Televisual articles from June 2002

Televisual archives from June 2002

Zig Zag gains its independence as it buys out YTV's share. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Zig Zag, the independent set up by Danny Fenton and Kevin Utton along with YTV, has bought out the broadcaster's 25% share. With the initial two-year deal at an end, Zig Zag now has 100% ownership "against the trend for independents to be...

Banjax and Consortium of Gentlemen's Thingies deal. (Animation).(television series, UK)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Yaho Ahoy producer The Consortium of Gentlemen has teamed up with Banjax, ex-PGP Richard Morss's new animation company, on its Thingies project. Thingies was first unveiled by The Consortium of Gentlemen at September's Cartoon Forum....

Nexus: the Swedish connection. (Commercials).(Nexus Productions to represent Filastecknama, Swedish animators, in UK)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The UK's Nexus Productions is to formally represent Swedish animators Filastecknarna in the UK and France. Nexus and Filmtecknarna have worked together on single projects for three years, notably on the Boddington's cow campaign and Sky...

Sprogs in search of a good home. (Animation).(Plant Sprog produces pilot for new Space Sprogs television program, UK)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Space Sprogs is a five-minute pilot to whet network appetites for a new kids' series. Planet Sprog, a west-country outfit set up to devise a TV vehicle for characters created by Doedi Melvin, made the [pounds sterling]50k pilot last month at...

TV specialist Mindhouse. (In Brief).(UK)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... TV specialist Mindhouse has created a product that allows broadcasters to update a central library of interactive content which can then be published across the UK's three DTV platforms and any others across the world. The company is currently...

FT2 will this month pick six trainees to pilot its film development internship scheme. (In Brief).
June 1, 2002... FT2 will this month pick six trainees to pilot its film development internship scheme. The 62-week, full-time paid training programme, aimed ultimately at improving the quality and viability of UK screenplays, involves six-month placements with...

Square Art. (In Brief).(art sale to benefit Centrepoint charity)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Square Art goes on show this month at Golden Square Post in the first of a series of events its hosting with Zoo magazine. Private work by creatives from ad agencies and production companies includes photography, paintings and sculpture; it...

Marcus Colman. (In Brief).(director general of Digital TV Group)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... As government plans for the digital roll-out unravel, the Digital TV Group is appointing its first director general. The key task for Marcus Colman, says the DGT, is an action-plan to achieve "a well-planned and co-ordinated" analogue...

SVC and Spectre press buttons for Playstation. (Commercials).(ad for Sony)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The latest spot from those cunning folk at Sony, who helped to make PlayStation 2 the number-one adult toy by marketing it with cryptic humourous messages, is for the Virtua Fighter 4 game. Typically, though, the game gets only a brief...

HR3D brings Mario into the real world for Pepsi. (Commercials).
June 1, 2002... Latest from HR3D is a 30-second commercial for Mirinda, a Pepsi soft drink, to play out in Asia Pacific and South America from early this month. Commissioned by CLM BBDO in Paris, HR3D created the Nintendo characters from the Super Mario...

Corporate. (News in Production).(Change Works gets animation from Spark and Zoom for web site)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Animation outfit Spark and Zoom (brothers Myles and Greg McLeod) has created a 21x60-second "industrial soap-opera" for change-management consultancy The Change Works. The episodes are to be shown weekly on the company's website. The toon...

TSI answers quiz with Bass. (Broadcast).
June 1, 2002... Saul Bass, the pioneering-graphic designer behind the credit sequences to Hitchcock's Vertigo and Psycho, was the inspiration for TSI Design's title sequence for quiz-show Swapheads. TSI's Malcolm Dalton used stark contrasts and a...

Seventh Art Productions. (In Brief).
June 1, 2002... Pele the greatest footballer of all time, is profiled in a documentary from Seventh Art Productions. The 50-minute film for BBC2 uses archive footage and interviews from old team-mates and opponents, authors and journalists. The film will go...

Sandra Ensby. (In Brief).
June 1, 2002... Sherbet director Sandra Ensby has just completed her six-minute short film Wedding Espresso for Channel 4. The piece was originally ordered by Camilla Deakin for the recent Hot Reels season but will now go out towards the end of the year....

Firehouse. (In Brief).(finishes first video for Debenhams department store)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Corporate producer Firehouse has completed the first of four quarterly staff communications videos for department store Debenhams. Get This..., directed by Deborah Charles and produced by Gavin Knight, sets out to give employees an...

SMG gets Nick gagging for it. (Broadcast).(Nickelodeon orders teen comedy show)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Gagging for It, a comedy show for teenagers from SMG, has been ordered by Nickelodeon's head of original production, Joe Godwin. GFI is SMG's first commission for a non-terrestrial channel. The series will be fronted by teenagers, along the...

Hobbins Sides with Bragg for the war of words. (Broadcast).(Melvyn Bragg)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Hobbins Sides was recruited to create the title-sequence for Melvyn Bragg's new series focussing on the social history of capitalism. Director Andrew Sides used After Effects to populate images of famous philosophers and politicians on to a...

Screenhouse Productions has been commissioned by BBC North. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Screenhouse Productions has been commissioned by BBC North to make a 30-minute documentary following a voyage on HM Bark Endeavour, a full-size sailing replica of Captain Cook's ship, from the Azores to Whitby where the original Endeavour was...

Discovery Networks Europe has ordered Sun, Sea and Scaffolding. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Discovery Networks Europe has ordered Sun, Sea and Scaffolding from Two Four Productions, 10x30-minute documentaries that will follow several British families at their holiday homes abroad. The programmes will be presented by designer Ben...

Indie True North has been commissioned by ITV. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Indie True North has been commissioned by ITV to make a 60-minute documentary Fighting for Danny, which follows the father of a Down's Syndrome child as he enters the British White-Collar Boxing championships to raise awareness about the...

BBC Scotland and Scottish Screen's Tartan Shorts scheme. (The Green Light).(films for Edinburgh International Film Festival)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... BBC Scotland and Scottish Screen's Tartan Shorts scheme has picked the three projects to be made into nine-minute films to premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. They will also be shown by the BBC, and become part of Scottish...

Target Distribution has bagged a UK order from the BBC. (The Green Light).(for gameshow format 'The Chair')(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Target Distribution has bagged a UK order from the BBC for its gameshow format, The Chair. The 10x60-minute programme will TX from September, fronted by tennis legend John McEnroe who also presents the US version. Contestants have to answer...

"Doing a Richard Gere" is the polite expression for the subject of Stink director Laurence Hamburger's latest spot for Virgin Mobile. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... "Doing a Richard Gere" is the polite expression for the subject of Stink director Laurence Hamburger's latest spot for Virgin Mobile. The ad centres on a hamster, reincarnated only to find he again ends up with two moustachioed gents. Shot for...

Pink Films plays it safe with this spot for Autoglass. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Pink Films plays it safe with this spot for Autoglass, ordered by HHCL Director Michael Geoghegan shot the ad in Spain and used double-exposure to show an imagined crash, pointing out how a well-fitted windscreen can save lives; producer was...

Brighton's Nice Pictures indulged in some Carry-On style "heaving bosoms and excruciating puns," for a pair of 10-minute training films for Lloyds TSB. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Brighton's Nice Pictures indulged in some Carry-On style "heaving bosoms and excruciating puns," for a pair of 10-minute training films for Lloyds TSB. The mini-costume dramas, directed by Tom Hickmore, inserts learning points about modern...

Channel 4 boost for E4. (Finance).(subscription service)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Despite reporting losses of [pounds sterling]20m in its last financial year, Channel 4 says it's continuing to back subscription services E4 and Film Four. The new ventures, along with 4 Learning, were blamed for most of the network's...

New indies off the block. (Production).(Guardian Films, Artist Network, Bent Films)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Guardian Films, a spin-off from The Guardian Group, has announced its second documentary, a project about the murder of prostitutes made with FirstFrame TV for C4. Investigative journalist Maggie O'Kane is the new outfit's editorial...

RDF shuts regional shop. (Broadcast).(RDF Manchester)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... RDF Manchester is to close in the autumn after group losses of [pounds sterling]500k. This follows the closure in November 2000 of the company's Bristol office and of RDF Sheffield last year. RDF insists, however, that this does not signal...

What's in the small print? (Parliament).(broadcasting legislation in the UK)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The draft Communications Bill was always going to get a close scrutiny by executives at News Corporation, but there must have been more than a few raised eyebrows at the stick lurking beneath the carrot of a first time stake in the UK's...

Consolidation can corner creativity: the creative independence of the UK's production industry is threatened by proposals in the new Communications Bill, argues Pact chief executive John McVay. (The Business News).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... There is little to suggest in the draft communications bill that the government and its advisers have understood the difference between broadcasting and production. Both require attention -- and both need to be truly competitive activities. ...

The body count so far. (Digital TV).(ITV Digital)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Soon after the final ignominious collapse of ITV Digital, the broadcaster's cultish monkey mascots were changing hands on internet auction sites for [pounds sterling]100 a pop. Those willing to part with that kind of cash assumed they were...

He's back. Charlie Higson's super-smooth car salesman Swiss Toni has bagged his own six-part series on BBC Choice. (Month in Review).
June 1, 2002... He's back. Charlie Higson's super-smooth car salesman Swiss Toni has bagged his own six-part series on BBC Choice. Ex-BBC and now Tiger Aspect's Geoffrey Perkins is to produce the show. Choice controller Stuart Murphy was seen emerging from the...

ITV 2 has taken the unusual step of allowing a group of the channel's advertisers. (Month in Reiew).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... ITV 2 has taken the unusual step of allowing a group of the channel's advertisers to decide which Tiger Aspect programme idea, from a choice of three, should make it to the broadcast pilot stage. Now, ITV does have an image problem with ad...

Angus Deayton's recent call-girls and charlie shocker has all the hallmarks of a classic News of the World sting. (Month in Review).
June 1, 2002... Angus Deayton's recent call-girls and charlie shocker has all the hallmarks of a classic News of the World sting. All that was missing was a fake sheikh. But, for all wild-eyed TV conspiracy theorists out there, there's a more interesting...

News storyboard.
June 1, 2002... * MPC's ad Doctor carries on Stella's theme of cupboard-love, with a suspected cholera epidemic testing the mettle of Stella fans * Basement Jaxx's Where's your Head At? is another MPC winner, for best effects at the Cads. Directed by...

Regional correctness. (New Media).
June 1, 2002... Concerning your May issue (The End, In My View), exactly what does "Michael McMahon hasn't let being a Welsh northerner hamper him" mean?

Viral attack in advertising. (New Media).(Digital Media Communications, Maverick Media)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Just a note to let you know that the company partnering Maverick Media for the production and tracking of viral films is Digital Media Communications (DMC at www.dmc.co.uk), and not The Digital Media Company as reported in the May issue of...

Charge of the graphics brigade. (Broadcast).(television documentaries)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... We were delighted that your piece on The Charge of the Light Brigade (SMG Ginger/Film Red) brought out what we feel are the key issues in the use of cgi in factual material for TV. Our recent experience is that there is a significant uplift...

Did we just skip two decades? (Opinions).
June 1, 2002... 20 years ago, the lead story in our June issue was "BBC Falkands coverage draws Tory flak," after Panorama raised questions about the sanity of the planned south Atlantic expedition. Further down the page, there was a story about an...

ITV extra, uncut, raw: ITV2's new head of programmes came on board just as the channel managed it's first breakthrough success with Pop Idol Extra. Jon Creamer asks her how she intends to keep those numbers rolling in. (Interview Daniela Neumann).(Daniela Neumann)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The ITV brand has taken a bit of a beating lately. But at least one part of ITV's digital plan is looking a little perkier these days. ITV2 has been on the air since 1997 but, until recently, most viewers have been hard put to notice. The...

Pop addiction. (In Production Going Over).(public service advertising)
June 1, 2002... After fishing for talent in the broadcast and ad production ponds, now corporate clients are turning to the music specialists. Sam Espensen finds herself on the set of Sledge's new drugs-awareness film for the DoH, but with a Bristol beat...

The new media mix: In five years since we first surveyed this landscape, platforms have shifted, applications developed and all walks of business come and gone from the scene. We outline the shape of today's mature new media maker. (New Media).(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2002... New media may be the junior sector of the moving image industry, but already there are veterans. Five that appeared in our very first survey of top proponents (in those days we were uncool enough to call them "multimedia" outfits) are still in...

Situation, situation. (The House that Jack Built in Production).
June 1, 2002... If mainstream sitcom has been a losing out to reality TV and gameshows, Alomo plans to change all that -- again. Christina Pishiris talks to the team behind The House that Jack Built, an Adam Faith vehicle with the Marks and Gran stamp that...

Where were you in 82?
June 1, 2002... Two decades is a long time in TV -- and it's a long time to have been reporting on it. But Televisual reaches 20 years in print this month. And to mark the occasion, we're looking back at some fond memories of the TV production industry over...

Heroes and villains.
June 1, 2002... Was Thatcher a hero or a villain for the TV industry? In the 80s, that would depend where you were standing. Channel 4 was both a curiously Thatcherite idea and its opposite. In economic terms, the Tories needed C4 and the indies to pressurise...

Turn-on/turn-off TV.
June 1, 2002... The best and most influential UK TV programmes of the past 20 years? A highly subjective subject, and not an argument you should get into without several hours to spare. But since 82, there have been TV programmes that have changed the way a...

Good gadget guide.(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... The last 20 years have shaped the face of technology, post-production and the TV industry more than any other period has. While the 70s gave birth to the whole genre of digital editing, the 80s and 90s made the idea of computer-based post...

Facilities 50 history lesson.(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we look back well beyond the beginnings of Televisual's annual Facilities 50 survey, which began in 1988. Who were those early, brave people who started independent companies in a world where post routinely...

Where will you be in 2022?
June 1, 2002... Now so far, we've focussed on the past 20 years. It's only natural to take a long look back through your life when you've reached the ripe old age of 20; besides, with all the I Love... and Top Ten... shows on the box, TV nostalgia's obviously...

What's on in 2022?
June 1, 2002... Discussion of TV in the future tends to centre on the technology. Holographic interactive programming beamed direct to your retina-inserted microchip as you cruise the highways on a silver hoverboard. All very sci-fi, but what sort of shows...

Devices and desires.(life in the year 2022)
June 1, 2002... On the eve of Televisual's 20th birthday, a world-record was broken. A Japanese supercomputer recorded the fastest "floating point" calculation-speed of any computer. Modestly titled The Earth Simulator, it rubbished IBM's speed record with...

2022: best guesses.
June 1, 2002... So we've looked at the past and -- with the help of those who reatly sought to know -- we've peered into the future. Are we any further on in predicting the next 20 years of moving images? What will be Televisual's hot topics in in June...

Surfing music. (Online Audio).(sourcing music)
June 1, 2002... Few relish the job of sorting out the music for a production: there's that ideal track you can't put a name to, stacks of CDs to wade through, and then the rights... So Ken Allan looks at some (so far) barely-trodden alternative routes --...

Kaydara unveils Motionbuilder. (Technology).(new software designed for use as a real-time hub)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
June 1, 2002... Long established as the de facto software for working with motion-capture data, Kaydara has decided to chase the nascent real-time 3D market in earnest with the release of its new Motionbuilder software. Designed for use as a real-time hub,...

Arena and Fusion expand. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... As part of the year-long refurbishment of its new Newman Street location, Arena Digital has ramped up its audio capacity to three suites. This gives the company a 17-suite capacity in total: the set-up now includes nine Avids, one online...

The NFTS is launching a new digital postproduction department designed specifically to provide training for future vfx supervisors and artists. (In Brief).
June 1, 2002... The NFTS is launching a new digital postproduction department designed specifically to provide training for future vfx supervisors and artists. Kicked off with a rather useful donation from Discreet of two Flames and two Smokes, Red's Carl...

VTR joins the digital elite. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... VTR will become the latest London facility to set up a digital film lab when it opens its newest department in the space vacated by The Film Factory in August. Headed by Rod Shelton, Digital Cinema@VTR represents an investment of around...

MPC expands FilmTel and grades 28 Days Later. (Facilities).
June 1, 2002... MPC plans to build on the success of its FilmTel Laser tape-to-film transfer department, which it now estimates has the lion's share of the current UK cinema commercials market A new, fully-calibrated suite features FilmTel software, Shake...

Weta Digital's Massive attack. (Technology).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... NZ effects house Weta Digital has revealed that it will release two versions of its in-house crowd-replication tool Massive to the industry at large later this year. The Linux-based software -- used to good effect by the company to create...

Mad Dogs and iMacs. (Promotion).(Mad Dogs Animation creates promo for CITV Internet, UK)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Stoke-based Mad Dogs Animation used Maya v4.0 to animate this 30-second promo for CITV Internet "We put a lot into it for a little job," explains animation director, Sean Magher. It was turned over in five days, but TX was postponed by an...

One of the star turns at this year's LEAF Awards. (In Brief).
June 1, 2002... One of the star turns at this year's LEAF Awards, which move to October for 2002, is likely to be a full day of presentations from the gurus at ILM on the digital effects of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (left). Topics scheduled...

Soho Editors has added two new courses to its current training line-up on Avid/DS and Digidesign's ProTools and ProControl software. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Soho Editors has added two new courses to its current training line-up on Avid/DS and Digidesign's ProTools and ProControl software. It's also announced the details of a mammoth Jubilee charity street party in aid of the Make-a-Wish Foundation...

Film music gets a boost with the establishment of Hot-House. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Film music gets a boost with the establishment of Hot-House, a new joint venture between Extreme Music and the LA-based Media Ventures Entertainment Group. Coheaded by Karen Elliot and Becky Bentham, Hot-House is planned to handle every aspect...

Anyone looking to setup their own boutique facility or simply looking for kit in future would be well advised to check out a new service from Tyrrel. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Anyone looking to setup their own boutique facility or simply looking for kit in future would be well advised to check out a new service from Tyrrel. Called t-bay, and part of a range of new initiatives from the company, it's a free,...

Avid heads back to London. (Business).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... After several years based at Pinewood Studios, Avid is moving a substantial element of its operation back to London. Roughly 20 employees will be based at the new offices at Swan House in Poland Street, including the whole UK technical...

It's patently obvious. (Technology).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The patent infringement case between Adobe and Macromedia has been settled, albeit extremely messily, after a lengthy journey through the US courts. First, Adobe was awarded just over [pounds sterling]2m as a result of Macromedia's use of...

Bath Studios breaks ground. (Facilities).(new film and broadcast facility to be built)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The south west gets the promise of another high-end film and broadcast facility when building on the new Bath Studios begins in July. It is set just outside Bath in the 42-acre [pounds sterling] 50m Corsham Media Park development, and...

Softimage drops price. (Technology).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Latest move in the increasingly bitter 3D price-war has seen Softimage drop the cost of its base Softimage 3D offering to $1495, making it even cheaper than Maya Complete. Soft's contention is that this makes it the only manufacturer...

Dolby controls volume. (Technology).(product introduction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Dolby has unveiled its new solution to overcoming TV volume variations at AES. The stand-alone LM100 Broadcast Loudness Meter allows broadcasters to set the dialogue normalisation parameter accurately for all their programming, presenting...

It's either Hollywood or bust: it's time to stop the talent drain to the US, says Rushes' head of 3D Jonathan Privett. (The Business the Works).(motion picture post-production staff)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Why are so many of Europe's talented post-production people drawn to America? They can't all have a burning desire to carry a concealed weapon, drink high-protein shakes and acquire a mouth full of rectilinear teeth. What's going on? The...

Football crazies: Partizan's footballitis ads involve dogs, non-actors and players not turning up on time. Sam Espensen talks to MPC's Alex Lovejoy and Christophe Allender about their World Cup Inferno experiences. (Adidas Campaign).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Adidas's World Cup campaign features a long line of the great and the good from around the world. Getting Barthez, Del Piero and Beckham together proved hard, however, and so Christophe Allender and Alex Lovejoy (the team behind Traktor's...

Event.
June 1, 2002... Banff TV Festival 9-14 June UK nominees for Banff include and Baby Cow/Avalon's The Sketch Show and Talkback's Smack the Pony in the comedy section; Green Bay's Double Yellow Stories: Do Not Go Gentle in documentary; and Illuminated's...

Mad about the box. (The End).(interview with Sam Espensen of FrameStore, UK)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2002... IN MY VIEW Framestore founder Mike McGee talks to Sam Espensen as he completes a long stretch as the visual effects supervisor on the upcoming fx extravaganza, Dinotopia. He owns up to a TV addiction which he acquired in childhood, a love...

June TX guide: The Producer's guide to the Month on the Box.
June 1, 2002... Big Brother started 24 May: Channel 4/E4 C4's cheeky placement of the voyeuristic phenomenon in World Cup month looks destined to cause relationship bust-ups over the remote control until you realise that the latest any live match kicks-off...

Reality bites man about dog. (Hair-in-the-Gate).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... You'd think contestants on reality shows would willingly trade a shot at fame for being hoisted by their own petard. Not so Castaway Ron Copsey, who successfully sued the BBC and Lion TV for misrepresenting him as aggressive and antisocial. The...