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Well Go USA has nabbed North American rights to “Row 19,” a thriller from director Alexander Babaev, which is being sold by Central Partnership.

The film centers on a young female doctor and her 6-year-old daughter, who board an overnight flight in a violent storm. When passengers on the half-empty plane inexplicably begin to die, the woman’s grip on reality weakens and she is forced to relive her worst childhood nightmare. The film, which is slated for release in Russian cinemas on Nov. 11, has also sold to Latin America (Bf Distribution), South Korea (Cinema Black), Italy (Minerva Pictures), and the Middle East (Phars Filmco Motion Pictures).

“‘Row 19’ is a spine-tingling new entry to the genre that will prove quite capable of keeping audiences around the world at the edge of their seats, and we’re thrilled to team up with Central Partnership to bring the film to horror fans throughout North America,...

The “magic” of the theatrical experience might be the sentiment most top of mind at this year’s (or any) CinemaCon, but while concerns about streaming competitors and a declining rate of theatrical ticket sales will only continue to dominate the conversation at the annual theater exhibitor confab, some industry vets are talking about new ways of appealing to their audience.

At a Monday afternoon panel dedicated to exploring the impact of automation and artificial intelligence on the movie industry, a surprising new player in the theater vs. streaming experience emerged: customer personalization made possible through the power of automated technology and artificial intelligence. While competitors like Netflix have long enjoyed access to deep information about their customers, movie theaters are a little late to the game, and they’re just now catching up on the possibilities it might allow.

As new lines of informational technology take off, those possibilities...

Shares of Reading International are up about 5% so far this week and touched an all-time high of $17.18 today after Patton Vision’s Paul Heth released a letter to the company disclosing that a consortium he’s leading has raised its offer for the nation’s No. 11 exhibition chain by 8.8% to $18.50 a share — or $436 million. He told CEO Ellen Cotter that “the time has come for all shareholders of Reading to learn and understand our offer,” which provides “an elegant…...

Fox International Productions (Fip) has signed an exclusive first-look deal for Russian-language films with Paul Heth and Michael Schlicht.

Fip president Tomas Jegeus and Twentieth Century Fox Emea evp Paul Higginson made the announcement on Wednesday with Heth and Schlicht.

The pact covers both co-productions and acquisitions of Russian-language films and is supplemental to Fox’s existing co-production and acquisitions relationships and activities in Russia and Cis.

Heth and Schlicht are longtime producing partners whose credits include Stalingrad – the highest grossing film in Russian box office history – as well as the Very Best Movie comedy franchise, Vysotsky: Thank God I Am Alive and Battalion.

The pair will work closely with 20th Century Fox International’s managing director for Russia, Vadim Smirnov.

Heth is a Moscow-based media entrepreneur and owner and CEO of the Karo cinema chain who is regarded as an active player in the revival of Russia’s exhibition sector.

Schlicht is a film...

Fox International Productions is teaming in an exclusive first-look deal with film industry veterans Paul Heth and Michael Schlicht for Russian-language movies. The arrangement encompasses both co-productions and acquisitions and adds to Fox’s continuing co-production and acquisitions relationships and activities in Russia and Cis. Russia remains a powerhouse market with $1.25B in 2014 box office and locally made films accounting for $215M of the total. Although the ruble has taken a hit against the dollar, Russia this year continues to regularly feature in the Top 10 offshore plays for the studios.

Longtime producing partners Heth and Schlicht have collaborated on such titles as Stalingrad, the highest-grossing film in Russian history; the Very Best Movie franchise; Vysotsky: Thank God I Am Alive; and this year’s Battalion. Heth is a Moscow-based media entrepreneur who is widely credited with the revitalization of the Russian theatrical exhibition sector. He also is an owner and serves as CEO of Karo,...

Fox International Productions is teaming in an exclusive first-look deal with film industry veterans Paul Heth and Michael Schlicht for Russian-language movies. The arrangement encompasses both co-productions and acquisitions and adds to Fox's continuing co-production and acquisitions relationships and activities in Russia and Cis. Russia remains a powerhouse market with $1.25B in 2014 box office and locally made films accounting for $215M of the total. Although the ruble…...

St Petersburg International Media Forum closes inaugural edition with world premiere of Serena.

Francois Ozon’s latest feature The New Girlfriend was voted as the Best of the Fest by the audience at the inaugural edition of the St Petersburg International Media Forum (Spimf) which closed on Friday evening with the world premiere of Susanne Bier’s Serena, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

However, neither director Bier, nor any of the talent were in St Petersburg for the film, which Volgafilm will be releasing in Russian cinemas on October 30.

Although there was no formal competition for Spimf’s film programme, a jury of local film critics was formed to give awards for what they regarded as the best film and TV series showing in the 2014 line-up.

Australian film-maker Anna Broinowsky’s documentary Aim High In Creation, which screened in the Kor-kor sidebar about North Korean cinema, was named best film, while the Press...

Last Broadcast director Lance Weiler among those set to deliver masterclasses at the St Petersburg International Media Forum, which opens tonight with Mommy [pictured].

Lance Weiler, Adam Sigel and Andy Green are among the international guests set to give masterclasses at the inaugural St Petersburg International Media Forum (Spimf) which kicks off tonight (Oct 1) with the Russian premiere of Xavier Dolan’s Mommy.

Film director Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Pandemic), who is also the co-founder of Columbia University’s Digital Storytelling Lab, will speak about interactive storytelling as part of Spimf’s business programme (Oct 6-8), while writer-producer and content strategist Adam Sigel of La-based Cutbait Productions will explore storytelling across platforms, and Andy Green, a co-founder of the viral distribution platform Distrify, will discuss the influence of scientific and technological innovation on cultural strategy.

In other master classes, the creative technologist Clint Beharry of New York-based Harmony Institute will look at ways of optimising stories for social...