LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION FOR THE WORLD’S FIRST MOVING FILM FESTIVAL
Central Trains and Channel 4’s IDEASFACTORY, in conjunction with Screen FX, will make movie history on Monday, April 3rd when the world’s first film festival on board a train launches on the company’s services across the West Midlands.
With an audience of well over 1 million passengers, The Rolling Stock Short Film Festival will see the entire fleet of 323 electric trains across the region being transformed into moving cinemas throughout April.
Around 70 shorts, produced by both first time and professional film makers from as far a field as Australia and Hong Kong to Wolverhampton, will be
screened during the four week event. The films will be shown through the network of on-board televisions introduced by Screen FX in December 2005.
Passengers will be able to text-vote for their favourite film throughout the festival, with the most popular shorts taking home a cash prize and
filmmaking equipment courtesy of Casio. Voters also have the chance to win a one month rail pass each week during the festival.
Dan Jones, Editor of IDEASFACTORY West Midlands said:
“The Rolling Stock Short Film Festival is a unique opportunity to showcase new and established talent to a huge travelling audience. We hope that the inspirational schedule will provide some welcome entertainment for our travelling audience on their daily commute.”
Stephen Ollier, Chief Executive of Train FX (the train operating division of Screen FX) said: “We are delighted to be working with Channel 4 IDEAS
FACTORY on this interesting initiative. I’m sure this film festival will reach more viewers than most.”
Steve Banaghan, Managing Director for Central Trains, said: “The TVs on trains have proved very popular with our passengers and we had already
received positive feedback on the films we screened at our premiere. We are pleased to support the world’s first film festival on a train.”
For more information, visit www.channel4.com/rollingstock
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Charlie Chaplin’s work celebrated with special St George’s Day screenings in Leicester Square
CHAPLIN AT LEICESTER SQUARE
Leicester Square, London WC2
Sunday 23 April 2006, 12pm – 6.00pm
FREE
The contribution of Charlie Chaplin to cinema and filmmaking will be celebrated, as a part of a special series of events backed by the Mayor of London to mark St George's Day.
Some of Chaplin’s best-known feature length films - The Kid, The Gold Rush and Modern Times - will be screened in Leicester Square, the home of British cinema and where a statue of Chapin now stands, alongside a selection of shorts that have been newly restored by the British Film Institute.
Organised by the Mayor of London with assistance from Association Chaplin, MK2 and the British Film Institute, this free event also includes children's activities and workshops, plus street entertainment, Chaplin style.
Born in 1889 in Walworth, South London, Charlie Chaplin left England to tour the US as a clown with Fred Karno's slapstick company in 1912. He made his first films in 1914 and in the years that followed went on to achieve enormous acclaim and popularity as an actor, director, composer, writer and producer, but most notably with his portrayal of 'the Tramp' in films that continue to have universal appeal to this day.
The screening times are as follows:
12.30pm
The Kid (1921)
*Charlie Chaplin’s first full-length film. Co-starring five-year-old Jackie Coogan, The Kid is the story of a child abandoned in a limousine by his unwed mother. When the Little Tramp finds him, he tries unsuccessfully to find a home for the boy. Obliged to keep him, the Little Tramp teaches the youngster about life on the streets.
2pm
THREE SHORTS: Kid Auto Races, A Film Johnnie and Mabel at the Wheel (1914)
BFI restored Keystone Film Company shorts with live piano accompaniment
3pm
The Gold Rush (1925, 1942)
*Chaplin's irrepressible Little Tramp seeks riches in the Yukon in this all time classic. Leave it to the Tramp as he turns hard times into hilarity as he savours a Thanksgiving feast of boiled shoe, slips outside a house teetering on a cliff and faces all manner of perils with pluck and fortitude. The 1942 re-release of the 1925 original with sound track and narration by Chaplin will be screened.
4.30pm
Modern Times (1936)
*One of the happiest and most light hearted of the Chaplin pictures. Man v Machine! Chaplin’s Little Tramp plays an assembly line worker fighting back against the mind numbing monotony and time clock rigidity of industrialism.
*Film notes from 'The Chaplin Collection' --------------------------------
Yorkshire Bids For Bollywood Oscars
The Indian city of Mumbai, the heart and soul of Bollywood, and home to the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) is the final destination for the Yorkshire Tourist Board's (YTB) official bid for Yorkshire to host the 'Bollywood Oscars' 2007. The bid to bring the multi million pound four day celebration of Indian cinema to Yorkshire is spearheaded by David Andrews, chief executive of YTB and fellow board member and bid director Zulfi Karim (picture attahced) and if successful will generate and estimated £10million.
Bid director Zulfi Karim, who first conceived the idea that Yorkshire should host the event said: "This is a huge opportunity for Yorkshire. The IIFA Weekend attracts between 15,000 and 20,000 thousand visitors. Typically a minimum 8,000 of them stay over an average three night period and thousands more come for the individual events or to simply be a part of IIFA Weekend. Media coverage will be extensive and global, it's exactly the kind of event we need to be grabbing for Yorkshire."
The four day long celebration traditionally takes place in June and kicks off with a star studded red carpet event where the biggest names in Indian cinema turn out for the world's media and the world premiere of the year's biggest Bollywood epic. Day two takes the form of a charity cricket match, stars versus professional sportsmen. Day three sees the tops stars, guests and VIPs gathering for the IIFA Awards (the 'Bollywod Oscars'), a day long ceremony with an audience of over 12,000 fans.
TV and film tourism has long benefited Yorkshire. With an audience of over 1 billion within India and over 20 million across 58 other countries worldwide, Indian cinema can open up a whole new market among committed fans ready to visit locations where their favourite films were shot. So the final day is devoted to location visits throughout the region for those involved in film production, a showcase for what Yorkshire can offer film crews.
IIFA's choice of location for the IIFA Weekend 2007 will be announced at a media conference to be held in June at the 2006 event. Yorkshire Tourist Board, key partners and the business communities of the five cities central to the bid (Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, York and Hull) will await the announcement with baited breath.
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Reef Entertainment is releasing three excellent PC games in Late April and May this year.
The first of these --SHADOWGROUNDS is due out on April 28th and
offers a great sense of atmosphere and mystery in a thoroughly enjoyable shooter package.
The game has already received review scores in excess of 80% in its native Finland and we anticipate similar scores in the UK and other territories as the release rolls out
LIQUIDATOR which is due for release on May 5th is a strong action packed FPS set in large cinematic adventure landscapes while
UTOPIA CITY which encompasses great game play in a nightmare scenario of dream world compliance or freedom becoming everything! completes our trilogy of releases and is out on May 26th.
Attached are visuals of each game plus age rating and minimum game spec information for each game
Further information is available on our website
www.reef-entertainment.com
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UK Company Provides Soundtrack For New EyeToy Music Game
Dundee, Scotland, March 28th. Interactive music specialist Jack's Hoose Music today announced it has completed work on the soundtrack for Rhythmic Star, the soon to be released videogame for the Sony PlayStation 2.
The soundtrack features 25 specially re-recorded hit tracks and includes many well known songs from some of the world's biggest artists. Jack’s Hoose Music produced authentic, interactive versions of the songs allowing players to trigger music and rhythmic elements within the tracks in time to the beat.
Rhythmic Star is a brand new and unique music action game, which uses the PlayStation 2's Eye Toy camera peripheral. The game challenges up to four players to 'touch' falling stars on screen in time with the music.
Rhythmic Star combines 'live action' using the Eye Toy camera to put the player on TV, blended with bright, colourful Japanese styled cartoon action. This creates a whole new form of gaming, which is part music, part rhythm, part dance and all round fun.
The game was created and developed in Japan by Namco. It will be published in Europe by Ignition Entertainment.
Ged Grimes, the founder and Managing Director of Jack's Hoose Music, says, “The role of music in videogames is changing. Instead of being just background to the action, an increasing number of games are making music the whole focus. You can now play games where singing, dancing, interacting with or creating music is how you actually score points. These types of games are really pulling in a lot of new players who are not traditionally considered 'gamers'.”
“It was a great pleasure to work with the team at Namco Japan on this innovative game," says Ged. "It's unusual for Japanese developers and publishers to outsource audio production to Europe. Our experience working with other interactive music titles such as "Amplitude" and "Pop Idol" gave us the edge that Namco Japan were looking for. Working on such a wide range of styles and genres always presents a unique challenge but we are delighted with the end result. Rhythmic Star is a huge amount of fun to play and should appeal to everyone who loves music and gaming"
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SILVERSCREEN LTD IN ADMINISTRATION
Andrew Pepper and Peter Saville, Partners in Kroll’s Corporate Advisory & Restructuring Group, were appointed as Joint Administrators to Silverscreen Ltd, the UK’s only specialist DVD retailer, on 29 March 2006.
The company will continue to trade as normal and all stores will remain open, while the Joint Administrators review all of the options for the business.
The UK-based company has 65 stores and employs approximately 550 staff (both full and part time). Its headquarters are based in West London. Last available figures show a turnover of approximately £64m. There are no planned redundancies at this stage. All employees have been paid for the period to 31 March 2006 and wages going forward will be paid as an expense of the Administration.
The company has entered into Administration due to cash flow difficulties that have been experienced due to competitive trading conditions on the high street, as well as the increasing dominance of the internet and supermarket sales.
Andrew Pepper, commenting on the appointment said:
“Silverscreen is a unique business as the UK’s only DVD specialist retailer, which has unfortunately suffered due to the rapidly evolving market place, which is seeing technology offering alternative and cheaper options to the traditional DVD.
“We have already commenced negotiations with a number of interested parties and are confident that we will find a buyer for the business. The Company’s suppliers have expressed their support and the stores remain well-stocked and open for business.
“We appreciate these are worrying times for employees and customers and we will endeavour to keep them informed of any notable developments.”
