Televisual articles from October 2001

Televisual archives from October 2001

ETV plans Channel 5 romp with Jilly Cooper and Fay Weldon.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... ETV has secured the rights to two of July Cooper's novels, with Fay Weldon writing the screenplays. Both are in full development, according to Channel 5, though they have not yet been commissioned. Appassionata and Score feature the lives...

New Living boss sets sights on a live daily show.(Richard Woolfe)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Living TV's newly-appointed channel controller Richard Woolfe says he plans to give the women's channel "a shot in the arm." Woolfe aims to get more UK faces on the screen, and to use more UK production talent. He is specifically on the...

Deepend follows Refinery down.(advertising agency liquidation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The llquidation of Deepend is a further blow to the design sector after the sudden closure of The Refinery, formerly Aldis Animation, only a month after it rebranded. Deepend blames recession fears, cash-flow problems and the loss of two...

Kyme and Asbury give birth to Baby.(Lynette Kyme)(Pamela Asbury)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Lynette Kyme, former managing director of BFCS, has joined forces with Baby Films' Pamela Asbury to create new commercials outfit, Baby. The company has so far signed up Matthew Parkhill, winner of the Rushes Soho shorts award for Talk (below)...

Extreme Sports Channel.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Anthony Van Someren has been appointed creative director of Extreme Sports Channel, Europe with overall responsibility for revamping the on-air look of the channel, which broadcasts in over 40 countries in Europe and the Middle East Previously...

TV sales conference Mipcom.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The number of exhibitors and buyers at international TV sales conference Mipcom will match that of last year despite tears over air-travel after the US terrorist attacks, claim organisers. "Individuals have cancelled from Channel 9 (Australia)...

Sky News.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... A new logo fronts Sky News from 1 October to tie in with the rebrand last month. This involved changes in the set and fewer feature items in its coverage, in line with a drive to slash [pound]2m off the annual costs announced earlier this year....

Oxford Scientific Films.
October 1, 2001... Renowned natural history producer Oxford Scientific Films is to move to London and sell off its Oxford production studios. It will also hire a new team to pitch for more low-cost, high-volume work. The move is necessary "to continue profitably...

Scorer scours gorilla country for King Kong.(Scorer Associates program Gorilla: on the trail of King Kong)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Gorilla: on the trail of King Kong is the new 50-minute BBC1 special from Scorer Associates. Part-funded by Discovery, the [pound]650k production took three years to make and shows the first footage of gorillas from lowland Congo forests. ...

A very English partnership with The Bank.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The Bank is helping to breathe new life into run-down or polluted UK sites with a video to promote the work of the government funding organisation, English Partnerships. After a fierce six-way pitch with (among others) The Edge, The Bank's...

Hat Trick's first deal for Sky.
October 1, 2001... Hat Trick's first commission for Sky is a stunt-show Rum, featuring Trigger Happy-style gags, which airs this month. The 8x23-minute series requires members of both the production team and the audience to do very silly things, according to...

Spectre/Ritts Hayden's Nestle Nestea US campaign.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Glassworks has created an outlaw skeleton on the run for Spectre/Ritts Hayden's Nestle Nestea US campaign. The skeleton, sweating in the searing heat before guzzling Nestea and transforming into a snowman, was created using stop-frame animation...

The Ultimate Stress Show and Ultimate Change Show.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... There's a new look to Video Arts training films with the first work from a brace of production partners. The brief for Firehouse was to "reinvent" the training video with The Ultimate Stress Show and Ultimate Change Show, while Jacaranda's...

Tiger Aspect.(Future Fighting Machines)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Tiger Aspect examines military technology for Bravo's 15x30-minute magazine series, Future Fighting Machines with the help of Nats Design. It created the hi-tech fast-moving title-sequence - a combination of archive footage and wire-frame...

The Magnificent Ambersons for RKO.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... 4MC has gone to work on a television remake of the Orson Welles classic The Magnificent Ambersons for RKO and The De Angelis Group. 4MC's senior colourist Alan Bishop graded the movie and Simon Horobin and Andy Wood completed the online. The...

MBC Midlands goes to New York.(to produce program about attack on World Trade Center)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Channel 4 has commissioned three of a batch of ideas sent in by MBC Midlands in response to the US attack. A 30-minute think-piece shot in Pakistan will study how foreigners see the US. It is fronted by Imran Kahn, made by Bruno Sorrentino...

Century's parade of The Fattest Men in Britain.(Century Films)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Century Films has a new show about "why the world likes to see fat men eat," according to director/producer Nick O'Dwyer. The Fattest Men in Britain will air on ITV this month; it was commissioned for the Real Life strand by Stephen Lambert...

BBC4 has commissioned indie Somethin' Else.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... BBC4 has commissioned indie Somethin' Else to make two 90-minute specials on the upcoming London Jazz Festival, with features, artist interviews and live stage performances. Courtney Pine presents the programmes. Producers are Bruce Hepton and...

Gullane Entertainment and Tell-Tale.(collaborate on children's animations)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Gullane Entertainment and Tell-Tale have teamed up to produce two new kids' animations. Ella is an animated show aimed at preschoolers and tells the story of a little girl with a vivid imagination. Sprogs is an animated sitcom for...

Northern Ireland indie Green Inc.(to produce Music Asides, Comic Asides)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Northern Ireland indie Green Inc has bagged two new commissions from BBC NI. The 6x30-minute series Music Asides focusses on a different musical performer each week It follows Green Inc's previous series Comic Asides; producer is Paul Evans....

Movietone Television.(finances television programs on famous Britons)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Movietone Television is putting up the finance for a series of one-hour shows chronicling the lives of famous Britons under the banner Britography. The production wing of the newsreel archive has scored recent hits on C5, among them Young...

Anna in Wonderland.(Anna Nolan; television series)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Anna in Wonderland, fronted by the first Big Brother's Anna Nolan, has just finished shooting ready for a November TX on BBC Choice. The 6x30-minute series follows Nolan as she visits strange cults around the world. It was produced in house by...

Channel 5 has ordered Menace from indie Greenlit.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Channel 5 has ordered Menace from indie Greenlit. The 2x75minute drama tells the story of an ordinary bank manager pushed to the edges of sanity. Jill Green is producer/exec producer and Bill Eagles will direct the programme for TX next year.

MBC is to make a 50-minute film for BBC2.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... MBC is to make a 50-minute film for BBC2 on the life of the former head of MI5, Stella Rimington. The programme will TX in November when the ex-spy chief's memoirs Open Secret are published. Mark Dowd will produce, and the show will be fronted...

Red Post.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Red Post has completed a series of 40 idents it began with the now defunct Razorfish: openers, menus and backgrounds for pay-per-view giant Direct TV are part of a major rebrand. Carl Grinter produced for Red; Razorfish's Jill Lindeman has now...

Chrysalis's comedy-drama Orcadia.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Chrysalis's comedy-drama Orcadia, which goes out in this month's C4 Comedy Lab, was written by and stars newcomers Alice Lowe and Jenny Cox. The story of two women who make up a fantasy existence to compensate for empty lives in a rundown...

Lynx Digital and Lane Fabian Jones Productions.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Lynx Digital and Lane Fabian Jones Productions have created a series of live-action/cg Playdoh commercials for Burkitt-DDB's client, Hasbro. Playdoh Pete was created by Mark Ford in Maya and then composited in Flame into a live-action...

NY attacks hit media markets.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The terrorist attacks in the US have hit media fortunes hard. A spate of feature films have been held back or reshot in the wake of the devastation. Schwarzenegger vehicle Collateral Damage, which shows n family killed by a skyscraper bomb,...

Strike threat for UK features.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Upcoming UK feature film production could grind to a halt as actor's union Equity called for a strike. The union has asked its 36,000 members not to sign up for productions until a pay dispute is settled. The forthcoming Bond film could be...

New channels, new governor.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The BBC finally got a decision on its new digital channels - and a new chairman. All but one of the corporation's proposed services were okayed by media minister Tessa Jowell, including arts channel BBC4 and two kids channels. But youth...

New media beat retreat.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The future of new media took a turn for the worse this month as Telewest's interactive TV outfit smashed Atom announced its closure and BT cut back plans to send TV content over the internet. Open world, BT's broadband service, originally...

Marketing the future of TV.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Channel 4's creative director, Jon Stevens, is to chair November's TV marketing shindig, Promax UK. Here's why you should go along Media conferences - I've been to a few. Some are boring, Some are genuinely inspiring. Unfortunately, you...

Slinky Pictures.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Slinky Pictures has been feverishly working on branding and interstitials after winning the pitch for Channel 4's Hot Reels: Animation Grand Prix. A six-week, two-hour animation showcase, each week the Grand Prix has a different theme,...

Pintlings is directed by Aardman's Darren Walsh.(Tennents Lager)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * For the first time in its 115-year history, Tennents Lager opts for an animated ad campaign. Pintlings is directed by Aardman's Darren Walsh, with the Bristol outfit continuing its run of liveaction/animation mixes. Walsh says that...

Network's Courage Awards.(Cartoon Network)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * Mad Dogs Animation has just completed Cartoon Network's Courage Awards, a campaign featuring a cowardly dog. Awards will be presented to any Cartoon Network character displaying on-screen spinelessness.

The Cat with Hands is Room Service.(Halo Productions)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * Halo Productions's follow-up to the Soho Shorts winner The Cat with Hands is Room Service, directed by Slyvie Bringas. The film is a joint Arts Council/Channel 4 commission, and was made at Black Island Studios as a live-action green-screen...

Paul Henman.(Formula One)(Toyota Motor Corp)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... * Next year a new team is to be allowed to enter Formula 1. To make the promo, Toyota commissioned Paul Henman directly, who shot three days of testing at a race-track in Spain. Called March 2002 because it heralds the team's debut in...

The terrorist's unwitting tool.(television news broadcasting)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... First there was silence. Then came the biggest furore in the history of broadcasting. TV's ascendancy reached new heights as New York's World Trade Centre fell at the hands of terrorism. News stations raced to bring minute-by-minute...

Essex airport sharpish.
October 1, 2001... Where were you on the day it happened? will be the question asked in years to come on the anniversary of the NY attacks. Glued to the telly with my jaw on the floor will be the answer from most; sweating away in a grounded jet at Stansted will...

Allegations of skullduggery on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Allegations of skullduggery on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? have prompted Celador to check tapes of past episodes for any more game-show naughtiness. So far, a wealth of previously unnoticed and highly suspicious incidents have been...

South Bank Show.(Melvyn Bragg criticizes British Broadcasting Corporation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Hot on the heels of Liddiment's BBC-bashing MacTaggart, South Bank Show presenter Melvyn Bragg started throwing a few punches at the corporation himself. Bragg described BBC1's lack of serious arts coverage as "a total dereliction of its public...

Life outside London?
October 1, 2001... As I opened the pages of the August issue of Televisual, a very posh glossy poster dropped on to my desk. I unfolded it and cast my eyes upon the map of Soho showing me all the addresses of facilities there. I would like to make the...

Sound case for Facilities 50.
October 1, 2001... Where are they now? Those people who made number 20 in Televisual's overall producers' poll in last year's Facilities 50 (September 2000) and number four in its poll of broadcast producers? An audio-only post facility responsible this year...

Talking good television.(the Cambridge Convention)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... What clever fellows head our TV industry: every one a star of his college debating society, no doubt, and ready to reboot those skills on cue at the Cambridge Convention. Should platform owners (most of those present) also provide TV...

Betty will get back to you.
October 1, 2001... The Big Brother editor and Ideas Lab boss leaves Channel 4 this month to set up her own company Jon Creamer asks her about her ambitious plans for her brand new indie First it was Michael Jackson, off to a new big bucks career in the US;...

The lap of the gods.(Macarana Films produces documentary film on Brazilian soccer players, Shooting Star)
October 1, 2001... With a possible audience of over four billion viewers, and access to the most famous players in the world, Sledge and Macarana Films take on a football feature. Though Ronaldo refuses to take her calls, Sam Espensen learns the perils of...

Intellectual Property For Sale.
October 1, 2001... Formats are still big news in the international TV market, but that market is getting crowded. Jon Creamer asks some of those format creators how they're managing to get heard above all the noise Who wants to be a millionaire? The expanding...

TV on a plate?(UKTV launching specialty Food channel)
October 1, 2001... UKTV is forging ahead with a new food channel in spite of failed attempts by others. Anastasia Kershaw asks channel editor Nick Thorogood if UK Food's in for a tumble when it launches next month The channel editor of UK Food felt he'd...

Who wants to be a superindie?(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Now in its late teens, the broadcast independent peer-group born 19 years ago along with Channel 4 is yielding up its handful of top-dogs. As sell-offs, mergers and grown-up finance deals boost their clout, this year's showcase of the Top 100...

It's an animarathon.(TV program features animators in a 72 hour competiton)
October 1, 2001... Some of the country's most talented animators find out more than they need to know about each other as they battle against the clock. It's a reality TV show that lays bare the production process, finds Anastasia Kershaw The graphics that...

Survival of the newest.(video post production industry)
October 1, 2001... Things aren't looking overly good for the post sector as an industry-wide downturn hints at recession. But it seems that pessimism is the key to success when you're a start-up, discovers Simon Meek Trying to get your hands on market figures...

Camera crews.
October 1, 2001... As the crewing market adapts to the current business climate, the polarisation between broadcast and corporate work begins to widen. Simon Meek talks to a baffled marketplace and asks those involved: where is the next job coming from? ...

PMPP makes a come-back.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Facilities stalwart Paul Miller has resurrected PMPP having opted to close The Gargoyle Club after less than eight months of trading. The post-house now trades with only five staff and is relying on freelancers to man its suites. "We're...

Tele-Cine fights closure claims.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Mark Hewitt, president of Liberty Livewire Europe, has denied rumours of redundancy at Tele-Cine and says closure is only one option for its post department. However, an inside source claims editors "upped and left" after an email was sent...

Bazley Films.(Alias Wavefront team for animated short)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Bazley Films has teamed up with Alias Wavefront to create the follow-up to its The Journal of Edwin Carp. The sequel to the Flash-animated short will be rendered in 3D, adding a new dimension to the Searle-type character. Cambridge Animation's...

Avid in reseller restructure.(Avid Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Avid Technology is reviewing its UK reseller structure as part of a push to sharpen up its customer focus. The move comes as ex-Post Impressions' Graham Sharp takes up his position as vp of European sales, and sets a new agenda for the...

Pink House gets green light over assets purchase.(BFV)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The Pink House has been given the all clear over the asset sale of BFV (Televisual March 2001). The judgment, issued by BFV's appointed liquidator, Houghton Stone, is strongly rebutted by BFV creditors who feel they are paying for The Pink...

Golden Square poaches artists.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Golden Square Post is starting up a design arm after poaching four 3D creatives from The Hive. Chris Lambert, Kath Skews, Luke Letkey and Matt Stevens will work on all areas of design. Their previous roles primarily entailed DVD...

XTV makes a dash for sports.(TWI commissions XTV for animated BBC snooker titles)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The combined forces of XTV and talent from the now-defunct Red Pepper has created the title sequence for BBC snooker in a drive to corner the sports branding market TWI, which is contracted to produce all BBC snooker for the next three years,...

Red Post Production.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Red Post Production has lured its new business development manager, Tara Geraghty, from Centaur Communication's mad.co.uk where she worked as sales director. In her new role, Geraghty is tasked with widening the facility's customer base and, in...

Fairlight is shipping a new audio console.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Fairlight is shipping a new audio console which integrates digital recording, editing and mixing. The Dream Console includes a 48-track recorder/editor and offers up to 192 channels with full 6-band EQ It is able to accommodate all cinema...

Gearhouse Broadcast.(contract with Thomson Multimedia S.A.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Gearhouse Broadcast has placed a [pound]1 m order with Thomson Multimedia Broadcast Solutions for its LDK 23HD camera systems. It will take delivery of the camera systems as part of a roll-out over the next six months. The rental house is also...

Discreet in [pound]11m software deal.(Autodesk acquired Media 100)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Autodesk, the parent company of Discreet, is to acquire Media 100's software line in a bid to broaden its product portfolio into streaming media. The deal is estimated at [pound]11 million. The purchase, which includes the Gleaner and...

P.innacle buys Fast for [pound]10m.(Pinnacle Systems Inc. acquired Fast Electronic U.S. Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Pinnacle Systems will this month secure the acquisition of Fast Multimedia for [pound]10m. The deal wrn see the end of the Fast brand, which will be used until October 2002. However, all product names will be retained and used under the...

IBC trade falters after US attacks.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... IBC attendance figures were down 20% on last year's event as America's terror attacks sent shock-waves through the media industry. Of the 35,000 pre-registrations, there were 16,000 no-shows. A total of 36,294 people out of an expected...

Epileptic's TV problems solved.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... A machine able to detect TV sequences that may cause epileptic seizures has been developed by Cambridge Research Systems. The Harding Flash and Pattern Analyser assesses patterns and light intensity frame-by-frame, alerting the user when...

IABM bursary for engineers.(International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The IABM is introducing an annual bursary to provide financial assistance to young engineers wishing to further their industry training. The Tom McGann bursary will be awarded annually through recognised organisations to the value of...

And this is why HD is going to work.(high definition video equipment)(Snell and Wilcox)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... With its acquisition of Post Impressions last month, Snell & Wilcox has placed HD firmly on its horizon. Phil Haines, md of postproduction at S&W, tells us why When I was a keen but callow youngman in the TV department of an ad agency, I...

AES audio exhibition.(Audio Engineering Society)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Following the US terrorist attacks, New York's AES audio exhibition has been rescheduled for late November, leaving many exhibitors severely out of pocket. With kit already shipped in preparation, exhibitors have been informed that extended...

David Phillips.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Philips Broadcast md David Phillips has been appointed to run UK operations for Thomson Multimedia Broadcast & Network Solutions, the organisation resulting from the acquisition of Philips Broadcast in March. Claude Guillaume, formerly md of...

Omnibus Systems and DAVID have bought both companies.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The senior management teams of Omnibus Systems and DAVID have bought both companies from the liquidator of former German parent, Management Data. Both outfits are now operating under the Omnibus brand. The deal is backed by London-based Palamon...

Fur and feathers.(British Broadcasting Corporation's Walking with Beasts)(Wall to Wall)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... As Wall to Wall gives the BBC's Walking with Beasts a run for its money, Sam Espensen finds out that making Channel 4's Extinct animals rise from the grave has been no easy trick Wall to Wall's latest offering has been the subject of...

Wake-up Saturday.(British Broadcasting Corporation's Annette Williams)(Brief Article)(Interview)
October 1, 2001... Besides being executive producer in charge of the BBC's outgoing kids' show Live and Kicking, Annette Williams was also nursing along its successor, The Saturday Show, for last month's launch. So what does the woman with her sights set on...

October TX guide.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... PRODUCER'S GUIDE TO THE MONTH ON THE BOX The Ark, Sundays from 30 September, 10.30am: ITV (X13) For kids, there's a mission to go where television has never gone before as quirky puppet animals venture into space in the first...

AUNTIE WOULD RATHER BE SHOPPING.(British Broadcasting Corporation's retail/service outlets)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Sainsbury's and Tesco's are fighting for BBC hearts and stomachs as votes mount up in a corporation-wide consultation about the development of its White City site. One sweetener for the loss of 300 prized parking spaces will be a new mall with...