Televisual articles from March 2006

Televisual archives from March 2006

Twofour to set up US arm on back of garden commission.(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Twofour has bagged a 26-part US commission for a stateside version of its City Gardener series and plans to open a US office on the back of it. Twofour already produces a US version of its Cruiseline series for the Travel Channel. "We...

Motive on indie hunt after Brown Eyed Boy deal.(Motive Television )(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Motive Television executive chairman Mick Pilsworth says he is looking to acquire more indies following his purchase of a stake in Brown Eyed Boy. The deal marks Motive's first acquisition since its stock market listing last May. Run by...

IN BRIEF: Talkbackthames appointments.(Nigel Taylor, Sarah Edwards, Gail Sloan and Andy Brereton)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Talkbackthames has appointed Nigel Taylor as head of production - The Bill and drama development. He joins from the BBC and will report to Joanna Beresford and Johnathan Young. Talkbackthames has also taken on Sarah Edwards, Gail Sloan and...

IN BRIEF: New identity for Scottish TV.(SMG Television Productions Ltd. rebrands Scottish TV and Grampian TV)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... SMG TV is to launch a new identity for Scottish TV and Grampian TV later this year. The two companies will be branded as STV along the same lines as the unifying ITV brand in England. Only the on-screen and on-line identity of the companies...

IN BRIEF: Televisual appointment.(Jake Bickerton )(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Jake Bickerton has joined Televisual as technology editor. He comes fresh from Endemol, where he edited both the Space Cadets and Celebrity Big Brother websites. His career to date includes five years as technology writer at Which? magazine and...

Televisual launches doc festival.(Intelligent Television Festival)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Televisual is launching a new London-based event for everyone working in factual television called The Intelligent Television Festival. Held at BAFTA and Soho venues on May 9 and 10, the festival will feature seminars, screenings and...

IN BRIEF: ITV appointment.(ITV PLC appoints Layla Sabih )(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Layla Sabih has been appointed to the newly created post of controller of alternative programmes at ITV. She will join Paul Jackson's entertainment and comedy team, and be responsible for factual entertainment and non-studio shows, like...

Flood powers into production with Carlyle in lead.(Robert Carlyle, movie in production)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Power has gone into production on its feature debut with Robert Carlyle in the lead role. Flood, a #13.6m disaster thriller about London flooding, will shoot for 13 weeks on location in London and in studios in South Africa. Director...

RDF gets E4 and C4 orders and two new first-looks.(RDF Media, Channel Four Television Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... RDF Media has won a cross-dressing commission from E4, RDF-owned IWC Media is to make a drama-doc about the Queen Mother and RDF Rights has bagged two first look deals with UK producers. E4's Angela Jain has ordered Boys Will be Girls, a...

IN BRIEF: First promo.(Red Bee Media Ltd. producing Susy Thomas single Mirror for Me)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Red Bee has racked up its first promo with a spot for Susy Thomas single Mirror for Me. It was directed by Jon Dennis and produced by Mark Collins. Shot on Super 16 at Mount Pleasant Studios, it shows the artist singing into a mirror that also...

IN BRIEF: Hallmark rebrand.(by Broadcast design agency)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Broadcast design agency BDA's rebrand for the Hallmark Channel uses shots of a series of dramatic landscapes to reflect the drama shown on the channel. Locations included the south coast of England and the highlands of Scotland. The rebrand...

Toonami rebrand.(new Toonami channel launching)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Turner's in-house team created a gang of animated characters to present the new look Toonami channel launching this month. Along with the rebrand, the channel will now show live-action shows alongside animation. The rebrand has the new...

ITV books Bragg for 12-parter.(ITV Network Ltd. ITV1 contracts Melvyn Bragg for its new program '12 Books that Changed the World')(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Southbank Show presenter Melvyn Bragg will examine the power of the written word in a new ITV1 series that picks out the British books that caused a seismic shift in our way of life. In 12 Books that Changed the World, Bragg delves into...

IN BRIEF: Opening title sequence for Planet Earth.(British Broadcasting Corp.'s Natural History Unit contracts Burrell Durrant Hifle for a high definition television series)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Burrell Durrant Hifle has created the opening title sequence for Planet Earth, the BBC Natural History Unit's new landmark Attenborough-fronted HD series that goes on air this month. With Steve Burrell as art director, the sequence (and...

Liberty Bell: even more grumpy.(Stuart Prebble signed by British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Stuart Prebble's indie Liberty Bell has picked up a BBC2 commission for a new raft of shows in its Grumpy strand. Another 6x30-minutes of Grumpy Old Men, 4x30-minutes of Grumpy Old Women and two new strands; Grumpy Old Holidays and Grumpy...

Basil Brush gets animated for CBBC - boom boom!(Entertainment Rights signed)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Entertainment Rights has been commissioned by CBBC to take Basil Brush into the digital age with new animated sequences and increased web presence. The new series of The Basil Brush Show will consist of 13 30-minute episodes produced by...

IN BRIEF: Commission for Tiger Aspect.(Tiger Aspect Productions signed by British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... BBC daytime controller Jay Hunt has commissioned Tiger Aspect to make This Little Farmer Went To Market, a series which follows first time traders as they try to sell and make a profit from one of their homemade recipes. The 10x30-minute BBC1...

IN BRIEF: Liquid TV has branded Player.(logos displayed)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Liquid TV has branded Player, Challenge TV's new gaming and male-skewed entertainment channel. Idents, bumpers, logos and menu boards were put together by Liquid for the brand that features 16mm footage of sports stars in action (graded at...

IN PRODUCTION: Third series for genealogy documentary.(Who Do You Think You Are? on British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... After ratings success on BBC2, Who Do You Think You Are? has been commissioned for a third series by BBC1. The celebrity line-up for the genealogy documentary series has yet to be revealed, but Wall to Wall has promised people of a similar...

IN PRODUCTION: Tinopolis commissions.(British Broadcasting Corp. contract)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Tinopolis has won two commissions to create content for BBC jam, the broadband learning service for five-16-year-olds. The production company will produce the design and technology programme for 14-16-year- olds and also a resource to help...

IN PRODUCTION: Leopard Films USA receives new commission.(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Leopard Films USA has received three new commissions from North American broadcasters. HGTV has ordered Hidden Potential, a 13x30 series that shows potential homebuyers what extensive renovation can do, and a second season of the U.S. version...

IN PRODUCTION: Ginger TV commission.(Ginger Television Productions Ltd. to produce Crucify Me)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Five has given the go ahead to Ginger TV to produce Crucify Me, a documentary that follows journalist Dominik Diamond on a quest to discover his own spiritual identity and religious beliefs. Once a devout Christian, Diamond has questioned his...

IN PRODUCTION: Wildvision commission.(gets contract from UKTV)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Wildvision has been commissioned by UKTV to produce a 2x60-minute documentary to celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 80th birthday. Entitled My Favourite Attenborough Moment, the show will be presented by Sir David, who will explain each...

IN BRIEF: Nexus in Paris.(new production office opened )(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Nexus has opened a production office in Paris to rep its various directors, including award-winning Woof Wan-Bau, who just directed the promo for Scottish band Mogwai's latest Friend of the Night. In order to make the audience feel as if they...

BUSINESS NEWS: Indies eye CITV launch.(ITV PLC launches digital children's channel)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... ITV is to plough approximately #21m into original content for its new digital children's channel, CITV. The service, which launches on March 11, has an estimated budget of #35m per year, with the other 40% of the money being earmarked for...

BUSINESS NEWS: Young people are watching less TV, reveals Ofcom.(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... The amount of TV being watched has fallen over the last two years, according to Ofcom's communications market interim report, with the largest decline being among 16-24 year-olds. The study shows that television reach fell by 2.9% in the...

BUSINESS NEWS: The product placement revolution.
March 20, 2006... Nick Price, head of branded development at FBC Diverse, discusses the pros and cons As every year comes and goes, so does a range of hot television topics. Last year advertiser-funded programming (AFP) was a buzzword, and this year it's...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: What to expect from MipTV 2006.(trade show of audiovisual and digital market)
March 20, 2006... With attendance expected to rise again in 2006 and the value of new media rights still under debate, it should be a busy MipTV. Max Crosbie finds out what will be hot on the Croisette Next month, every flight to the south of France will be...

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Defining the future of television.(Monisha Shah of British Broadcasting Corp.)
March 20, 2006... Monisha Shah, BBC Worldwide's director of emerging markets EMEIA, explains their importance Emerging markets are regions characterised by new audiences, delivered by de-regulation (India), political (Middle East or CIS), economic...

IN REVIEW: Film-makers mull BBC pledge.(British Broadcasting Corp. to invest)
March 20, 2006... The BBC has unveiled plans to plough more licence fee money into the British film industry. But is it enough to make much of a difference to struggling local film-makers, asks Tim DamsAfter the BBC staged a press conference at Bafta last...

MONTH IN REVIEW: MARCH.(British Broadcasting Corp. managed in a new way)(ITV PLC appoints)(Sky Television PLC's market value decreases)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Since Simon Shaps took over as director of television last September, ITV has been fully embracing the concept of the revolving door. For anyone who hasn't been keeping up (and that may or may not include some ITV staff), here's a summary...

C4 unveils its spring season.(Channel Four Television Company Ltd. to launch television programs)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... A one-off drama about football management is set to be one of the highlights the C4 shedule this spring. Starring Ray Winstone, All in the Game is from Tightrope. Other things to look out for include the drama Bradford Riots (Oxford Film and...

LETTER: Shooting the cameraman.(Letter to the editor)
March 20, 2006... I couldn't help noticing in your February issue the contrast between the pieces on the BBC's new HD natural history series Planet Earth and after it, your overview on the sorry state of the crewing sector. On the one hand we find the BBC...

LETTER: Reinventing the real.(Letter to the editor)
March 20, 2006... I enjoyed your interview with Hamish Mykura and agree wholeheartedly with him that the best Channel 4 shows are "more angled, more opinionated and spiky than you'd get elsewhere". Recent authored documentary series such as The Root Of All...

OPINION: Raising the bar in television.
March 20, 2006... Next month sees the return of national campaign TV Turn Off Week. Despite working in the television industry, I'm sure many of us find it easy to sympathise with its aim of getting people to switch off their television set for a while and do...

INTERVIEW - GLENWYN BENSON: The factual front.(British Broadcasting Corp.)(Interview)
March 20, 2006... As the BBC's controller of factual commissioning, Glenwyn Benson oversees a huge amount of programming across four channels. But, as Poz Hulls finds out, it's the huge audiences she's concentrating on When you consider that Glenwyn...

IN PRODUCTION - THE STREET: A street full of stories.(by Jimmy McGovern for British Broadcasting Corp.)
March 20, 2006... Its storytelling device might be old, but Jimmy McGovern's new BBC1 drama uses fresh writers and original stories. Poz Hulls finds out more Wherever Jimmy McGovern goes, people want to tell him their stories. And while he can't listen to...

Spotlight on TV sales.(MIP-TV )
March 20, 2006... With MipTV looming, Televisual distribution sector, finding it in rude Like everyone in TV, distributors are excited about the possibilities, and possible profits, of getting content on to new media platforms. But how to achieve...

DISTRIBUTION SURVEY: Televisual's distributor survey 2006.
March 20, 2006... It is, it seems, a good time to be selling British programmes. Televisual's survey of the UK distribution sectors paints a picture of cautious industry optimism, with most companies saying the market for UK programmes abroad has improved...

CHANNEL BRANDING: Brand and deliver.(television broadcasting industry)
March 20, 2006... More choice for channel hoppers means branding is a crucial weapon in any broadcaster's arsenal. Jon Creamer reports on the art and the science of the brand Channel branding was once a gentle process. The famous Anglia TV ident was...

CHANNEL BRANDING: ITV's new idents - industry reaction.
March 20, 2006... It's the latest major rebrand of a leading UK channel and signals the unified ITV's attempt to create a unified multichannel brand to catch up with the BBC and Channel 4's more streamlined approach. Prior to the rebrand, the digital...

CHANNEL BRANDING: BBC idents - time for change?(British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... With BBC1 controller Peter Fincham looking to ditch the dancers that first twirled on to our screens in 2002 and give BBC1 a brand new lick of paint, what would the UK's broadcast designers like to do with the channel? (If, of course, they...

CHANNEL BRANDING: Channel 4 - universally lauded.(Channel 4 Television Co.)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Channel 4's branding, put together by the in-house team at 4Creative, is almost universally lauded by the industry and public alike. The main channel's current incarnation is brought up time and time again by clients explaining what they...

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: A sporting revolution.(by broadcasting industry)
March 20, 2006... This summer's packed sporting calendar will see most events shot in HD for the first time, prompting outside broadcast firms to spend millions to upgrade their trucks. Adrian Pennington investigates who will be ready for kick-off With...

INTERVIEW - PETER COWLEY: Real new media deal.(Endemol UK)(Interview)
March 20, 2006... As Endemol's digital chief, Peter Cowley has new media ambitions that could have a major impact on the TV landscape. Poz Hulls asks him to reveal his digital designs and interactive answers Peter Cowley is a man on a mission. As md of...

Audio Network breaks with MCPS.(Mechanical Copyright Protection Society)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Music library service Audio Network has severed ties with royalty collection service MCPS so it can offer tracks for a one-off fee of #180 with no further MCPS-related costs. The library of over 9,000 tracks covers all genres and the entire...

Clear Cut's Apple support service.(Clear Cut Pictures launches Clear Cut Pro support service)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Clear Cut Pictures is trying its hand at software sales and support through a new business called Clear Cut Pro. The new addition to the Clear Cut Pictures roster offers four levels of support. For each problem, email support is free,...

IN BRIEF: RAC ads.(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Visual effects facility Baraka made use of its newly installed Linux- based Mistika systems to composite multiple plates into individual scenes and remove items including cranes, wires and shadows while posting the latest batch of RAC ads....

IN BRIEF: New branch of GearBox.(GearBox North opens branch at VTR North building)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Leeds post house VTR North is home to a newly opened branch of audio and video supplier GearBox. The GearBox North operation will cover North England and Scotland and take some of the pressure off its London services. It is managed by Dave...

IN BRIEF: Post moves.(Rushes appoints Simone Grattarola)(Lime appoints Howard Bell, Marcus Millishope, and Ebony Maitland)(Envy appoints Jonathan Lieb, and Adam Grant)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Rushes has taken on senior colourist Simone Grattarola, who joins from sister outfit One Post. Lime has recruited three new members of staff -- ex-The Hive 3D operator Howard Bell, ex-M2 editor Marcus Millishope and former Amber Music...

IN BRIEF: Mezzo kit.(Mezzo Studios Ltd. establishes Mezzo Films)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... The widespread investment in HD equipment continues unabated. Mezzo Studios, which is best known for radio commercials and film scores, has purchased #100,000 of HD kit and audio equipment and set up Mezzo Films. The new concern is centred...

Envy in London as new facility opens.
March 20, 2006... Envy, the biggest post production start-up for a decade, has opened its 37 rooms for business in Rathbone Place, London. Established by ex-Blue md Dave Cadle and his wife Natascha, Envy's six floors are modelled on an upmarket hotel to...

Post houses invest in grading and 3D pre-visualisation.
March 20, 2006... Audio post house De Lane Lea and DI specialist MotionFX have teamed up to construct a new DI grading facility called The Picture Rooms. Based at De Lane Lea's building on Dean Street, the new service is equipped with a Quantel iQ DI system...

Audio restoration dept for TMR.(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... TMR has enhanced its restoration services with a #100,000 specialised audio restoration department. At the heart of the facility is a Sadie Series 5 workstation with a series of high-speed restoration plug-ins in the form of Cedar Retouch....

Making Australia look Australian.(movie 'The Proposition' is set to be release in United Kingdom)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Australian 'Western' The Proposition is now on general release in the UK, featuring striking photography of the Australian outback. Director John Hillcoat wanted to "feature the Australian landscape as one of the main characters in the...

TECHNOLOGY: More online premieres.(broadcasters offers program permieres over internet)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... BBC America is the latest broadcaster to premiere a programme online rather than on TV, with the ad-free streaming of Footballers Wive$. This follows the BBC's streaming of comedy The Mighty Boosh last year and Channel 4's weekly online...

BROADCAST: BBC HD trial to start in the summer.(British Broadcasting Corp. trials its high definition television service)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... The BBC is to begin around a year's worth of HD trials in the summer to a restricted group of viewers in the London area. The trial will feature programmes recorded in HD and content upconverted from SD and will be broadcast for about two...

TECHNOLOGY: Uncompressed HD for EditShare 4.0.(shared storage system enhancements)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... The next release of shared storage system EditShare will support uncompressed HD, run faster and offer increased storage space. It will also be scalable, making it possible to combine multiple EditShare units for virtually limitless storage...

FACILITIES: VES honours UK visual effects.
March 20, 2006... UK talent scooped four awards at this year's Visual Effects Society awards in LA. Cinesite won the 'broadcast series' visual effects award for its work on HBO/BBC series Rome, and Aardman won best animated character for The Curse of the...

BUSINESS - THE WORKS: Could rental be the way forward?
March 20, 2006... The rental market is gaining ground and could transform the post industry, says London Editing Machines' md Peter Watson If our experience is typical, the mindset and money are migrating towards the rental model like never before. The reason is...

IN POST - THE WORKS: Blood, guts and grading.(baselight 8 grading suite used for the first time in Michael J Bassett's film Wilderness )
March 20, 2006... The gory visual effects in Michael J Bassett's film Wilderness are unnervingly accurate. Jake Bickerton finds out how The Mill's new Baselight 8 grading suite helped make them so convincing The Moorgate Young Offenders Institute isn't...

IN MY VIEW: Comedy connoisseur.(conversation with DLT Entertainment Don Taffner Jr.)(Interview)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... A big fan of comedy, sport and chick flicks, DLT Entertainment's vice president Don Taffner Jr explains why he doesn't have time for talent shows or anything described as "authored" What would be your ideal night's viewing? Some...

Healthy bodies and heavy bodies win ratings gold.(television programs rated)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... Wall to Wall's Who Do You Think You Are? had its highest ratings to date on Wednesday 1 February, with 5.8m and 24% watching Julian Clary explore his roots at 21.00 on BBC2. But only 3.5m and a 14% share tuned in for BBC1's first episode...