Televisual articles from June 2005

Televisual archives from June 2005

Indies pick up local funds to make the move to Manchester.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Two more independents are to set up northern offshoots in Manchester and have attracted regional funds to help them. Baby Cow and Channel X have both been given cash from North West Vision's Regional Attraction Fund. They follow Hat...

BBC Broadcast bidders shortlist down to four.(Thompson/Technicolor)(Exponent Private Equity)(Macquarie Group)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Thomson/Technicolor finds itself up against three financial institutions including Apax Partners in the shortlist bidding for BBC Broadcast. The BBC is now in negotiation with the four - Apax, Exponent Private Equity, Macquarie Group and...

3 Mills contract.(3 Mills Studios)(East London studio)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... 3 Mills Studios has secured the contract for Danny Boyle's latest feature film, Sunshine. To accommodate the sci-fi production, the east- London studio has brought forward plans to upgrade a range of on-site facilities, including new...

Nexus awards.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Nexus picked up two gold awards for its Honda Grrr ad at this year's D&AD Awards. BBC interactive drama and entertainment also walked away with an award for its work on Spooks, and Aardman came out top for its website. The design award...

People moves this month.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... People moves this month: the BBC's Adelene Alani joins Darlow Smithson; Kudos makes Simon Crawford Collins head of drama and Faith Penhale head of development; Tiger's Dunja Noack joins September as specialist factual head; Firehouse's Gavin...

IWC kids' boss goes it alone.(IWC Media's Richard Langridge to open Rialto Films)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Independent IWC Media is to lose its childrens' department when its head of kids and family programming, Richard Langridge, leaves to set up on his own. The new outfit, Rialto Films, is taking all of IWC's children's commissions with...

Brave Films reborn as Home.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Emily Bliss and Michelle Stapleton, the founders of Brave Films, have scrapped the Brave name and gone their seperate ways, with Bliss rebranding the outfit as Home. Stapleton is also soon to start a new company, though she is yet to announce...

Fund-raising event.(live music event on 30 June)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Corporate heavyweight Jack Morton is holding a fund-raising event for Martin Harris, one of its senior producers who was left with brain- damage after suffering a major epileptic fit. It's calling on the industry to support his cause and buy a...

Sshh! CBBC orders secret Collingwood O'Hare show.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Collingwood O'Hare has picked up a 52x13-minute commission from CBBC for The Secret Show. The show's pilot, Lucky Leo, which features the voice of Stephen Fry, was premiered at last year's Cartoon Forum. Aimed at 7-12 year olds, the...

Granada Wild teams with WWF on eco-reality show.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Wildilfe specialist Granada Bristol is to make a new "eco-reality" series in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that will eventually be broadcast in over 160 countries and 24 languages. Animal Planet has commissioned the...

Live-action/animation ad.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Uli Meyer Animation has just completed a 30-second Raid spot for FCB Chicago - the company's third live-action/animation ad for the agency. Uli Meyer directed the live action in Brazil. The animation, which combines 2D and cgi ants with live...

AA campaign.
June 9, 2005... Outsider director Pedro Romhanyi tells a series of real-life human- interest stories showing where the AA has helped people out of extraordinary situations for the breakdown-service's new campaign. It was ordered through DLKW. The producer was...

O2's latest spot.
June 9, 2005... Serious director Ivan Bird and The Mill created a whole new solar system for O2's latest spot that has the mobile phone company's customers being orbited by a group of planets. The Mill team genned up on Nasa reference material to make the...

Prism and Initial bag kids orders.(Initial Kids)(Prism Entertainment Corp)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Initial Kids and Prism Entertainment have both secured series orders for Discovery Kids from channel director Clare Laycock. Prism has two shows, Invention SOS, where an inventor helps kids use inventions to solve problems in their...

Amex commercial.(Amex International Inc's ad My Life, My Card)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Cowboy Films' Bafta-winning director Roger Michell (Enduring Love, Notting Hill) has cast Kate Winslet in the lead for a new Amex ad My Life, My Card. The commercial, which has Winslet strolling through Camden comparing her real life to her...

Dangerous shoots Blackbeard.(Dangerous films)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Dangerous Films is in production in Malta on a major new two-hour drama that documents the final months of infamous pirate Blackbeard. Editor Peter Parnham and designer Tim Goodchild are currently overseeing the launch of a specially-built...

E&P makes a move into short-form programming.(English and Pockette)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Design and branding company English and Pockett is to move into short- form broadcast programming after picking up a commission from Discovery Network Europe. A series of 20x3-minute shows will be based on letters written by eye-...

Dreamlike promo.(Whitehouse pictures' Corin Hardy directed the promo Guiltless )(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Whitehouse Pictures' Corin Hardy directed the new promo Guiltless for Island Records' singer Martin Grech. The dreamlike promo was edited by Final Cut's Amanda James, who took out certain frames of movement to give the promo a jerky, filmic...

Branding for History Channel.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Devilfish created on-air branding for the History Channel that has ordinary people recounting historical stories. In one, a vet's tale to a farmer of how sick cows were catapulted into enemy castles has a sickly cow running for its life....

Aardman news.(Treatment Films)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Wallace and Gromit producer Aardman and Treatment Films will team up to produce a 30-minute TV adaptation of novelist Roddy Doyle's children's book The Giggler Treatment. The book tells the story of creatures who make sure all adults who are...

RDF to revive desert-island show.(RDF Media)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... RDF is to revive its desert-island reality show Shipwrecked for Channel 4's T4 strand. The 20x60-minute series has two groups of 18-23-year- olds stranded on two adjacent islands in the South Pacific where they will compete for a cash prize....

Company Pictures commission.(to make Marian)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Company Pictures is to make Marian, Again for ITV1, a 2x90-minute drama about a man who meets his first love again 15 years after she disappeared. Stephen Tompkinson (Ballykissangel) is to star. The writers are Ben Court and Caroline Ip and...

Tsunami documetnary.(Darlow Smith's projects)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Darlow Smithson has gathered a team of scientists for a new documentary that will attempt to examine the causes of the recent Asian tsunami. Journey to the Heart of the Tsunami is a co-pro for the BBC, Discovery US and Germany's ProSieben. A...

Zenith recommission.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Zenith has picked up a recommission from CiTV's kids' commissioner Estelle Hughes for its children's animation series King Arthur's Disasters. The new 13x30-minute series will be delivered in September next year. Voice cast members Rik...

#188M to spend for C4.(Channel Four Television Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Channel 4 is to go on a #188m spending spree after ad revenue rose 8% last year, leaving the broadcaster with #128.4m in the bank and #60m in current asset investments. Chief executive Andy Duncan says the money will be used to make some...

Hunt for daytime boss ends with Hunt.(British Broadcasting Corp.Daytime appointed Jay Hunt )(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Jay Hunt is to take over Alison Sharman's former role as controller of BBC daytime, as Sharman moves over to head up CBBC. Hunt is currently the senior commissioning executive for daytime and has developed shows like Missing, Beat the...

Coming and going.(Sky 1)(Talkback)(appointments and resignations)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Talkback's editorial director Daisy Goodwin is to quit after seven years, while signalling that she wants to set up her own indie. Sky 1 has poached Discovery Channel executive Emma Read to be commissioning editor of specialist factual....

BBC ends two-tick system.(British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... The BBC is putting more power into the hands of its genre commissioners by changing the current "two-tick" system. From July, genre commissioners can sign off shows themselves. Producers will also get feedback on why their ideas weren't...

Tomorrow's talent: use it or lose it.
June 9, 2005... Sarah Martin of ad directors' agents The Ross Martin Consultancy says that, unless agencies go back to taking a chance on new talent, it will wither on the vine So far, 2005 has been a tough year for the UK television commercials...

Upfronts opt for UK.(American Broadcasting Companies Inc)(National Broadcasting Company Inc)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... The BBC, RDF Media, Ricochet South and Granada all secured valuable US recommissions following the annual upfronts in New York. NBC decided to brave the 50% drop in ratings for the Reveille/NBC- produced version of the BBC's The Office,...

Zeal staffs up for Russian deal.(Zeal Television ,TNT )(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Producer/distributor Zeal Television has inked a first-look deal with Russian broadcaster TNT that will see the pair develop, produce and sell reality and factual fare. Zeal has hired Mike Montgomery, previously a producer on Big...

C4I goes Latin.(Channel 4 International sold Hamburg cell to LapTV Telecine)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... C4I has sold Mentorn's Hamburg Cell to Latin channel LapTV and Brazil's Telecine, which also acquired World Productions' Ultraviolet and Company Pictures' Nicholas Nickelby and Sons and Lovers. Ricochet South's Supernanny went to Brazil's...

Awards on Sky.(Sky1)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Celador Music and Events' 90-minute FifPro World XI Player Awards has been picked up by Sky1 to air in late September. Outside the UK, the event was acquired by Telemundo, Shanghai Media Group, Canal + Nordic, RTP, SuperSports, Antenna 1...

BBC show scores.(British Broadcasting Corp)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... The BBC has secured pre-sales for its football show The Greatest Show on Earth, which covers the history of The World Cup. Produced by BBC Bristol, the show was picked up by SVT in Sweden and SBS in Australia. The producer is Tom Ware and...

Time to learn your Aussie ABC.(Interview)
June 9, 2005... Denise Eriksen, head of factual entertainment at Australia's ABC TV, explains what she wants from UK producers How often do you work with UK producers? Not as much as I'd like, but I'm visiting the UK in early June to meet with the...

What's sauce for the goose.
June 9, 2005... The pressure for decent rates and working hours for both experienced freelancers and bright-eyed beginners in TV production is building up fast. Last month saw freelancers' pressure group TVWrap deliver a petition with 2500 signatures to...

MONTH IN REVIEW.
June 9, 2005... James Bond may have withstood Goldfinger, Scaramanger and Dr No, but it seems he is struggling to fight changes in British tax laws. Negotiations are now well under way for the next instalment of Bond, Casino Royale, to be shot in the Czech...

Letter: No soft option in indie sector.(Letter to the Editor)
June 9, 2005... In response to your correspondent who fears for his job in the BBC cuts (Televisual letters, May issue), I wouldn't advise him to expect too much better rewards in the independent sector. In my experience a broadcast-trained sound...

Letter: No films, no audiences.(Letter to the Editor)
June 9, 2005... I was interested in your article about the Film Council and its plan to assist UK film by helping with distribution costs as well as production costs. However, I take issue with the Alan Parker soundbite you printed that the UK film...

Industry fears a BBC on life-support.(British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... The morning Bectu, Amicus and the NUJ kicked off their protests over BBC job-cuts, Radio 4's stark news that the Today programme was off-air was followed by a repeat of an In Business report on pod-casting: what presenter Peter Day called Me...

INTERVIEW - TERRY GILLIAM: The man from Brazil.(Interview)
June 9, 2005... Film-maker, animator and ex-Python Terry Gilliam talks to Simon Meek about the state of British film funding, scratches his head over the changes in movie-making and offers a brutal take on British TV If the renowned film director and...

THE GIRL IN THE CAFE: Rom-com with a heart.
June 9, 2005... Tightrope Pictures' upcoming co-production has all the hallmarks of a Richard Curtis romantic comedy - but it has a serious aim: to activate our consciences as well as tear-ducts Part-Brief Encounter, part-Lost in Translation with a...

CORPORATE TOP 50: Images on the move.
June 9, 2005... With stockmarket pointers largely green over the past year, corporate producers have felt the benefits as their clients reposition. And one of them is a revival in good, old-fashioned storytelling - linear style Better news of the...

CORPORATE TOP 50.
June 9, 2005... The Method For a place in the Top 50, companies are awarded scores in five categories: for their number of staff; number of commissions across all disciplines; hours of content delivered (where measurable); turnover for corporate work; and...

CAROLINE ROWLAND: The whole of the moon.(New Moon)
June 9, 2005... Fresh from her success at this year's IVCA awards, Caroline Rowland tells Jon Creamer why her company New Moon spreads itself across broadcast, corporate, commercials and now even film The Olympics have proved a real winner for the...

STUDIOS: Time for change?
June 9, 2005... After an upredictable 2004, this year is shaping up to be more lucrative for the studio business. And it needs to be, as studio managers contemplate the major investments that are to come There's a huge financial investment looming on the...

Body to promote camera standards.(British Camera Standards Council )(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... An advisory body for camera standards in TV and film is being formed with a remit to encourage best practice and maintain skill levels. The British Camera Standards Council (BCSC) is a joint-venture between the Guild of TV Cameramen, the...

Rainbow refits and moves to HD.(Rainbow Post Production)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Rainbow Post has spent #350k upgrading its Soho facility and kitting out a new online suite for HD work. The post-house has taken delivery of a Quantel eQ, which it plans to use on two HD projects: Naked Science for National Geographic...

Welsh DVD production centre.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Welsh studio outfit The Pop Factory is pitching its TV studios to record labels as a one-stop DVD production centre for gigs. It hopes to "fill the gaps" in its TV studios' schedule by hosting and recording bands' live performances, which it...

Twofour enters facilities market.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Broadcast and corporate independent Twofour is breaking into the facilities market with a #2m spend on post-production kit and new Plymouth offices. The production company has built 12 video editing suites - 10 Avid Adrenalines and two...

Post market warning over BBC facilities sale.(BBC Resources Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Facilities have urged the government to carry out an independent assessment of the impact BBC Resources' sale would have on the post- production market. UK Post warns that the disposal of BBC facilities could "adversely impact"...

Glastonbury Festival.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Ninja Tune's AV dance act Hexstatic is preparing a 3D show for this month's Glastonbury festival. Fans will be given red/blue glasses to watch the images in the festival's "silent tent." The visuals are derived from the band's latest album,...

Post moves.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... One Post's Paul Jones sees his management remit expanded to cover Soho Images, following Paul Collard's promotion to vp of film and digital services. 10th Planet Post Production appoints Diane Griffiths as production manager and Filip Barac...

Flynn expands post department.(Flynn Productions Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Promo and commercials house Flynn Productions has expanded its post- production department to counter budgetary pressures. The independent has installed two Final Cut Pro suites, After Effects stations and Maya licences to allow its...

Peperami returns to TV via Artem.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Physical fx outfit Artem and animation specialist Loose Moose are behind the latest Peperami spot, Swimmer, which sees the spicy sausage hurl himself into a food blender and become part of a tasty noodle dish. Artem made the puppet out of foam...

Oasis kit.(Oasis Television)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Oasis Television has installed an Avid DS Nitris HD and has put it to work on a series of three Fred Olsen Cruises promos. The five-minute spots - directed by Peter Richardson - were shot using a combination of HDV and mini-DV. Offline was in...

Portal for film services.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Film studios, funding bodies, guilds and associations from in and around London have created a "front-desk" for international producers bringing work to the UK. London Plus (londonplus.org) is being marketed as a one-stop-shop for...

Pilot for BBC's TV download service.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... The BBC's Interactive Media Player is nearing completion, with an "extensive" three-month content trial scheduled to begin in September. The player lets TV viewers legally download programmes for up to seven days after they have been...

Sky Sports to use Sony XDCam.(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC. Sky Sports)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Sky Sports is using Sony's tapeless acquisition system to augment its coverage of the British and Irish Lions tour in New Zealand next month. Gearhouse Broadcast is supplying the two Sony PDW-530P camcorders and three XDCam decks. ...

TV Set expands services for post.(FSL International)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... TV Set has formed an engineering partnership with video-head distributor FSL International to service its post-production clients in London. The deal will see TV Set offering a three-day turnaround on all head changes for those facilities...

The top-end is in need of a shake up.
June 9, 2005... Kit manufacturers cannot afford to rest on their laurels, says Jason Farrow, Blue's Smoke and Editbox operator No matter how good a technology is, you can rely on the fact that next big thing is waiting in the wings. As end-users continue...

NATIONAL PALOOK: A light spot of ballet.(Studio AKA)
June 9, 2005... Studio AKA was tasked with recreating a 20-second section of Swan Lake with oriental lightbulbs. Simon Meek finds out how the animation specialists brought the ballet to life Philip Hunt, Studio AKA's creative director, and freelance cg...

Turner's turn-ons.(Interview)
June 9, 2005... When not running Turner's Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Toonami and TCM channels, Richard Kilgarriff indulges his Antiques Roadshow habit and seeks solace in the works of Spinal Tap What cartoons did you watch as a kid? I can remember...

Post-election sex, lies and yet more politics.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2005... Shine's documentary Abi Titmuss: A Modern Day Morality Tale, for C4 on 19 May, scored 2.2m (9.9%). It followed the former nurse-turned-low- rent-celebrity in a one-off doc with exclusive access. 19 May also saw Armando Iannucci's new...