Televisual articles from October 2003

Televisual archives from October 2003

Harry Nash closes its doors under pressure from creditors.(Commercials)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Commercials production company Harry Nash has been placed in receivership, owing "substantial" amounts to creditors in unpaid invoices. Blaming the advertising downturn, managing director Julia Reed says: "It's with great sadness and...

Penguin hatches new television division.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The Penguin Group is to launch a new division, Penguin Television, which will specialise in the production and distribution of factual and children's TV. The new outfit is to draw on the Penguin, Ladybird and Dorling Kindersley publishing...

Large announces new signings.(Commercials)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Large, the commercials production company formed by the merger of Spectre and Stark, has announced the first in what is expected to be a string of new signings. Director Steve Bendelack (The League of Gentlemen, The Royle Family) joins...

Toon festivals reveal line-ups.(Animation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The Norwich and Bradford animation festivals have detailed their 2003 programmes and the British Animation Awards (BAA) anounces a move. The Bradford Animation Festival (www.baf.org.uk) will be on 12-15 November and features Oscar-nominated US...

Zone Vision.(contract with Echostar Communications)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... UK-based broadcaster and channel distributor Zone Vision has signed a US carriage deal for its Reality TV channel with Echostar Communications. The December launch will make Reality TV available to the nine million US subscribers on Echostar's...

Turn On Television.(introduces Turn on Talent agency)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Manchester independent Turn On Television has launched a talent-agency arm, Turn On Talent. Personalities represented include reporter Brendan Coogan, Manchester cultural icon Bez, and Terry Christian, host of Turn On Terry, the production...

Golden Square Post Production.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Golden Square Post Production is calling for entries for its fifth Square Art event, a quarterly exhibition of agency creatives' artwork held at the facility from 23 October. Interested exhibitors should email a photograph of their work, along...

The annual trend for autumnal musical chairs continues with Flextech's appointment of Simon Gunning as controller of interactive programming.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The annual trend for autumnal musical chairs continues with Flextech's appointment of Simon Gunning as controller of interactive programming. Meanwhile, Delissa Needham has left Uden Associates to join Unique; Bliss has signed directors Jim...

Zig Zag tests out moon landing hoax theories for Five.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Zig Zag has produced a one-hour TV special that tests one of the most persistent conspiracy theories: that the moon landings were a highly elaborate hoax put together by the US government. The Truth Behind the Moon Landings (wt) attempts to...

Mackenzie seeks asylum for latest feature. (director David Mackenzie, new film 'Asylum').(Film)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Shooting is currently underway on Young Adam director David Mackenzie's latest feature, Asylum. Adapted from Patrick McGrath's novel by scriptwriter Patrick Marber (Closer), the story is set in the 50s and surrounds an affair between a...

Nervo & Knox Creative has been commissioned by ITV to produce the on-air campaign for the Rugby World Cup, to be held in Australia.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Nervo & Knox Creative has been commissioned by ITV to produce the on-air campaign for the Rugby World Cup, to be held in Australia. The titles work around the concept of the Aboriginal spiritual belief of "dream time," a concept that there are...

Discovery takes two from Pioneer.(Broadcast)(Pioneer Productions receives orders)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Pioneer Productions has picked up orders for a new series and a one-off HD special for Discovery. For Discovery Europe is Dangerman, a 5x60-minute series featuring cameraman Geoff Mackley shooting in perilous places including driving into...

Molinare Design.(creates titles for television show 'Points of View')(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Molinare Design has created the titles and graphics for the new series of Points of View. Shot in the facility's studios, the titles were designed in Illusion by Simon Kilroe with Jola Piesakowska art directing. The updated titles are to...

Tandem.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Tandem reintroduces Chewy the dinosaur in its new 2D-animated spot for Chewits through agency Brahm. The ad shows various animals trying, and failing, to get through the audition to represent the brand--only for Chewy to win the day. Designer...

Studio AKA.(television commercial for Oilatum shampoo)
October 1, 2003... A 30-second "Tim Burtonesque" spot for Oilatum shampoo has been created by director Mark Craste at Studio AKA for agency Wooley Pau. The ad features Mitzy, a 3D cgi girl character whose hair magically comes to life. The head of 3D was Andy...

Animated circus act for Coke.(Commercials)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Coca-Cola launches the world's widest curved LED sign to Piccadilly Circus this month with five new animated ads from MPC and Th1ng. The spots, commissioned by agency VCCP, divide up into two 3D cg ads, Bus and Tube, showing animated...

Gondry drums up new promo for White Stripes.(Promo)(Michel Gondry produces music video)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Michel Gondry's latest video for the White Stripes is Hardest Button to Button and star's a cast of 32 identical drum-kits and amplifiers. Produced by Partizan and filmed on location in New York, the promo features animated drum-kits and...

Avalon Television has picked up an order from Channel 4.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Avalon Television has picked up an order from Channel 4 for a spoof documentary starring Perrier-winner Matthew Holness in his guise as horror-writer Gareth Marenghi. The spoof will centre on a fictional 80s horror show, Dark Place. The series...

Wark Clements has been given an output deal by Channel 4.(The Green Light)(will produce four documentaries)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Wark Clements has been given an output deal by Channel 4 for four 60-minute documentaries to be produced over the next two years. Docs commissioning editor Hilary Bell has already ordered the first two: Beauty Queens and Bloodshed, about the...

Tiger Aspect has three new comedy commissions for the BBC.(The Green Light)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Tiger Aspect has three new comedy commissions for the BBC in the bag and one series for Bravo in the US. Perrier-nominated comedian Catherine Tate gets her own 6x30-minute sketch-show series, The Catherine Tate Show, for BBC2 written by Tate,...

Baby Cow and the BBC are to make Pepys.(The Green Light)(television drama)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Baby Cow and the BBC are to make Pepys, a drama about the life of the famous diarist, naval strategist and adulterer Samuel Pepys, for BBC2. Starring comedian and Baby Cow partner Steve Coogan, Pepys was commissioned by head of drama Jane...

Maverick Media has been commissioned.(The Green Light)(to produce collection of viral Internet films)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Maverick Media has been commissioned by the Sci Fi channel to make a new strand as part of Headf**k, Sci Fi's 12x30-minute series of wierd and humorous short films. Maverick Media Moments will be a collection of the best viral films from the...

Flynn Productions'.(produces music video for Paul Van Dyk)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Flynn Productions' pop video directing collective Pop Club has helmed the promo for Time of Our Lives, the new single from Paul Van Dyk. The video places the performance in front of three large white screens on which time-lapse footage is...

Bruce Dunlop & Associates.(creates bumpers for Simple Skin Defence for Men)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Bruce Dunlop & Associates has produced sponsorship bumpers for Simple Skin Defence for Men products to support the new series of Sky1's Dream Team. Working with agency Drum PHD, BD&A created a set of eight bumpers set in a changing-room, where...

Partners VM.(produces training CDROM for Waitrose employees)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Brighton-based Partners VM has just completed a training CDRom for Waitrose supermarkets as part of a series for all the chain's shop floor workers. The CDRom explains to staff, through video clips and interactive exercises, where the various...

Cash boost for south west ...(Funding)(independent television production)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... South-western independents Twofour and Touch have picked up funding for 4South-West, a project that aims to stimulate independent TV production in the region. Channel 4 committed 160k [pounds sterling] in line with its Creative Cities...

... And 6m [pounds sterling] for Liverpool indies.(Funding)(independent movie and television producers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Liverpool's TV independents and film-makers have access to a 6m [pounds sterling] fund as part of the build up to the city's 2008 Capital of Culture year. The cash-pot was put up by the Merseyside Objective One Programme and will be...

Kudos reshuffles top team.(Broadcast)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Spooks producer Kudos has signed up Daniel Isaacs to the new role of general manager to develop commercial opportunities in the wake of the communications act. Stephen Garrett and Jane Featherstone are now joint mds, with Garrett heading...

C4 music boss goes in at Sky.(People)(Jo Wallace named head of music channels for BSkyB)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... BSkyB has poached Channel 4's head of music and youth Jo Wallace to head up its newly-formed music channels. She takes over after the recent departure of launch-controller Lester Mordue, who left less than six months into the job after...

Grade takes on TVC directorship.(People)(Michael Grade named non-executive director of Television Corporation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Former Channel 4 chief executive Michael Grade is to become a non-executive directorf of the Television Corporation, two months after joining the board of SMG. Grade also holds the executive chairmanship at Pinewood-Shepperton and chairs...

Are you up for the distribution game? For producers with a pocketful of rights and no plans, a word of wisdom from Granada International md, Nadine Nohr.(The Business)
October 1, 2003... As the world's TV community descends on Mipcom, this year many UK independents will go with a new optimism. With laws on rights and exploitation set to change, this could be their chance to open the doors to a global audience. So here's...

Storyboard.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... East meets West in Storyboard this month as Noh theatre and the shopping mall collide for the new single from Four Tet; Markell Associates brands the new sports channel from Al Jazeera; and 180 Communications heads to China with Adidas for the...

MPs slam TV for sidelining film.(Film)(UK broadcasting industry critcized for lack of support for film industry)
October 1, 2003... UK broadcasters are roundly attacked for their "cursory approach" to financial support for the British film industry in a report last month from a culture, media and sport select committee. The committee singles out the BBC for particular...

The ITC decided that Five hadn't broken rules on television sponsorship with its Heinz-funded show Dinner Doctors, but had come pretty close.(Month In Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The ITC decided that Five hadn't broken rules on television sponsorship with its Heinz-funded show Dinner Doctors, but had come pretty close. It ruled that presenter Anneka Rice's constant exhortations to "KETCHUP with what our chefs have BEAN...

Channel 4 chief executive Mark Thompson has decided that his commissioning teams should no longer simply wait for indies to walk through the door with all the good ideas.(Month In Review)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Channel 4 chief executive Mark Thompson has decided that his commissioning teams should no longer simply wait for indies to walk through the door with all the good ideas; they'll have to start thinking up successful programme formats...

And if any of those same commissioners manage to find a decent idea for the breakfast slot.(Month In Review)(telvision show Ri:se canceled)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... And if any of those same commissioners manage to find a decent idea for the breakfast slot, then a hefty bonus, a fast-track promotion, the fatted calf and each of the board's first-born looks likely. Because Thompson has finally given the sick...

How Geenlit lost out in Top 100.(Broadcast)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I am writing with regard to the Broadcast Top 100 article which appeared in the September edition of Televisual. As you know, these articles are both incredibly informative as well as a useful incentive for companies to strive for better...

ZKK's numerical make-over.(Broadcast)(Correction Notice)
October 1, 2003... In the September edition of Televisual, ZKK appears in the Independents Top 100 as "2KK." I would be grateful if you would make it clear to your readers that this was a misprint. Laura Matthews Head of production ZKK London...

Control freakery at the BBC.(Opinions)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... Is the BBC out of control? 59% of the TV industry's alumni believe so, according to a poll taken at last month's debate on the issue at the RTS convention. 59% is a perilously high proportion of top TV people to alienate, especially when...

Bravo new world: the new director of programmes at Bravo is the man who made-over its dowdy sister-channel LivingTV with ghosts and gays. Rachel Murrell finds out what he's looking for to spice up lads' TV.(Richard Woolfe Interview)
October 1, 2003... Richard Woolfe doesn't hang around. Since taking over Bravo in May, he's reorientated the channel's strategy, juggled its existing schedule and made its biggest-ever commission. And all against a rumble of speculation that he was about to...

Born to be Wilde: three of Oscar Wilde's dark morality tales for children will be on offer from Channel 4 this Christmas, brought to life for Lupus Films in three distinct animation styles.(Wilde Stories In Production)
October 1, 2003... A nightingale that sacrifices its life with a rose thorn through the chest, a good-hearted farmer who winds up dead to a ditch and a selfish giant who reforms his ways before expiring in the corner of his garden--not your typical feel-good...

Plus ca change: under the new communications act, UK indies can choose which distributor (if any) to go with, so how are those distributors responding? Jon Creamer looks ahead, then assembles this year's UK fare at Mipcom.(Mipcom)
October 1, 2003... If the communications act does cause the predicted seismic shift in the UK's indie production sector, then it should also cause tremors among those charged with selling their shows abroad. As the unbundling of rights from commissioning...

Ad campaigner: the APA's Stephen Davies thinks the ad-producers' trade organisation can do much much more than field queries over per-diems; he wants to see it promote the industry abroad.(Stephen Davies People)(Advertising Producers Association )
October 1, 2003... As visitors walk into the APA's small Soho offices, the poster that greets them at the top of the stairs reads, in bold black and red capitals, "this is not an awards scheme. This is the definitive collection of the 50 best commercials produced...

Sex, life and videotape: Paul Abbott's semi-autobiographical tale of life on a Manchester estate finally comes to Channel 4 this winter. James Hamilton meets the man behind State of Play and Clocking Off to find out what took so long.(Shameless In Production)
October 1, 2003... No-one at Channel 4 can agree on what Shameless actually is. Tim Gardam thinks it's "The Darling Buds of May on crack." Paul Abbott, the seven-parter's creator, goes for "The Waltons on acid." "It's part that and part live-action Simpsons,"...

Tape walks with dinosaurs: the BBC's new multi-million pound Broadcast Centre and the existing Wood Lane facility are only seperated by a few hundred metres. Conceptually, however, they are miles apart.(BBC Technology)
October 1, 2003... The BBC is in the midst of a wholesale modernisation of its production processes. It is fusing new technology with new workflow and business practices to embrace everything from commissioning to transmission and archive. Several...

Which way is up? When they're not being bludgeoned by budget-conscious producers intodropping their rates or swapping their DigiBeta for a DV, camera crews are having to ponder the costly decision whether to go hi-def to protect their margins.(Camera Crews Production File)
October 1, 2003... When DigiBeta ousted BetaSP as TV format of choice not so many years ago, it was a clean fight: digital versus analogue. Now DigiBeta is under threat, but this time it's a pincer movement and the fight is dirtier. On one flank DV formats...

Snakes and ladders: combatting "budget-squeeze" while maintaining high levels of service is the central dilemma facing those in facilityland. The Facilities 50 is one indicator of how they're getting on.(Facilities 50)
October 1, 2003... This has been the year of the "budget-squeeze" for facilities. Many programmes vanished from the schedules during the Iraq war, and only now are post-houses ramping up. Mds describe this with more resignation than bitterness, accepting it as...

New for old: it's a brave enterprise indeed that boldly sets sail in the current economic climate, but they do keep coming.(Newcomers)
October 1, 2003... Of the five newcomers, three are boutiques that hit the ground running with low overheads and select, loyal clientele. Former Barcud editors Stephen Frost and Huw Orwig struck out alone in late 2002. Caernarfon's 36 shares offices with and...

Bring on the big batallions; broadcasters and studios are increasingly looking to win more independent business alongside that of their host client, but where would they finish in the Facilities 50?(Broadcasters)
October 1, 2003... The Facilities 50 survey was designed to rank independently-owned post-production houses across corporate, broadcast and commercials sectors, and to exclude the postproduction divisions of broadcasters. This reflected a feeling in the...

The customer is always right; of the five criteria used to select the Facilities top 50, the most telling is our poll of clients across commercials, corporate and broadcast sectors. And clients mean bookings.(Producer Poll)
October 1, 2003... The three facilities that producers rate most are also the ones they frequent most. They are also the same top three as last year (see graph below), with The Farm leapfrogging The Mill and Framestore CFC from third to number one. In fact,...

Reputations v2: last month Televisual published Reputations, a survey into what post-production facilities think of kit manufacturers and their sales channels. We offered them a right to reply.(Reputations)
October 1, 2003... In our Reputations survey, a number of manufacturers came in for consistent criticism by facilities. It's no coincidence that these were the manufacturers that develop and sell some of the most vital and ubiquitous postproduction tools. We...

Lightworks strikes new software.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... UK developer Lightworks has updated its Touch NLE. V1.5 software includes an improved keyframe interface as well as simpler effects representation in the stripview. Inscriber titles are now also available for realtime manipulation and...

Thomson unveils Spirit 4K.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Thomson Grass Valley has launched the Spirit 4K datacine (formerly Spirit II). Adding to the 2k capabilities of the existing system, the new 900k [pounds sterling] datacine scanner is designed to support digital intermediate production....

Crow TV.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Crow TV has purchased 18 Avid Adrenalines, a Unity Lanshare storage network and has also upgraded its Symphonys. Mark Manning, Crow's head of editing says the expansion is "due to an increased demand for our services," on programmes like Time...

Adstream set to challenge Beam.TV.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Web-based commercials distribution system Adstream has partnered with the London Playout Centre (LPC) to develop the system for the UK market. The Australian firm also beat rivals Beam.TV mid Clipstremn to become the British Advertising...

Grand old lady of post looks to Hi-Def future.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Molinare Productions, the new name for the facility which recently engineered an MBO from Television Corporation, is banking on an HD future to revive the company's fortunes. A 500k [pounds sterling] investment will see its Soho studio...

M2 television.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... M2 Television is opening an HD cross-conversion and duplication facility. Kit includes HDD5, DVCProHD and HDCam vtrs, HD monitors and a Snell & Wilcox Platinum Alchemist. "It will be perhaps the only facility to offer 1080i to 60p frame-rate...

Lip Sync Post.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Lip Sync Post has added a 4k capable Quantel iQ with Qcolour to its Digital Lab. "We're using it predominantly for grading features," says facility director Peter Hampton. "We can now offer all film recording, scanning and grading for small to...

Electronic Farm put Mule in Barn.(Technology)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The Electronic Farm has ditched nonlinear editing package Mule to concentrate on development of a new machine-room workhorse dubbed Barn. According to the firm's Mike Summers, "the whole NLE market was too crowded and no-one wanted us to...

Triangle develops X-ray vision.(Facilities)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Godman director Richard Fenwick tackled a skeletal promo for Funeral for a Friend single She drove me to Daytime TV. The 3.5-minute promo was composited at Triangle as a single, seamless shot that moves in, around and even through the band...

Ascent Media Management Services.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Ascent Media Management Services has placed a 250k [pounds sterling] order for two licenses of MTI's Correct film-mastering system through Root6. AMMS engineering director Adrian Bull says "we've been looking for a suitable film restoration...

Post-houses unite to challenge "unfair" BBC supplier-lists: the BBC's preferred-supplier policy is under attack from independent post-houses who question the undue pressure they are under to adapt to BBC needs.(Facilities)
October 1, 2003... Leading broadcast facilities have expressed concern about the way the BBC's postproduction procurement process is being managed. 20 facilities, all of them on the BBC's preferred-supplier list for factual and learning, have planned a joint...

Make the grade in the edit suite: telecine for broadcast content is a thing of the past, argues Evolutions Television's senior editor, Adrian Church.(The Business The Works)
October 1, 2003... High-end colour grading has been perceived as the sole preserve of telecine colourists. Traditionally material is taken out of the edit suite, put on to tape, into telecine for grading, back to tape and finally back into the edit suite for...

Night vision: vampire thriller Underworld features over 300 vfx shots with the action largely taking place at night--two very good reasons for adopting a digital intermediate (DI) post route.(Underworld)
October 1, 2003... "It was the importance of the look to the success of the picture, and the amount of control we would need to achieve that, that was behind the decision in pre-production to go with DI," explains executive producer James McQuaide ...

Production directory: the a-z of production services.(Directory)
October 1, 2003... ACCOUNTANTS LINDFORD & COMPANY, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS We are a small friendly firm serving the film and TV industry, providing confidential financial, accountancy and taxation advice and audit. One Duchess Street, London W1W 6AN. ...

Home of the brave.(In My View)(Interview)
October 1, 2003... How much TV do you watch a week? An unhealthy amount. I reckon about two or three hours a night--well, I think that's unhealthy. Where do you get your news? Newspapers mainly. The Independent and Guardian. I tend to scour them for...

0ctober TX guide: a producer's guide to the month on the box.(The End)(Calendar)
October 1, 2003... Creature Comforts from 1 Wednesday, 20.00: ITV1 A primetime kick-off for a series based on Nick Park's Aardman classic: on launch-night, two 10-minute shows sandwich the movie Dr Dolittle, with 11 more in a Sunday-night slot between...

Hodgson lets her hair down at the RTS.(Hair-In-The-Gate)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Delegates at the RTS convention sat up a bit at the strong words in which ITC chief Patricia Hodgson couched her vision of the future of the BBC: "in deep trouble, now that it has both political parties against it." It almost constituted an...