• Vivendi to Buy USA Networks Assets
• Bruce Willis, Man of War
• Hunter to Star in Phil Lynott movie...
• Fox in ``League'' for Victorian suspense
• Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment Has Found An Outlet To Plug Into.
• Castle Rock books Howard Hughes project
• Bacall, Gazzara join von Trier's Dogville
• ''Vanilla Sky '' extracts $25 million premiere
• ''Harry'' rules overseas, surpassing $300 million
• Dreamworks Will Release The Tom Hanks Gangster Picture The Road To Perdition
• L.A. critics cast eyes on ``Bedroom,'' Lynch
• Summit, Mandalay extend relationship till 2004
• Winstar bought out, renamed Wellspring Media
• Previous
  • Friday Dec 14

Vivendi to Buy USA Networks Assets

Vivendi Universal is buying the entertainment assets of USA Networks Inc. in a $10.3 billion deal to improve distribution of the French media giant's music and movies in the United States.

The deal announced Monday is the latest chapter in Vivendi's remarkable transformation in just a few years from a water utility into a global media and entertainment powerhouse.

Under the deal announced Monday, Vivendi will combine USA Networks' assets such as the USA and Sci-Fi cable channels and the TV production operation responsible for ``Law and Order'' and ``Jerry Springer, with its own Hollywood-based Universal Studios.

Universal has a huge film catalogue and its Universal Studios last year produced hits like ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' and ``Erin Brokovich.''

For $10.3 billion in cash and stock, Vivendi will get a 93 percent stake in a new company that will be called Vivendi Universal Entertainment.

USA Networks' Barry Diller, the entertainment industry veteran who ran the Paramount movie studio in the 1970s and oversaw the launch of the Fox television network in the 1980s, will be chairman and chief executive of Vivendi Universal Entertainment.

Vivendi, which acquired Universal from Canada's Seagram a year ago, hopes that Diller can expand its presence in the United States to compete with the likes of AOL Time Warner, Walt Disney Co. and Viacom.

The deal follows Vivendi's agreement Friday to invest $1.5 billion in EchoStar Communications Corp., the second biggest U.S. satellite television service with about 6 million subscribers.

In a statement, Vivendi said the two deals ``fully address Vivendi Universal's needs in terms of integration and distribution on the US market.''

Universal Studios was previously paired-up with Canal Plus Groupe, the European pay-TV group, within the Vivendi Universal organization. The new deal raises the question of Canal Plus' future status within the group.

``At the end of just one year, following our merger with Seagram and Canal Plus, we have put the pieces together in fulfilling our strategy,'' Vivendi Chairman Jean-Marie Messier said in a statement. ``We have focused on integration and addressing our relative distribution weakness in the U.S.''

Vivendi will finance the deal by selling 314 million USA Network shares it already owns, as well as selling 32 million of its shares in exchange for part of Liberty Media Corp.'s stake in USA Networks.

Vivendi will pay another $1.6 billion in cash and $750 million in various deferred payments, the statement said.

A portion of the cash financing will be provided from proceeds of the sale two weeks ago of 9 percent of Vivendi Environment. Vivendi also divested 8 percent in British broadcaster BSkyB last week and is expected to cash in $8 billion from the sale of the beverage assets it acquired in the Seagram deal.

Liberty Media is to sell its 27 percent stake in cable TV company Multithematiques to Vivendi Universal for 5.2 million Vivendi Universal shares. That will give Liberty a 3.6 percent stake in Vivendi and make the U.S. company Vivendi's biggest institutional shareholder.

USA Networks produces TV shows and made-for-TV movies through Studios USA. It is selling the 13 television stations it owns to Univision, the Spanish language television company.

Bruce Willis, Man of War

Actor Bruce Willis will be spending part of next year acting in Hawaii. The state, meanwhile, will be acting like Africa.

Willis will star in ``Man of War,'' a $70 million movie by Revolution Studios to be shot from March through mid-June on Oahu, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported Friday.

Hawaii will stand in for Africa, where a Special Forces unit led by Willis' character is sent to save a doctor - played by Monica Bellucci - before a civil war reaches the small village where she is doing humanitarian work. But the doctor refuses to leave unless 40 villagers are evacuated with her.

Willis, the star of the ``Die Hard'' movies and ``The Sixth Sense,'' stars in the upcoming World War II-era film, ``Hart's War,'' with Colin Farrell. Bellucci starred in ``Malena'' and in October finished filming ``The Matrix Reloaded.''

Hunter to Star in Phil Lynott movie...

Acclaimed Irish film producer Noel Pearson is to make a film based on the life of the late Thin Lizzy lead singer Phil Lynott and it will star Holly Hunter.

The mother of the famous rocker Philomena Lynott has spoken to the Irish press about how happy she is with Pearson's choice of actress to play her.

Irish actress Elaine Cassidy, who recently stared with Nicole Kidman in The Others, is to play a young Philomena Lynott while the world renowned actress, Holly Hunter, is to play an older Philomena in the $15m movie.

Speaking to the press in Dublin Philomena said she was overjoyed at the choice of star who will play her. "I'm chuffed. Both of them are beautiful women and I've been walking around with my hand in the air since I heard."

The name of the actor chosen to play Phil Lynott is being kept secret and it is rumoured that he is a unknown stage actor from Dublin. The film is based on the book My Boy which was written by Philomena.

Fox in ``League'' for Victorian suspense

Director Steve Norrington (``Blade'') is in final talks to take the helm of the Victorian era action-suspenser ``The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' for the studio.

Having just released the Jack the Ripper graphic novel adaptation ``From Hell'' this year, Fox is once more looking to yet another Alan Moore comic book.

Set in the penultimate year of Queen Victoria's reign, which ended with her death in 1901, ``League'' is essentially a period piece ``X Men,'' culling its leading protagonists from the landscape of British popular literature.

Mina Harker (nee Murray) of Bram Stoker's ``Dracula'' leads the motley crew of misfits, who include the Indiana Jones precursor Allan Quartermain, from H. Rider Haggard's books; Captain Nemo, the Indian submariner prince of Jules Verne's ``20,000 League Under the Sea''; the infamously bipolar Dr. Henry Jekyll created by Robert Louis Stevenson; and the seldom seen Dr. Hawley Griffin, the transparent rogue of H.G. Wells' ``The Invisible Man.''

In Moore's ``League'' all these fictional literary characters are real -- and really needed. All are called upon by Queen Victoria to help thwart an evil madman who is intent upon -- what else? -- world domination. The picture is understood to be budgeted at close to $80 million.

Originally released as a six-issue series under the America's Best Comic's imprint, ``League'' has since appeared in trade paperback and hardcover editions. The project has been in development for several years at Fox.

Insiders familiar with Fox's plans for ``League'' say that it is headed for an immediate start, now that Norrington's aboard, and could begin shooting by late March or early April.

Norrington had previously been set to direct Jennifer Lopez and Samuel L. Jackson in ``Tick-Tock,'' which Columbia pushed from a January to a June 2002 start after Sept. 11. Lopez was set to play an FBI agent who works feverishly with an amnesiac suspect in custody who may have planted the numerous bombs that keep exploding in shopping malls and stores around Los Angeles.

Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment Has Found An Outlet To Plug Into.

A deal is near for the company to enter a first-look, five-year pact with Paramount Pictures. Devlin will arrange funding of Electric's overhead and development, while Paramount will fully finance films it picks from Electric's slate.

Electric was formed by Devlin last May, when he ended his Centropolis partnership with director Roland Emmerich, his partner on such films as ``Independence Day,'' ``Stargate,'' ``Godzilla'' and ``The Patriot.'' Emmerich is attached as director on several projects at Electric.

Devlin never made a film at Paramount, but there is some kinship between him and studio boss Sherry Lansing. In her pre-mogul days when she was an actress, Lansing appeared in the 1970 Irvin Kershner-directed film ``Loving,'' written and produced by Devlin's dad, Don Devlin.

Electric will get its first product onscreen next summer with ``Eight Legged Freaks,'' a Warner Bros. sci-fi picture about deadly giant spiders, starring David Arquette.

Castle Rock books Howard Hughes project

Castle Rock Entertainment has nabbed the rights to ``Hughes: The Private Diaries, Letters and Memos,'' a book that will form the basis for a Howard Hughes movie to star Jim Carrey.

``Memento'' director Christopher Nolan will shoot the film and write the script. Carrey stars in Castle Rock's ``The Majestic,'' which opens on Friday.

Author Richard Hack's New Millennium book had stars and studios circling because it was informed by diaries and letters provided by Robert Mahue, a Hughes confidante who is also aboard the project as a consultant and will provide access to other proprietary underlying source material for the project. The bidding battle began last month, when Daily Variety revealed that Carrey and Nolan were chasing the book but were determined to make a Hughes movie together either way.

Just as passionate about the book was Scott Steindorff, a producer with origins in Las Vegas real estate, who engineered a calculated and clever gamble by going directly to New Millennium publisher Michael Viner and optioning the material out from under the noses of studios. Viner conceived the book and set Hack to write it, and the publisher controlled the film rights and had allowed multiple parties to assemble the best package and make the best offer.

Steindorff chased the Hughes rights before the title became a critical sensation and bestseller. He promised Viner a richer deal than was offered by studios, which at the time were hiding their talent attachments.

Once Steindorff sectioned off those rights for his Stone Village Prods. shingle, studio executives found themselves grudgingly dealing for the book's rights through Steindorff's agent, Innovative's Graham Kaye, who became the point person on the deal.

Undeterred were Carrey's reps, who were determined to get the property for Carrey, much as they once nearly pulled off a deal to control rights to Dr. Seuss' ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' before Universal made the deal with producer Imagine Entertainment, and Carrey became that picture's star.

In the deal's early days, it looked as if Carrey-Nolan would be aligned with Universal. But the frenzied activity roused the interest of Castle Rock, which wanted a return date with the actor following ``Majestic.'' The deal will be worth seven figures if the film gets made.

Nolan, who followed ``Memento'' by directing the Al Pacino/Robin Williams drama ``Insomnia,'' will begin writing the Hughes film immediately. Steindorff will produce with Carrey and Nolan.

The project becomes the latest attempt to mount a Hughes biopic among a list as long as the latter-year Hughes' talons. The most viable rival project is a Hughes picture scripted by ``Gladiator'' co-writer John Logan for ``Ali'' director Michael Mann. That picture was expected to star Leonardo DiCaprio, and relocated to New Line from Disney last year.

Elsewhere, Warren Beatty developed a project, while director Milos Forman and Edward Norton climbed aboard another project, which stalled. Another project focuses on ``The Hoax,'' Clifford Irving's book about how he sold a bogus bio of Hughes to McGraw-Hill and served time for the ruse after Hughes alerted the publisher that the story was not his.

Bacall, Gazzara join von Trier's Dogville

Hollywood veterans Lauren Bacall and Ben Gazzara have been the latest additions to the all-star cast of Danish maverick Lars von Trier’s highly anticipated follow-up to the multiple award-winning Dancer In The Dark.

His new project, Dogville, has already attracted high-profile talent, including: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Chloe Sevigny and Jeremy Davies as well as Trier regulars Stellan Skarsgaard, Katryn Cartlidge and Siobhan Fallon.

Dogville shoots from Jan 7 in the Swedish regional fund, Film I Vast’s Trollhattan studious, where Trier also filmed Dancer. The film has, like previous Trier efforts, attracted backing from several European partners in Germany, Italy, Sweden, France, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands. Vibeke Windeloev is once again holding the producer reins with Peter Aalbaek Jensen acting as executive producer, and Zentropa’s Trust Film Sales in charge of world sales.

The Danish film industry has in recent weeks been holding its breath after the recent election where the social-democratic party lost after eight years in power. Uncertainty about the new government’s financial policy have threatened to freeze the support from the Danish Film Institute, delaying several planned productions. However, Dogville appears to have had its state subsidy approved and will go ahead as planned. The $10m film has backing from the Danish Film Institute to the tune of $1.2m

''Vanilla Sky '' extracts $25 million premiere

Paramount's ``Vanilla Sky,'' anything but a plain-vanilla Tom Cruise thriller, flew to No. 1 in its first box office outing with an estimated $25 million this weekend.

But observers will have eyes wide open in future weeks to see if the challenging Cameron Crowe-helmed drama has the legs of a top Cruise performance or something less sturdy.

Warner Bros.' ensemble crime caper ``Ocean's Eleven'' saw a middling 40% drop in its sophomore session to finish No. 2 with an estimated $23.1 million. Third place went to Sony's R-rated comedy ``Not Another Teen Movie,'' which opened at $13.1 million.

Warners' blockbuster family fantasy, ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' finished fourth with a 33% fifth-frame drop to $9.9 million. The ``Harry'' haul flew to $253.3 million.

Industrywide, the weekend's estimated $94 million in total box office receipts represented an 11% downtick from the same frame last year, due to a weakness among performances in the bottom half of the current top 10.

``We're really lacking depth,'' said Tom Borys, president at box office tracker ACNielsen EDI. In a year-to-date comparison, 2001 remains 8% ahead of last year at $7.52 billion -- a bit curious in a year when there's still no clear consensus on a single best-picture nomination yet.

In fact, the industry surpassed last year's record annual box office with this weekend's grosses. Whether the year surpasses 1997's record 1.26 billion in movie admissions depends in large part on a spate of year-end releases yet to bow. ``The odds still look pretty good,'' Borys said.

``Vanilla Sky'' is an adaptation of an earlier Spanish film, ``Abre Los Obros'' (``Open Your Eyes'').

``It's a good opening,'' Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen observed of the ``Sky'' performance. But he acknowledged thick competition could cause sophomore session woes. With the picture skewing older and female, Paramount hopes the forecast will improve once holiday-shopping preoccupations end.

With an estimated production cost of at least $60 million, ``Sky'' will be measured against the backdrop of mostly boffo results for Cruise pictures. But a more telling precedent may be the downbeat perf of 1999's ``Eyes Wide Shut,'' a Stanley Kubrick-helmed Cruise starrer that grossed only $55.7 million domestically.

``Sky'' co-stars Penelope Cruz (``Blow''); Cruise's then-wife Nicole Kidman (``The Others'') co-starred in ``Eyes Wide Shut.''

Sony marketing and distribution president Jeff Blake touted ``Not Just Another Teen Movie'' as representing ``Christmas alternative programming'' like last year's successful ``Dude, Where's My Car?'' With an estimated negative cost of only $15 million, ``Teen Movie'' shouldn't break a sweat to reach profitability in upcoming frames.

Warners distribution president Dan Fellman was similarly sanguine over the outlook for ``Ocean's Eleven.'' The Steven Soderbergh-helmed caper pic -- whose topliners include George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon -- has raked in an estimated $73.3 million in only 10 days.

Elsewhere this weekend, Disney marked a regal limited bow for ensemble laffer ``The Royal Tenenbaums,'' grossing $254,000 from five Gotham and L.A. theaters, or an eye-popping $50,814 per venue. The Wes Anderson-helmed picture expands to top-25 markets Dec. 28 and wide Jan. 4.

Lions Gates' Oz drama ``Lantana'' unspooled in a half-dozen Gotham and L.A. locations and grossed an estimated $66,000, or a strong $11,000 per venue. The Anthony LaPaglia-Geoffrey Rush starrer will hold bicoastally until a Jan. 18 expansion.

IFC drama ``The Business of Strangers'' added 29 theaters for a total 37 and grossed $127,899, or an average $3,457. Another 25 engagements will be added next weekend.

Miramax's ``In the Bedroom'' -- which copped L.A. film critics best-picture kudos this weekend -- grossed some $68,000 in six Gotham and L.A. playdates for a solid $11,300 per engagement. The Sissy Spacek starrer expands to 50 locations on Christmas.

Miramax's ``Iris'' and ``Pinero'' each bowed in a pair of venues for one-week Academy-consideration runs; ``Iris'' grossed an estimated $21,000 and ``Pinero'' $20,000. Miramax's ``Behind the Sun'' saw $4,700 from a single L.A. engagement.

Miramax was pleased with its 1,000 sneaks for romancer ``Kate & Leopold,'' which played to 80%-capacity audiences on Friday and Saturday nights. Toplined by Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, ``Kate'' unspools in about 2,500 theaters Friday.

Warners held 500 sneaks for Jim Carrey's ``The Majestic,'' which drew more than 50%-capacity audiences in over 74% of venues. The picture is another among a full half-dozen wide openers set for the upcoming frame. Highest profile is New Line's ``Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,'' which launches on Wednesday.

''Harry'' rules overseas, surpassing $300 million

``Harry Potter'' continued its triumphant world tour at the weekend, ringing up an estimated $45.4 million from 39 markets, propelling its foreign total to $313 million -- well ahead of North America's $252 million tally.

The latest weekend haul, strong as it is, nevertheless falls shy of last week's record $62.3 million from 37 countries, which topped the prior weekend record haul of $60.9 million.

Known as ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' in Asia and the United States and ``Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' elsewhere, the picture premiered atop the totem this weekend in Hungary and South Korea, returned for seconds in France and Italy and enjoyed top spot holdovers in Japan, Australia, Israel, Thailand and likely 17 Euro territories including Germany, Blighty, Spain and Austria.

Only in Mexico was it bumped into second spot, by ``Monsters Inc.,'' whose three-day haul of $2.8 million looks set to become the third largest animated opening there after ``Tarzan'' and ``Dinosaur.''

``Harry'' notched an opening weekend record in Seoul, generating about $1.4 million, and surpassing by 11% the record held by local picture ``Dharma.'' Nationwide, Warners expects receipts to tally $3.14 million.

In Oz, Sony's horror ``Thir13en Ghosts'' debuted in third spot with about $300,000 in four days, below ``Harry'' and ``American Pie 2.''

In Spain, the debuts of ``The Princess Diaries'' and ``Rat Race'' were overshadowed by ``Harry Potter,'' ``American Pie 2'' and ``Don't Say A Word'' in that order. ``Diaries'' garnered about $180,000 over Friday and Saturday, and ``Rat Race,'' $163,000.

In Argentina ``Bandits'' bowed at No. 3 with about $105,000 for the three days behind ``Harry'' and ``Monsters,'' in laps three and two respectively.

Dreamworks Will Release The Tom Hanks Gangster Picture The Road To Perdition

DreamWorks will release the Tom Hanks gangster picture ``The Road to Perdition'' on July 12, about four years to the day since its successful bow of ``Saving Private Ryan.''

``This film will appeal to adults, and July is certainly a good month for Tom Hanks,'' said Jim Tharp, the studio's distribution president.

Studios often save their prestige fare until the end of the year, when the films are fresh in the mind of critics groups and Academy members. While the summer launch for ``Ryan'' raised some eyebrows, its box office and awards bounty showed that July could work for quality films not driven by special effects. Miramax has mulled a mid-July slot for its own period drama, ``Gangs of New York,'' which was held over from 2001.

``Perdition,'' which wrapped its Illinois shoot last summer, was also penciled in for a December bow. But DreamWorks executives viewed a rough cut in September, and opted not to qualify it for this year's Oscars.

``We felt it was better to be patient,'' explained Richard D. Zanuck, who is producing the film along with son Dean Zanuck and Mendes.

Zanuck agrees with the industry consensus that summer 2001 lacked the kind of substance ``Perdition'' is aiming to deliver.

``Summer is the playground for effects pictures,'' he said, ``but after a while, the audience starts longing for something more.''

``Perdition,'' directed by Sam Mendes (''American Beauty''), is based on a graphic novel about a hitman known as the Angel of Death (Hanks) seeking to avenge the murders of his wife and son in the Depression-era Midwest. The film also stars Jude Law, Paul Newman, Stanley Tucci and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

The addition of ``Perdition'' pumps up the volume for next summer, which already features ``Minority Report,'' ``Men in Black 2,'' ``Scooby-Doo,'' ``Spider-Man'' and the next ``Star Wars'' installment. ``Perdition'' will open the same weekend as Disney's ``Reign of Fire,'' starring Matthew McConaughey. Fox will distribute ``Perdition'' internationally.

L.A. critics cast eyes on ``Bedroom,'' Lynch

``In the Bedroom,'' Todd Field's turbulent drama about a married couple dealing with the death of their son, has been chosen as the best film of 2001 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.

The independently produced picture, which Miramax acquired after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last January, also saw its leading lady, Sissy Spacek, win actress kudos.

David Lynch, whose mysterious suspenser ``Mulholland Dr.'' copped the New York Film Critics' best picture honors last week, was named best director by the Los Angeles critics. The Universal Focus release was runner-up for best picture with the L.A. contingent.

Denzel Washington was voted best actor for his turn as a corrupt L.A. detective in ``Training Day.'' Jim Broadbent was selected for the supporting actor nod for his performances in ``Iris'' and ``Moulin Rouge,'' while Kate Winslet took supporting actress kudos for her characterization of the young Iris Murdoch in ``Iris.''

Screenplay honors went to Christopher Nolan for the reverse-time thriller ``Memento,'' while Roger Deakins snared the cinematography gong for his black-and-white work in ''The Man Who Wasn't There,'' and Howard Shore was cited for the music score of ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.'' Catherine Martin was singled out for production design for her ``Moulin Rouge'' creations.

Danis Tanovic's darkly comic take on hostilities in the Balkans, ``No Man's Land,'' took the nod for foreign-language film; ``Shrek,'' directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jensen, prevailed among animated pictures; and Agnes Varda's ``The Gleaners and I,'' from France, received documentary kudos.

The New Generation Award went to John Cameron Mitchell, creator, director and star of the stage-derived musical ``Hedwig and the Angry Inch,'' while the Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film and Video Award was bestowed upon Trent Harris' ``The Beaver Trilogy.'' A special citation was voted to veteran animator Joe Grant ``for lasting contributions to the art of animation from the 1930s to infinity and beyond.'' The career achievement award was previously voted to Italian composer Ennio Morricone.

The L.A. critics overlapped with their Gotham counterparts in just two categories -- actress and documentary -- and it's of passing interest that the West Coast group picked an East Coast indie for best picture and vice versa. ``Gosford Park,'' winner of three awards in New York, was shut out in L.A., although it did figure heavily in the voting and was runner-up in two categories, for director Robert Altman and supporting actress Helen Mirren, who was also cited for ``Last Orders.''

Runners-up in other categories were actress Naomi Watts for ``Mulholland Drive''; actor, New York winner Tom Wilkinson (``In the Bedroom''); supporting actor, Ben Kingsley (``Sexy Beast''); screenplay, Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes (``Ghost World''); foreign-language film, New York winner ``In the Mood for Love''; animation, ``Monsters, Inc.''; documentary, ``Startup.com''; cinematography, Christopher Doyle and Pin Bing Lee (``In the Mood for Love''); music score, Stephen Trask (``Hedwig and the Angry Inch''); and production design, Grant Major (``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'').

The 27th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. awards will be presented Jan. 22 during a dinner at the Casa Del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica.

Summit, Mandalay extend relationship till 2004

International sales, production and financing outfit Summit Entertainment has renewed its relationship with Peter Guber’s Mandalay Pictures for another three year term starting Jan 2002. Summit has provided international sales and distribution for Mandalay since Guber founded the company in 1995, servicing its movies with international partners through its domestic deal with Sony Pictures and now Paramount Pictures.

The new deal, expected to yield an average of three films a year, kicks off with romantic adventure Beyond Borders starring Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen and directed by Martin Campbell. An epic story of the turbulent romance between two people set against the backdrop of the Medecin Sans Frontieres organisation, it starts principal photography on Dec 16.

Summit was responsible for setting up Mandalay’s foreign partnership network with independents such as Nippon Herald in Japan, Constantin in Germany and C+P in France and the UK. It handled sales and servicing on films such as Seven Years In Tibet, Donnie Brasco and the upcoming Servicing Sara with Matthew Perry. Since Mandalay moved to Paramount, Summit has serviced its three films to date Sleepy Hollow, Enemy At The Gates and The Score.

“Peter Guber, Mandalay’s chairman, is one of Hollywood’s greatest and most prolific producers, a true entrepreneur and leader,” said Summit president and CEO Patrick Wachsberger in a statement. “It’ss very exciting to work with him. I’m pleased to reaffirm this relationship which has been a keystone of Summit’s business.”

Winstar bought out, renamed Wellspring Media

Winstar TV & Video, the entertainment arm of Winstar Communications, has been bought out by a group of private investors and re-named Wellspring Media. The buyout includes the theatrical division, Winstar Cinema, as well as the TV, home video, production and direct distribution units.

Winstar TV & Video president Al Cattabiani will now serve as president and CEO of Wellspring and all of the existing key personnel will remain in place. Winstar Cinema’s inaugural release under its new identity will be Tsai Ming-liang’s What Time Is It There? which is set to roll out in January.

Throughout 2002, other releases will include Olivier Assayas’ Les Destinees Sentimentales starring Emanuelle Beart and Isabelle Huppert, Paul Cox’s Nijinsky, Mama Africa with Queen Latifah and Anne-Sophie Birot’s Girls Can’t Swim with Isild Le Besco.

Wellspring executives Krysanne Katsoolis, Julie Goodman and Marie Therese Guirgis will be at Sundance on behalf of the company. Two Wellspring productions have been selected for the festival - documentary Devil’s Playground (in American Spectrum) and short film Bintou.

Winstar Cinema gained a reputation as a successful distributor of foreign language films such as Yi Yi, Under The Sand, L’Humanite, The Circle and Pola X.