cement In The Raw in its new bi-monthly format increasing visibility to more existing screenplays that display significant market potential.”

In the Raw presents live script readings by professional actors of Australian screenplays heading into production at the Sydney Theatre in Walsh Bay. It was initially established in 2007 at the annual Dungog Film Festival.

“The Australian Government is committed to ensuring the ongoing viability of the Australian screen production industry,” Mr Crean added. “Supporting initiatives such as In The Raw is an important and effective way of demonstrating this commitment. Innovative and effective programs such as In The Raw are exactly the kinds of initiatives I hope...

Australian Chinese co-production 33 Postcards, starring Guy Pearce and Zhu Lin, last night won the Crc (Community Relations Commission) Award at the Sydney Film Festival.

The $5000 prize, established in 1992 is awarded to films whose content best reflects the multicultural experience in Australia.

Nsw MP for Citizenship and Communities, Victor Dominello commended director Pauline Chan. “33 Postcards, inspired by real life stories, explores how two individuals come together despite two different cultures, ages and unexpected circumstances. This evocative film portrays sensitively how people of vastly different cultural backgrounds can interact effectively in our society.”

In a statement, producers Lesley Stevens and Penny Carl Nelson said that they were “extremely honoured that the film has been recognised by the 2011 Sydney Film Festival with the Crc Award. The film has struck a chord with Australian and Chinese audiences alike.”

At the Shanghai International Film Festival, lead actress Zhu Lin won Asian New Talent Award, cementing...

Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty and Ivan Sen’s Toomelah are the two Australian titles in this year’s Sydney Film Festival Official Competition.

The line-up also includes The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick), Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols), A Separation (Asghar Farhadi), The Forgiveness of Blood (Joshua Marston), Amador (Fernando Leon de Aranoa), Target (Alexander Zeldovich), 678 (Mohamed Diab), Attenberg (Athna Rachel Tsangari), The Future (Miranda July) and Norwegian Wood (Tran Anh Hung).

The full program has been announced (available here) and includes 75 features, 39 documentaries, 34 short films, 13 retrospective titles, 10 world premieres, 86 Australian premieres, 42 countries, 47 languages and 29 Australian productions (1 retrospective, 6 features, 10 documentaries, 12 short films).

The opening night film is Joe Wright’s Hanna, starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana; the festival will be closed by Mike Mills’ Beginners.

“From the daring stylistic approaches in our Official Competition selection through the inspirational subjects and investigations in the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize lineup,...

Predicting the future of a film or television program and avoiding a financial disaster doesn’t necessarily require clairvoyant powers; testing your project with an audience at different stages of the production process can make a huge difference. Aravind Balasubramaniam reports.

“Nobody wants others to tell them their baby is ugly,” says the founder and CEO of Audience Development Australia (Ada) David Castran. “But it’s very important that producers listen with two ears and try to challenge their strongly-held views. Testing empowers producers by giving them information about the audience’s relationship with the pilot or program. I know at times that can be controversial.”

Drama has the highest production cost per hour of all TV programming, so well-executed testing can inform producers and broadcasters about the potential response to their shows.

Castran’s company was founded in the early 90s to provide comprehensive audience study services to the industry.

The Nsw Government has used almost a quarter of its recently announced $25m budget for the film industry to fund five features, four TV series, one telemovie, 12 docos and one cross-platform project.

The projects include Mei Mei, an Australia/China co-production starring Guy Pearce, and The Hunter, with American actor Willem Dafoe.

The biggest winner is Joanna Werner’s children’s drama Dance Academy, with $500,000 towards production of season two.

Vincent Sheehan’s production The Hunter will be shot in Tasmania and China, with a majority of crew from Nsw and post-production also taking place in this state – it will receive $400,000 from the Government.

The production expenditure of these projects is expected to reach $62m.

These are the projects receiving funds from the Nsw Government in this round:

Features

Mei-mei

Production Company: Portal Pictures Finance: $200,000 Writers: Martin Edmond, Pauline Chan, Philip Dalkin. Producers: Penny Carl-Nelson, Pauline Chan, Lesley Stevens,...

The Tribeca Film Festival has selected 27 projects for its Tribeca All Access, program which is designed to nurture relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities. From April 20-25, the participating directors and screenwriters will present their upcoming works to more than 100 potential investors, development execs, producers and agents.

There are 24 U.S.-based filmmakers involved in the 27 projects, which were selected from a pool of more than 475 submissions. Six projects came through international associations.

The 2009 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award Narrative jurors are Viola Davis, Sanaa Lathan, Anne Carey, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Luis Guzman, Darnell Martin, Lance Reddick and Amy Robinson; the 2009 Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award Documentary jurors are Ellen Kuras, Fenton Bailey and Lola Ogunnaike.

For the second year, Taa will include international delegates by featuring six projects through its associations with the U.K. Film Council, Screen Australia (formerly Australian Film Commission) and Canadian Film Center.