Televisual articles from December 2001

Televisual archives from December 2001

Sky turns to US fare to beef up Christmas holiday schedules. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Sky aims to stand out from the new year by focussing on the best of the US, with new high profile US acquisitions. Details win be disclosed on 3 December, but it is understood that the new Star Trek series Enterprise will be the schedule's...

Cordiant to merge PCI LiveDesign and HP:ICM. (Corporate).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Just months after buying live events producer PCI LiveDesign, Cordiant Communications is to merge the 60-strong company into its other London event 3 specialist, HP:ICM. Job losses are expected, and HP:ICM md Julian Pullan is to leave the...

Maverick bags expansion funds. (Broadcast).(Maverick TV receives funding from Creative Advantage Fund)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Indie Maverick TV has bagged [pounds sterling]250k of investment from the Creative Advantage Fund, which targets creative companies based in the Midlands. Maverick, producer of the BBC's Trade Secrets and C4's Embarrasing Illnesses, is...

Making a stink in Stockholm. (Commercials).(Stink launches division in Sweden, Stockholm Stink)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... London-based ad producer Stink is to launch a new division in Sweden. Stink Stockholm will be headed up by ex-Martin & Co's Anna Adamson, who takes with her director Jens Jonsson (his work for Telia is shown below). Stink already works for...

Duck Lane Films has set up a subsidiary ad production company, Igloo. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Duck Lane Films has set up a subsidiary ad production company, Igloo. The company declares that, with its two young directors, it can "challenge any production head on, whatever its size". Former editor Christophe Williams and Steve Rosam...

Zeal Television. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Barbara Lee, ex-Hat Trick and Tiger Aspect producer, has been lured to Zeal Television as head of development. The move will see Lee reunited with md Mark Linsey, previously head of entertainment at Tiger. Her new role will be to develop and...

Sci-fi London. (In Brief).
December 1, 2001... The UK's first sc-fi and fantasy film festival will take place at the ICA from 29 January 2002. Sci-fi London will feature cult films like 12 Monkeys (right) and Soylent Green, as well as debates ranging from how science fiction and fact...

The ITC has appointed two enforcers to its newly-merged advertising and programmes group. (In Brief).(Independent Television Authority)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The ITC has appointed two enforcers to its newly-merged advertising and programmes group. Steve Perkins will take responsibility for programmes and advertising code enforcement, complaints and public service broadcasting requirements. Martin...

Welsh indie's documentary blitz for C4 and C5. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Among a batch of Fulmer West commissions expected to to air by next month is its C4 documentary about a mooted redesign for Buckingham Palace to make it more "modern," says md Jeremy Bugler. The Welsh independent has also finished Catherine...

Tall Order rallies to tackle the politics of sport. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... A car rally with a difference is the subject of a documentary by Tall Order Productions. Top Dog of the Top Cats celebrates the centenary of the birth of Sir William Lyons, founder of Jaguar. Commissioned by Granada's Eamonn O'Neal, the...

TransAtlantic's Egyptian drama. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... TransAtlantic Films makes its first foray into drama for 10 years with Belzoni, a Giant of Ancient Egypt, for C4 Schools. The 3x20-minute series shoots in Egypt this month, according to producer Corisande Albert, after the original...

Commercials.
December 1, 2001... Kylie and Agent Provocateur: a dangerous combination for the weak-hearted. But agency CDP and producers Another Film Company have taken the risk with Proof, a cinema ad for the underwear firm. Ms Minogue rides a bucking bronco machine in slow...

Animation house Pesky gets a little tense this month with its toon gameshow Stress Maniacs for C4's Hot Reels season. (In Brief).
December 1, 2001... Animation house Pesky gets a little tense this month with its toon gameshow Stress Maniacs for C4's Hot Reels season. The game's real contestants were recorded in a radio studio, then animated in Flash and After Effects by David Hodgson and...

The Clinic. (In Brief).
December 1, 2001... The Clinic's spot for Panasonic's Tau TV is being given a cinema run to show off its 5.1 Surround-sound capabilities. All the footage was scanned in at 2k resolution to get a smooth picture. Philip Dupee directed the spot, Cut 'n Run's Piers...

Rose Hackney Barber. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Rose Hackney Barber adds to its directing roster this month: Lea Freres Poiraud, "the A Ieague in France" according to RHB md Tim Katz, who have worked in the past for the likes of Reebok, Orangina and Airbus; and Eden Diebel, who has done work...

Kudos lifts the lid on M15 spooks. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Drama independent Kudos Productions has begun filming on a major new series commission for BBC1. Spooks, a drama centred on the lives of M15 spies, is currently shooting on location around London and the south east. Kudos Productions'...

Bermuda plugs-in to US market for Cybiko spot. (Commercials).(Cybiko Extreme games machine)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... An mp3 plug-in for the Cybiko Extreme games machine/pda/sms messager gets its US launch this month courtesy of Bermuda Shorts. Will Barras directed the spot which features a typical Cybiko user texting her friends while listening to her mp3...

The Green Light. (In Production News).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Cosgrove Hall has sold it's latest kids' toon Engie Benjy to CITV for the 2002 line up. The 26x10-minute cgi and stop-motion animation centres on the adventures of engine menders Engie Benjy, Dan the Van and Jollop the Dog. Cosgrove Hall is...

Green Inc. (In Brief).(contract from British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Green Inc has bagged two orders for 2002 from BBC NI. The Irish Raj is the story of the first Indian settlers who came from Lahore to Londonderry 50 years ago; producer/director is Alison Millar. Anderson In is a 4x30-minute factual...

The Farm. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The Farm is behind the titles for The Magnificent Seven, a new series to air on The Studio channel from January. Each episode looks at seven themed movie moments: seven car chases, seven gunfights and so on. The Farm's Marcus Millichope did the...

Corporate producer Quadrillion chose a humorous approach for the British Standard Institution's centenary video for schools. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Corporate producer Quadrillion chose a humorous approach for the British Standard Institution's centenary video for schools. The film was directed by Roland Armstrong and stars the Dr Who veteran, Colin Baker. The video was shot on BetaSP at...

Axe falls at Channel 4. (Broadcast).(layoffs and program budget cuts)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Channel 4 is cutting programme budgets and staff as a result of the advertising downturn. Next year's programming budget will see a slight reduction from this year's pot [pounds sterling]423m. 80 jobs are expected to go, around 15 at the...

BBC to be ITV Digital saviour. (Deals).(British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The BBC is in talks that could see it teaming up with ITV's Carlton and Granada to save the ailing ITV Digital platform. The plan would see the two broadcasters, and possibly Channel 4 and Channel 5, developing a cheap set-top box that...

Postman Pat gets new boss. (Deals).(Entertainment Rights acquires Woodland Animations)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Entertainment Rights, owner of Basil Brush, Barbie, The Magic Roundabout and Camberwick Green has snapped up Woodland Animations, owner of Postman Pat, for [pounds sterling]5.1m. As well as Postman Pat, Entertainment Rights will own all...

Faces changing places. (People).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... A host of TV execs are on the move. Sky l's factual and entertainment boss Sam Brick has moved to September Films to become head of programmes. At Sky she brought in some of the channel's trademark shows like The Villa and Temptation...

TV tax-breaks under threat. (The Business News).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... There's been alarm in the independent sector over the past weeks about threats to the so-called sale-and-leaseback tax-breaks that have aided the film and TV industries in recent years. The government introduced them specifically to support...

Gimme the rights or the kids get it. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... ITV children's controller Janie Grace has admitted that CITV can no longer be expected to compete with CBBC. Swingeing budget cutbacks might force her to run repeats and cheap factual fare next year, and there's a real possibility she...

Star Trek boldly went where cricket coverage has gone before this month. (Month in Review).(Enterprise )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Star Trek boldly went where cricket coverage has gone before this month. After spending the last 32 earth-years with the BBC as it's sole terrestrial broadcaster, the crew from the enterprise cranked up the new series to warp speed and blasted...

Our Cilla returned triumphant to ITV's Saturday primetime this month with the 17th series of Blind Date (yes, it has been going that long, it doesn't just feel like it). (Month in Review).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Our Cilla returned triumphant to ITV's Saturday primetime this month with the 17th series of Blind Date (yes, it has been going that long, it doesn't just feel like it). After only three months on air, terrifyingly expensive footie highlights...

ITN got a rap on the knuckles from the ITC. (Month in Review).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... ITN got a rap on the knuckles from the ITC. A montage of images from the World Trade Centre attacks set to music achieved a massive number of complaints. The ITC said the two-minute segment, broadcast 36 hours after the attacks took place,...

Beautiful people seek job-swap. (Commercials).
December 1, 2001... It comes as just a little satisfaction to a poor downtrodden broadcast freelancer that recently even those "beautiful people" of the ad world have been feeling the pinch. Your Commercials Top 30 (Televisual November) revealed anxiety under...

Bee electric but be accurate. (Corporate).
December 1, 2001... In the November edition of Televisual (page 10, headlined Bee Electric with Hawkshead and Ealing) you ran a piece about Hawkshead's Bee Safe campaign video. In the piece, you credited Sarah Hollingsworth as managing director of Hawkshead....

One box suits... one application. (Convergence).
December 1, 2001... I read with interest the opinions from the Bluewave consultant about the convergence of TV and PC in your last issue of Televisual (One box suits all-in your dreams). As far as I understood him, he said that programme-quality and range...

Bring on the big brands. (Opinions).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Last month we uncovered a pincer movement in which corporate producers and commercials houses have been encroaching on each other's territory in response to the new branding imperative that's seized their respective clients. This month...

Trademark TV: As ad spend plummets and spreads itself thinly across ever more channels, producers and broadcasters are looking at new ways to fund TV Jon Creamer finds out about Shine:M's TV/advertising crossover. (Interview David Pemsel and Andy Auerbach).
December 1, 2001... Advertisers give cash to broadcasters to buy airtime, broadcasters give some of that cash to producers to make programmes that will create an audience. Advertisers then give even more cash to broadcasters to buy more airtime and so the cycle...

Still life with crocs. (In Production Supercroc).(Interview)
December 1, 2001... 422 in London, Manchester and Bristol co-ordinates the re-creation of one of the oldest fossil finds for a National Geographic special. Sam Espensen talks to all of them about Supercroc, which combines archaeological digs, mad Aussie...

Must-see music. (Music Television).(Interview)
December 1, 2001... Music is getting more than its fair share of new outlets as TV spawns yet more niche channels. Anastasia Kershaw asks producers and broadcasters what viewers want: music shows with a twist, wall-to-wall promos, or is "see it, then buy it" the...

From rats to riches: CBBC's Christmas miniseries is a co-production with Canada's Catalyst TV. Anastasia Kershaw finds out how the 21st-century take on that old Cinderella story got a "red-top tabloid" transformation. (I Was A Rat In Production).
December 1, 2001... This Chrismas season, Cinderella joins forces with a sleazy tabloid I reporter, an unhappy rat and a humble family. The BBC1 series I was a Rat, based on a book of that title by novelist Philip Pullman, gives a modern twist to an old tale. ...

Timeline 2001: Take a last look back at a year of change; troubles at ITV; ambitions at the BBC; the programmes that boomed or bombed; the channels that were born and those that died. (2001 At a Glance).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... JANUARY The year begins with the launch of E4, "A C4 without the boring bits," says Mr Lygo. * Elsewhere, the reality TV overload gets underway: C5's The Mole, ITV's Popstars, with GMTV getting in on the act with Inchloss Island. And...

Do it on the desktop. (Post-Production).
December 1, 2001... Video editing was once a black-art, inaccessible to the many practiced by the few: the editor sitting day-and-night in front of monitors that flicker to life the eerie shapes which dance across the walls. But things are changing, and out of the...

Tinder 4.0 in beta at The Deli. (Technology).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Soho's The Deli is beta-testing The Foundry's latest DS plug-ins, Tinder 4.0, for a Christmas release. It is being used on Brian Hassan's Mr Benson: the Genesis Project, a sci-fi drama designed as 37 episodes now being pitched as a feature...

CFC to market its cine-software. (Technology).(color correction/editing software)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... CFC has indicated for the first time that it will sell its colour-correction/editing software on the open market. The innovation - as yet named only as "proprietary grading software" - has been in development for over two years, and...

The Pavement. (In Brief).(upgrades equipment with Avid DS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The Pavement is expanding its presence in the DVD marketplace with he installation of an Avid DS. The system has already been used to create moving menus for series two of C4 sitcom Spaced. "This will knock us up a level...we're changing from a...

Welsh facilities march on Soho. (Facilities).(Platform Post Production)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Welsh facilities Barcud Derwen and Mwnci have teamed up to help finance a new Soho post-house, Platform Post Production. The facility, due for completion this month, is based in D'Arblay Street and is headed-up by editor Simon Cruse and...

Flix readies new Manchester facility for launch. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Flix Facilities is joining forces with several key players in Manchester to open a new post-house in the town centre next year. The facility, to be based in Quay House, will be kitted with Avid DS and Symphony suites and "quite a few...

Audio start-up at The Post Room. (Facilities).(Paul Davies Sound Design)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Ex-Videosonics' dubbing mixer Paul Davies has set up his own studio in Niven Howie's The Post Room on Tottenham Court Road. Paul Davies Sound Design is built around an AMS Neve Audiofile SC tracklaying system. "I may be taking a risk at one...

DS HD promo from Films at 59. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Films at 59 has teamed up with Plastic Raygun TV to produce Jean Jacques Smoothie's 2 People promo. The Bristol post-house finished the project, which was shot using Sony Cinealta F900 camcorders, on its new Avid DS HD. Facility manager George...

Nick Pannaman. (In Brief).(quits 4MC)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Nick Pannaman has quit his position as joint-md at 4MC to "pursue interests outside the postproduction industry," he says. The departure comes as Liberty Livewire puts the final touches to the realignment across its UK facilities group. After...

Digital Facilities. (In Brief).(to branch into graphics/multimedia services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Edinburgh's Digital Facilities is to expand its post-services into the graphics/multimedia market. The drive comes as Berg Saetre is promoted to md of Edinburgh's Digital Facilities following the departure of Alistair Imrie (who moves into the...

The BBC drama Crime and Punishment is the first project to be onlined in Todd-AO's new editing department (Televisual, November). (In Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The BBC drama Crime and Punishment is the first project to be onlined in Todd-AO's new editing department (Televisual, November). Kevin Horsewood graded the film in the Camden facility's lab. The offline edit is by freelancer Chris Gill, and...

5D joins forces with UK TK firm. (Technology).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... 5D has entered an agreement with Innovation TK to align their technologies in a bid to economise the process of manipulating digital images. The first project brings together 5D's Commander grading system and ITK's Millennium Machine. The...

Broadcast OEMs will axle 1000s. (Report).(Product Announcement)
December 1, 2001... The UK broadcast equipment industry will out over 1200 jobs next year; a cording to Plimsoll research. The Portfolio Analysis indicates that at least 70% of the industry will have to shed jobs in the next 12 months reflect waning kit sales....

Aston bailed out of receivership. (Deals).(Aston Electronic Design acquired by Softel)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Aston Electronic Design has been bought by UK-based subtitling and iTV specialists Softel after the company was forced into administrative receivership last month. The purchase agreement was finalised four days after Aston was placed under...

Mental Ray in with Maya. (Technology).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
December 1, 2001... Alias Wave-front has integrated Mental Images Mental Ray rendering solution into its Maya package in an option commercially available this month. The Mental Ray for Maya offers all the features of the stand-alone v3.0 software, but exists...

Dolby brings its EX to the home. (Technology).(Dolby Laboratories will market digital surround-sound components for the home)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Dolby Laboratories is to take its Digital Surround EX technology (developed jointly with Lucasfilm THX) to the consumer market. This introduces another audio format into the DVD world and the home cinema phenomenon. Digital EX adds a...

Don't blame it all on bin Laden. (The Business the Works).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Since I was promoted to the heady heights of md, the financial climate has certainly been, er...shall we say "interesting"? Since the summer, advertising has been in the doldrums and agencies, production companies and post-houses have been...

Magic monkeys. (Basement Jaxx).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... MPC and Traktor collaborated on a Basement Jaxx promo to create a twisted money-cross-man story in Inferno. Sam Espensen tries to resist the call of the wild as she finds out how Monkeys turned out to be the must-have item of 2001. From...

The return of the fox. (In My View).
December 1, 2001... What have you been up to for the last 20 years? I've never stopped working. I made a couple of movies -- that's Hollywood-speak for films. I starred on Broadway, had my own one-fox show in Vegas (my billing was The Return of the Desert Fox)...

Christmas TX guide: Producers' Guide to the Month on the Box. (The End).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Even commissioners like to veg-out at Christmas, so we asked them what they'll be watching. Their own shows exclusively, it seems. But who can blame them: work comes first and anyway everyone else's schedules are still under lock and key-- ...

A Whiff of a Pint with Eastenders Regulars. (On Set).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The Eastenders cast were graced with a different sort of appearance last month: by the Queen, who stepped into a pub only for the third time since ascending the throne in 1953, we near. All at me (namesake) Queen Vic waited with bated breath,...