Nice work if you can get it. Ben Stiller has been paid $1m (£568,000) for pitching his next film to DreamWorks studio. All that is known about the movie is that - surprise surprise - it's a comedy. Stiller will split the cash with his collaborators from his 2004 hit Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber and producer Stuart Cornfeld.

A hard-hitting drama about a runaway teenager who falls into prostitution is leading the field at the Swedish film awards. Mun mot mun (Mouth to Mouth) has been nominated in seven categories, including best film, best director for Björn Runge and best actor for Peter Andersson. The other big contender is Zozo, the story of a Lebanese boy who leaves his war-torn country for a new life in Sweden. Written and directed by Lebanese-born Josef Fares, Zozo is the Nordic country's hope for the best foreign film Oscar. It picked up four nominations, for best film, best director, best script and best cinematography. The Guldbagge (Golden Beetle) awards ceremony will take place on January 30 in Gothenburg.

The action-comedy Kung Fu Hustle was triumphant at the Asian Excellence Awards in Los Angeles last night. The film was named outstanding film and its writer-director-actor, Hong Kong star Stephen Chow, won the gong for outstanding film performance. Kill Bill's Lucy Liu was given the visibility award while Quentin Tarantino was honoured with a building bridges award. James Ivory's producer, Ismail Merchant, was honoured posthumously with a lifetime achievement award. The Asian Excellence awards aim to celebrate the achievements of Asian-Americans in arts and entertainment.