ITV

Category: America

  • IIFA goes to America in its 15th edition; dates announced

    IIFA goes to America in its 15th edition; dates announced

    MUMBAI: The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) for about a decade and a half now has been trying to take Indian cinema to the global audience. While the award function has travelled to many places in the world in the last 14 editions, this time it is set to make its American premiere.

     

    The 15th Annual IIFA celebrations to would be held at Tampa Bay, Florida from the 24 – 26 April, an official announcement of which was made today.

    Having travelled to some phenomenal destinations across the globe over the last 14 years, IIFA has graced the shores of the UK, Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Canada. Some of the most popular stars of Indian cinema will descend into Tampa Bay during the weekend and witness the glorious event unfolding in the city.

     

    Earlier this year, key delegates from Visit Tampa Bay, including Santiago Corrada (president and chief executive officer of Visit Tampa Bay) travelled to Mumbai and New Delhi to forge crucial ties in India with IIFA before the big weekend in April. Corrada and IIFA officials discussed a number of details ahead of IIFA’s American debut, anticipating all of the special arrangements that will need to be addressed to host India’s most celebrated dignitaries, business leaders and Bollywood’s A-list celebrities.

     

    Wizcraft and IIFA director Andre Timmins, said in a release, “We are thrilled to be making our debut into the United States of America next year and preparations for this very special IIFA weekend are well underway. The Tampa Bay Area is a fantastic destination and will be a great host for a spectacular IIFA Weekend.  We have been overwhelmed by the kind of enthusiasm and support that we have received from across the region.  The unprecedented demand for IIFA has been tremendous and has created the need to take IIFA Awards to the largest possible venue in the city and bring forward the dates for the IIFA Weekend.”

     

    Having played a large hand to bring the IIFA ceremony to Tampa Bay, the cardiologist, philanthropist, community leader and strong supporter of IIFA, Dr Kiran Patel was instrumental in bringing the Indian community together in Florida and more pointedly, Tampa to support cinema and IIFA. “I am excited to lend my support in whatever way possible to IIFA and the Indian film fraternity at large. With the goodwill of our community we look forward to the grandest Indian cinema spectacle that the US has ever seen,” she said.

     

    It is interesting to note that the alliances made via the platform of IIFA provide huge benefits and gain to India but an equally important objective of this prestigious brand is to create similar outcomes in its country of host.

  • ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Adrianne Curry gets digitally cloned













    MUMBAI: In a move that should send waves through Hollywood, model and television celebrity Adrianne Curry and NVIDIA, which works in the field of programmable graphics processor technology, have teamed up to create the world’s first real-time virtual 3D celebrity.

     

    This breakthrough, which was created using Softimage XSI and NVidia professional graphics solutions, opens the door for ‘stars’ to create and license detailed replicas of their likeness without ever having to make a physical appearance or take a photograph.



    Virtual celebrity licensing will have a multitude of applications, including adapting celebrity characters into newly developed video games, virtual modelling and endorsements, digital appearances in film and television, and virtual hosting on Web sites or traditional broadcast media.

     

    Curry says, ‘I am honoured to have been selected as the first celebrity for this project. The Digital Adrianne is so realistic, it’s really trippy. Lara Croft, eat my shorts!”


    Curry, NVidia states, is the ideal choice for this venture as she is on the cutting-edge of this fresh, new trend in Hollywood. In addition to her successful modelling career, which has landed her on the pages of Maxim, Playboy, Sync and Marie Claire magazines. She has appeared in TV shows like America’s Next Top Model.


    NVidia senior VP marketing Dan Vivoli says, “The uses for this technological breakthrough are truly endless. The digital Adrianne can demonstrate the same range of emotions, movements, and attitudes and appear just as lifelike as her living, breathing counterpart. It is simply a stunning transformation.”