You are viewing the archive: “2012 London Olympics”

London 2012 Fest Commissions New Film From ‘Senna’ Director Asif Kapadia

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday March 23, 2012 @ 11:18am PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, Asif Kapadia, Eddie Marsan

London OlympicsThe Olympic Games don’t begin until July 27, but the Brits are planning cultural events early to capitalize on a summer that will see the UK flooded with tourists. Along with the release of a re-mastered Chariots Of Fire, organizers have added details for the London 2012 Festival, a UK-wide cultural celebration from June 21-September 9. BAFTA winning Senna director Asif Kapadia has been commissioned to make a short film as part of an initiative run by BBC Films and Film4. Kapadia’s The Odyssey joins Asif Kapadia Olympics SennaMike Leigh’s A Running Jump starring Eddie Marsan; Lynne Ramsay’s The Swimmer and What If, directed by Streetdance’s Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini. The four films will premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 24 and in London the next day with a live simulcast to 50 theaters across the UK in partnership with Picturehouse. As part of the London 2012 program, the BFI will also present restored versions of Alfred Hitchcock’s early silent British films. Meanwhile, BBC 2 will air Shakespeare plays starring Jeremy Irons, Ben Wishaw, Tom Hiddleston, Patrick Stewart, David Suchet, David Morrissey, Julie Walters and John Hurt, among others. Music and dance events and other visual arts presentations will run throughout the fest.

Related: ‘Chariots Of Fire’ To Get Fresh Run Ahead Of London’s Summer Olympics

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‘Chariots Of Fire’ To Get Fresh Run Ahead Of London’s Summer Olympics

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday March 23, 2012 @ 4:06am PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, 20th Century Fox, BFI, Chariots of Fire

The British Film Insititute is stumping £150,000 in P&A support to trot out classic Oscar winner Chariots Of Fire. The 31-year-old film’s theatrical run will begin throughout the UK on July 13 with a digitally remastered print. Fox, an original backer, has been helping in the effort to re-release the 1981 Best Picture winner about a pair of runners who make it to the 1924 Olympics despite religious obstacles. Ben Cross, Ian Charleson and Ian Holm starred in the Hugh Hudson-directed and David Puttnam-produced picture. Holm won the best supporting actor Palme d’Or in Cannes when the film premiered there. Later, Chariots also won the 1981 Oscar for Colin Welland’s screenplay, Milena Canonero’s costume design and Vangelis’ ubiquitous original score. A full press release follows: Read More »

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BBC Director General Mark Thompson To Step Down After London Summer Olympics

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday March 19, 2012 @ 7:25am PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, BBC, Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson BBC OlympicsIn a move that had been expected for the past few months, Mark Thompson announced his exit this afternoon in a letter to staff. “This morning I told (BBC chairman) Lord Patten that I believe … Read More »

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Danny Boyle, Stephen Daldry Chime In On London Olympics Plan

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 27, 2012 @ 6:36pm PSTTags: 2012 London Olympics, Danny Boyle, Stephen Daldry

For the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, movie director Danny Boyle said he’s aiming for intimacy rather than spectacle. “We wanted to make the feel of the opening ceremony … intimate and personal,” he said in an interview today. The anticipated TV audience of a billion viewers is important, “but we wanted the 80,000 people who were lucky enough to be in there to be the conduit through which you feel this experience.” The ceremony will be called “Isles of Wonder” and it will involve a big bell and lots of nurses. The nurses are part of a tribute to the National Health Service, and the title was inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. A specially cast bell will ring out to signal the start of the opening ceremony. The bell will be inscribed with Caliban’s line in The Tempest: “Be not afear’d; the isle is full of noises.” Read More »

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London Olympics Readies For Global Media And Their Record Spectrum Demands

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday January 23, 2012 @ 3:27am PSTTags: 2012 London Olympics, Ofcom, Wireless Spectrum

With 26,000 members of the global media converging in London this summer, the 2012 Olympic Games will be the biggest media event in history. As such, Britain’s communications regulator, Ofcom, says demand from wireless technologies will more than double in the capital during the Games’ seven-week run — testing the country’s spectrum reserves like never before. With wireless spectrum already at full capacity in London for many of the applications to be used during the Olympics, Ofcom has devised plans to manage the airwaves including borrowing spectrum from public sector bodies like the Ministry of Defence. It will also free up unused civil frequencies and make use of spectrum that’s available without a license. Ofcom has been at the task since 2006, shortly after London won the bid to host the Games. Tests have been run in the past year, including at the April 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. During the Games, up to 20,000 wireless frequencies will be assigned for such technologies as wireless cameras, microphones, timing and scoring systems and sports commentary systems. That’s more than double the number usually assigned in a year. Read More »

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NBC And Panasonic Team To Offer 2012 Olympics In 3D

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday January 10, 2012 @ 12:36pm PSTTags: 2012 London Olympics, NBC Sports & Olympics, Panasonic

The 3D broadcasts will come a day after the events, and won’t include everything. Still, this is the first time the the Olympics will be available here in 3D. NBC will offer more than 200 hours of 3D broadcasts to every pay TV … Read More »

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London Game For Shoots During Olympics

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday November 24, 2011 @ 3:01pm PSTTags: 2012 London Olympics

As London prepares to welcome the 2012 Summer Olympics, the city’s film and media agency wants filmmakers to know movie business is welcome. Film London is creating a single online gateway for the first time and streamlining the application process for productions … Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: UK, Spain, Cuba

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday September 29, 2011 @ 9:20pm PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, Box Office, Oscar Best Foreign Language Film

Summer Movies Will Face Tough Competition in Britain
Things don’t look too rosy for the British summer box office in 2012. Film Distributors’ Association CEO Mark Batey told BBC News that May to September will be a difficult period. Competition will come from 2 1/2 weeks of the London Olympics, plus Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix, the queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Paralympics. Summer films like The Dark Knight Rises, Battleship, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Bourne Legacy will have little chance to continue the British box office growth seen this year over 2010, Batey said. The British box office currently stands at £872 million, 4% higher than it was this time last year.

Spanish Sales Agency Freak Moves Into Feature Films
Madrid-based short-film sales agency Freak is branching out to feature films. It announced international sales of Bernard Arellano’s Between Night And Day and Celia Novis’ On Vampyres And Other Symptoms. Arellano’s movie won the Industry Award at the recent San Sebastian International Film Festival, and Novis’ film is screening at horror fest Sitges on Oct. 12. Freak also will attend the American Film Market this fall as well as the IDFA/Docs For Read More »

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Meredith Vieira Joins Brian Williams’ NBC Primetime Newsmagazine

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday September 13, 2011 @ 3:03pm PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, Brian Williams, Meredith Vieira, NBC Nightly News, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Today

Meredith Vieira, who announced in May that she was retiring from her job as Today co-host and signed off in June, isn’t settled into her rocking chair just yet. NBC News said today that Vieira has been named … Read More »

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Is Dick Ebersol Back At NBC Sports?

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday August 30, 2011 @ 1:12pm PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, Dick Ebersol, NBC, NBC Sports, Sunday Night Football

On the same day that NBCUniversal announced it has picked Jim Bell to executive produce coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London comes a report that former NBC Sports guru Dick Ebersol is returning to the fold in an … Read More »

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Jim Bell To Top NBCU’s Olympics Coverage

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday August 30, 2011 @ 7:57am PDTTags: 2012 London Olympics, NBC, NBC Sports & Olympics, Today
Nellie Andreeva

Today executive producer Jim Bell will executive produce NBCUniversal’s coverage of the 2012 London Olympics. He will succeed former NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, who executive produced every Olympics from 1992 until his abrupt … Read More »

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