TVP 2 Renews License to Parent
WARSAW: The second channel of the Polish Public Television (TVP), TVP2, has commissioned a third season of the comedy series License to Parent produced by ATM Grupa.
Art House Cinemas Protest Funding Crisis in Hungary
BUDAPEST: Hungary is facing the closure of as many as half of its art house cinemas in the next year, following the government reduction in funding for film industry activities.…
Vajna Appointed to Top Hungarian Film Post
BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán named Hungarian-born film producer Andrew G. Vajna as the government commissioner for the film industry starting from 18 January 2011. Vajna will hold the…
Green Light for New Romanian Channels
BUCHAREST: Four new television channels have received licences from the National Audiovisual Council of Romania (www.cna.ro).
HBO Launches VOD in Poland
WARSAW: HBO Central Europe has announced the launch of HBO GO. its first video on demand service in Central and Eastern Europe, in Poland.
Glass Tiger 3 Finds Box Office Success
BUDAPEST: Glass Tiger 3, which opened in Hungarian cinemas in December 2010, sold 227,000 tickets in four weeks. A comedy is about a bunch of friends in the country trying…
FESTIVALS: Hungarian Film Week Considers April Date
BUDAPEST: The 2011 Hungarian Film Week (www.hungarianfilmweek.com) is planned for April in a new scaled down, low-budget version of the event. The HFW has traditionally held at the end of…
Product Placement Banned in Poland
The Polish government has introduced new regulations for advertising and product placement in the public media. The new public media bill was created in order for Poland to meet the…
FESTIVALS: Cyprus Announces International Festival Competition
The Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture announced that the 9th Cyprus Film Days - International Film Festival 2011, co-organised with the Rialto Theatre, has been upgraded to an international…
Bulgaria Downsizes Day of National Cinema
Bulgaria's Day of National Cinema, held on 13 January 2011, was a quieter event due to the funding difficulties the film industry faced over the past year. Taking place in…
FNE DocBloc: 15 Young By Young
Produced by Dzintars Dreibergs, Ilona Bicevska (Estonia, Latvia)Twenty years ago, the Soviet Union collapsed - the largest country in the world, the symbol of Communism. Fifteen republics that were part…
Bulgarian DTT Tender Under Fire
Bulgaria's contested tender for DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) multiplexes could be declared void by the European Commission. The Austrian Broadcasting Services, Oesterreichischer Rundfunksender (www.ors.at) , the original frontrunner, eventually withdrew…
Malta Considers Stricter Film Permit Conditions
Following damage to an environmentally sensitive zone during a film production shoot, Malta is considering stricter conditions for filming permits based upon the historical and ecological nature of the sites…
Malta Plans Audiovisual Training Initiative
The Malta Film Commission and the government's Cultural and Audiovisual Unit are offering a training initiative for the audiovisual sector in early 2011.
TEO LT Announces $125 Million Investment
Lithuanian telecom company TEO LT has announced plans to invest over LTL 325 million ($125 million) in next-generation services in Lithuania in 2011. TEO LT (www.teo.lt) is the country's largest…
PRODUCTION: Seven Acts of Mercy Shooting in Italy
Seven Acts of Mercy/Sette opere di misericordia, an Italian/Romanian co-production between Alessandro Borrelli of La Sarraz Pictures (www.lasarraz.com) and Dan Burlac of Elefant Film, began shooting in Torino on 19…
Slovak Public TV and Radio Merged
The Slovak government merged public broadcasters Slovak TV (www.stv.sk) and Slovak Radio as of 1 January 2011 in an effort to control financial difficulties at Slovak TV.
MediaPro Signs WB Distribution Agreement
BUCHAREST: MediaPro Distribution (www.mediaprodistribution.com), the distribution company of MediaPro Entertainment (www.mediaproentertainment.com) will exclusively distribute Warner Bros. Pictures (www.warnerbros.com) productions in classic, digital and 3D format in the Romanian cinemas starting…
Kino Polska Builds on 2010 Success
WARSAW: Following its most successful year, Polish channel Kino Polska plans to launch Kino Polska International in the next year. Kino Polska (www.kinopolska.pl) was launched in 2003 as part of…
Georgian NFC Funds Two Films
TBLISI: The Georgian National Film Center (www.gnfc.ge) has awarded two films in its first 2011 grants session. A Fold in My Blanket received 210,000 euros, and Children's Gunshot received 106,000…
