Televisual articles from December 2003

Televisual archives from December 2003

Lux hiring heralds Smith's plans to expand the Celador group.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Recruiting Danielle Lux as md of Celador Productions is a step in a long-term plan to expand the group, according to Paul Smith, chairman and current md of Celador Productions. His aim is to appoint mds to each of Celador's arms: Adrian...

Visit London to launch new tourist TV channel.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... London promotion service Visit London is set to launch a television channel. London TV will be targetted at both residents and potential visitors to the capital, and is due to launch next spring. Visit London's chief executive, ex-Ginger...

345k [euro] for Chatsworth's Lunies.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Production, licensing and distribution outfit Chatsworth has bagged a 345k [euro] ([pounds sterling] 241k) subsidy from the European Commission's Media Plus Programme for its 2.7m [euro] ([pounds sterling] 1.9m) Space Lunies project that went...

Boost for young Welsh toon talent.(Animation)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Animation companies in Wales have joined Skillset, Cyfle and ELWa to launch an initiative to bolster the industry and keep new talent working in the principality by providing training and work experience. Siriol, Griffilms, Beryl Productions,...

Bruce Dunlop & Associates.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Bruce Dunlop & Associates has launched a German office under Lars Wagner, former creative director of Universal in Germany. The new arm is part of the expansion which began with the opening of an Australian office last year. The German office...

Carlton International Media Group.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Carlton International Media Group has licensed a number of titles from its film collection and the ITC Library to Rainbow DBS's Voom, a high-definition television service in the US. Voom will air 12 features converted to HD by Carlton,...

Tern Television.
December 1, 2003... Scottish independent Tern Television has opened a London office after securing a commission from Discovery Europe and UK to produce an international review of the year called 2003. Creative director Harry Bell will head up the office. 2003 is...

Ex-Harry Nash director Phillipe Andre has found a new home at Bikini, where he joins his old producer Kate Elson.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Ex-Harry Nash director Phillipe Andre has found a new home at Bikini, where he joins his old producer Kate Elson. Meanwhile, photographer and director Klaus Thymann has left Partizan to join the Pink Film Company as a commercials director. And...

Black Dog Films shoots Darkness for Christmas.(Promo)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Pomp-rockers The Darkness stake their claim to the coveted Christmas number one spot with their track Xmas, backed up by a video from Black Dog Films' director Alex Smith. Following a furrow that's been ploughed by a long line of glam-rock...

Carlton goes to court and to suburbia for new dramas.(Broadcast)(The Brief and Murder in Suburbia)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Two new crime dramas from Carlton, The Brief and Murder in Suburbia, will be bidding for top crime-drama spot on ITV1 when they air next year. The Brief, a 4x90-minute series starring Jonathan Creek's Alan Davies, tells the story of...

How three of the world's most dynamic cities were developed is the subject of Darlow Smithson's We Built this City for discovery HD and Channel 4.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... How three of the world's most dynamic cities were developed is the subject of Darlow Smithson's We Built (his City for Discovery HD and Channel 4. Red Vision's Manchester and London offices provided the cg effects for the three hour-long shows...

Sherbet makes live-action debut.(Film)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Animation house Sherbet has co-produced its first live-action Film: 77 Beds, by writer-director Alnoor Dewshi. The 10-minute short was made in conjunction with film outfit Home Movies, and was jointly-commissioned by Film London, the London...

BBC Broadcast.(All New Top of the Pops)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... BBC Broadcast is behind the new brand-identity and titles for All New Top of the Pops to coincide with the relaunch of the BBC's flagship music show. The identity is designed to work across platforms and is based on a sound-wave icon which can...

Rolf Harris.(from the Royal Albert Hall)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Rolf Harris celebrates 50 years in show-business this month with a BBC special from the Royal Albert Hall. The show, produced by BBC Entertainment, has a title-sequence created by Atom Pictures depicting key moments from Harris's career,...

Blunt Pictures.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Blunt Pictures, the teen and adult animation division of Siriol Pictures, has won two short film commissions from S4C. Canned Heat, by David Sethi, deals with intolerance in the food cupboard, while The Thwee Lancers, from Jason Comley, has a...

Music talent-shows go global.(Broadcast)(World Idol )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Celador and Fremantle/19TV are both launching their own global search-for-a-star shows: World Idol for Fremantle/ 19TV and The WorM's Greatest Singer for Celador's new Music and Events offshoot. Fremantle/19TV's World Idol is a two-part...

NCH brings home the effects of domestic violence.(Commercial)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The effects of domestic violence on children are highlighted in a new 30-second spot to be aired nationally across TV and cinemas. The ad for the children's charity NCH was created by TBWA London creatives Neil Dawson and Clive Pickering...

Seconds away from the starting pistol is The Grid.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Seconds away from the starting pistol is The Grid, a [pounds sterling] 10m Carnival production for the BBC and the US's TNT. On the scale of Carnival's 1989 drug trade drama Traffik (pictured, which went on to become movie Traffic), the...

The BBC is also co-producing Rome with the US's HBO.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The BBC is also co-producing Rome with the US's HBC an epic drama chronicling the rise of the ancient Roman empire through the eyes of two foot-soldiers. Production, which starts next year, will be based at Rome's Cinecitta Studios, with...

Ray Winstone's new indie Size 9 Productions.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Ray Winstone's new indie Size 9 Productions is going into production with its first commission She's Gone for ITV1. The two-parter surrounds a father, played by Winstone, searching for his teenage daughter who is missing in Istanbul. It is...

Johnny Vegas has teamed up with film director Shane Meadows.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Johnny Vegas has teamed up with film director Shane Meadows (A Room for Romeo Brass) and writer Paul Fraser to develop and pilot a comedy series for BBC2. The pilot will be shot in and around Manchester this month with full production planned...

Five's kids' strand Shake has ordered Chinese Breakaway.(The Green Light)
December 1, 2003... Five's kids' strand Shake has ordered Chinese Breakaway, a series that follows Peter Duncan and his family as they travel around China. The 6x30-minute show is produced by Gale Productions and airs from late December, It was commissioned by...

Imago.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Norwich-based Imago is in production on Grudge Match, a series of 10x10 short films for Channel 4. Each film features an unlikely rivalry, including two farmers waging war over carrots. Imago has recently finished the nine-part documentary...

Griffilms.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Griffilms created the titles and graphics for documentary producer Ifor ap Glyn's new series exploring the history of Welsh involvement in the American Civil War. The titles use photographs of Welsh people who took part in the war and American...

Firehouse.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Firehouse has produced a series of short spots for the UK Passport Service, sponsors of Holiday Airportand Airline on ITV over Christmas. The animations, which top and tail ad-breaks, feature a frustrated passport which is either lost, stolen...

Lion TV breaks China.(Deals)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Lion TV has set up shop in Beijing and signed a collaboration agreement with Chinese broadcaster, Phoenix Satellite TV. The two plan to co-produce programming on China's history and culture: Phoenix will retain all the rights for China,...

Brook launches Sky channel.(Digital TV)(The Optimistic Network )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The Optimistic Network (TON), set up by former Channel 4 strategy and development director David Brook, will launch the first of several new channels when Nation 277 goes live on Sky Digital this month. TON's live studio output will play...

Five bags Frow and extra 13m [pounds sterling].(Broadcast)
December 1, 2003... Five's new programme director Dan Chambers has won a [pounds sterling] 13m budget rise and poached Channel 4's head of features Ben Frow to spend it. Frow was behind some of C4's highest-rating shows (Jamie's Kitchen, Location, Location,...

C4 expands online proposals.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Channel 4 extends its online programme submissions system this month, and will also accept proposals only from production companies and not from the general public. Exceptions will be proposals from individual producers with broadcast...

Zeal TV sets up music arm.(Deals)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Zeal TV has launched Zeal Music, a commercial division within the company. It will take on the worldwide licensing of Zeal's music shows Pepsi Chart, CD:LIVE and Popworld as well as developing new formats. Zeal Music is headed up by...

How to win friends in Japan: Tony Humphreys, md of Talent TV, tells (some of) the secrets of doing media business in Japan.(The Business)
December 1, 2003... The closest most foreign producers come to breaking Japan is stepping off a plane at Narita airport. Less than 2% of domestic TV content comes from foreign producers, and most end up back on the plane without talking to the right people, much...

Storyboard.(News)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... In December's Storyboard it's a matter of life and death and everything in between in Simon Pummell's Bodysong; a head-twisting ghost-train ride in 3D for Goldfrapp; an impossible situation for paper puppets in Klonhertz's new promo; and a...

BBC misses indie quota--again.(Broadcast)
December 1, 2003... The report that the BBC has again missed its independent quota doesn't come as a surprise to an independent sector which, according to Pact chief executive John McVay, is treated with a "casual disregard" by the corporation. That it should...

As if the indignity of losing a vote of confidence wasn't bad enough, the BBC made poor old Ian Duncan Smith delay the futile gesture of calling the vote until its afternoon soap Doctors had finished.(Month In Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... As if the indignity of losing a vote of confidence wasn't bad enough, the BBC made poor old Ian Duncan Smith delay the futile gesture of calling the vote until its afternoon soap Doctors had finished. The ex-opposition leader was due to throw...

Chipped formica and suspiciously-stained sofas are out; plasma TVs, pony-skin wall tiles and teak-timber floors are in.(Month In Review)(BBC Television Centre)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Chipped formica and suspiciously-stained sofas are out; plasma TVs, pony-skin wail tiles and teak-timber floors are in. At first it seems things could be looking up for BBC staff ensconced in the concrete rabbit-warren that is Television...

From mid-December, MTV is set both to expands its reach and to push back the boundaries of television-naming ettiquette with the launch of the imaginatively-titled VH2.(Month In Review)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... From mid-December, MTV is set both to expand its reach and to push back the boundaries of television-naming ettiquette with the launch of the imaginatively-titled VH2. A steady diet of Travis, Coldplay and REM is promised for a middle-youth...

No use crying over spilt ink.(Graphics)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... With regard to your credits for Rose Hackney Barber's BMW Ink commercial (November issue, p24), I'd like to point out that Realise Studio created all the 3D animation for the ad. There were only three live-action ink shots in the whole...

Best missing DVD designer.(DVD Design)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... We very much liked the Menus to Go article on pp48-52 in the November edition. But we were frankly extremely disappointed and dismayed to see that Digital Media Creations did not get listed in the "DVD design companies around the UK"...

Keep it in the family.(Facilities)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... As a member of the facilities "family," I'm all for a bit of sibling rivalry. But, in October's edition of Televisual, our rival sibling Molinare was incorrectly credited for the online of the ITV series Family (The Works news, p59). ...

Broadcast folk need to get out more.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The TV industry's small world has recently been undergoing some unwonted intrusions. First the ousting of ITV chairman designate Michael Green by a bunch of shareholders taking revenge for their ITV Digital losses. Then another such band of...

Factual matters: the BBC director of factual and learning, hailed last April as just the public-service stalwart to shore up its factual cred, is in fact settling into only his first license-fee-paid job. Rachel Murrell asks how it's going.(John Willis)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... At 57, John Willis isn't old enough to be the father of British documentary. But, as creator of classics like Johnny go Home and Rampton: The Secret Hospital, and the man who launched landmark series like Cutting Edge and First Tuesday, he is...

Man-mountain: Frank Budgen went to Rio for TBWA to shoot a spot in which 146,000 people--500 of them real--bring to life the energy of the Sony Playstation gaming community.(Mountain In Production)
December 1, 2003... Imagine a cupful of maggots turned upside down; imagine the squirming mass of bodies. That startling and unlikely image was the creative starting point for the latest 60-second commercial for Sony Playstation. The ad opens on a mass of...

Stack'em high and sell 'em cheap: on-screen property and in-store product now go hand-in-hand. But have television brand managers gained too much sway over production departments.(Brand-Licensing)
December 1, 2003... When Create TV and Film went into production of its second series of Little Robots, the pre-school animation made for it by animation house Cosgrove Hall, it did so relatively safe in the knowledge that it had a hit series on its hands. What's...

S4C goes solo: come the digital age, Wales's fourth channel will lose its Channel 4 connections to become a stand-alone Welsh-language channel. Rachel Murrell finds out how its new programme director plans to plug the gap.(Iona Jones The Commissioner)
December 1, 2003... Having worked for all three Welsh broadcasters, Iona Jones retains a deep-seated commitment to S4C. "It's important to me," she says, "on a personal as well as a professional level. I believe in this service and why it's here." She began...

Music to the eyes: promo-making serves an odd mix of interests--it's programming for music channels; marketing for the artist and record company; and a creative outlet for directors. David Knight balances the accounts with four industry decision-makers.(Music Promos)(Industry Overview)
December 1, 2003... VIDEO COMMISSIONER Liz Kessler "Budgets are down, no question," says Liz Kessler who, as video commissioner at Universal Island Records, is directly responsible for the largest slice of the label's marketing budget. But in spite of...

Crisis? What crisis? Could you avert a national catastrophe? BBC factual entertainment and BBC current affairs plan to plumb BBC2 viewers' bunker mentality in a game-show pilot that pits their wits against those of "ministers".(The Bunker In Production)
December 1, 2003... Three people are banged up in a darkened room full of video screens bringing news of an escalating catastrophe in the world outside. They have real-life police and military experts to advise them, but as events roll inexorably on it is they who...

Imagineer launches Monet.(Technology)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Imagineer Systems, maker of the Mokey suite of fx tools, is preparing to launch a new software for inserting textures into moving footage. Monet has been developed in conjunction with Cinesite Europe and was used on Harry Potter and the...

Clear Cut eyes up long-form drama.(Facilities)(Clear Cut Pictures )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Broadcast facility Clear Cut Pictures is looking to move into HD and long-form drama with an expansion of its west London base and the likely purchase of an Avid DS Nitris. This follows the recent purchase of seven Avid Adrenaline units and...

River.(production house)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Liverpool production facility River has moved to new premises at The Tea Factory and hired former McCann Erickson creative director David George to head-up the firm's branding and idents business. Founders Jon Comer and Paul Roberts have...

Glassworks capitalises on R&D.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Boutique facility Glassworks is looking to expand its special projects division after securing a buyout of the majority stake held by failed German media group, Das Werk. Md Hector Mcleod regains 76% of the firm he founded in 1996, with...

Chrysalis TV rallies to outside broadcast first.(Technology)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The first live broadcast of the FIA World Rally Championship has been hailed as a broadcasting landmark by Dave Richards, chairman of WRC rights holders ISC. Live coverage of the sport proved impractical in the past because of the...

Soundelux migrates to London.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Ascent Media's LA-based audio post firm Soundelux has opened a London office. Based at 142 Wardour Street, adjacent to St Anne's Post, the sound-for-features facility will be led by Eddy Joseph, whose credits include Cold Mountain and...

TMR beds Footballers' Wives.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The Machine Room is posting the third series of Shed Productions' racy ITV drama Footballers' Wives. DigiBeta rushes were offlined at Shed before the conform by TMR's Rob Schofield and Ronnie Newman. It then went into Smoke for film effects,...

Corinthian Television.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Paul Wilcock has joined Corinthian Television as chief technology officer for its Chiswick operation, which houses the European base of the Disney channel. Wilcock joins from the BBC where he was responsible for the tapeless production concept,...

Pinnacle Systems.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Pinnacle Systems, which sells the Liquid NLE range, has replaced its ceo. Kim Fennel gave no reason for his resignation, although the company has posted a first quarter loss for the second year running. Its loss for the quarter ending 30...

Gearhouse Broadcast.(cameras for rent)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Gearhouse Broadcast has acquired eight Thomson Grass Valley LDK 6000 mkll WorldCam HD cameras for rental at its London, LA and Sydney offices. The cameras, mounted with 5in HD viewfinders, will also front the company's HD fly-pack system. Says...

New trade body greenlit for post.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The DTI and the UK Film Council are set to deliver a wide-reaching report into the UK's post-production business which will recommend the launch of a new facility trade body. The initiative has been driven by a visual effects committee,...

McMillan calls in receivers.(Business)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Equipment hire firm McMillan UK, which has been forced into receivership, is believed to owe Avid at least 500k [pounds sterling]. Other businesses for which McMillan had bought services or kit are also left counting the cost of its...

Red Post completes MBO.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Commercials and film house Red Post has negotiated a management buyout of the facility. Md Stephen Luther, technical director Simon Leppington and creative director Gary Szabo have acquired most of the remaining 70% of shares they did not...

Sideline the colourist at your peril: the colourist's days are by no means over, argues Pepper's Dan Coles.(The Business)
December 1, 2003... There's been some recent debate, notably in this column (Adrian Church, October issue) arguing that producers of broadcast programming can find just as much quality and efficiency by opting to grade on non-linear editing kit. I beg to...

Daydream believer: however vivid your dreams, you'd be hard put to recreate the look of one. Glassworks take on the task for Hallmark Entertainment's 20m [pounds sterling] production of Dreamkeeper for ABC.(Dreamkeeper)
December 1, 2003... The three-hour, two-part miniseries directed by Steve Barron (Hallmark's Merlin and Arabian Nights) involves a native American tribal elder and his grandson as they embark on a road trip. During the trip, the elder recounts his tribal legends...

Diary.(Illustration)(Calendar)
December 1, 2003... DIARY IN BRIEF * Brighton Film Festival 21 November-3 December Brighton, sefva@brighton.ac.uk, 01273 643213 * RTS Keynote Lecture: Mick Desmond, ITV 3 December Newcastle, www.rts.org,...

Production directory: the A-Z of production services.
December 1, 2003... ACCOUNTANTS LINDFORD & COMPANY, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS We are a small friendly firm serving the film and TV industry, providing confidential financial, accountancy and taxation advice and audit. One Duchess Street, London W1W 6AN. ...

Thoro'ly good TV.(In My View)(interview with UKTV's Nick Thorogood)(Interview)
December 1, 2003... Do you manage to watch a lot of TV? I'm a highly accomplished TV consumer. I wake up with the TV, have a TV on constantly on my desk and watch TV when I get home. I have scheduled TV treat-points in the week and praise the gods for TiVO (I...

December TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box.(The End)(a list of upcoming programming)
December 1, 2003... The Christmas Show from Monday 1 December, 17.00:ITV1 Dave Stewart's new Covent Garden studio The Hopsital gets an hour's daily plug in the weeks up to Chistmas, with Eamonn Holmes and Tess Daly hosting "the best in music and entertainment,...

What's this thing digital TV has about primates?(Hair-In-The-Gate)
December 1, 2003... No one at Duckworth Finn's presentation of its big idea to promote the BBC digital channels could have failed to spot a similarity with Mother's big idea to sell the doomed ITV digital channels: monkeys. "Er, great campaign, pity about the...