Harrison Ford To Star, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu To Direct,  William Nicholson To Write and All To Produce.

Harrison Ford will star in a film about the heroic life and tragic death of maverick humanitarian worker Fred Cuny.

"Amores Perros" director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu is in negotiations to develop the Intermedia Films project, with "Gladiator" scribe William Nicholson penning the screenplay.

Cuny is something of a legend in the humanitarian aid community for relief efforts that helped change the way workers respond to war- and disaster-ravaged nations like Biafra, Guatemala and Bosnia. In April 1995, Cuny is believed to have been executed after disappearing with two Russian doctors and an interpreter while attempting to negotiate a Russian-Chechnyan cease-fire.

The project had its genesis with Ford, who narrated filmmaker David Fanning's 1997 "Frontline" documentary on Cuny, "The Lost American." After the actor began working with Intermedia on the upcoming "K-19: The Widowmaker," he and his longtime manager, Pat McQueeney, pitched the idea of a Cuny biopic. Ford also brought the project to producer Doug Wick, with whom he previously collaborated on the 1988 hit and best picture Oscar nominee "Working Girl."

"Ford has been the driving force behind the Cuny project," Wick told Variety. "He felt the story must be told." Ford, Wick and Fanning will all serve as producers.

Nicholson is penning the screenplay based on the documentary and Cuny's life rights, with Intermedia eying a spring 2003 production start.

"K-19: The Widowmaker," which was directed by Kathryn Bigelow with Ford as both star and executive producer, will be released domestically through Paramount this summer.

Fox draws deal for 'DragonBall' live-action pics

 20th Century Fox has acquired the feature film rights to the hugely successful Japanese anime property "DragonBall" for studio division Fox 2000 to develop into a live-action franchise.

Created by Japanese writer Akira Toriyama as a best-selling graphic novel, the property has been translated into a top-rated cartoon series, video games and straight-to-video releases, but the Fox deal marks the first time any company or studio has secured the live-action rights to the property. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In its various incarnations during the past 15 years, "DragonBall" has followed an epic story between good and evil, centering on the character Goku and a handful of friends who battle for the Earth against the deadly forces of the Saiyans, who are sweeping across the universe, leaving a path of destruction. Goku and friends' best chance for survival rests with the Namekian DragonBalls, which provide them the power to summon a mighty dragon.

"DragonBall" is perhaps best known by American audiences as a series on the Cartoon Network. "DragonBall Z" -- a series of 250-300 episodes that follow Goku's life as he grows up, gets married and has two sons -- debuted on the network in August 1998 and is the highest-rated cartoon on the network.

For last year, "DragonBall" ranked as the year's top item of interest on the Internet based on Lycos searches, topping Britney Spears, Napster and Osama bin Laden, and has become the most popular searched term in the history of the Lycos Top 50.

Fox was so high on acquiring the material that Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Jim Gianopulos flew to Japan about a month ago to meet with Toriyama and the property's publisher, Shueisha, to confirm the studio's commitment to the project and hammer out the deal. Also as part of the deal, Fox and Shueisha have agreed to collaborate on other properties in the Shueisha library.

"Acquiring 'DragonBall' is a major coup for the studio," Gianopulos said. "It's a really great property because it has all the elements that have made great franchises powerful and endearing. It has a long-standing mythology -- in this case 15 years -- and it's been known by a generation of kids, teens and young adults. There are dozens of characters, fantasy environments and bizarre planets and villains. It's an amazing and creative property, rich in great characters and unique worlds, and we are thrilled to be involved with it."

"I have always drawn my manga (comics) with the desire to create something unique to comics, something that can only be expressed in the form of comics," Toriyama said. "I felt that if I didn't do so, the reason for the existence of my comics will become weak. But recent movies have surprised us by entering such territory that used to belong only to comics with wonderful technology and wisdom."

Gianopulos said the studio has not yet attached a writer or director to the project. He added that it's too early to say if Fox will take New Line Cinema's "Lord of the Rings" route and shoot several pictures concurrently, but that they do have high aspirations for the franchise.

Gianopulos credited his Fox team, including Fox 2000 topper Elizabeth Gabler, Fox Japan marketing head Toshio Furusawa and business affairs senior vp Victoria Rossellini, for helping to put the deal together. Gabler will oversee the project with Fox 2000 director production Jack Leslie.

Connie Francis Sues Universal Music for Tens of Millions

Brian D. Caplan, a partner with Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow LLP (GLRS) announced today that his client, the world-renowned singer and performer, Connie Francis, has filed suit in the United States District Court Southern District of New York (Case# 02CIV1963) against Universal Music Corporation. In her complaint, Ms. Francis alleges that Universal, over a course of years, breached its contractual obligations to Ms. Francis, systemically grossly underreported record royalties due her, and intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon her by licensing the use of her recordings (including "Silent Night") in two sexually explicit motion pictures featuring rape scenes and deviant sexual conduct.

Ms. Francis will appear at a press conference at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, March 12, 2002) at Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow LLP, 100 Park Avenue, New York, where she will make a statement elaborating on her case.

With no regard to Ms. Francis' recording agreements or her image, and with serious disregard to her well known fragile mental health, Universal allegedly allowed the improper use of Ms. Francis' recordings in internationally released motion pictures which are replete with pornographic and sexually violent content. Several of Ms. Francis' recordings are exploited in these motion pictures, which include scenes of a vicious rape, suicide, murder, teen-age oral sex and the use of a pre-adolescent boy in sexually deviant practices. Fans will remember that Ms. Francis was brutally raped in a hotel room on Long Island in 1974, which led to years of depression. Subsequently, Ms. Francis played a major part in President Reagan's task force on violent crime, which addressed the issues of the plight of crime victims.

Ms. Francis recorded over 70 albums since 1955 and sold millions of records throughout the world including the classics "Who's Sorry Now?" and "Where the Boys Are". She also starred in several popular motion pictures including "Where the Boys Are" (1961), "Follow the Boys" (1963), and a TV movie "The Sister and the Savage" (1966). Ms. Francis' wholesome image was built up over years of hard work and dedication and has earned her international recognition and acclaim.

According to Mr. Caplan, Ms. Francis' action seeks tens of millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages, the rescission of her recording agreements, and the return of her master recordings.

Brian D. Caplan is the partner in charge of GLRS' Entertainment Law Practice Group. He represents performing artists, composers, record producers, personal and business managers, record companies, music publishers and merchandising companies. GLRS' Entertainment Law Practice Group has litigated numerous cases involving Copyright Infringement; Trademark Infringement; Defamation; Breach of Contract Claims; Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations; and Royalty Accounting Disputes. For additional information on GLRS' Entertainment Practice Group log onto www.glrslaw.com.

ADV FILMS Acquires Jim Henson Television's(TM) Hit Sci-Fi Series Farscape(TM)

Following the success of the DVD and video release of the first season of Jim Henson Television's groundbreaking sci-fi series Farscape, ADV FILMS is proud to announce the acquisition of the rights for the home entertainment release of seasons two through five of the award-winning series as seen on SCI FI.

Since its television debut in 1999, Farscape has built a large, devoted fan base, and has been SCI FI's #1 rated program on their Friday Night Original Programming block, experiencing an over 40% growth in viewership over its first three seasons. Farscape currently airs in countries around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Sweden. The series has been hailed as "The Best Sci-Fi on TV" by TV Guide, and "TV's Best Space Series" by USA Today. Farscape is also becoming an enormous merchandising franchise, with popular action figures, video games, comic books, novels, apparel, and other items currently being manufactured by top licensees. ADV FILMS' VHS and DVD releases of first season episodes were on Billboard's Top 10 sales charts for over four months. ADV plans on releasing seasons two through five on both VHS and DVD formats.

"Everyone at ADV is a huge fan of Farscape," ADV President John Ledford said. "We were excited when we acquired the rights to release the first season on home video a couple of years ago, and we're even more excited now that we have the next four seasons. Farscape is the best series of its kind to come along in the last couple of decades, and we are honored to be working alongside the folks at The Jim Henson Company, along with the cast and crew of the show, in making Farscape the franchise it rightfully deserves to be."

"We are thrilled to continue our relationship with ADV FILMS to bring future seasons of Farscape to DVD. We have had such a tremendous response from the first season DVD releases, and with Farscape's large and loyal fan base, we foresee a continued success," said Michael R. Polis, Senior Vice President Marketing Worldwide for The Jim Henson Company.

Determined to avoid the villainous Scorpius' pursuit after the destruction of the Peacekeeper Gammak base, Moya -- the sentient Leviathan spaceship that serves as home and transport for Crichton, Aeryn, D'Argo, and the rest of the crew -- is forced to abandon her newborn offspring, Talyn, to the devious Peacekeeper Crais so that she and her crew can safely navigate the Uncharted Territories of space. As they traverse the galaxy in their quest for a way to their respective home worlds, Moya's crew must deal with the consequences of her decision, as well as encounter many hostile aliens and the dangers they present.

The Jim Henson Company, an established leader in family entertainment for more than 40 years, is a multimedia production company; one of the top character licensors in the industry; a leading publisher of children's books; and home to Jim Henson Television, Jim Henson Pictures, Jim Henson Interactive and Jim Henson's Creature Shop(TM). The Company is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices and production facilities in New York and London. The Jim Henson Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of EM.TV & Merchandising AG based in Munich, Germany.

A.D. Vision (ADV) is a revolutionary force advancing the art of anime in North America -- and across the world. Since its inception in 1992, ADV's labels and subsidiaries (including ADV FILMS) have broadened a once limited niche market into a global industry with growing appeal. North America's #1 distributor of Japanese animation, ADV distributes premier titles, such as: Spriggan, Sailor Moon, Samurai X, Medabots, Robotech, Gasaraki and Neon Genesis Evangelion. ADV's commitment to genre programming, including popular science fiction programs such as Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Farscape and Gamera: Guardian of the Universe has helped ADV become a burgeoning entertainment powerhouse. For more information, visit ADV on the web at http://www.advfilms.com/ .

Director Martha Coolidge Makes Hollywood History

Filmmaker Martha Coolidge has been elected president of the Directors Guild of America, the first female to win the post in the union's 66-year history.

She replaces Jack Shea, who announced his resignation Saturday. The move by Shea, who was in his third two-year term, was not a surprise following last month's ratification of a new three-year contract by the 12,400 DGA members.

DGA presidents traditionally serve two terms, but Shea stayed for a third term in order to provide continuity of leadership for the contract talks.

Coolidge's directing credits include "Valley Girl," "Real Genius," Rambling Rose," "Out to Sea," "Lost in Yonkers" and "Angie." She has been nominated for the DGA Award for TV movies for "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" and "If These Walls Could Talk 2."

She has served as DGA 1st VP since 1995 and has been co-chair of the guild's Creative Rights Committee since 1992. She joined the DGA in 1983.

Coolidge will be replaced as 1st VP by Steven Soderbergh ("Ocean's Eleven"); Taylor Hackford ("Proof of Life"), who was serving as an alternate board member, will take Soderbergh's position on the board.

Coolidge's appointment by the national board was warmly welcomed Saturday night when the moves were announced to the 1,600 attendees at the guild's 54th annual awards ceremonies. Presenter Halle Berry, noting that she had enjoyed working with Coolidge on "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," told the crowd, "Girls go, yes!"

Coolidge said after the ceremonies that her major goal will be reaching out to as many sectors of the DGA membership as possible in order to deal effectively with the fast-paced shifts within the entertainment business.

"This is not a guild that's been rocked by disunity," she added. "We need to be able to address how new technology is changing the industry."

Shea's tenure as president included the negotiation of two new basic contracts, a strong push to seek solutions to the problem of runaway production, the pressuring of networks and studios to hire more female and minority directors and an agreement with the Writers Guild last year to voluntary guidelines giving scribes more involvement in the creative process, including improved access to film sets.

Internationalmedia AG Appoints Moritz Borman as New Chairman

In yesterday's March 11, 2002 meeting, the Supervisory Board of IM Internationalmedia AG decided on changes in the management of the company. Moritz Borman (46), Los Angeles, formerly deputy chairman of the management board of IM AG as well as chairman respectively co-chairman of the operating subsidiaries Pacifica and Intermedia Film Equities, Los Angeles, has been appointed as the new chairman of IM AG's board, effective immediately. In Los Angeles he will also be the worldwide Chief Executive Officer (CEO), responsible for the overall operations of the group of companies.

Bormann replaces Florian Bollen as chairman after Munich-based Bollen offered his resignation last week when the company issued its second profits warning for the year. Guy East and Nigel Sinclair continue to serve as managing board members instead of stepping down as the company announced in January.

Internationalmedia, formed when East and Sinclair's Intermedia merged with Bormann's Pacifica, made a previous profits warning in January. Original forecasts envisaged a profit of around Euros 47m for the year.

Caspar von Blomberg (38), Munich, member of the management board since December, and responsible for Corporate Development and Human Resources, has been appointed as deputy chairman. In addition, he will assume the responsibility for Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, which he will reorganize shortly. Between 1992 and 1999 he was a corporate strategist and investment banker at Deutsche Bank, before he became director of Corporate Development and Corporate Finance of the Axa Group in Germany.

British Film Institute Selects Movie Maestro Software to Manage Rights and Royalties for World's Greatest Film Collection

Counterpoint Systems, the world's leading provider of administrative software solutions for every aspect of rights management, announced today that the British Film Institute (bfi), the national agency responsible for encouraging and conserving the arts of film and television, will be implementing Counterpoint's Movie Maestro software to ensure the proper allocation of rights and royalties in respect to the 11,000 titles within their Access Collection (a division of bfi).

Movie Maestro is a program designed for film companies to manage all aspects of their film catalog, from ensuring an accurate and organized accounting of a new project launch to aiding the management and exploitation of old titles for which the company grants licenses. The British Film Institute, the main archival repository of British film and international film, has an extraordinary need to standardize its rights management system in the most efficient way possible. Counterpoint Systems is the company providing that solution.

"Counterpoint System's Movie Maestro will give us the greatest accessibility and efficiency necessary for the bfi's large catalog of films," said Rod Molinare, Head of Sales, bfi Collections. "We were impressed with Counterpoint's ability to provide a solution that successfully addresses the complexities of our more than 11,000 titles spanning the record of cinematic history."

The British Film Institute encompasses all aspects of motion pictures. Some recent commercial box office ventures are revivals of Lindsay Anderson's 60's classic "If ... " and the MGM classic musical "Meet Me In St. Louis." Its vast documentary section has films from around the world including "South," (UK 1919, restored version UK 1998), the feature-length original footage from British explorer Ernest Shackleton's heroic Antarctic expedition of 1914-1916. Bfi also holds archival footage of Britain's history, such as the 1895 "Grand Derby."

"Counterpoint is excited to provide bfi with Movie Maestro. We believe it is the complete rights management tool required for managing a catalog of 11,000 film titles," said Amos Biegun, CEO of Counterpoint Systems. "The complexity and size of the bfi installation is an endorsement of Movie Maestro's ability to handle large film libraries such as those of America's major movie studios."

About Counterpoint Systems

Counterpoint Systems, headquartered in London, was founded in 1987 and is the largest supplier of rights and royalties software solutions for film production and distribution companies, music publishers and record companies as well as the brand and merchandise licensing industries. The group employs over 75 members of staff, has offices in London, Los Angeles and Northern California and has a track record of over 1,500 installations in 42 countries.

About the BFI

The British Film Institute (bfi) is a non-profit making organization, which promotes opportunities for people throughout the UK to gain access to, learn more about and enjoy the widest possible range of film and television culture.

Bfi organizes the Regus London Film Festival and contributes to other festivals in the UK and internationally and runs the National Film Theatre and the bfi London IMAX® Cinema, the UK's largest screen.

Bfi also holds the largest collection of film, television and associated items in Europe. The collections include over 275,000 feature films dating from 1894, 200,000 television programs, seven million photographs and 15,000 movie posters. Bfi has distribution rights for 11,000 films.

Bfi provides a variety of services to cinemas UK-wide (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) so they are able to show the widest possible range of films to local audiences.

Bfi provides an authoritative source of information on film and television through the bfi National Library and publishes a wide range of books, the film magazine, Sight and Sound and educational materials for a variety of audiences.