Keanu Reeves Goes ‘Side By Side’ In Poland
Plus Cameraimage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography that takes place in Poland, has added Keanu Reeves’ documentary Side By Side as its opening film. The film’s director, Chris Kenneally along with cinematographer Chris Cassidy, producer Justin Szlasa and producer/host Keanu Reeves will attend the screening in Bydgoszcz and talk about the film. Side By Side includes interviews with filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, George Lucas and martin Scorsese who discuss pros and cons of 35mm vs. digital. It was previously announced that David Lynch will receive the fest’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Directing. Fest runs Nov. 24 to Dec. 1.

007 Bond Tour Kicks Off Monday In The UK
James Bond is set to travel the UK to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the franchise. Beginning Monday, Roger Moore and other Bond film stars will appear at locations around the country that have been used in the 007 movies including Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland, Penbryn Beach in Wales and Stoke Park in England. Former Bond girls Eunice Grayson, Britt Ekland and Shirley Eaton as well as Richard Kiel will join the 007 Days of Bond tour which ends in London on Sept. 24. The 23rd Bond picture Skyfall opens in the UK next month.

Australian Regulator Flags Concerns Over Seven’s Bid for Consolidated
The Australian competition authority has flagged concerns about a possible bid by Seven Group Holdings for Consolidated Media. News Corp., has lodged a binding takeover bid for CMH which values the company controlled by James Packer at $A1.94B ($2.02B). Seven Group, which has a 25.3% stake in CMH, asked the regulator to review whether it could buy the balance of the shares. The competition body was due to announce its findings on Thursday but has asked for further submissions by September 27. It said its preliminary view is that the Seven Group’s proposed acquisition is likely to raise competition concerns by limiting the ability of the Seven Network’s rival free-to-air channels from bidding for premium sporting rights. It expressed concern that Seven would gain access to confidential information relating to sports rights bids by other networks. A Seven Group spokesman said, “We will continue working through the issues” with the regulator in an effort to resolve their concerns.” A decision is expected on October 11. – Don Groves.

Nine Entertainment’s U.S. Lenders Retain Insolvency Advisers
A carve-up of Australia’s debt-laden Nine Entertainment Co., owner of the Nine Network, seems increasingly likely. Hedge funds Apollo and Oaktree, which are owed more than $A1B ($1.04B), have retained insolvency specialists KordaMentha to examine the company’s financial statements and advise on restructuring options, The Australian reported. Goldman Sachs has proposed the major lenders convert debt into a 70% equity stake in Nine. The balance would be owned by Goldman’s funds that hold mezzanine debt, with a small stake retained by private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific which bought the company from James Packer for $5.5B in 2007. Some $2.8B in senior debt needs to be repaid or refinanced by February. – Don Groves