Televisual articles from April 2002

Televisual archives from April 2002

Hit Entertainment hires Oscar producer to reboot Pingu. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The freelance animation producer behind the Oscar- and Bafta-winner Father and Daughter and the Oscar-nominated Jolly Roger has signed up with Hit Entertainment as executive producer. Claire Jennings will head up production on a new series...

Light Age pitching spree pays off with new deals. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Light Age has secured commissions from a variety of different companies after a recent bout of pitching. Firstly, Sky Travel gets a full rebrand this month, and its show Sky Travel Deals gets titles and stings care of Light Age designer Rob...

The Studio launches film fund. (Film).(for short-films)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Universal's film channel The Studio is launching a short-film completion fund for up-and coming directors ,Projects will be judged by Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. Over three years, the fund will give a maximum [pounds...

BBCi set to test the UK's IQ. (New Media).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... BBCl and Talent TV are gearing up for Test the Nation, an interactive programme that the broadcaster says could show how intelligent the UK is. It will run over the course of one evening in May, with a studio audience and viewers asked to...

Glasgow City Halls. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Glasgow City Halls is to get nearly [pounds sterling]1m in lottery funds to become a music performance centre. The cash will kit out the hails for digital radio, TV and webcasting. The listed building is home to the BBC Scottish Symphony...

The Travel Channel. (In Brief).(contracts Pilot Productions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Travel Channel has signed an exclusive deal worth [pounds sterling]1.5m with Pilot Productions. The Landmark-owned channel will air the 26-parter Pilot Guides, and co-produce a further five series. IT has also done a deal for more Pilot...

UK broadband company Thirdspace. (In Brief).(Concurrent Computers Corp. and Alcatel provide financing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... UK broadband company Thirdspace closes its second round of funding after getting an [pounds sterling]11 m investment from US VoD market-leader Concurrent and network-designer Alcatel. Thirdspace also enters into an agreement for developing...

Sky Gamestar. (In Brief).(Sky Digital video game viewer ratings)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... Sky Game-star marks its first Barb ratings by taking the game Space Invaders online. Four-week Barb figures show 18.5% of Sky Digital viewers played on Game-star, an average 1.4m a week. Space Invaders joins 23 games like Rage, Team and, later...

Tussauds tackles England's World Cup dream. (Installations).(Madame Tussaud's and FA create video)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Madame Tussaud's has teamed up with the FA to create an audio-visual installation to celebrate England's qualification for the 2002 World Cup. To capture the qualifying moment, the wax museum created England captain David Beckham complete...

Dreyco takes sci-fi novel into digital cinema. (Features).(Dreyco Productions Luminal)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Dreyco Productions is shooting the final scenes for its futuristic psychological drama Luminal, due for cinema release next year. Set in 2010, the feature recounts the story of a friendship between two teenage girls, on an urban backdrop of...

Blaze recovers with O'Leary. (Broadcast).(Milk Design hired by Blaze Television)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Blaze Television has commissioned Milk Design to produce titles, logos and background visuals for its new music series, Re:covered. Hosted by Dermot O'Leary, it features bands playing live: first one of their own current tracks, then an...

4K adds sparkle to FC Kahuna. (Promos).(4K creates promotion for City Rockers label)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Directing trio 4K (Fredrik Nordbeck, Sonia Ortiz-Alcon and Mattheo Manzini) pieced together this promo inspired by sports-stadium display-boards and lo-fi electronics for FC Kahuna's Glitterball on the City Rockers label. Shot on DV and chopped...

Redhouse Lane. (In Brief).(hired by UK Department of Health)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The DoH called on Redhouse Lane to help explain new performance-related pay-scales for health-workers, aimed at allaying staff unhappiness revealed in last year's Mon poll. For Pay Plus, graphics artist Andy Davies created an abacus in...

Loose Moose. (In Brief).(Lipton Ltd., FCB)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Loose Moose takes Chips Ahoy cookies into new territory for FCB's new ads: puppetry rather than cg animation. The stop- frame-animated puppets are squashed to melting-point on a bus, while the streets beyond are 3D - a technique developed by...

Sam Morrison. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Latest work from Nexus's BAA award-winning animator Sam Morrison are the 5x5-second end-sequences for Karmarama's new lkea commercials. Chiming in with the live-action, they show houses having fun trying out breakdancing or riding a unicycle....

Antix and 422 seek out spooks. (Broadcast).(Antix Productions produces Most Haunted television series)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Manchester's Antix Productions is currently in post with Most Haunted, a series commissioned by Living TV for its Paranormal Weekend airing in May. The 16x30-minute series tours the UK's most haunted properties. Over the last four months,...

Princes goes to Palace to film future players. (Broadcast).(Princess Productions)(Crystal Palace's youth academy)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Princess Productions is currently filming Players, a 6x30-minute docusoap for transmission on T4, which follows future David Beckhams at Crystal Palace's youth academy. Model Behaviour's Justin Gorman is executive producer, Madeleine...

Nickelodeon has ordered. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Big Giraffe Spacestation Castaway Show from Bomb Productions. The series of six animated interstitial chat-shows, to be hosted by a spacetation-based giraffe and two genius goldfish, will introduce various characters to the Nick audience....

SMG TV is to recreate the charge of the light brigade for Channel 4. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Ordered by 04 history commissioning editor Hamish Mykura, the 60-minute documentary looks at what went wrong on 25 OctOber 1854, when 670 British cavalry soldiers charged the Russian guns. Co-producers Red Vision (Son of God) will do 3D...

Wise Buddha is to make a documentary of Kylie Minogue. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Wise Buddha is to make a documentary of Kylie Minogue's attempt to make it big in the US. The 60-minute programme was commissioned for Channel 5 by head of youth, music and interactive, Sham Sandhu. The show will be fronted by Zoe Ball for TX...

Somethin' Else is to produce a Barbican concert programme for BBC4. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Somethin' Else is to produce a Barbican concert programme for BBC4. The go-minute show features Blur and Gorillaz's Damon Albarn as well as musicians from Mali following Albam's 2000 trip to the country. The programme will also include a...

Ex-Atomic Kittens Kerry Katona. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Ex-Atomic Kittens Kerry Katona is to present Carlton's new dating reality-show for ITV. Each of the eight episodes of Elimidate features two seperate teams, one made up of four women vying for the attention of one man, and the other of four men...

Stewart Mackay Associates is about to shoot a 6x30-minute countryside series for HTV West. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Stewart Mackay Associates is about to shoot a 6x30-minute countryside series for HTV West Fowlds in the Landscape will be presented by Heartbeat and Yes Minister actor Derek Fowlds. The show will be produced and directed by Stewart Mackay for a...

Objective is the latest independent to be commissioned by C5. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Objective is the latest independent to be commissioned by C5's controller of entertainment Andrew Newman in his drive for "intelligent tabloid" shows for the channel. The Magic Show will have magicians performing out and about. Objective has...

Manchester's Catalyst Pictures. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Manchester's Catalyst Pictures has created cgi character AT for an Alton Towers visitor video. The film was ordered by Cheetham Bell/JWT. Nik Lever directed the spot, with AT modelled by Christian Holland. The mouth positions were animated in...

Apple Tree Media. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Apple Tree Media claims its new first-aid training CD-Rom offers the medical community its first chance to train and simultaneously to measure the outcome. Linked to an online database that measures results and even issues certification, it is...

BECTU wins MTV ballot. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Staff at MTV's Camden HQ have voted for broadcast union BECTU to represent them in wage negotiations. Under new labour laws, the company now has 30 days to set up a mechanism for collective bargaining. If it doesn't, the government's...

Government's broadband boost. (New Media).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A range of regional projects designed to boost broadband take-up have been unveiled by the e-commerce minister, Douglas Alexander. The projects, backed by a [pounds sterling]30m fund allocated in October last year, will concentrate...

Search in at C4 innovation lab. (People).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Jess Search has been promoted to become head of Channel 4's independent film and video department. Formerly deputy commissioning editor of the section, she replaces her old boss Adam Barker after his move to indie Ideal World as head of...

Discovery ramps up UK output. (Broadcast).(Discovery Communications Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Discovery Channel has increased the amount of original UK produced programming for its spring/summer 2002 schedule. The broadcaster claims over 100 hours of new UK commissions have been scheduled to go out in primetime before the end of...

BT's price cut is just the first step. (The Business News).(British Telecommunications P.L.C. tariffs)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Mark Springett, marketing director of Video Networks, explains how the recent reduction in BT's tariffs is the starting gun for a mass market for broadband For Video Networks, the reduction in BT's broadband tariffs is really good news. As...

Storyboard news.(motion picture and television program production, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... For April, Storyboard travels from human physiology to 19th-century escape-artists; MPC explores the fundamental differences between men and women in Battle of the Sexes; Sean Penn tackles issues of disability in I am Sam; Pepsi plays football...

BBC3 can't change its spots. (Broadcast).(Tessa Jowell, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... The proposal for BBC3 is fast beginning to look like an impossible document to write. After asking for a redraft in September last year, culture minister Tessa Jowell has again delayed a final decision on the youth channel. So what are the...

ITV is surely rueing the day it changed its digital platform's name from On. (Month in Review).(ITV Digital)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Among its many regrets, ITV is surely rueing the day it changed its digital platform's name from On. With Consignia seeking to swap its nasty new moniker back to something closer to what it does (the Royal Mail sounds nice), the ITV channel...

Warminster's Kingdown community school took quite such exception to C4's abortive Peter Pan gambit. (Month in Review).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Why would a 30-year-old want to go back to school? It could only be to get one over on the teachers. Which may be a reason why Warminster's Kingdown community school took quite such exception to C4's abortive Peter Pan gambit Punters are only...

To Asian teenagers in Leicester and white middle-class males in Westminster. (Month in Review).(primetime British Broadcasting Corporation Ltd. Saturday nights goes unnoticed)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... It may go unnoticed by both Asian teenagers in Leicester and white middle-class males in Westminster, but BBC1 primetime Saturday nights will never be the same again (again): everyone in between is stricken with the news that, after seven...

Bears like honey. (New Media).(TeleVisual digital video disc)
April 1, 2002... The DVD with your February issue was great to sit down and reminisce with. A fab selection of ads and some superb shorts, especially The Cat with Hands - very eerie. The selection of promos and features is excellent too: I especially like the Q...

Well, it's a mouse thing. (New Media).(TeleVisual digital video disc use)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... When navigating the Televisual DVD on Mac or PC, it's better to use keyboard cursors where possible, because a mouse relies on hotspots, rectangular buttons created during the authoring stage. With this disc, the buttons you can see are not...

Reality games and reality horrors. (Opinions).(television programming, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... In our showcase of new UK shows offered to the world for the first time at this month's Mip (p24), the usual preponderance of factual programmes submitted has dropped away, largely offset by a rise in entertainment. Now, I wouldn't proffer...

Intelligent tabloid. (Interview Andrew Newman).(joining Channel 5)
April 1, 2002... The man who brought Banzai, Jackass and Ali G to E4 has signed up as controller of entertainment at Channel 5. He tells Sam Espensen what he wants to buy, and just how much he's prepared to spend You could be forgiven for thinking there's a...

Blackwood's BBC3: Ed Stone is Dead. (In Production Ed Stone Dead).
April 1, 2002... With the decision about the future of BBC3 still pending, Sam Espensen checks out the comedy drama which hopes to launch the station. Richard Blackwood stars in a bizarre show funded by Flextech, Initial and the BBC As if it weren't...

Mip TV.
April 1, 2002... As Mip crosses fingers for more attendees this month than at October's Mipoom, we select out what freshly-made UK shows they'll find at Cannes. But is 2002 the last year TV traders will get to sneak a preview of the sun? April in Cannes is...

MTV hits back. (Brent Hansen People).(MTV Networks Europe Inc.)(Interview)
April 1, 2002... MTV's global supremacy is facing a concerted challenge from its low-cost rivals in the digital TV world. Jon Creamer asks MTV Europe's boss Brent Hansen how he plans to deal with the upstarts. The symbol of all that is "youth TV" is...

Technophobes beware: Telewest's Blueyonder and indie World's End have teamed up to create some broadband drama. Jon Creamer finds out about Future Fear, a series of short sharp shocking stories of technology gone bad. (Future Fear in Production).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
April 1, 2002... Tales of technology gone wrong are usually the sort that cable providers like to avoid. But Future Fear, a series of seven five-minute spooky dramas, will soon be appearing on Telewest's high speed-internet service, Blueyonder. The shows...

The Gold standard. (Corporate IVCA Awards).(International Visual Communication Association)
April 1, 2002... This year's top awards for corporate producers have been hard won. As corporations reeled from blows to New York's business hub, confidence among the production community sank, along with its production slates. But the aftershock that still...

The studio game. (Studios Production File).(listing of television studios in United Kingdom and discussion of state of the industry)(Directory)(Statistical Data Included)(Industry Overview)
April 1, 2002... The UK studio industry is finding its feet again, with digital channels a let-down for some and the saving grace for others. Ads are good when you can get them, and corporate shoots should be pencilled in all year round. Simon Meek discovers...

Houdini goes for mass market. (Technology).(Side Effects Software Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Side Effects Software is introducing a low-cost version of Houdini and a revamped interface for the application in a bid to broaden its user-base. Houdini Select is a [pounds sterling]2k version of the 3D-modelling software. Running on a...

The Mill moves in on New York. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Mill is in the early stages of establishing a commercials vfx facility in New York. The outfit will be based in Outpost Digital, a DV-editing shop where it is renting 1500 sq ft floor space. Two Flame suites and a number of 3D stations...

Digital Animations Group. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Digital Animations Group has created a virtual presenter for TV's Tomorrow's World team. The avatar, called Maddy, will work alongside the show's real presenters (left) for the rest of the series. Maddy is driven by DAG's animation engine,...

Granada streamlines clipsales. (Archives).(Granada Broadcasting and Enterprises digitises archival material)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Granada is embarking on a five-year project to digitise and catalogue its archive material, creating an additional revenue stream for the ITV company. The initiative will operate under the banner Granada Visual, a consolidation of regional...

Quantel ships its entire catalogue to the desktop. (Technology).(all Quantel's software can now be used on microcomputers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Quantel has revamped and rebranded its whole catalogue in the face of a market that demands more flexible solutions. The Newbury-based manufacturer is now opening it entire range of products to the PC-owner, as predicted by Televisual last...

Boomerang opens Soho offline. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... An offline editing facility is setting up shop in Compendium's former offices on Soho's D'Arblay Street. Spearheaded by Bret Gurney, Boomerang has four Media Composer suites - two of which were acquired along with the Compendium premises...

XTV recreates CNN's world. (Facilities).(Cable News Network)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... CNN has teamed up with XTV to create an fx-heavy corporate promo. Created with the company's sales and marketing division in mind, the video explores audience-reaction to current affairs, putting emphasis on CNN's new UK studio and its...

Edgeworx. (News the Works).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... New York-based post-house Edgeworx is opening a Soho facility headed by ex-601 directors Bruce Hancock (left) and Bill Keehar. Based on Pinnacle's Cine Wave technology, the facility looks to undercut Soho prices with its multipurpose desktop...

Kaydara has teamed up with Boxx Technologies. (News the Works).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Kaydara has teamed up with Boxx Technologies to put its latest Filmbox product exclusively on the 3DBoxx PCbased workstation. Filmbox online 3.5 integrates character-animation, live motion-capture and camera-tracking in a real-time production...

Digital Film Lab. (News the Works).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Digital Film Lab is expanding its facilities to offer tape-to-film services. DFL is now geared up to produce 35mm digital intermediates from SD or HD tape-formats as well as from data-files. Mike Figgis's feature film Hotel (left) was shot on...

Onsight and Metro buy Xpris. (Technology).(Sony's Xpri editing system sold to Metro Broadcast)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Two Sony Xpri editing systems have been sold to London hire outfits Onsight and Metro Broadcast. The dual purchase signals Sony's first move into the Soho hire-market with its nonlinear editor. Both machines will be fitted with a Cobra...

TSL kits out CCG for digital. (Equipment).(making CCG digital wide-screen compliant)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... TSL is upgrading Stornoway's Seaforth House Studio in a bid make Gaelic broadcaster CCG digital wide-screen compliant. The contract is to provide new vtr, server, graphics and editing areas to the studio. A new audio dubbing room is also...

Machine Room new directors. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... VTR's DVD operation, The Machine Room, has appointed four of it's senior management as directors. The promotions are Simon Briggs, David Clarke, Wendy Field and Darryl Huxley. The outfit recently moved premises to 37 Dean Street, where it...

ITN to hire out VS services. (Technology).(Independent Television Network Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... ITN is planning to hire out its virtual studio, installed to cover the 2001 election. ITN's studio resource manager Lesley Everett believes the virtual-reality side of the business is a growth opportunity at the news organisation. The...

Industry smiling, says Plimsoll. (Equipment).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Nearly half UK's broadcast kit manufacturers improved performance last year despite global recession. Plimsoll's UK TV and Broadcast Equipment analysis graded 288 company's by financial performance: 47% "improved significantly," according...

There's strength in numbers. (The Business the Works).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... How will kit-heavy past-houses survive the next decade? DGP joint-md Julian Day suggests global afflilation is the way Post production is changing fast. Those of us with large facilities and top-of-the-range kit are finding it more...

NAB's high-rollers. (NAB 2002 the Works).(National Association of Broadcasters)
April 1, 2002... This year's trip to Vegas promises to be a particularly fruitful one, especially if you are attending with post in mind. Simon Meek gives the low-down on what the manufactures do and don't want you to know about Like any good Vegas...

Disastrous effects: ITV's new miniseries Impact charts the explosion of a 707 over Staffordshire and the search for its cause. Simon Meek finds out how Company Pictures created the disaster and its investigation. (Impact).(Independent Television)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... When a transatlantic plane crashes in the English countryside, the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) is scrambled to the scene. Their only clue as to how the tragedy occurred is stored in the aircraft's Black Box. Company Pictures...

Production Directory. (The A - Z of Production Services).
April 1, 2002... ACCOUNTANTS CHARING & COMPANY, Chartered Accountants. Providing comprehensive services to the entertainment industry, you will like our friendly and non-jargon approach. 6 Sewardstone Road, Waltham Abbey, Eases EN9 1NA. Contact:...

VTR's man of music. (In My View).(Brief Article)(Interview)
April 1, 2002... Argentinian by birth, VTR managing director Ant Frend somehow started on his career as a runner at Soho's SVC, then worked as an online editor at Rushes before joining VTR 17 years ago. Though he admits he's a radio-lover really, he lets onto...

April TX guide: the producer' guide to the month on the box.
April 1, 2002... Nobody, Someday Monday 1,21.00: Channel 4 Director Brian Hill meets performer Robbie Williams -- so this 90-minute film is as much a Hill's-eye-view of life as a popstar as it is a piece about the man himself. Commissioned by Danny Cohen,...

You win some, you lose some. (Hair-in-the-Gate).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Interesting choices of entertainer at last month's awards. At The Indies, the typically mild-mannered male broadcast contingent were reduced to almost silent contrition by Jenny Eclair's post-post-feminist rant; while at the RTS they got well...