Televisual articles from July 2001

Televisual archives from July 2001

Play UK seeks web and TV talent.(Matthew Littleford, new channel editor at Play UK, seeking talent for company)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... More indie commissions from Play UK are in prospect as new channel editor Matthew Littleford makes his mark. The former Sky 1 executive producer wants fast-paced music and broken-sketch comedy for an 18-30 demographic: "shows that are...

Skillset and Bectu launch careers website.(new career website)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Skillset and Bectu are to join forces later this month for the launch of a new website: skillsformedia.com, billed as "the careers advice and information service for the UK media industry." The site offers tips on how to break into the...

Nigella cooks up new business.(William Miller, new managing director of MYC TV, plans for first solo productions)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Nigella Lawson's production outfit MYC TV is gearing up for its first solo productions under new md William Miller, who quit as Conde Naste's new-media director last month. MYC, which has so far co-produced Nigella Bites with Flashback,...

Fox Kids kicks off games channels.(Fox Kids Europe NV in negotiations for television channels)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Fox Kids is currently in negotiation with digital platforms to provide a home for its Fox Kids Play interactive games channels. The channels have been co-developed with ITV company Visiware, responsible for development and technology as well as...

Anglia Studios.(Anglia Television Group PLC wins contract to host Yorkshire Television Ltd. show)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Anglia Studios, now under the control of The London Studios, has won the contract to host Yorkshire TV's Popstars-inspired Starmaker for ITV2. The show auditions wannabe performers at locations around the country and will culminate with 14-hour...

New Moon.(New Moon planning for video productions)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... New Moon is working with a pet-food supplier to produce two VHS on-pack promotions, both shot in hi-def. It opted for HD after the high costs of 35mm deterred its client, which craved an ad texture. Exec producer Caroline Rowland admits that...

2002 Queen's Award for Enterprise.
July 1, 2001... Innovative UK production companies should apply now for entry to the 2002 Queen's Award for Enterprise. Winners get to use the Queen's Award emblem for five years and even get to meet Her Maj at a high-profile reception at Buckingham Palace....

Uden Associates.(to provide new television production service called Uden Vision)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Uden Associates, which up till now divided its business 50:50 between broadcast and corporate work, is to split off corporate production into newly-launched Uden Vision. Its first head of new business, Neil Munro, is recruited to look after...

Loose Moose and Red and Ned Kraft ad for JWT.(Loose Moose provides services for Kraft television advertisements)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Animation house Loose Moose has teamed up with directing duo Neville Astley and Mark Baker to create a particularly cheesy ad for the US market. The spot for Kraft Cheese Singles features animated characters Red and Ned battling in their...

Artsworld shoots Clive James for the web.(provides internet programs featuring Clive James)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Artsworld's first programmes shot specifically for the web will show Clive James interviewing a variety of subjects from Australian film director Bruce Beresford to UK writer Martin Amis. The six-part, 30-minute series, Talking in the...

The Farm Group has produced Dream Time.(space station short)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The Farm Group has produced Dream Time, a short directed by Jane and Louise Wilson, about the first manned mission to the space-station launched from the Russian cosmodrome in Kazakstan. With 16mm telecined at Home on to HD cam, and DVC rushes...

Under the shower at Brave.(Brave Films, advertising contract)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Waterproofing the set proved a problem for Brave Films as it shot Ogilvy & Mather'sDove Spa spots featuring a girl doused with gallons of water. The brief for the four 20-second ads required director Sue Worthy to shoot the water in a...

Red Pepper.(Chinese State Television contract)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Red Pepper has created nine new idents for Chinese State Television to air from this month when the CCTV-10 channel launches in China. The contract was won partly through mutual contacts "because recommendation is the way business works there,"...

Fox International Entertainment Channels gets a new brand identity from Razorfish.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Fox International Entertainment Channels gets a new brand identity from Razorfish. The rebrand will extend across all Fox's general entertainment channels around the world as well as its websites. The idents and logos were created to appeal to...

Picardy Media.(provides Glasgow Science Centre exhibition)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... An exhibit at the Glasgow Science Centre from Picardy Media allows visitors to navigate shipwrecks as part of an exhibition of the River Clyde. The touch-screen kiosk uses live action and cgi to recreate the wrecks. Picardy is finalising a deal...

Linda Green to relaunch BBC1.(BBC requests additional episodes from Red Productions)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The BBC has asked for four more episodes of Linda Green from Red Productions before the series goes on air "because they liked it so much," says Red's Nicola Schindler. The drama is also understood to tie in with the EBC1 rebranding before...

Passion Pictures goes live with sneakers doc.(documentary to air July 13)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Passion Pictures' first live-action programme, Sneaker Freaks, is set to air on 13 July. The half-hour documentary on all things trainer-obsessed is part of the Alt TV strand. C4's Peter Dale asked director John Dower to submit ideas for...

Bermuda's Bloomberg promo.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The recently-launched branding arm of Bermuda Shorts, Bermuda id, has created a new promo for financial channel Bloomberg TV. The animated sequence is to promote Bloomberg's series of lectures and seminars aimed at young business...

COMMERCIALS.(Toyota Lexus, advertising campaign)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Toyota Lexus hopes to catch them very young with its upcoming ad Womb. The spot, commissioned by Saatchi & Saatchi, shows an ultrasound scan of a foetus dreaming of driving its very own Lexus. It was produced by Slimpix and directed by Charlie...

The British Open Golf tournament.(to be presented in interactive format by BBC)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The British Open Golf tournament will be interactive on the BBC from 19-22 July, in a similar form to this year's Wimbledon interactive tennis. It will be on DTT and across all platforms. Five camera feeds will show the main programme, with...

National Geographic, Electric Sky and Skaramoosh have teamed up to produce Tales of the Living Dead.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... National Geographic, Electric Sky and Skaramoosh have teamed up to produce Tales of the Living Dead, an archaeological whodunnit that uses modem forensic techniques to solve ancient crimes. Skaramoosh will provide cg work to flesh out the...

Skunk.(produces promo)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Skunk, the new animation-based offshoot of production house Stink, has produced the promo for Presidential Suite, the first single release from the Super Furry Animals' upcoming DVD album, Rings Around the World. The promo was created by 4k, a...

Granada needs to cut carefully.(management strategy)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... It looks like the next couple of years could be pretty bleak for the ITV companies. A 10% drop in ad revenue over the past year and the high cash-burning capabilities of newly-rebranded ITV Digital have conspired to push Granada's profits into...

Those top TV execs have no concept of commitment.
July 1, 2001... Those top TV execs have no concept of commitment. No sooner had Kevin Lygo informed a tearful Michael Jackson that it just wasn't working anymore, and only Channel 5's Dawn Airey really understood his needs, than C4 started flirting like a...

Tears too over at ITV as summer-season back-stabbing reality spectacular Survivor failed to get the viewing public's interest up.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Tears too over at ITV as summer-season back-stabbing reality spectacular Survivor failed to get the viewing public's interest up. Not content to slice the series down to one episode a week, rumour has it that ITV is considering even more...

BBC/Elite model agency catfight.(out-of -court-settlement denied)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... And just what happened in the out-of-court settlement of the recent. BBC/Elite model agency catfight? Reports initially suggested a total climbdown by the corporation and massive payouts to Elite for misrepresenting its sweet and caring bosses...

There's no going back.(from records to CDs to DVDs)(Brief Article)(Column)
July 1, 2001... New media (Televisual, June) are addictive. When CD first arrived, two things happened: first I recoiled in disgust (there was no way I'd give up my vinyl); then I bought a CD player. The fact was I could not do without it. You'd think you...

Credit due for Game Boy...(Correction Notice)
July 1, 2001... I'd like to point out that the production company for the new Game Boy ads featured in June's Televisual is in fact Jane Fuller Associates, not MPC as implied. The spots were directed by Johan Renck for Jane Fuller Associates. Together they are...

And for Bird Game.(Correction Notice)
July 1, 2001... In reference to the article New Media, Old Skills (Televisual June 2001), we'd like to draw your attention to the following. Compaq Bird Game and Worm Game was a joint project between Studio AKA and Edwards Churcher. Both Companies had...

Minister for free time must get busy.(Tessa Jowell)(Brief Article)(Column)
July 1, 2001... After the May 97 election, the party went on for former culturesecretary Chris Smith as he swept off to Cannes to launch the Film Council. Last month he was back on the back benches, sunk by three millstones: Dome, Lottery and Wembley Stadium....

TV gets a head-butt.(The Head)(Brief Article)(Column)
July 1, 2001... Brought to life in a computer hard-drive and currently residing somewhere in cyberspace, virtual television presenter The Head is forced to watch the box 24/7. So which TV programmes tickle his keyboard and which shows leave him reaching for...

Morning Corley.(Paul Corley, new managing director of GMTV)
July 1, 2001... New GMTV boss Paul Corley wants to expand the franchise as a production outfit, with a Skyl commission newly in the bag. But, he tells Jon Creamer, a sell-off to one of the big two is a very distant prospect ITV head of daytime Maureen...

World wildlife fun.(Aardman Animations film for World Wildlife Fund)
July 1, 2001... Aardman's first mix of live-action and claymation is a film for the World Wildlife Fund, part of a huge exhibition touring the US till 2004. Sam Espensen goes to Bristol to talk to the director about gay shrimps, paranoid rhinos and...

When media collide.(Televisual survey and directory of telecommunications companies)(Directory)
July 1, 2001... The ninth year of Televisual's corporate communications survey sees a business community looking to reinvent itself for the tenth. We find companies that once sped along separate tracks coming together, as new media play midwife to hybrid...

Your local job centre.(various entertainment industry employees, information on employment in the entertainment industry)
July 1, 2001... As this year's graduates pour out into the industry is there any evidence that a degree in anything - let alone in media - will help them get a job? Sam Espensen prints out her CV and hits the streets to see Getting into the film and TV...

Kids are people too.(Wall to Wall Television program on child development)
July 1, 2001... Retrieving stolen clapper-boards and dowsing tantrums were all in a day's work for Wall to Wall as it set about making its follow-up to Baby It's You. So why wait seven years? Shot in the natural habitat of the playroom, the new series from...

They dream of sheep...(advances in video games)
July 1, 2001... There's a silent battle raging between the worlds of TV and video games: which will hold the greatest power in the entertainment war? Simon Meek enters the virtual world of gaming and discovers an industry that is much closer to reality than...

Atomic Music ties up dance acts.(entertainment company)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Atomic Arts is setting up a music division within its entertainment arm and is on the prowl for rights. The department will both produce and distribute music content on a global scale, aiming at a 16- to 35-year-old audience. It is already...

Competition ramps up in Soho.(resellers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... There is another Avid reseller in Soho, and yet another name on the horizon. Gearbox has opened its first central London office, situated within audio post-house De Lane Lea, in a bid to infiltrate this market further. Meanwhile, Boxer Systems...

Fast Multimedia.(develops media player)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2001... Fast Multimedia has developed a media-player that allows playback of DV files on PCs without DV codecs installed (download free from its website). By installing a Direct X filter that turns the Microsoft Media Player into a Dif-compatible...

Toon Boom Technologies.(introduces new plug-in technology)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Toon Boom Technologies has released a plug-in that gives Maya the ability to export 3D models and motion-capture data into USAnimation package to give a hand-drawn feel. Toonshader converts 3D animation into cartoon-style 2D vector images,...

Newcastle's imagine.(installs Dolby Surroundsound in dubbing suite)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Newcastle's imagine has installed Dolby Surroundsound in its AudioVision dubbing suite after Northmen Productions approached it to tackle its turn Dog Soldiers. Written, directed and edited by Neil Marshal, the feature is about a group of...

Print Out is revamping its net-based video distribution service.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Print Out is revamping its net-based video distribution service, Clipvault.com. V2, which allows the user to upload data, can now perform multiple downloads of the material. The service, billed at [pound]25 per 100MB per month, can be...

Kingston on London warpath.(Kingston Mediastream getting a new name)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Kingston Mediastream is to undergo its second rebranding in nine months in an ongoing bid to raise its profile and snatch business from established London studios. The division of Kingston Communications will relaunch as Kingston Inmedia...

Teen-band concert breaks new ground in high-def.(Done and Dusted production)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Done and Dusted has taken its first steps into high-definition, recording S Club7's Manchester concert with 10 HD cameras. A multi-camera shoot of this kind is a first in the UK. Metro Broadcast sourced the F900 cameras. However, as Metro...

Snell and Wilcox to buy Post Impressions.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Snell and Wilcox is set to sign the final documents in the purchase of HD-workstation manufacturer Post Impressions. The acquistion will see Post Impressions md Graham Sharp leave the company to join Avid as VP of European sales. Danny...

Red creates black hole in cg world.(Red Post Production, computer generated)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Red Post Production has created a set of cg space anomalies for Channel 4's Equinox: The Hunt for the Death Star. Tasked with visualising several scenarios - from the formation of a neutron star to the possible effects on Earth if a gamma ray...

Liberty shapes up.(Liberty Livewire)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... As 4MC UK gets face-lift and a beefier sound department, is there more to the transformation than meets the eye? Simon Meek puts his ear to the ground and finds out that Liberty is in town The big cheeses of US media monolith Liberty...

An engineered meeting place.(Chief Engineers of Facilities Forum)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Chief engineers from several facilities are ganging up in a new trade organisation. The Chief Engineers of Facilities Forum (Cheff) aims to get the views of the UK facilities industry heard on technical and operational matters, as its chairman...

David Chidgey has joined 1410 Degrees as commercial director.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... David Chidgey has joined 1410 Degrees as commercial director after a four year spell as a freelance marketing consultant, before which he worked for London Post as marketing director. He says: "It's a great opportunity for me to get back to the...

Audio post-house Saunders & Gordon has scooped-up ex-Space/Silk Sound mixer Cliff Rossiter.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Audio post-house Saunders & Gordon has scooped-up ex-Space/Silk Sound mixer Cliff Rossiter. Already working on promos for VH1 and an array of spots, Rossiter is described by facilities director Tim Lofts as "versatile. You can throw anything at...

Amanda Lowit.(joins Smoke and Mirrors)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Amanda Lowit has left her role as head of television at Grey Worldwide to join the ranks of Smoke & Mirrors. In a newly created role of head of marketing, Lowit is tasked with developing the company's immediate and long-term strategy across...

The busman's bank holiday.(Edinburgh TV festival)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Video Diaries pioneer and master of the pop-doc, the chair of this year's Edinburgh TV festival is soon to leave the BBC. Before he does, he'll turn the cameras on the industry itself as a warm-up for debate Each year a wonderfully lunatic...