FEATURE: MOULIN ROUGE Interviews with Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann, the stylishly edgy director who turned William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet into a surprise box-office hit.

• Fox Searchlight Pictures is 'Kissing Jessica Stein'
• FilmFour snaps up Damon, Van Sant
• Joseph Fiennes Set For Period Thriller
• Miramax Eyes Low Budget Brit Pic
• Female American Psycho too much for author
• A publicity stunt for a British movie about the rave scene has seen po-faced diners on the French Riviera splattered in fake blood.
• MTV Paws At Film Roman's "Hairballs''; Series Based on the Original Award-Winning LEVEL13.NET Short
• Myriad, Tapestry team for co-production alliance
• Lolafilms
• Capitol Films
• EA to Partner With William Morris Agency for Majestic

Fox Searchlight Pictures is 'Kissing Jessica Stein'

Fox Searchlight Pictures has acquired worldwide distribution rights to "Kissing Jessica Stein.'' The deal was negotiated by Fox Searchlight's Executive Vice President, Joseph de Marco, and John Sloss of the indie financing company Cinetic Media. Hillary Field in Fox Searchlight acquisitions was instrumental in bringing in the project.

The romantic comedy stars Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen who adapted the script from their play "Lipschtick.'' Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, "Kissing Jessica Stein'' took the audience award for best film and a special jury prize for writing and acting at the IFP/West Los Angeles International Film Festival. Eden Wurmfeld and Brad Zions produced the film with Juergensen and Westfeldt serving as co-producers.

The film is a fresh take on the subject of sex and the single girl. Jessica, a sensitive but neurotic New York journalist, is at the end of her emotional rope. Frustrated by a nightmarish dating spree, Jessica resorts to the classifieds to find love. On a daring whim, she decides to answer an intriguing ad even though it is in the "Women Seeking Women'' section.

"Kissing Jessica Stein'' is a modern, romantic comedy that breaks all rules -- it blurs the lines between friendship and romantic love, and finds the funny, surprising and ultimately poignant overlap between the two.

"The film deals with the ups and downs of a relationship from a unique perspective in a provocative, emotional and humorous way. We are confident that all the world will fall in love with Jessica Stein as we have,'' commented Fox Searchlight President, Peter Rice.

Producer, Eden Wurmfeld said "I'm thrilled to be in business with Fox Searchlight Pictures -- they really understand how to market and promote our film. I can't think of a better distributor to bring ''Kissing Jessica Stein" to the light of the screen.''

The film is slated for release in spring 2002. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group. For more information please contact: Julie Tustin (310) 369-1148.

FilmFour snaps up Damon, Van Sant

FilmFour continues to flex its muscles in the States amid reports that the UK outfit is investing in a low budget murder drama that reunites the Good Will Hunting star Matt Damon with helmer Gus Van Sant.

Reuters reports that Damon is set to star alongside Casey Affleck - younger brother of Ben, with whom Damon co-wrote the Oscar-winning script for Hunting. FilmFour has not commented on the deal but is understood to have taken all UK rights and will also handle international sales.

While story details are sketchy and no official script has been made public, it is understood that the $7m production centres on a mercy killing involving two young friends who become lost while hiking in the desert. The move marks a return to indie films for Van Sant after his work on Psycho for Universal Pictures and Finding Forrester for Columbia, in which Damon had a cameo role.

Joseph Fiennes Set For Period Thriller

Joseph Fiennes is to star in period kidnap thriller. The star of Enemy At The Gates and Shakespeare in Love is in line to play a Jewish father whose son is kidnapped by the Vatrican in the period thriller Edgardo Mortara. The script is by Jeremy Brock, creator of the TV series Casualty.

Miramax Eyes Low Budget Brit Pic

Al's Lads, a low budget British comedy drama that screened at Cannes this year, has caught the eye of American production giant Miramax. The film, which focuses on the exploits of three Liverpool boys who rob Al Capone before returning home to the Merseyside backstreets, stars Royle Family actors Ralf Little and Ricky Tomlinson. Producer Peter Barnes said: "We have very high hopes for the film. The reaction has been marvellous."

Female American Psycho too much for author

American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis has criticised a planned sequel to the film of his famous book. Peoplenews reports that Ellis has had nothing to do with the proposed film and has said that: "I have problems with it."

The feature, directed by Morgan J Freeman, will focus on a female student who becomes a serial killer after surviving an attack by Patrick Bateman, the lead character from the first film, who was played by Christian Bale.

But Ellis said the idea of a female serial killer is bizarre. During his research he found only one recorded case and said most women described as such were just the partners of men who committed the murders. "Serial killers are driven by testosterone. It seems totally untenable to have a woman as a serial killer," he said.

Ellis added that he did not see how a sequel would work anyway. "I don't see how there can be a follow-up to the movie when they had Christian Bale ultimately just drawing pictures of his horrible killings. He never touched anyone," he said. "I have nothing to do with the movie."

A publicity stunt for a British movie about the rave scene has seen po-faced diners on the French Riviera splattered in fake blood.

A group of actors attacked each other with what appeared to be dead pigeons at the Cannes Film Festival.

The bizarre scene, on an exclusive private beach in the French resort, was part of a promotion for the film 24 Hour Party People, about the music scene in Manchester in the 1980s and early 90s.

The film, starring Steve Coogan as Factory Records label boss Tony Wilson, charts the rise of the bands such as the Happy Mondays and depicts the outrageous behaviour which accompanied their journey to stardom.

The four actors who portray the Happy Mondays lived up to the band's reputation by causing mayhem on the beach in front of the exclusive Majestic Hotel.

Having arrived in town with a number of dead pigeons - stuffed as stage props - they proceeded to attack each other with the birds, throwing them around in the sea in front of amazed diners and sunbathers.

Danny Cunningham, who plays the band's lead singer Shaun Ryder, received a cut to his head in the chaos and blood was splattered onto tables where people were eating lunch.

Security guards from the hotel reacted quickly and ejected the actors from the beach, sending a large group of journalists scattering.

The idea for a stunt involving pigeons came from a scene in the film where a young Ryder poisons 3,000 of Manchester's pigeons with crack cocaine.

Wiping blood from his head Cunningham said: "I think Shaun would have been proud of us. We came to Cannes to be wild and now we are going home.

The film, which is due to hit the screens in February 2002, also stars the Royle Family's Ralf Little, who plays guitarist Peter Hook.

MTV Paws At Film Roman's "Hairballs''; Series Based on the Original Award-Winning LEVEL13.NET Short

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, May 15, 2001--Film Roman Inc. (OTCBB:ROMN), a leading independent television and film production company best known for its primetime hits "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill," today announced its award-winning Web short, "Hairballs," has been picked up for development into a television series by MTV.

Peter Schankowitz, president of Television Programming and Development for Film Roman made the announcement.

"Hairballs," an animated, dark comedy with a satirical twist on the classic "cat and mouse" cartoons, was created by Mr. Lawrence ("Ren and Stimpy") and developed by Eric Radomski, creative head of Animation and executive producer for Film Roman's Web site, LEVEL13.NET.

The short has garnered numerous awards including Honorable Mention at the 2000 Playboy Animation Contest, an Annie Award nomination in 2000 and critical and public acclaim at the Yahoo! Internet Life Film Festival as well as Ottawa's Animation Festival.

"Now that we are creating and developing our own projects, we have been able to move in new directions that have opened the doors to new network relationships like MTV," said Schankowitz. "'Hairballs' reflects the true creative sensibility that can be found at Film Roman and is an excellent example of what can result when animators are given the creative freedom to push the envelope."

"MTV's commitment to 'Hairballs' validates our use of LEVEL13.NET to develop and create new projects," said Radomski. "It's definitely more eccentric and satirical than the prime time and Saturday morning series for which we're known."

"'Hairballs' combines a classic cartoon approach with an edgy sensibility that makes it relevant to our audience," said Abby Terkuhle, president, MTV Animation.

The deal was put into place by Film Roman's Peter Schankowitz and Sidney Clifton, vice president of Television Development, and brokered by Hubert Smith, vice president of Business Affairs.

Mr. Lawrence began as an animator for John K. on the "Ren and Stimpy Show." Since then, he's written, directed and done voices for such shows as "Rocko's Modern Life" and "SpongeBob Squarepants." In 1999, Houston WorldFest gave him an award for his first live-action short "Legally Dead."

Producer/director and three-time Emmy recipient, Eric Radomski was supervising producer/director for Todd McFarlane's "Spawn," and Ralph Bakshi's "Spicy City" for HBO Late Night, prior to joining Film Roman and taking charge of its growing library of digital shorts and LEVEL13.NET content programming.

Radomski was also animation director on Steven Spielberg's Emmy Award-winning "Freakazoid" for Warner Bros. Television. Prior to that he was producer/director of the Emmy Award-winning "Batman: The Series," and the producer/director on the animated feature "Mask of the Phantasm" for Warner Bros. Animation.

With headquarters in Los Angeles, Film Roman is best known for its work on behalf of primetime hits, "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill," as well as its established base in Saturday morning and syndicated kids animation.

The company has now expanded into live-action television and motion picture production and maintains a Web presence, LEVEL13.NET, as an area to develop new properties for its television and film business. Leveraging its talented pool of animators, Film Roman is also active in the commercial production business.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: Music Television, MTV2, VH1, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV LAND, TNN, CMT and The Digital Suite From MTV Networks, a package of nine U.S. digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks.

MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide. In addition, MTV Networks operates The MTVi Group and Nickelodeon Online, a portfolio of leading Internet properties built to address every interest of today's music fan and Internet-savvy kid.

CONTACT: mPRm Public Relations Alan Amman aamman@mprm.com/, 323/933-3399

Tracy Mlakar tmlakar@mprm.com

Myriad, Tapestry team for co-production alliance

LA/London financing, production and sales outfit Myriad Pictures has teamed with LA production outfit Tapestry Films for a multi-year co-production alliance under which Myriad will provide Tapestry with a development fund and the two will co-produce two films a year. Myriad will retain international distribution rights to all the titles. Tapestry's credits include The Wedding Planner, She's All That and Pay It Forward.

The first film under the new agreement is the teen comedy Van Wilder: Party Liaison starring Tara Reid and Ryan Reynolds and produced by Tapestry partners Peter Abrams and Robert Levy. Van Wilder is executive produced by Myriad co-presidents Kirk D'Amico and Philip Von Alvensleben. Myriad and Tapestry are currently developing Breaking The Girl, a college campus thriller written by Nina Coleman.

The two companies first worked together on Tangled, a thriller starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Shawn Hatosy and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers which Miramax Films will distribute domestically.

Myriad's president of production Lucas Foster will work closely on the co-productions with Tapestry president of production Jennifer Gibgot, executive vice president of production Andrew Panay and executive vice president Jonathon Komack Martin.

 Myriad has signed a multi-picture agreement with completion bond company International Film Guarantors (IFG) under which IFG will be the company's principal completion guarantor for its future film slate. The agreement covers IFG's recent bonding of Myriad's People I Know, The Good Girl and Van Wilder: Party Liaison.

Lolafilms

Spanish heavyweight Lolafilms has boarded Mexican production The Cannibal’s Daughter (La Hija Del Canibal), which reteams the director and producers of box office smash Sex, Shame And Tears (Sexo, Pudor Y Lagrimas).

Lola, which handled distribution in Spain on Tears, will co-produce and take all Spanish rights to the $2-2.5m comedy-thriller from director-writer Antonio Serrano and co-producers Titan Producciones and Argos Cine.

The film, based on a novel by Rosa Montero and starring Cecilia Roth as a woman searching for her disappeared husband, is set to shoot in Mexico in November.Titan associate producer Enrique Ortiga says a US co-producer is also in negotiations.

Capitol Films

Japan’s Gaga has picked up Jeepers Creepers from UK-based Capitol Films.Capitol has sold a host of overseas territories on the American Zoetrope title, with Spain’s Tri-Pictures taking the film as part of a three-picture package including City Of Ghosts and CQ. Jeepers also went to Scandinavia’s Scanbox, along with Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and City Of Ghosts. Redbus already has Jeepers for the UK.

On Gosford Park, Capitol has closed deals with buyers including Spain’s Lauren, Medusa’s Italy, France’s Bac and the Benelux’s Cineart

EA to Partner With William Morris Agency for Majestic

Groundbreaking Interactive Online Entertainment to Expand to Television, the world's largest interactive entertainment software company, announced today that the William Morris Agency (WMA) will represent Majestic(TM), its groundbreaking online entertainment experience that will launch this summer on EA.com(SM), for television.

The online suspense thriller is slated to launch in late spring. William Morris will work with EA to package the project with television production partners, develop a marketing strategy for selling the project and service the project with writers, directors and on-air talent.

``It is exciting to partner with William Morris, as they share our vision to define the next generation of entertainment with experiences that tightly integrate the very best that both television and the Internet has to offer,'' says Neil Young, Vice President, Executive in Charge of Production and Creator of Majestic. ``The commitment of William Morris, their enthusiasm and clear capability to expand and integrate Majestic with television makes them the perfect partner.''

``Majestic is a truly groundbreaking and compelling interactive television project that crosses both fiction and non-fiction genre,'' said WMA's Mark Itkin. ``We are very excited to help them make the crossover to television.''

Initiating a milestone in the evolution of interactive entertainment, Majestic is an episodic experience that will roll out monthly as part of the EA Platinum Service, exclusively available at EA.com. The first season is planned to feature a total of nine episodes, including a free pilot episode available to anyone who has an Internet connection. After playing the pilot, players will subscribe for $9.99 a month for subsequent episodes of Majestic.

Majestic combines the existing tools and content of the Web with groundbreaking interactive technology to redefine online gaming. Highly personalized and naturally paced, Majestic delivers its engrossing, cutting-edge experience through familiar devices such as the telephone, fax, AOL's Instant Messenger service, E-mail and the user's Web browser. Using these tools, the player is placed at the center of his or her own intricate mystery. Majestic does not require a PC-CD ROM or large download; it uses the best capabilities of the Internet to organize and deliver a completely unique online entertainment experience.

Representing Electronic Arts in negotiations were David Fox and Jeffrey Light from the law firm of Myman, Abell, Fineman, Greenspan & Light.

About EA.com

EA.com, which went live in October of 2000, is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., and is a business division of Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS ), the world's largest interactive entertainment software company. Under an agreement with America Online, Inc. (AOL), the world's leading interactive services company, EA.com provides exclusive games programming for the AOL Games channel, AOL.COM, Netscape.com, ICQ.com and CompuServe, in addition to the EA.com home site. The relationship between EA.com and AOL has created a leading online gaming community and provides several services, including the ability to download and play games, find online opponents, obtain game related information and join chat rooms to discuss games.

About The William Morris Agency

Founded in 1898, the William Morris Agency, the largest talent and literary agency in the world with principal offices in Beverly Hills, New York, Nashville and London, is a privately held company representing clients in all segments of the entertainment industry, including theatrical motion pictures, network, cable and syndicated television, news, theater, music, public appearance, publishing, commercials, new media and corporate advisory.

Note to Editors: Electronic Arts and Majestic are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA.COM is a service mark of EA.com Inc. AOL is a registered trademark of America Online, Inc. in the United States and elsewhere.

Contact: Electronic Arts, Jerry Schmitz, 310/234-7105, jschmitz@ea.com

William Morris Agency, Don DeMesquita, 310/859-4188, ddm@wma.com