Televisual articles from March 2002

Televisual archives from March 2002

TWI launches Gamer.tv in place of its Network of the World. (New Media).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... TWI is limiting the impact of the loss of Network of the World web portal with a new initiative, Gamer.tv. NoW, which had 400 employees when it shut last month, was run jointly by TWI and PPCW (Hong Kong's Pacific Century Cyberworks). "A...

Home Choice set for relaunch. (Video-on-Demand).(service introduction details)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Home Choice is gearing up to relaunch its ADSL video-on-demand service next month. The initial push will be inside the M25, where the network now has access to a potential 2.4m connections. Home Choice is also aiming to start offering...

New Granada studio sets Bristol up in arms. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Granada Wild will launch a new Bristol production facility next month to irate responses from the post community, despite claims that it reinforces its commitment to the city. It is feared Granada's move to the heart of Bristol's post...

Virtual humans in pysch tests. (Technology).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Televirtual is spearheading an initiative to explore behavioural psychology in virtual humans. Behave is a project to discover how gestures relate to speech -- from body movements to the minutiae of head and eye movements. "You only need to...

London has seen the launch of two new production companies. (In Brief).(Vermilion and Flawless Films)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... London has seen the launch of two new production companies. Ad/promo outfit Flawless Films is the initiative of ex-Stark founder Martha Greene. And Vermilion (see Domino spot, left) calls itself the "first full-service production company under...

Lost in Space. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Lost in Space has left exile in Islington for Soho, where it is perching in the Ramillies Street studio of new media specialist 4i. In line with its plans to work across the globe from of its own "virtual" studio, new work from LiS is a second...

Digital Bridges. (In Brief).(game product introduction)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... Scots mobile entertainment pioneer Digital Bridges is to launch pay-to-play games based on toonz from Cartoon Network: three on Scooby Doo, to coincide with the release of Scooby Doo the movie this summer, and another on a mix of characters....

Spirit Films. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Spirit Films has taken Suzi Ewing on to its roster. She joins from RHB, where her recent work includes a spot for Teacher's whisky and a promo for Badly Drawn Boy (right) which has won acclaim from Spike Jonze. She is currently working on a...

Parsons's bestseller in post for BBC at Pepper. (Broadcast).(Tony Parson)(British Broadcasting Corporation Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tony Parsons's best-seller Man and Boy is currently in post at Pepper. The 102-minute one-off for the BBC stars loan Gruffudd, Pauline Collins and Ian McShane. The in-house production is adapted by Kevin Hood, directed by Simon Curtis and...

The force hits a different beat. (Corporate).(police recruiting film)(New Moon)(TSI)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A Different Beat is a film aimed at potential police recruits that portrays the Met as "dynamic, multi-faceted and exciting," according to New Moon, which produced it in collaboration with TMP Worldwide. Shot on 16 mm to give a "gritty...

Starsailor and Triangle just say no to drugs. (Promos).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Poor Misguided Fool is Starsailor's follow-up to Lullaby, and its promo carries a strong anti-drugs message. Directed by Bullet's David Slade, it features the band performing to an increasingly transparent group of drug-users who float around...

Tim Hope's one giant leap. (Promos).(Passion Pictures)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Passion Pictures' new promo My Culture is from the band One Giant Leap - Jamie Catto and his partner Duncan Bridgeman - who travelled the world with a mobile studio and a film crew. The song features Robbie Williams and Faithless singer Maxi...

Yorkshire station Real Radio. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Yorkshire station Real Radio launches this month with seven ads to promote it produced by Duplexx Productions. Directed by Mick Cookson and posted in Manchester by Editz, the ads (created in Maya) are based around real-life occurrences with the...

BBC4. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The first programme to be aired on BBC4, The Man Who Destroyed Everything, got its titles care of Sharon Spencer at The Station. She used hand-drawn animation to get an "organic typographic" style; the sequence was then composited in Avid DS....

Geneva Motor Show. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Imagination's brand film for Ford's Fusion car is aired for the first time this month at the Geneva Motor Show. Sunny was commissioned by Ford after a positive reaction to Imagination's film L-O-V-E, for the Fiesta, and is described as an...

MPC and Stink sup Stella. (Commercials).(Stink for Lowe)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The latest ad for Stella carries on the "reassuringly expensive" theme, though this time the story is about a cholera outbreak. A village doctor is shunned because of contagion, and it's only when villagers are tempted to drink Stella from his...

Comic Relief teams with BBC Sport and Devilfish. (Broadcast).
March 1, 2002... BBC Sport and Comic Relief are launching Sport Relief this spring, a new initiative which aims to raise money for youngsters in the UK and around the world. Devilfish won the account for Sport Relief's logo and identity in a three-way...

Ginger is to remake the 60s sitcom. (The Green Light).(The Likely Lads)
March 1, 2002... Ginger is to remake the 60s sitcom The Likely Lads for ITV1, with Ant and Dec replacing James Bolam and Rodney Bewes respectively. Sioned Wiliam commissioned the 40-minute one-off, to be produced by Bob Spiers, with the original writers Dick...

Tiger Aspect has secured a new C4 commission for Bodily Harm. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tiger Aspect has secured a new C4 commission for Bodily Harm, a 3x60-minute drama series written by Tony Grounds (Births, Marriages and Deaths and Our Boy). Due for transmission later this year. it is directed by Jo Wright and produced by...

RDF Media has won a [pounds sterling]6.5m commission from C4 and TLC. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... RDF Media has won a [pounds sterling]6.5m commission from C4 and TLC for UMC: Ultimate Machine Combat (working title), a show it bills as "Scrapheap Challenge meets Robot Wars in Hell." UMC will see international teams building huge vehicles...

Granada. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Granada is to unveil the horrors of 9-5 life with Confessions, six half-hour shows about what nannies, cleaners, waiters, estate agents and builders really get up to at work The series was commissioned by Dianne Nelmes for ITV1; series producer...

Michael Jackson's USA Network has commissioned Jam Pictures and Carlton America. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Michael Jackson's USA Network has commissioned Jam Pictures and Carlton America to make a documentary about the life of ex-New York mayor, Rudolf Giuliani. The feature-length biopic, based on a book by Wayne Barrett (an editor of The Village...

C5 is upping its PSB output with new primetime arts series. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... C5 is upping its PSB output with new primetime arts series commissioned by controller of daytime, arts and religion, Kim Peat. Seventh Arts is producing one 4x30-minute series featuring Tim Marlow on Tate Modern, and Uden Associates is busy...

Supernova has been working with Rick Stein. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Supernova has been working with Rick Stein to produce the training video Recipe for Success. Directed by Vincent Thompson, it features Stein discussing the key principles in his management style. Thompson believes Stein does "all the management...

Chris Hart and Richard Bazley have aped Viz magazine for the titles for an upcoming The Jerry Atrick Show for Channel 5. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Chris Hart and Richard Bazley have aped Viz magazine for the titles for an upcoming The Jerry Atrick Show for Channel 5. The series is to star Jerry Sadowitz, and according to Bazley the show's risque feel led him to adopt the Viz-influenced...

Addiction. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... New Addiction signings Simon and Jon directed Northern Lite's promo Treat me Better. Echoing the likes of Hooper and The French Connection, the promo has a car-chase using toy cars. They claim that having a very small budget gave them more...

The shape of upturns to come. (Advertising).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Hopes for an early recovery in the advertising market were dashed last month as Martin Sorrell, chairman of the UK-based agency WPP, coined descriptions of the looked-for recovery as "bath-shaped" or (possibly) "saucer-shaped" compared to V-,...

Europe closes ranks on Murdoch. (Broadcast).(Rupert Murdoch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Speculation that Rupert Murdoch is aiming to take a stake in the debt-laden German Kirch media group in return for writing off a [pounds sterling]1bn debt has been scotched by News Corp. Equally keen to deny it was German chancellor...

New BT chief cuts cost of broadband. (New Media).(BT Group)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... BT Group is to cut the wholesale price of its broadband delivery services to ISPs (like AOL and Freeserve) to under [pounds sterling]20. It's also thought to be planning to offer volume discounts, which could cut the cost of high-speed access...

Liberty to up its UK cable stake? (Cable).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Among investors looking to take advantage of the collapse in the valuation of cable provider NTL, which is struggling with [pounds sterling]12bn debt, is John Malone's Liberty Media. It already owns 25% of Telewest, and is in talks with NTL...

Ratings made-to-measure: Amid criticism for mishandling the new TV ratings system, Barb ceo Caroline McDevitt explains why the changeover is vital. (The Business News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Broadcasting is a fast-moving game, and never more than today. Aware that accurate, up-to-the-minute data are essential to the financial health of their industry, Barb shareholders BSkyB, BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 and the IPA decided to give the TV...

Storyboard news.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... There's an old-school feel to Storyboard in March, with new boys in the playground: Animated Encounters showcases new talent; Akira, Spaced 2 and The Mr Men all come out to play on DVD; The Forsyte Saga gets the 3sixtymedia touch; a short goes...

Let's play media: whose rules? (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The government has a dilemma: how to redraw media ownership rules to stave off Murdoch's march on terrestrial TV, while ensuring a strong, UK-owned ITV -- and boosting its digital champion ITV Digital. For without a healthy contender to Sky...

ITV joined the BBC. (Month in Review).(ITV Digital)(British Broadcasting Corporation Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Bad news about all the subscribers cancelling their direct debits for pay-TV -- currently one in four for ITV Digital (despite the sterling efforts of Monkey), and now one in ten for BSkyB. In the face of all this churn, however, ITV joined the...

The RTS incurred the wrath of ITV. (Month in Review).(Independent Television, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The RTS incurred the wrath of ITV for failing to nominate Carrie, Emmerdale or even Night and Day in the new soaps section of this month's awards. The BBC's Eastenders is there, as is Doctors; had the august body once again forgotten the...

The big event. (Month in Review).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The big event last month was nothing to do with getting your shoes sodden, but with joining the 15m who stayed in the dry to see stardom created before their very eyes. All good clean fun, as it turned out: boy-next-door and politics graduate...

Opinions.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... BROADCAST You know what I'm sayin' TSI Design was pleased to see your small piece on the title sequence we produced for Flying Elephant Films (February, In Production). However we would like to let people know the correct name of...

Bennett's matter of factuals.(Jana Bennett)(Column)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An urgent task for the BBC's new director of TV Jana Bennett when she joins next month will be to sort out the commissioning for BBC factual programmes. It's a task that was at the top of the in-tray that predecessor Mark Thompson left her...

Cash for cartoons.(Rhianydd Darwin)(Interview)
March 1, 2002... S4C International launched its [pounds sterling] 5m children's strategy group fund to seek out new kids' animation properties almost a year ago. Jon Creamer finds out why it's still little closer to actually spending it. The shape of UK...

Plymouth massive. (Bosom Pals in Production).(Tiger Aspect Productions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Tiger Aspect's new animation division finally gets the money to produce two primetime BBC1 animation specials. Sam Espensen talks to the producers and animators of Bosom Pals to find out why it's taken three years to start production on the...

Masters' plan: BBC Broadcast and Presentation veteran Pam Masters is to lead her department off into the commercial world. Jon Creamer asks about her plans for life outside of public service. (Pam Masters People).
March 1, 2002... From next month, yet another BBC department will go the way of Resources, Technology and Worldwide it when it becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary. Broadcast and Presentation will be charged with stepping out into the commercial world and earning...

Regional 30.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... UK post-production facilities are gearing up for the year ahead after a somewhat uncertain start, middle and finish to 2001. Simon Meek reads the results of the 2002 survey to assess the current state of the market, and discovers one on two...

Uncunning stuntmen. (The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers in Production).
March 1, 2002... "Nation shall speak unto nation," says the BBC motto. But, until now, we've not heard much from the nation of Rendoosia. Jon Creamer finds a new CBBC show that hopes to rectify that with the "international language of stunts". David...

The Indies. (Awards).
March 1, 2002... Which nominees would you pick for the only awards reserved entirely for independents? To be there on 13 March, call Pippa Harrison on 020 8948 5522 LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT Big Brother Endemol UK for Channel 4, executive producer Conrad...

Generation fx. (Post-Production).(video post production)
March 1, 2002... The post industry has been forced to adapt to a desktop environment and its equilibrium has been knocked out of kilter. Traditional offline editing kit has been made redundant by cheap PC-based applications, and post-houses are radically...

Keep on truckin. (Outside Broadcast Production File).
March 1, 2002... Supertrucks out-trucking the little guys; the HD promise still out of reach; budgets going down and clients' demands going up - but the Queen's Jubilee to come... The OB industry reveals its highs and lows along with its wish-list for 2002. ...

Mac 7 set to undercut Soho. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Ad agency MacInnes is planning to open up its post spin-off to the wider market. The W1 facility Mac 7, set up for [pounds sterling]l50k in December, is gearing up for an April launch in a bid to undercut prices in London. To date, the...

Quantel brings business to PC. (Technology).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Quantel Is gearing up to release a string of hardware-independent products that will share the functionality of its top-end systems. These applications will closely mirror its existing portfolio. The move onto the desktop is a monumental...

Mill TV. (In Brief).
March 1, 2002... Mill TV has created five new positions after securing the contract to create vfx for the BBC documentary, Pyramids. Technical director Adrian Wyer and cg artist Nick Webber have been lured from The Hive, while Chris Thomas joins from Slave...

Media 100 reinvents itself. (Technology).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Media 100 is set to spend [pounds]4.5m in a bid to muscle in on the top-end post-production market following the launch of its finishing system. The Marlborough-based equipment manufacturer is unveiling 844/X, aka Pegasus, after four years...

Rushes opens longform department in Soho. (Facilities).(Rushes Productions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Rushes is gearing for an assault on the broadcast market with the launch of a long-form department headed by ex-Cinesite head of 3D, Jonathan Privett. The move represents a step into new territory for the post-house, which has built its...

Sanctuary enters post market. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Sanctuary Group is entering the post-production market with the acquisition of Soho-facility The Deli. The music publicist bought the DVD-authoring shop for just over [pounds sterling]1m. Sanctuary Studios will consolidate its existing...

Lipsync transfers for Xingu. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Lipsync Post has completed the transfer of Xingu films's The Sweatbox, a 85-minute documentary charting the fraught four-year production of The Emperor's New Groove. The facility created software to convert the formats -- Super16, DigiBeta,...

Golden Square Post. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Senior Inferno artist Yourickvan Impe is moving across to Golden Square Post from Condor Post Production. Van Impe has won a number of Promax gold awards, an ITS award in New York for on-air Opromotion as well as a CAD award for best special...

Discreet. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Discreet is releasing the first product from its streaming media arm, bought from Media 100 for [pounds]11 m last September. Cleaner Central is a networked version of the Cleaner product, which allows central control of transcodes over a Win...

Avid. (In Brief).(Avid Home Entertainment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Avid is to release its Xpress DV software on the Mac OSX platform this June in a bid to steal market share from Apple. "We have had a lot of requests for Xpress DV on the Mac," says Hans Venmans, Avid's Express DV international product manager....

Apple buys Nothing Real. (Technology).(Apple Computer Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Apple has acquired software firm Nothing Real in a move that will threaten Adobe's stranglehold on the compositing market. In a statement from Apple, the company says it "plans to use Nothing Real's technology in future versions of its...

Sohonet kits out Pinewood. (Technology).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Pinewood and Shepperton ,Studios are being kitted out by Sohonet in a bid to connect the studios digitally with London's post community and, theoretcially, the rest of the world. Michael Grade will head up the new initiative, which allows...

Discreet makes key positions. (Moves).
March 1, 2002... Discreet has promoted Patrick Jocelyn to director of Europe and Asia and Jeremy Lutterlock to regional manager. The appointments closely follow the company's shake up across its R&D departments, and the departure of Eric Lemarachel....

Small ones are more juicy: As the post market changes manufacturers are being forced to adapt 5D; director Mark Dando takes a look at the business model and suggests an outlandish solution. (The Business the Works).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Times are changing in post-production, and manufacturers have to change to keep up. HD is inexorable, with all the technical and cost implications it brings with it. Meanwhile, Moore's Law still holds true: the cost of computing continues to...

Ice challengers: Next month's world-record attempt to cross the Bering Straits in Alaska in two days is daunting enough. But how, asks Sam Espensen, do you cut a 50-minute show as you're doing it? (Adventure).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Sean Davison and a team including his life-long friend and step-brother Steve Brooks are about to try to cross the Bering Straits using a vehicle called Ice Challenger. The task for Davison (freelance editor with The Independent Post Co) is to...

Diary.
March 1, 2002... DIARY IN BRIEF * FT New Media and Broadcast Conference: 4 March London, 020 7873 3375, www.ftconferences.com * Skillset's Runners Event: 11-12 March London, 020 7534 5300 * British Animation Awards: 12-17 March ...

A man with method. (In My View).(Brief Article)(Interview)
March 1, 2002... The executive producer who swiftly launched the ad and promo production company method after the demise of Tsunami gets to make his pick. Chris Gorrell Barnes reckons loads of dosh beats ritual humiliation hands down in the quiz-show stakes,...

March TX guide: The producers' guide to a month on the box. (The End).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Star Pets starts 1 March, 14.00, 4x30 minutes: Carlton Endemol UK is test-driving an intriguing new LE combo this month: pets and showbiz. You know your moggie's a star, obviously, but how do you to tell the waiting public? Take tips from...

Downhill slide for LAA LAA and CO? (Hair-in-the-Gate).(Ragdoll Productions' Teletubbies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Increasingly fervid competition in the kids' TV market has already made a dent in the fortunes of those TV millionaires, the Teletubbies. Sales of the show, which has now hit 365 episodes (or one for every day of the year), fell last year from...

Production Directory: General Services for the production community.(Directory)
March 1, 2002... ACCOUNTANTS Charing & Company, Chartered Accountants. Providing comprehensive services to the entertainment industry, you will like are friendly and non-jargon approach. 6 Sewardatone Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1NA. Contact:...