Televisual articles from May 2003

Televisual archives from May 2003

Carlton and Granada merge their interactive TV services. (New Media).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Carlton and Granada are preempting the merger plans currently being scrutinised by the the OFT by combining their interactive TV production outfits into ITV Interactive. The operation is to be headed by Jane Marshall as ITV Interactive...

Yorkshire gets [pounds sterling]3m for film and TV industry. (Funding).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Regional development agency Yorkshire Forward is to pump [pounds sterling]3m into the county's film and TV industries. The money will go to improving production facilities and building skills. The funding will also bring in a further...

Two UK outfits up for Euro award. (Awards).(Ecosse Films and Sally Head Productions)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Two UK companies, Ecosse Films (Charlotte Gray) and Sally Head Productions (Tipping the Velvet), are among the nominees for the fifth annual European Producer Award, to be presented at the Monte Carlo TV Festival in July. The selection...

Bristol hosts animation festival. (Animation).(Animated Encounters)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Animated Encounters returns to Bristol this year with over 50 films, among them all five films nominated in the Bafta Short Animation category and Lizzie Oxby's Extn 21 (below). Highlights at the two-day festival include a head-to-head between...

Cheerful Scout. (In Brief).(receives Contender Entertainment Group contract)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cheerful Scout has won an exclusive two-year DVD production deal with the Contender Entertainment Group. The company has been Contender's main DVD supplier for three years, providing a full service -- from pre-production and design to authoring...

Mustard. (In Brief).(announces executive appointments)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... London-based ad production company Mustard has poached two directors and a producer and is now also UK representative for the US's Backyard Productions (Kevin Smith, Rob Pritts and Steve Burrows). Mark Brozel joins from Rogue and Nick Piper...

IVCA. (In Brief).(to hold seminar)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The IVCA is to hold a half-day seminar on crisis communications chaired by Joan Bakewell on 27 May. The conference will look at corporate communication in times of national and international anxiety, and the part it plays in wider strategy. On...

Ginger Media Group. (In Brief).(David Campbell, Zenith Entertainment appointment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... David Campbell, who co-founded the Ginger Media Group with Chris Evans, has been appointed non-executive chairman of Zenith Entertainment. This follows the management buy-out of the Zenith Group last month that was led by Philip McDanell and...

Rushes Soho Shorts Festival. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Rushes Soho Shorts Festival is back this summer for a fifth year and is calling for entries (at www.sohoshorts.com). Films under 12 minutes produced in the last 12 months can enter. Categories include short film, animation and music video...

Scots film scheme switches from shorts to features. (Film).(New Found Land)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... New Found Land, the scheme setup by Scottish TV, Scottish Screen and Grampian TV to make short films, will instead finance two features this year, After life and Blinded. In previous years, the scheme has produced six shorts. The finance...

M Productions remasters Zeppelin for DVD. (New Media).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Metropolis Group's film and television division, M Productions, has completed work on a double DVD anthology for legendary rock behemoths Led Zeppelin. Directed by experienced concert director Dick Carruthers, with Anouk Fontaine as...

British Film Institute. (Archive).(Mitchell and Kenyon project to be subject of BBC2 documentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The British Film Institute's Mitchell and Kenyon project is to be the subject of a BBC2 documentary series in 2004. Two years ago, the BFI acquired 800 rolls of film from Blackburn local film historian Peter Worden who discovered the stock in a...

Twofour brings gardens up to date. (Broadcast).(Twofour Productions to produce 'Gardens Through Time')(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Production has begun on the BBC2-commissioned Gardens Through Time, a 7x1-hour series to commemorate the bicentenary of The Royal Horticultural Society. Produced by Twofour Productions and presented by Diarmud Gavin and Jane Owen, the...

Bermuda ID. (In Brief).(titles for series 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?')(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Bermuda ID's Run Wrake is behind the titles for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, an 8x30-minute series fronted by Anne Robinson. On the show, celebrity guests are invited to conjure up their fantasy dinner-party, including the ideal venue, menu...

Hotbed Media. (In Brief).('100 Worst Britons' produced)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hotbed Media has produced 100 Worst Britons for Channel 4, a run-down of the nation's least popular celebrities, personalities and politicians. Featuring an irreverent title-sequence designed and directed at 422 Manchester -- which consists of...

Hawkshead. (In Brief).('Success for All' CD-Rom produced)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hawkshead, part of Endemol UK, has produced Success for All, a CD-Rom ordered by the Department for Education and Skills. The CD explains to teachers, through video, web links and audio, how to include disabled pupils in all aspects of PE. The...

BBC to embark on Roman epic. (Broadcast).(documentary on building of Colosseum)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... BBC specialist factual and BBC Worldwide are set to produce a one-hour documentary special on the building of the Colosseum in Rome, and the 100 days of inaugural games which followed. Directed and produced by Tilman Remme (The Making of...

Honda chain-reaction ad gets its own documentary. (Broadcast).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... It really was done without cg-and, to prove it, a making-or DVD has been produced to be given out free with The Guardian. Antoine Bardou-Jacquet directed the now-famous Honda Accord chain-reaction Cog ad that took 600 takes to get right....

Gash. (The Green Light).(Armando Lannucci hosts show for Channel 4)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Armando lannucci is to front a new political comedy show from Talkback for Channel 4. Gash will run for four nights during the local elections. The half-hour shows will be studio-based. The producer is David Tyler.

American Idol. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Mentorn has picked up a US commission for its Paradise Hotel format from Fox. The 16x1-hour programme, scheduled in the same slot as American Idol, features 12 singles at a luxury resort. Each week, one gets voted off and a viewer gets to take...

The Secret World of Benjamin Bear. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Red Kite Productions is co-producing animated kids' series The Secret World of Benjamin Bear with Canadian outfit Amberwood. The 26x11-minute 2D series has been ordered by Canada's Family Channel for TX in 2004.

My Night with Julia. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Channel 4's head of independent film and video Jess Search has been handed [pounds sterling]200k to commission and acquire edgy documentaries budgeted between [pounds sterling]5k and [pounds sterling]30k for a new late-night strand, Outside....

Second Coming. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Mine all Mine is a new drama for ITV1 from Second Coming writer Russell T Davies' through Red Productions. The comedy drama tells the story of Max Vivaldi and family, who inherit the city of Swansea after an ancient will is discovered. The...

The Deal. (The Green Light).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... A drama about the Blair/Brown partnership from Stephen Frears goes into production at Granada this month for Channel 4. The Deal charts the rise of the two men from 1983, when they first entered the Commons. David Morrissey plays Brown and...

Grand Slam. (The Green Light).(Channel 4 orders game show)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Channel 4 has ordered Grand Slam, a new peaktime quiz from Monkey (responsible for Swag, left), the independent set up by Will MacDonald and David Granger, both formerly of Ginger Television. In this "quiz of quizzes," contestants have to pay...

Intro. (In Brief).(work with Formula 1)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Design house Intro has created a new ident to open all Formula 1 TV coverage around the world. Working with Formula 1 management's design team, director K8 (Kate Dawkins) created coloured streams of light shooting through abstract space that...

Cannes Film Festival. (In Brief).(The Machine Room's work on Young Adam)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Machine Room completed post on David Mackenzie's Young Adam in time for its selection for Un Certain Regard at this month's Cannes Film Festival. Produced by Jeremy Thomas at The Recorded Picture Co, it is an adaptation of Alexander...

Sherbet. (In Brief).(work for auction channel)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Auction channel Bid-U p.tv gets new idents from Sherbet director Sandra Ensby and producer Rachel Matchett as part of an overhaul of the station's s look. The Bid-Up arrow takes on a series of different personas, from volcano to rollercoaster....

Gardam calls for public funding. (Funding).(C4 head of programmes Tim Gardam )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... C4 head of programmes Tim Gardam has called on government to give commercial terrestrial broadcasters National Lottery funding. He claims the funds are now necessary to allow them to compete with the BBC, and to continue making public...

Barron moves in-house at BBC. (Broadcast).(Fred Barron)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... My Family creator Fred Barron has joined the BBC's entertainment department to develop new series. US-born Barron has been executive producer on Seinfeld, and was writer and executive producer on The Larry Sanders Show. New shows will be...

TVC falls [pounds sterling]10m into the red. (Finance).(Television Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Television Corporation, owner of Mentorn and Sunset and Vine, has gone into the red to the tune of [pounds sterling]10m after a series of failed investments and the cancellation of Robot Wars (above) by the BBC and Viacom. TVC had to...

Boseley's move on ITV network. (People).
May 1, 2003... Bridget Boseley, creator of the 100 Greatest series, swaps her role as features controller at Granada subsidiary YTTV for that of ITV head of factual. She replaces Dianne Nelmes, who took on daytime and regional programming at Granada. ...

Willis in at BBC factual. (People).
May 1, 2003... Former Channel 4 programme director and United Productions chief executive John Willis has landed the job of BBC director of factual and learning. Willis has been vp of programming at WGBH Boston for under a year. He goes to the BBC in...

Hat Trick looks to investment. (Deals).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Hat Trick is looking to sell off a minority interest to a private investor to make up for recent losses at the indie. The company has gone from a [pounds sterling]700k profit in 2000 to a loss of nearly [pounds sterling]160k in 2001....

Roll on the bill and show me the money. (The Business News).(new communications bill)
May 1, 2003... Ian Jones, of the BTDA and Granada International, invites producers in on the secrets of the distributor's art at next month's event, Show me the Money Once the communications bill becomes an act this summer, the premise will be that...

Payback Time. (News Story Board).(Levi's advertising soundtrack released)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Caption: Payback Time, the soundtrack to Michel Gondry's man-or-mouse spot for Levi's gets a single release and promo produced by Picasso Pictures' graphic design arm, So, and directed by Stuart Hilton for agency BBH.

B-Boy Championships. (News Story Board).(Digitalia work for MTV program)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Caption: 3D-artists at Digitalia created an animated army of robot-spiders who attack and torture ill-prepared breakdancers for MTV's forthcoming 1 2x30-minute series B-Boy Championships, where performers bust their moves in a glass set.

Online travel company. (News Story Board).(Expedia)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Caption: Online travel company Expedia gets a new spot this month directed by Tandem's Daniel Greaves. Where sees a pencil sketch character coming to life and interacting with his environment as it is drawn in behind him.

British Council. (News Story Board).( Milk produces film)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Caption: Milk has produced a 20-minute factual film for the British Council. Inspire talks to UK designers about their ideas and influences, and will be sent around the world to promote British design.

MPC. (News Story Board).(work on horror movie LD50 )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Caption: MPC is behind the digital grade and vfx on debut director Simon De Selva's horror feature LD50, starring ex-Spice Girl Mel B. MPC was also responsible for over 70 effects shots in the film, including a cg monster made out of...

Spotlight falls on BBC online. (New Media).
May 1, 2003... Fresh from 2002's enquiry into its News 24 channel, the BBC goes under the microscope again this year, this time in a review of its online activities. Because the complaints of commercial operators about News 24 turn even angrier when it...

Songs of Praise. (Month in Review).(Jonathan Edwards' position at Ofcom)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The blood is up, in the Godless pressure group the National Secular Society, at the news of Ofcom's appointment of Jonathan Edwards to represent England in taste and decency at the soon-to-be-whelped media watchdog. Edwards, more famous as a...

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Month in Review).(movie version planned)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cheats may never prosper, but Celador should soon see a nice swelling of the coffers when it makes the movie version of that episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? No clues yet as to who'll be cast as Major Charles Ingram, his wife Diana or...

Muffin the Mule. (Month in Review).(BBC plans)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Down on the farm, the BBC has indicated its intention to bring Muffin the Mule out of retirement at the Devon donkey sanctuary he's called home for the last 48 years to front what, on paper, appears to be a bestial advice-service at a new city...

Brass Eye. (Month in Review).(plans for Chris Morris)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Still proudly clutching the award for most complained-about show in TV history for his Brass Eye paedophilia special, Chris Morris is set to bring more of his twisted brain-wrongs back to Channel 4 at some point next year. Director of...

Letters.
May 1, 2003... Framesto re CFC are go.... 'After reading a news item in Televisual's April issue (UK ramps up its slate of film fx, page 7), which included a quick round-up of Soho fx activity, we thought it might be helpful to fill out the picture a...

The US film industry -- over here. (Opinions).
May 1, 2003... What's the matter with the British film industry? Just that it's the bits left over after the American film industry has had its pick. How could it be otherwise when our shared language offers UK filmmakers nearly five times as many...

Unhappy medium: the communications bill will cause a seismic shift in the UK's indie production sector, reckons Wark Clements' md Alan Clements. Jon Creamer asks him how the landscape will look after the dust settles. (Interview).
May 1, 2003... Like serfs in czarist Russia: depending on landowners for succour" is the way one indie described dealings between independents and broadcasters in a Pact submission to the ITC. But the upcoming communications bill now looks set to usher in...

Fancy a print? The Royle Family's Craig Cash has moved his latest comedy all the way from the front room to the public bar. Jon Creamer pops in for a swift half. (Early Doors in Production).
May 1, 2003... Caroline Aherne spent a lot of time in the tabloids over the last few years, with each of her various break-ups and break-downs a front-page splash. So, back in 2001, the writer/actress decided that enough was enough and, looking for a little...

The big picture: considering all the hoops that features have to jump through to get funding, it's amazing that the UK still has a film industry. James Hamilton talks to six producers going to Cannes to find out how they made it happen. (Films Finance).
May 1, 2003... Making a film with a view to making money ranks somewhere alongside joining a pyramid-selling scheme or investing a year's salary in Lottery scratchcards. There are those that manage it -- break-out successes in the Four Weddings vein that find...

A family affair: Nickeloden's Nick Toons gets its first cartoon family this month, a series of shorts based on a real-life family. James Hamilton meets the Moores. (Meet the Moores in Production).
May 1, 2003... Meet the Moores: mum Tania, dad Rob, sisters Roberta, Eliza and Jemima and their long-suffering older brother Jack. They're your average cartoon family. They fight; they tease each-other; they have a pair of lovebirds intent on world...

Better jaw-jaw: as worldwide trade in formats spawns rampant piracy on the airwaves, Rachel Murrell finds out about a mediation service which aims to protect intellectual property while keeping disputes out of the courts. (Format Protection).
May 1, 2003... Says David Lyle, "I try to get people to leave the tears and tantrums outside the door. The aim is to establish what really happened and find ways of going forward that both parties can live with." As the hard-headed president of...

This sporting life: as the soccer season comes to a head, cricket kicks off and tennis begins its summer wind-up, we ask independent OB outfits what the battle for TV sports rights means to them. (Sport Outside Broadcast).
May 1, 2003... If there's a sports rights story big enough to make a splash not only on the back pages of the papers but on the financial and media pages as well, you can be sure that down the line the OB community will be scurrying around to find out what it...

Piranha teams with Thomson. (Technology).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Interactive Effects (IFX) is angling for Discreet's client-base by linking its Piranha HI) compositor to Thomson Grass Valley's digital film workflow. The software, which sports a new interface, can take in data-files directly from the...

New benchmark for digital film. (Technology).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Canadian professional imaging firm Dalsa has developed a digital film camera whose 4k x 2k resolution is four times more than that achieved by current HD cameras. The Origin, which derives from Dalsa's purchase of Philips's CCD business...

Clipster. (In Brief).(DVS launches new online editing workstation)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... DVS has launched new online editing workstation, Clipster. The [pounds sterling]47k system features resolution-independent real-time editing from SD to 2k and runs on Linux or Windows OS. Multi-resolutions, colour-space or bit-depth can be...

Avid defends its product makeover. (Technology).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Avid has denied misleading customers in the run-up to revealing its new product strategy at last month's NAB. Symphony is to he phased out over 18 months in favour of a new product line-up featuring hardware-accelerated versions of the...

Quantel and BBC tie up major digital contracts. (Technology).
May 1, 2003... Quantel has made the largest sale in its 30 year history, to US sports network ESPN. The deal, believed to be worth [pounds sterling]25m, will see 68 GenerationQ SD/HD servers and 23 craft editors installed in a purpose-built centre in...

Solid-state recording arrives. (Technology).
May 1, 2003... Panasonic has unveiled the first solid-state camcorder. This means that DV data in the form of AVI files can be stored on a tiny memory card and inserted into a notebook or workstation for editing. On its arrival next spring, Panasonic can...

Frubes spot animates The Hive. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Hive has been busy on a 40-sec Frubes yaghurt promotion for Cartoon Network Working from CN's original storyboard plus guide audio track, The Hive developed a reference animatic, honing both camera-moves and cut-points to ensure an...

Hypa. (In Brief).(names Doug Glanville to new business development post)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Brighton post and graphics facility Hypa has appointed Doug Glanville to head up its new business development. Glanville previously worked at Complete Video, The Mill, VTR and Soho 601. Recent Hypa clients include Abbey National and Cahoot. It...

Sony. (In Brief).(stops marketing Vialta telecine)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Sony has abandoned its Vialta telecine four years after launch. Although its image-quality was favourably received, it was later than its rivals in showing realtime 2k transfer, and technology tie-ups with SGI, Discreet and its own product...

Bay Television. (In Brief).(builds new digital unit)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Cardiff's Bay Television has completed construction of its new 12m digital OB unit with up to 8 cameras and 32-track sound recording. The company has smaller GB units and can provide satellite uplink facilities as well as terrestrial microwave...

Avid opts for direct sales. (Facilities).(for high-end systems)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... After a review of its UK business. Avid has opted to bring sales and support of its high-end systems in-house. Top-of-the-range systems DS Nitris and Unity will now be sold directly by Avid. All other systems will be sold through authorised...

DVD-TV growth warning. (New Media).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The market share for TV-based DVDs is on the rise, but the TV sector should not assume the format will pull it out of a rut, warns BBC director of video Stuart Snaith. "DVD is difficult to create compared with video," he told an audience...

Das Werk sold as going concern. (Facilities).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Insolvent post-production group Das Werk has been acquired by fellow German production outfit Media Select. According to an official statement, the new owner plans to run Das Werk's regional operations in Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and...

3 Mills gets [pounds sterling]8m boost. (Production).(Workspace Group invests additional funds in 3 Mills Studios)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Workspace Group, owners of South London's 3 Mills Studios, has invested a further [pounds sterling]8m in studio infrastructure. The property development group has invested [pounds sterling]10m since 1997 in converting the former distillery...

Don't demote audio to second place: producers have a short-term take on quality, argues Julian Slater director of Hackenbacker. (The Business The Works).(Column)
May 1, 2003... With digital-only broadcasting on the horizon, and with so many programmes being released on to DVD, the industry is facing an explosion in demand for high-quality content. So why are the majority of programme producers taking such a short-term...

Murder one: for David Tibballs, producer on BBC1's reality TV/drama hybrid The Murder Game, the challenge was not so much whodunit but howtodoit. Resolution donned its deerstalker and cape to help. (The Murder Game).
May 1, 2003... "We had ten people living in a house in the Essex countryside attempting to solve a fictional murder-mystery," explains series producer David Tibballs. "They had to go out on lines of enquiry and meet suspects (actors) in teams. Every time they...

Production directory: the A - Z of production services. (A-V).
May 1, 2003... ACCOUNTANTS BRECKMAN & COMPANY For friendly advice on all of your accounts and tax matters call 0207 499 2292. or visit our website www.breckmsnandcompany.co.uk LINDFORD & COMPANY, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS We are a small...

Mob-handed. (In My View).(interview with Jean Vadim)(Interview)
May 1, 2003... Vadim Jean made his name in directing with the micro-budget Leon the Pig Farmer in 1992. Five years later he founded The Mob Film Company to produce features and commercials. In between making ads for Carpet-right and PC World, he has managed...

May TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box. (The End).(Brief Article)(Directory)
May 1, 2003... Whitey Blighty Friday 2 May, 19.30: Channel 4 Tiger Aspect and Radio 1 DJ Nihal Arthanayake, whose parents hail from Sri Lanka, take a sideways look at immigration by visualising a Britain free of ethnic influence: take away all the curry...

Murphy's indie quota too rich for BBC blood. (Hair-in-the-Gate).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Far from being contrite about missing its 25% quota for two years running (last year's 23.7% has now sunk to 21.8%, the BBC independent seems to be bringing its maverick BBC3 controller inline. Stuart Murphy, who cut his corporate teeth in...