Televisual articles from May 2002

Televisual archives from May 2002

Channel 4's new experimental film boss seeks fresh projects. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Channel 4's recently-promoted head of independent film and video Jess Search plans to place much greater emphasis on "the good, solid C4 values that the department's always stood for: innovation, risk-taking and voices from outside TV. And new...

Ex-Hit producer hatches spellbinding plans. (Kids' TV).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Hit's former head of co-productions and acquisitions Peter Curtis has set up a new kids' independent, Spellbound. With "licensing the key element" of the company's strategy, he aims to manage a small number of character-based projects...

E&P director's new start-up. (Graphics).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... FutureBrand English & Pockett creative director Tim Wilkinson has left to launch a new branding consultancy called simply Wilkinson. Calling it a small company that's big in experience, he refers to Wilkinson as an "identity expert." His...

Maverick viral deal for ads. (New Media).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Maverick Media has entered into a partnership with The Digital Media Company for the production and tracking of viral films. DMC did the seeding and tracking for the X-box ad, and the team is currently finishing a second viral film (Commandos...

Cartoon network. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Cartoon Network has acquired the rights from Warner International for Baby Blues, a primetime animation that aims to appeal to both children and adults. Based on a popular comic strip that has been syndicated in over 700 countries, Baby Blues...

The machine room. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Soho's The Machine Room has sealed a deal to produce all Film Four's DVD releases, both rental and sell-through, including the likes of its recent K-Pax (right). The company has already worked on Film Four titles such as Monsoon Wedding and...

Screen West Midlands. (In Brief).
May 1, 2002... Screen West Midlands has won the task of distributing lottery funds, with [pounds sterling]500k to be split between two funds -- production development and sector development in the region -- over just the next 12 months. Grants from [pounds...

Blue sunflower. (In Brief).
May 1, 2002... Blue Sunflower's Niki Gibbs is setting up a 12-week summer animation course. She's discussing funds with the London Film and Video Development Agency, hoping to find "funding to support for it annually, so that it can grow into a creative hub."...

Sherbet makes motors, money and knickers. (Commercials).
May 1, 2002... A raft of work is coming out of Sherbet this month, with spots for Y&R, Ogilvy and Bates. Alice Stevens was commissioned to direct Fold to Fit for Kotex after Ogilvy creative Nick Parton saw her graduation film. It took casting sessions...

Mainframe has designed animations and titles. (Graphics).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Mainframe has designed animations and titles for Danger 50,000-volts, Princess's new show for Channel 5. Presented by Spaceds Nick Frost, it's a humourous guide to avoiding dangerous situations. Content animations are based round Frost against...

Pope makes a comeback on the the promo. (Promos).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Veteran promos and commercials director Tim Pope got back in the saddle to create a new music video for one of his old clients, 80s rock band The The. Working through Cowboy Films, Pope directed the spot for The The's new single Pillarbox...

Hallmark to liberate the remote. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Hallmark pulls no punches for this month's Woman's Week, with a stomach-turning spot showing Mrs Praying Mantis coming out on top. New Hallmark creative director Adam Woods came up with the brief: to show women "regaining control of the...

Brave films. (In Brief). (produces advertising spots for Scholl).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... 2x30-second spots for Scholl from Brave Films feature a 3D footprint courtesy of Clear. The moving footprint was created in five fx shots using Softimage XSI's soft body dynamics. It involved extensive R&D, says producer Fleur Hollis, and tight...

Oliver Ashton. (In Brief).(latest short Urban Voodoo is a five-minute dance and music film )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Oliver Ashton's latest short Urban Voodoo is a five-minute dance and music film featuring a DJ wizard whose tunes and Kung-Fu hands seek out people and make them dance. The film includes many types of dance, and stars scratch artist DJ Biznizz....

Sledge. (In Brief).(promotion for Jamie Benson's "Stay")(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The promo for Jamie Benson's Stay posed the challenge of "re-invention" for Sledge director Phil Griffin, as the track had originally been sung by Lisa Loeb. Griffin wanted the concept to be "languid and natural," and filmed in Stiltsville, a...

Adidas sets out to cure cup-itis. (Commercials).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Traktor and MPG have teamed up once more to produce 10 spots for Adidas's World Cup campaign in June. Featuring football stars including Beckham, Barthez, Costa and Collina, the idea behind the campaign is that players suffer from...

HRA runs as Greeks race to catch up with Olympics. (Branding). (Hibbert Ralph Animation to launch mascots for 2004 Olympiad).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Hibbert Ralph Animation had only three weeks to make 90 seconds of animation for the hurried launch of mascots for Greece's 2004 Olympiad. Taking design cues from ancient Greek dolls, two stylised children, Athena and Phevos, jump, sprint...

Bravo has picked up zeal television's chatterbox. (The Green Light).
May 1, 2002... Bravo has picked up Zeal Television's Chatterbox-created games how format, Demolition. The 10x30-minute shows will also be produced by Zeal TV. Two teams compete to be the quickest to pack something big into something small -- for example,...

Cardiff-based producer IE ideas has an S4C commission. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Cardiff-based producer IE Ideas has an S4C commission to make Beat the Bookie. The 18x30-minute betting show takes place in a studio-based betting shop, with contestants betting their [pounds sterling]100 stake on the outcome of everyday real...

C5's drama chief Corrinne Hollingworth has ordered inquisition. (The Green Light). (costume drama from The Drama House).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... C5's drama chief Corrinne Hollingworth has ordered Inquisition from independent The Drama House. The 60-minute costume drama, set during the Spanish inquisition, will star Derek Jacobi. Jack Emery (Breaking the Code) is the producer and writer,...

BBC4 will get a fly's-eye-view of the world with Oxford. (The Green Light). (Oxford Film and TV's Superfly).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... BBC4 will get a fly's-eye-view of the world with Oxford Film and TV's Superfly. The 60-minute programme traces the history of genetics through the many-lensed eyes of the fruitfly, the favoured research insect of molecular biologists. The...

Stampede is to look at the world of the pop video. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Stampede is to look at the world of the pop video for Matthew Littleford's Play UK The 20x15-minute series, Pop will shoot itself, sees presenter Danann Breathnach go behind the scenes of some of the biggest promos of all time from Radiohead,...

ITV network drama boss Nick Elliott has ordered daddy's girl. (The Green Light).(Independent Television)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... ITV Network drama boss Nick Elliott has ordered Daddy's Girl from LWT. The 2x60-minute thriller stars ex-Eastenders' Martin he has killed her mother. The script was written by Philomena McDonagh (who wrote the 1998 version of Far from the...

Phat planet films. (In Brief).(production deal with Ministry of Sound)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Phat Planet Films and ANM are n production with Ministry of Sound -- Mix of Nations, a 26x26-minute guide to global dance culture ordered by the club/record label/all round super-brand. The director is Miles Cooper. Impact is distributing the...

Skaramoosh. (In Brief).(new graphics for Blue Peter's Jubilee Party)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Here's one that Skaramoosh prepared earlier: the logo, stings and graphics package for Blue Peter's Jubilee party on 3 June. Branding everything from the stings to the website, the streamers-turned-Union-Jack graphics were designed by Piers...

SVC and agency Orca have propagated two TV ads for the royal horticultural society to flag the Hampton Court and Tatton Park flower shows. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... SVC and agency Orca have propagated two TV ads for the Royal Horticultural Society to flag the Hampton Court and Tatton Park flower shows. Both spots feature cgi blooms created from director Nick Morgan's illustrations. SVC's Howard Bell and...

Brits set to win out in Canada. (Broadcast).(Banff TV festival)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... British shows are dominating the nominations for next month's Banff TV festival The comedy category alone shows a clean sweep for UK programming, apart from one single US mention. Hartswood's Coupling, Baby Cow/Avalon's The Sketch Show,...

Faces change at C5 and Granada. (People).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Granada is making more changes to its entertainment department, moving The Hothouse's Duncan Gray into the director of entertainment slot. The post has been empty since Marcus Plantin resigned earlier this year. And Marie Thomas, Channel...

ITC verdict on commercial TV. (Report).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The ITC published its annualreport on the state of the commercial TV sector last month. On the upside, chairman Sir Robin Biggam noted that ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 made a 3% increase in programme investment despite a tough year of...

C4 bags Optomen does boss. (People).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Channel 4 has hired Simon Andreae as its new science and education editor. The Optomen Television head of documentaries, and partner in the company, takes up the new role in June. There has been a gap in C4's science and education team...

How to put pace into digital TV. (The Business News).(Pace Micro's low-cost adapters)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... As the road to a digital universe proves increasingly rocky, Pace Micro's DTTV product manager Richard Lindsay Davies puts the case for his company's low-cost adapters as the much-needed driver for digital TV Pay-TV has brought digital...

The end for TV's tax-break. (Broadcast).(sale-and-leaseback scheme)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... It was good of Gordon Brown to keep booze prices steady in last month's budget. Particularly good for TV indies in need of a stiff drink after hearing his plans for the sale-and-leaseback scheme. Sale-and-leaseback, the system that allowed...

ITV digital. (Month in Review).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... In a month when the ITC revealed that subscriptions now make up almost a third of all commercial TV revenues compared to barely over half (and falling) from ads, pay-TV was where it was at. At the business end, your digital smartcard starred in...

The daily mail. (Month in Review).
May 1, 2002... Not wanting to be out-channelled or out-sported, the BBC let it be known that it would be running an "immersive" interactive England Channel for the World Cup. Could this go some way to allaying worries The Daily Mail voiced on all our behalfs...

BBC found a strange bedfellow. (Month in Review).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The BBC found a strange bedfellow as (never mind the BBC's indie commissioning cock-up) the chair of Pact and controller of BBC1 reached the end of their respective tethers with Barb's new ratings system. "Looks like a typing error," said...

Dead ringer for BBC3. (Broadcast).
May 1, 2002... Your article on the comedy drama Ed Stone is Dead (April issue) was a glimpse of just how carefully the BBC is tar-getting its new channels--or not. The fuss about BBC3 being sent back to the drawing-board again was rumbling on in the...

Ghosts in the machine room. (Facilities).
May 1, 2002... There were some important errors we should bring to your attention in a piece you ran in April about new directors at The Machine Room. The Machine Room is not VTR's DVD operation. We do full post-production as well as offering DVD...

Tabloid? In your dreams. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Characterising Channel 5's entertainment output as "intelligent tabloid" (Televisual, April) is to underestimate the tabloids by a mile. Andrew Newman may aim to appeal to that level of literacy, but so far the channel can't pull in...

Thompson steers C4 into 2003. (Opinions).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The leave of absence of C4's director of programmes Tim Gardam has given the new chief exec Mark Thompson an unwonted opportunity to stamp his mark on the broadcaster's output through its 2003 budget round. Signs are that the timetable for...

Arts and crafts man. (Interview Roly Keating).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... With the future of the BBC's third channel still in the balance, Sam Espensen speaks to the controller of the fourth. What's he looking for to fill his schedule, and is BBC4 managing to justify its existence? BBC4's offices wouldn't look...

All in the valley of death. (In Production the Charge of the Light Brigade).
May 1, 2002... New evidence about infighting among the military top-brass is what led Channel 4 and SMG to revisit the scandalous massacre of more than 600 British cavalry during the Crimean War. Christina Pishiris discovers how these new findings are...

Kids TV tells toy story. (Merchandise).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Unless they offer some lucrative merchandising spin-offs, costly kids television projects can get left on the shelf. Jon Creamer buys the T shirt, and the toy, and the lunch box, and the back-pack... In high-end kids' TV, the imperative to...

Sting sweats it out: when Xingu films set out to document sting's involvement in Disney's Kingdom of the Sun, it didn't expect to capture quite so much drama. Andy Stout reports on the making of the film that never was. (The Sweatbox in Production).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... If you've never actually heard of a film from Disney's prolific animation stable called Kingdom of the Sun, you're not alone. It takes quite a search to throw up anything of that name, and even then it's only a working title. For, after two...

Shiny-floor shows: he's the producer behind Cilia, Brucie, Beadle and, most recently will and gareth. Thames TV boss Alan Boyd tells Jon Creamer about entertaining TV and the importance of getting the basics right. (Alan Boyd People).
May 1, 2002... If you've watched any Saturday-evening telly over the past 30-odd years, there's a good chance you've watched a show that Alan Boyd either directed, produced or devised. If it's Saturday night and it's primetime, the Thames TV chief executive...

How to get bums on seats: as the film council mounts new initiatives to square the circle of UK production and distribution, Sam Espensen asks if there's any sure-fire way of getting our own films as much exposure as their American competitors. (Film).
May 1, 2002... The UK film distribution industry is the poor relation of the film family: slightly embarrassing, always present at family gatherings like the spectre at the feast. No one has the heart to ignore us, and everyone listens to our stories because...

Now you see it, now you don't. (Film Effects).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Any movie made for over [pounds sterling]10m is now a target for the services of cg facilities, reports Simon Meek. And, with software prices dropping, film producers are finding more and more ingenious uses for vfx. Last month, the genre...

The price of kit production life. (Equipment Hire Production File).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... All those interesting new equipment options out there and not enough margins to pay for them. That's the dilemma for production kit hire outfits who answered this year's survey--that and helping their customers eek out those paltry budgets ...

Shooting digital? HD?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... TX offers a comprehensive range of Single and Multi-Camera shooting facilities including Digital Betacam and HD Units. "Film Style" accessories are now available including High Definition Zoom and Prime Lenses. The standard TX Unit...

Alias rocks the 3D boat. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Alias Wavefront has sent a shockwave through the 3D industry by drastically cutting the price of its Maya software in a bid to penetrate the mass market. The Maya Complete price falls from [pounds sterling]6360 to [pounds sterling]1449, while...

London branch for Red Vision. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Manchester facility Red Vision will open offices in Charlotte Street this month. Initially planned as a small operation -- a couple of Maya and 3DS Max seats overseen by founding director Pete Farrer, who will move down to run the...

2D3. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... 2D3 has launched v2 of its impressive matchmover software, Boujou. Boasting new features to aid the tracking of extreme material, and with improved operator intervention and guidance, the company is also planning to release an OS X version of...

Avid beefs up its DS line. (Technology).(Avid Technology)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Avid Technology is attempting to cash in on its worldwide Media Composer user-base with the release of two new flavours of DS. The new version of the finishing tool, DS HD v6 has been redesigned to mimic the MC's interface, while an fxlight...

Smoke in The Machine Room. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Following last month's upgrading of its Shadow telecine to HD, Wardour Street's The Machine Room has continued its aggressive move into the format with the purchase of Discreet's high-end HD and 601 editing and finishing system, Smoke. ...

Locomotion reunites pair after three years. (Facilities).(Elaine Dempster, Andrew Newman with Locomotion)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... After three years apart, Elaine Dempster and Andrew Newman, who managed postproduction house London Post together, are back in Soho at Locomotion, which is part of the Storyboards Harpers group. Dempster has left Nats post-production, where...

Eye goes down the tube. (Facilities).(BMP DDB uses Eye Animation Studios for commercial)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Eye Animation Studios' furry mole features in a ground-breaking 30-second slot for Tropicana via BMP DDB. Specially-designed to be displayed on tube station walls using Viacom's new XTP projection system, it was created in Maya with texture...

Lynx digital. (In Brief).(Richard Moysey hired)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Richard Moysey has joined the Middlesex facility Lynx Digital as a senior member of its editing team. Previously employed at 4MC, Moysey's recent credits feature a raft of high-rating light entertainment titles including The Weakest Link,...

VTR and the Hive. (In Brief).
May 1, 2002... On August bank holiday, 12 people from VTR and The Hive will attempt to walk the famous Three Peaks (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) in 24 hours. Currently in training, they are looking for both major and minor sponsors, with all monies...

Mokey. (In Brief).(Men From Mars using Mokey software from IS Distribution)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Film effects facility Men From Mars has purchased Mokey software to support its two Quantel Domino systems. This is the software's first foray into the film vfx market, and distributor IS Distribution hopes it could see a new market for the...

Discreet unveils new kit. (Technology).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Discreet disclosed two products currently in development, Strata and Mezzo, which it says will take both the company and its R&D cycle in new directions. Strata is a Windows release similar to Avid DS: a timeline-based, multi-resolution...

5D renames its Cyborgs. (Technology).
May 1, 2002... 5 has dropped the somewhat confusing S, Si and M naming convention of its Cyborg machine in favour of SD, HD and 2k suffixes. It has also announced that the v2 release of the effects editor is now shipping. The new version includes a...

NAB heads for quieter times in Vegas. (Round-Up).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Canopus used NAB as the launched for its new editing workstation, the impressive-looking CWS-l00, a hybrid linear/non-linear editor aimed solely at the broadcast market. DPS's new VelocityQ package is capable of simultaneously playing back...

24p in the palm of your hand. (Technology).(new mini camcorder from Panasonic)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Panasonic has debuted what it bills as a world's first; a 24p mini-DV camcorder. The AG-DVX100 24P is a palm-size unit equipped with three newly-developed 410,000 pixel progressive scan CCDs that allow the camcorder to acquire images at...

Media 100's hi-def fix. (Technology).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Following surprise that its 844/X editing and fx box was not shipping with an HD solution in place, Media 100 is trialling various strategies. Two suggestions involve compressing the HD signal down to SD resolution then up-converting for...

Apple ditches Wintel Shake. (Technology).(Apple Computer to drop PC-based version of Shake product)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... In the wake of Apple's purchase of Nothing Real earlier this year, the company hopes to release the OS X version of its Shake product in the next six months. It has also decided to risk alienating much of its user-base by dropping both the...

Waiting for the upturn. (Equipment).(forecasts value of U.S. broadcast/pro-video market spending, 2002)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Research firm SCRI released gloomy figures for the value of the US broadcast/pro-video market in 2001, while predicting a much sunnier picture for 2002. According to the firm, spending overall was down nearly 29% year on year at $6.1bn,...

S&W snags more finance. (Technology).(Snell and Wilcox, U.K.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Snell & Wilcox has received a [pounds sterling]22m injection from venture capitalists Advent Venture Partners, which might finance further acquisition by the company. Despite recent jobs-cuts across the group, put down by the company to...

What dreams may come. (The Business the Works).(Kaydara Europe's general manager makes case for use of live-to-air 3D characters for television)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... It's time that live-to-air 3D characters caught on in the television world says Andrew Johnston, general manager of Kaydara Europe Finger puppets, marionettes, stop-frame villains, cel-animated heroes... They've all been hugely successful...

Two-and-a-half D. (Inside Animals).(British Broadcasting Corp. contracts 422 Bristol to provide graphics and 3D effects for 3 television programs, U.K.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Each of its natural history ventures makes the next one that bit easier is 422's philosophy. This newest BBC/Discovery project helped it find ways to make viewers turn on to grisly entrails No blood, no guts. That was settled the moment the...

Supermac meets De Niro. (In My View).
May 1, 2002... Michael McMahon Let's start with stuff you really don't like... I really hate Emmerdale, Night and Day, Coronation Street... but I can't say I don't like Eastenders because I find myself watching it. The thing I like is that it pushes...

May TX guide: the producer's guide to the month on the box.
May 1, 2002... President Blair Saturday May 4, 19.00: Channel 4 Observer journalist Nick Cohen marks the fifth anniversary of the Labour government with an investigation into Blair's style of leadership. Juniper's documentary concludes that it reeks of...

Sex, drugs and political correctness. (Hair-in-the-Gate).
May 1, 2002... Now if you're looking for a format guaranteed to placate the regulators, how about a Pop Idol for politicians? Unconfirmed reports suggest that one of the UK's leading entertainment producers is deep in development with a new show that could...