Televisual articles from March 2004

Televisual archives from March 2004

Luckwell appointed to top spot at post industry trade body.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Moving Picture Company founder and former Carlton Television md Mike Luckweil has been appointed as chairman of the new post-production trade body. The association, which is expected to be called UK Post, will initially be jointly financed...

Ex-XTV staff open Sixfootsix design agency.(Graphics)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mike Parry has launched a new design agency following One Post's decision to close broadcast design arm XTV. XTV was formerly part of Todd-AO before being taken over by Ascent Media (then, Liberty Livewire) in 2000. The new agency,...

RDF launches one-stop shop.(Distribution)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... RDF Media has hired two senior C4 consumer products executives, Rachel Barke and Mark Lesbirel, to help set up a frill-service outfit to handle the sale of all ancillary rights for independents. RDF Rights will be "a one-stop shop," says...

Webber takes on ads and US TV.(Commercials)(Love Productions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Award-winning director of Girl With Pear/Earring, Peter Webber, has signed with Love Productions to direct his first TV ads and has also directed an episode of US series Six Feet Under. Webber signed to Love along with ex-2AM Films producer,...

Straight 8.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Straight 8, the Super8 film-making organisation established by Godman commercials directors Ed Sayers and Ben Gregor, is calling for entries for its event at the 2004 Cannes film festival. Winning films will be shown at Cannes and on Channel 4...

Former agency heads of TV Sarah Martin and Judy Ross have launched a new consultancy specialising in finding commercials directors new production company homes.(Ross Martin Consultancy )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Former agency heads of TV Sarah Martin and Judy Ross have launched a new consultancy specialising in finding commercials directors new production company homes. Ross Martin Consultancy will work with directors already looking for new...

Sunset and Vine.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... TVC sports producer Sunset and Vine is to produce and distribute the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race. Seven cameras on each boat will be linked by satellite to a purpose-built edit facility in Southampton. As well as weekly half-hour, and monthly...

Great Meadow.(Oxford Film )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ex-BBC NI drama head Robert Cooper and exec producer Kate Triggs have launched new independent Great Meadow and are developing a C4 drama based on the 2001 Bradford riots with Oxford Film and TV. Cooper and Triggs continue as executive...

Canning and Cake join forces for Five.(Animation)(The Canning Factory )(Cake Entertainment )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Canning Factory and Cake Entertainment have gone into production on Ebb and Flo, a 26x5 minute pre-school animation series to air in October on Fire's Milkshake block. The series is based on the books by children's author and...

TWI and Carlton in colour again for Hitler doc.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... TWI and Carlton have learned up again to make another in the series of "in colour" documentaries for ITV1--this time to mark the 60th anniversary of Hitler's death for 2005. Ordered by head of news and current affairs Steve Anderson, the...

The Hive has animated a T-Rex X-ray for T-Rex: Warrior or Wimp?(Graphics)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Hive has animated a T-Rex X-ray for T-Rex: Warrior or Wimp?, part of BBC2's Horizon science strand. The graphics help to explain research suggesting the dinosaur might not have lived up to its fearsome reputation. Graphics were designed in...

Mosaic shoots Olympics doc.(Broadcast)(Mosaic Films)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... In preparation for the upcoming Olympics, Storyville editor Nick Fraser has commissioned Athens Through the Hoops from documentary indie Mosaic Films for BBC 4. The documentary follows preparations for the 2004 Olympics in August. The...

Bermuda Shorts.
March 1, 2004... Bermuda Shorts's Danny Capozzi has just finished the latest US animated spot for Wrigley's Bubble Tape, through BBDO in Chicago. The stop-frame model was shot on 35mm with 3D background elements animated in Maya and compositing in After...

Big squid.(Thirteen/WNET and DDE )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Big Squid has put together 50s-inspired titles and content graphics for Holy Cow, an Icon Films documentary for Thirteen/WNET and DDE that celebrates bovine life. Big Squid created graphics to show the inner workings of the cow. These were then...

Beta Band.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Beta Band members John Maclean and Robin Jones directed the promo for their new single, Assessment. The idea behind the film was to create a one shot music video which moves surreally through different ages of human conflict. The promo was...

ITV on board for Red's bus ride.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Nicola Shindler's Red Productions has been given the green-light for a new ITV1 series from At Home with the Braithwaites' writer Sally Wainwright. The 6x1 hour Jane Hall's Big Bad Bus Ride tells the story of a "young, shy, hapless and...

Mentorn wins BBC classical music documentary.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mentorn is behind a 90-minute documentary about composer Benjamin Britten for BBC2. Produced and directed by John Bridcut, Britten's Children (WT) tells the story of his relationships with, and works for, children. The documentary is...

John Hannah's and Murray Ferguson's indie Clerkenwell Films has lined up James Nesbitt to star in an adaptation of Christopher Brookmyre's award-winning novel Quite Ugly One Morning for ITV1.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... John Hannah's and Murray Ferguson's indie Clerkenwell Films has lined up James Nesbitt to star in an adaptation of Christopher Brookmyre's award-winning novel Quite Ugly One Morning for ITV1. Nesbitt will play journalist Jack Parlabane, who...

Lion picks up commissions for a new reality-show on Fox.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Lion picks up commissions for a new reality-show on Fox in the US and a recommission of its daytime auction show for the BBC. In Fox's Playing it Straight, a female contestant has to discover which of 14 suitors is gay for a $1m prize. The 9x...

Ten Alps's politics/social affairs production house Know Comment has won the contract to provide live coverage of the four 2004 political party conferences in Scotland for the BBC.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ten Alps's politics/social affairs production house Know Comment has won the contract to provide live coverage of the four 2004 political party conferences in Scotland for the BBC. Know Comment is working with Bowtie TV, which will supply...

Paul Abbot's political thriller State of Play has been awarded.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Paul Abbot's political thriller State of Play has been awarded a second series by BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey and drama controller Jane Tranter. The show starred John Simm as a reporter looking into the death of an MP's PA. The new...

Blue Blood, from Clocking Off writer Bill Gallagher, will be a 6x60-minute cop show through Red Productions for BBC1/ BBC3.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Blue Blood, from Clocking Off writer Bill Gallagher, will be a 6x60-minute cop show through Red Productions for BBC1/ BBC3. The story is of a family of cops and a murder in which the police themselves become implicated. Producer is Annie...

Michele Newman's Newman Productions has teamed with Carlton.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Michele Newman's Newman Productions has teamed with Carlton on ITV's 7x30-minute daytime series House Race. A 10x30-minute version, which will also go out on Discovery Home and Leisure, sees two couples compete to build a house for a 30k...

Firehouse.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Firehouse has completed a new three minute corporate identity film for Thames Water. Shot on Super16 in Turkey, London, New York and Miami, the film took Firehouse two and a half months to complete and is being delivered on DVD. The director...

Skyline Imaging.(Darlow Smithson production)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Skyline Imaging has created the content graphics for the Darlow Smithson production The Fight for Baghdad. Produced and directed by Tim Pritchard and produced by David Coward, the 2x1-hour series was commissioned by Dan Chambers at Five. A...

Gerard de Thame.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Gerard de Thame has directed a new Nike campaign for Asia. Fast, created by Alison Daw at Weldon & Kennedy, Portland, features a number of Nike-sponsored athletes including cyclist Lance Armstrong and Japanese baseball pro Matsui. It shows a...

4 Rights to be one-stop shop.(Rights)(Channel 4 International)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Channel 4 has merged its programme sales and distribution wing, Channel 4 International, with its consumer products arm. This division, which releases DVDs and other spin-off products, will now sit with C4i under the banner of 4Rights. The...

Redmond plans Mersey exit.(Indies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Phil Redmond has taken a further step towards leaving his indie Mersey Television by appointing Joyce Taylor, former md at Discovery, to the Mersey board as a non-executive director. The move is part of an overall restructure of the company...

More Carlton execs lose out.(Broadcast)(Executives)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Three more high-profile Carlton figures who failed to pick up jobs at the newly-formed ITV plc have walked away from the company. Nick Bullen, controller of factual entertainment, David Mercer, head of kids and factual and controller...

More movers and shakers.(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Tom Gutteridge has taken the post of ceo Fremantle North America after leaving The Television Corporation as creative director. Nadine Nohr, md of Granada International, retains her job title when her company joins with Carlton...

Saw the show, bought the T-shirt: Twofour TV's Jason Langley says advertiser-funded programming has come of age.(the business news)(advertiser funded programming)
March 1, 2004... Advertiser funded programming (APP) is heralded as a pot of gold for the media: a new source of commissions for independents, free shows for broadcasters and extended ads for brands. But is the pot deep enough to line everyone's pockets, and...

Governors shoot Charter in foot.(broadcast)
March 1, 2004... For the independent production sector, 2004 started off so well: Ofcom snapped into action, and within a week published codes of practice that broadcasters have to adhere to in dealings with independents; and by mid-January broadcasters had...

The BBC's long-running and costly search for something--anything--that's been sexed-up could soon be over.(Month In Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The BBC's long-running and costly search for something--anything--that's been sexed-up could soon be over. And, typically, the hunt ends in the last place the BBC would think to look: on its own doorstep. BBC's Freeview service could soon see...

It's with a yawning sense of horror that Televisual reads "every day will be Valentine's Day" in a press-release heralding the September launch of Amore, the UK's first dedicated romance channel.(Month In Review)(Amoral)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... It's with a yawning sense of horror that Televisual reads "every day will be Valentine's Day" in a press-release heralding the September launch of Amoral, the UK's first dedicated romance channel. Amore, gushes the statement, will whisk...

Who am I?(Month In Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Who am I? I started my TV career on a stool with Jeremy Beadle, Matthew Kelly and Sarah Kennedy in 1981, but it wasn't until the late 80s, at the helm of Grundy's flagship pan-European daytime quiz Going for Gold, that I made my name. In more...

The title contenders.(Storyboard)
March 1, 2004... The UK's deserved reputation for creating some of the best film and TV title-sequences in the world doesn't seem to have been dented by ever-decreasing budgets. In a Storyboard special, Televisual looks back at the cream of the crop from the...

BBC to be split as ITV consolidates?(Broadcast)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... Your interview with Brenda Smith (Televisual January issue) shows the problems that even a dyed-in-the-wool regional champion encoun ters as the merged ITV consolidates. First Meridian halves its staff, then (it seems) Carlton's Lenton Lane...

IR threatens UK's Hollywood trade.(Facilities)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... The Inland Revenue has announced changes to the rules covering trading losses through partnerships, which may result in the loss of the tax relief of up to 30% currently granted to partnerships between British and foreign film studios. We...

How to make the most of the market.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Hold your horses. Before you go embarrassing yourself with international calls to global broadcasters to let them know about that new documentary haft-hour you now own the rights to, be warned by one who knows. The truth is, major...

Push-button TV: ITV interactive controller Jane Marshall talks to James Hamilton about the challenges that face iTV, her task of developing two new applications a month, and finding the suppliers to do it.(Interview: Jane Marshall)(Interview)
March 1, 2004... Interactive television has had more than its share of false dawns and prophets. But there's a cautious optimism in the industry now. Interactive producers, with a knowledge born out of battlefield education, know what works. And audiences...

No holds barred: never mind play up and play the game. For an athlete in ancient Greece, fighting dirty was part of the gameplan. Rachel Murrell asks award-winning documentary-maker Antony Thomas to tell it like it was.(In production: The Real Olympics)
March 1, 2004... Antony Thomas has a track-record of films that make waves. Since being thrown out of South Africa for his series The South African Experience, he has courted controversy with films like Death of a Princess, Man and Animal, Heaven Must Wait,...

Of independent means MIP TV: for the first time, UK producers can exploit their own rights on the international market. But, as Kate Large reports, the established distribution sector is not about to disappear.(MIP-TV)
March 1, 2004... As the distribution sector packs its bags for Mip-TV, it's tempting to hope they have packed extra red carpet to woo the bevy of producers who, after the communications act, can now retain and exploit their own rights. But while the legislation...

Crossover comedy: currently sunning himself in the LA winter, the creator of Men Behaving Badly and Hardware talks to Jon Creamer about UK comedy that crosses the pond.(People: Simon Nye)
March 1, 2004... Simon Nye, like most sitcom writers, has experienced both ends of the critical spectrum, with his sitcoms alternatively lauded as masterpieces or derided as disappointments. While Men Behaving Badly is mentioned alongside Porridge and Fawlty...

Indie runners and riders.(Award Nominees)
March 1, 2004... Revamped with the aim of cutting down on categories, 2004's top awards for independent producers have ended up with... just one more. Who'll be the winners? Be there on 11 March (call 020 8948 5522) ARCHIVE/INFORMATION/INSTRUCTION A...

A tale of two cities: RDF's drama partner Touchpaper fights jet-lag and cultural differences to nurture a special relationship between sex and the city.(In production: Ny-Lon)
March 1, 2004... Brief Encounter in the language of 24 is how Channel 4 head of drama John Yorke describes new 5m [pounds sterling] original drama NY-Lon. It's the third of the channel's four major 8x60minute dramas that it has committed to air during 2004....

P3 offers avid enhancements.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... P3 has upgraded its two DS systems to a DS Nitris HD and DS v7 as part of a wholesale company revamp. It has also purchased an Adrenaline and Xpress Pro. The latter will be used to offer clients "remote" or on-location editing. "We aim...

Smith goes it alone with absolute.(Facilities)(David Smith)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Mill has lost another of its key operators, with Flame artist David Smith leaving after 11 years to launch a new boutique facility with his producer, Sally Heath. Smith started his career as an assistant editor at Rushes, going on to...

Ascent Media Management Services.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ascent Media Management Services has boosted its HD and data restoration capabilities with the purchase of a third MTi Correct license, an additional 12 terabytes of Era Raid storage and Imagineer's Mokey v3 software (used to finish Elton John:...

Molinare moves into HD film and cg.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Molinare has launched a new editing department and moved into cgi to service an array of new contract wins. Space at Molinare features nine Avid Adrenalines which can be networked to fibre-based Lanshare alongside production offices on the...

Lip Sync's digital lab takes off with Harry Potter.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Lip Sync Post's 2m [pounds sterling] digital film processing department has launched with a major contract from Warner Brothers to scan all the drama footage and output film recording for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The film...

NAB launch for Antics animation.(Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Cambridge-based Kelseus is poised to launch a real-time, non-linear animation system. Antics enables an animator to assemble, direct and modify a scene involving 3D characters, props and scenes. The 2k-4k [pounds sterling] software is...

Mill TV journeys up the Nile.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mill TV has recreated the Temple of Karnak for The Nile, a three-part BBC1 documentary from BBC Bristol. Rather than build an entire 3D replica, Mill TV built a wire-frame and created separate digital matte paintings for each required angle....

Prime Television.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Prime Television is offering a new three-chip, widescreen, pan-and-tilt minicam. The device provides true 16:9 widescreen images with a resolution of 530 lines and a 1/5in CCD. Prime is also offering the Matchstick minicam, a 42mm long, 7mm...

Sanctuary Post.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Andy Matthews, Best Craft Award winner at the RTS Regional Awards 2003 has joined Sanctuary Post as senior editor. Matthews previously won two Emmy nominations, a Grammy for video editing and a Bafta for The Beetles Anthology. He began his...

Truelight.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... MPC has purchased two Truelight colour calibration systems for use with its Quantel iQ colour-grading suites. MPC originally evaluated the system for its work on Michael Winterbottom's Code 46. "Since operators have more interaction with shots...

SGI in talks to offload Alias.(Technology)(Silicon Graphics)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Computer hardware manufacturer Silicon Graphics (SGI) is to sell its software subsidiary Alias, developer of the Maya 3D animation package. SGI announced its intention to concentrate on core hardware markets over a year ago. Apple was...

Image Makers opens new suite.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Broadcast and corporate facility Image Makers Digital has opened its new Unity-networked Avid suites. The 300k [pounds sterling] investment includes three Adrenalines, a DS Nitris, Softimage XSI, a second ProTools suite and a Unity with 2.5Tbs...

Reseller Tyrell ceases trading.(Technology)(Tyrell Corporation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Post-production kit reseller Tyrell Corporation has ceased trading with the clousure of offices in Manchester, London and Bristol and the loss of 28 jobs. Md Simon Brett cited poor market conditions over the last two years and the decision...

Avid scores record sales.(Avid Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Avid has reported record revenues for its last quarter 2003. The figures reflect the benefits to the company of its decision to make direct sales. Revenues increased 13% year-on-year for the fourth quarter. Net income for the quarter was...

Clients need to embrace change too: communications companies need to help clients understand new technology, argues Gary Fitzpatrick, operations director at Cheerful Scout.(The Business)
March 1, 2004... The communications industry is constantly evolving, hand-in-hand with emerging technologies and new delivery methods. But with tightening budgets there is a drive to stick to tried and tested processes and to avoid new and unfamiliar ones. ...

Pinball wizard: Ogilvy & Mather set out to show the Ford Fiesta's strength and agility by having it career around inside a pinball machine. Partizan and The Mill created it using lifesize versions of both.(Ford Fiesta Pinball)
March 1, 2004... Ogilvy & Mather creatives Mark Hendy and Neil Elliot had the idea of depicting the Ford Fiesta's solidity by putting it through its paces as an object ricocheting about in a pinball machine. But this (already tricky) challenge was...

Diary.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... DIARY IN BRIEF * New Media & Broadcasting Conference 2-3 March London, 020 7873 3262, www.ft.com * The Media Society Annual Awards 3 March London, 020 8789 1100,...

Production directory: the A-Z of production services.(Directory)
March 1, 2004... THE A-Z OF PRODUCTION SERVICES 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...

Ricky Churchill began his career in commercials and music video production, producing promos for musicians including Kylie Minogue and Kim Wilde.(In My View)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ricky Churchill began his career in commercials and music video production, producing promos for musicians including Kylie Minogue and Kim Wilde. In 1997 he founded broadcast design agency Kemistry with Graham McCallum with the aim of...

Chemical reaction.(The End)
March 1, 2004... How much TV do you watch a week? Not enough--there aren't enough hours in the day. So what do you watch? Everything and anything for the day-job; kids' stuff with the kids. I'm lucky if I get to watch anything without falling...

The Carrot and the Stick from Thursday 26 February, 21.00: C4.(April TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... RDF rounded up 12 wimps for this three-parter to find out whether the timid and the lazy shape up for athletic challenges better under the cosh of a sergeant-major or in the TLC of a self-belief counsellor. Series producers/directors were Ed...

In Denial of Murder from Sunday 29 February, 21.00: BBC1.(April TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Writer Neil McKay (Wall of Silence) and Hat Trick head of drama Mark Redhead (Bloody Sunday) worked together before on 2000's Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. Their new two-parter is based on the case of Stephen Downing and the murder of Wendy...

Pat and Mo (early March, TBA) Eastenders special: BBC1.(April TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... This one-off hour-long episode celebrates the recent renewal of Pam St Clements' contract in the soap, travelling back in time to Albert Square of the 60s to explain the feud between her character Pat and Mo (Laila Morse). Emma Cook plays young...

No Angels from Tuesday 2 March, 22.00:C4.(April TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... 10x60-minute drama series from World Productions following the lives of four 20-something nurses (Sunetra Sarker, Jo Joyner, Louise Delamere, Kaye Wragg) in a Leeds hospital. Producer Helen Gregory; writers Toby Whithouse, Jane English, Kate...

Murder City from Thursday 18 March primetime (TBC): ITV.(April TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Granada's new blue-lighter written by Robert Murphy has Amanda Donahoe and Kris Marshall as murder detectives. Andy Harries is executive producer and series producer is Francis Hopkinson. Producers are David Boulter (Prime Suspect) and Tony...

How to take candy from a baby.(Hair-In-The-Gate)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The 20-month sentence for former BBC Worldwide brand development and marketing down by a Hong Kong court for fraud in his handling of Tweenies toy contracts, may strike a cautionary note for the newly-merged 4Rights: choose your people wisely...