ITV

Category: Events

  • Bengaluru set to host Comic Con for third year with international artists and publishers

    Bengaluru set to host Comic Con for third year with international artists and publishers

    NEW DELHI: Garden city Bengaluru is all set to host Comic Con 2014 to entice audiences with its biggest pop culture event of the year.

     

    Organised by Comic Con India, the convention will take place at White Orchid Convention Centre from 12 to 14 September between 11 am to 9 pm.  Over 15 book launches will take place and over 120 international and Indian participants are taking part.

     

    Bangalore Comic Con 2014 will be hosting one of its kind interactive and experiential 50 hours of programming through panels, launches, gaming, video hangouts and more. Famous international personalities like Dan Parent, an American comic book artist and writer best known for his work for Archies Comics; David Lloyd, a British comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta; Rob-Denbleykar, co-creater of Cyanide and Happiness; Peter Kruper, an American cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his work in Spy vs. Spyseries will be attending and taking special sessions here.

     

    There will also be an exclusive live chat with Neil Gaiman, an English author of short fiction, novel, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films.

     

    Comic Con founder Jatin Varma said, “We are extremely excited to kick off our third edition of the event in Bengaluru. The past one year has seen a dramatic expansion of our shows and Bengaluru fans are going to experience it now. We are bringing over everything from international guests to exhibitors, activities and this will be our biggest show till date.”

     

    The event will be a ticketed event now onwards, to further expand the scope and size of the event. Tickets will be available online via Book My Show as well as at the venue. Only a limited number of VIP tickets will be issued. The tickets would be priced at Rs 250 per day – online and Rs 300 per day – at the venue and Rs 650 for the super fan VIP ticket for all 3 days. Super fan ticket offer is available in limited numbers and can be booked online only.

     

    Cosplay (Costume Contest), one of the major attractions at Comic Con India, will continue to give assured prizes to everyone in costume. Comic Con India has created five categories to increase one’s chances of winning gifts.

     

    Each day, one winner will be chosen from each of the five categories:

     

    1. Comic book/graphic novel

    2. Animated Series/Movie

    3. Manga/Anime

    4. Sci-Fi/Fantasy

    5. Gaming

     

    All three days, one lucky winner out of the chosen five will get an awesome chance to win a special grand prize.

     

    For the sheer love of comics, more than 15 new titles are being planned for launch at the convention. Ravanayan Finale – Part 2, Aghori – Issue 11, Odayan II – Yuddham, The Kaurava Empire, Rumi by Sufi Comics and The Caravan Prequel will be among the most awaited and exclusive book launches at the convention.

     

    There will be international exhibitors like Cyanide & Happiness, a famous webcomic and 3D Sense Animation, a leading digital arts school in Asia, bringing international content from all across the globe.

     

    At the convention, there will be some awesome anime and manga merchandises from Japanese company IINE Toys, along with the best and most exclusive international merchandise at the convention from across the globe. Also, there will be exclusive Indian merchandisers including Kook N Keech by Myntra, Wacom, Bombay Merch, Collectors Heritage, Hysteria, Chimp, Chumbak, Keep Chilling, Wear Your Opinion, Planet Superheroes, Lazy Ninja, Graphicurry, Carmocrat and many more.

    The main participants for the Bangalore Comic Con 2014 are Amar Chitra Katha, Orange Radius, Abhijeet Kini, Pop Culture Publishing, Random House, Sufi Comics, Campfire Graphic Novel, Holy Cow Entertainment, HarperCollins Publishers,Vimanika Comics, Raj Comics, Scholastic India, Mario Gallery, Viz Media (Simon & Schuster India), and Westland.

     

    Comic Con India is dedicated to creating unique events and giving the fans, exhibitors and partners a platform to celebrate their undying love and passion for comics and pop culture. Comic Con India is dedicated to expanding India’s popular culture by creating high profile events that cater to fans of not only comics, but also, gaming, movies, television, merchandise, toys and much more.

  • Nokia Music Connects is Now MixRadio Music Connects

    Nokia Music Connects is Now MixRadio Music Connects

    MUMBAI: Nokia Music Connects, the premier Indian annual get together for music and digital business professionals is now renamed as ‘MixRadio Music Connects’

     

    While the format remains the same, the name change reflects a universal approach to the world’s simplest personalized music streaming service, and the company is excited to be title sponsors of 2014’s event.

     

    MixRadio Music Connects 2014 is scheduled to be held in Mumbai’s famed Taj Land’s End Hotel in Bandra on 4-5 November 2014.

     

    MixRadio Music Connects is once being organized by Hong Kong based event experts Branded Limited (Music Matters, YouTube FanFest) and Indiantelevision.com group’s Radionandmusic.com.  

     

    Aside from the long term, symbiotic title sponsor partnership, the conference-meets-music festival has support from the Indian Music Industry (IMI), South Indian Music Companies Association (SIMCA), IPRS, PPL, among several other industry bodies.  

     

    In attendance will be the cr?me de la cr?me of industry and trade professionals, artistes, musicians, talent managers, label and digital executives – both from India and overseas. 2013’s conference saw more than 800 industry execs benefit from two days of networking, conferencing and listening to bands and musicians.

     

    The theme of the two day conference to be held this year is “Unlocking the potential.”

     

    Says Branded CEO Jasper Donat:

     

    “We’re delighted that the original Nokia Music team that shared the vision of Music Connects five years ago are still on board for the foreseeable future. This can only help us expand the event beyond its present horizon offering attendees even more collaborative opportunities.”

     

    Says Radioandmusic.com founder, editor in chief Anil Wanvari: “There’s a new government at the Centre led by Narendra Modi and the world has taken note of it. There’s a sense of positivity in business. Already, the music industry in India – led by the major labels – has reported a healthier 2013. We can only expect things to get better from hereon in 2014 and thereafter. Several streaming services are slated to launch this year and the business will gather further momentum. We are grateful MixRadio for continuing to support the initiative organized along with Branded to help the industry to pause, reflect and understand the way forward.”

     

    Says MixRadio’s Jyrki Rosenberg, “Our long-term relationship with Music Connects continues to be very valuable in connecting MixRadio with the Indian and global music business. We have been gathering listening data in India for longer than many of our competitors, which combined with our huge local catalogue in the market allows us to deliver an incredible level of personalization to Indian customers using our personal radio service.  Streaming and downloading is set to grow rapidly in India over the next five years, so it is vital for us to be at the forefront of industry developments in order to unlock our potential in this key market”.

  • TV content and advanced advertising to dominate NYC TV Week

    TV content and advanced advertising to dominate NYC TV Week

    NEW DELHI: Television content, advanced advertising and business of TV in a multiplatform world will be the special features of the second annual New York City Television Week in November.

     

    The inaugural Next TV Awards will be a special feature of the event being organised by Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News, and Next TV at the Affinia Manhattan — directly across from Penn Station — and nearby venues from 11 to 13 November.

     

    Featuring conferences, the industry gathers at NYC Television Week to network, collaborate, and celebrate in the media capital of the world.

     

     “Last year’s inaugural NYC Television Week proved that it is something that the industry wants and will support,” stated NewBay Media CEO Steve Palm. “This year we are growing the week to offer even more diverse content and more experiential opportunities — all from the most recognized thought-leaders in the business.”

     

    With conferences that cover the pressing issues faced by today’s dynamic TV industry — featuring best-in-industry speakers and keynotes — NYC Television Week offers something for all industry professionals, including advertisers, content owners, content producers, programmers, MVPDs, technology providers, analysts, broadcast network and station group chiefs, app providers, and social platform and studio executives.

     

    New for 2014 is a deeper dive into content issues and solutions with the addition of The Content Show at the Affinia on 12 and 13 November. The Content Show will have a dedicated conference that will cover programming for scripted, live, news, sports, documentary, and reality shows, as well as branded content. Beyond the sessions, The Content Show will also feature a networking lounge and a series of demo rooms where production companies can pitch their content to buyers and programmers.

     

    “We have built upon last year’s foundations by incorporating industry favorites with new current categories that demand attention,” said Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News, and Next TV VP/publishing director Louis Hillelson. “Nothing covers the full breadth of the industry like NYC Television Week does. And, with this year’s additions, we are delving even deeper into all things television.”

     

    Last year’s inaugural NYC Television Week drew more than 1500 television industry executives to the Waldorf Astoria and the Metropolitan Pavilion. The conferences featured 87 industry leaders as keynotes and presenters, including DIRECTV president, chairman & CEO Mike White; National Basketball Association commissioner David J Stern; WWE creative executive VP Stephanie McMahon; and Twitter chief media scientist Deb Roy and others.

  • BroadcastAsia 2014 to focus on 4K technology and monetisation of second screen

    BroadcastAsia 2014 to focus on 4K technology and monetisation of second screen

    MUMBAI: One of Asia’s largest information and communications technology events, BroadcastAsia, returns this year between 17-20 June at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. BroadcastAsia 2014 will focus on 4k technology and monetisation of second screens by broadcasters. Showcasing the ‘pay TV boom’ will be various technological displays at the exhibition as well as keynotes, case studies and conference topics.

     

    Summing up the event, BroadcastAsia assistant project director Calvin Koh said, “As India moves into its final stages of digitisation, the demand for higher quality digital content looks set to escalate. The industry has never been more ready to embrace the latest and most advanced technologies, and BroadcastAsia provides the ideal platform for Indian industry professionals to get acquainted with the world’s best.”

     

    Spread over an area of 57,000 sq m across five levels will be key Indian companies including Essel Shyam Communication, Indiasign, Interra, Monarch Innovative Technologies, Prime Focus, RGB Broadcasting Equipments, Studio Systems, Wasp 3D and Cable Quest Satcom. The event will also see participation by new exhibitors such as Akamai, Mstar Conductor, Anevia, NEC, DJI, DYVI, Rosco, Brightcove and Arris. “Nearly 90 per cent of the exhibitors are direct manufacturers,” informed Koh.

     

    Also present will be Blackmagic Design, which will unveil in Asia many of its recent launches including the 4K studio camera and the Cintel film scanner. Blackmagic Design Asia country manager India Vishal Alex Chacko said, “Our products with UltraHD and 6G SDI technology lead the industry in production, broadcasting and post-production workflows.”

     

    On the content value chain side, focus will be on sportscasting, professional audio technology and cinematography/film/production zones. While on the technology front, the spotlight will be on 4K/UHD, DVB-T2, NextGen broadcasting-OTT/Hybrid/LTE/Broadband/Cloud, video content delivery network and multi-screen streaming.

     

    Tracks to look out for at the conference are: Second Screen- the TV viewing transformation, second screen and social TV- redefining user experiences and DVB in Asia and advanced broadcast solutions with key speakers such as BBC Global News CEO Jim Egan, YouTube APAC head and marketing partner Benjamin Grubbs, and Twitter media director of Australia Danny Keens.

     

    CommunicAsia 2014 and EnterpriseIT 2014

     

    This year, CommunicAsia will focus on technologies including 4g/LTE, mobile marketing/payment/security, OTT, sustainable ICT and smartphones and devices. EnterpriseIT 2014 will highlight cloud computing and services, enterprise applications, enterprise networks and technologies and IP technology.

     

    The summit will see topics such as consumerisation of the enterprise-BYOD vs CYOD, monetizing fibre broadband for your business and digital and social disruptions being discussed. A visionary keynote will be given by Twitter APAC, America and emerging markets vice president, Shailesh Rao.

     

    Over 715 exhibitors from 12 international groups including China, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Singapore, Spain, US/Canada and UK will participate in BroadcastAsia this year

     

    Indiantelevision.com had a little chat with Koh along the sidelines of the event. Excerpts…

     

    Do you see the role of BroadcastAsia changing over the years?

     

    Koh: Yes. Now, we have a lot of new non-traditional exhibitors with us unlike the past when we had a lot of camera exhibitors. Now we have companies such as Akamai and Arris who are participating for the first time this year. We are witnessing a new dynamic which is good for the show and the businesses that come to see not just camera exhibition but also management and delivery. BroadcastAsia and CommunicAsia allow businesses to see everything from acquisition to delivery.

     

    What are the key trends for this year?

     

    Koh: 4K is surely one of it. The other is that though second screen technologies took off about two years ago, it is important for broadcasters to know how to monetise them. Some of the conferences and case studies will discuss and show how successful businesses have monetised the second screen.

     

    Is adoption of technology on a rise because of reduction in rates of equipments?

     

    Koh: Adoption is certainly increasing but at the end of the day, broadcasters have to see what technology will give them the best ROI. For some broadcasters, second screen is an early adoption while for others, it has already been implemented. So, the need is not just to go for technology that costs less but to know where to invest and how to get good ROI. We do see companies getting efficient and providing things at a lesser price but efficiency matters.

     

    Where are the new entrants coming from to BroadcastAsia 2014?

     

    Koh: We are seeing an increase in participation from China, Singapore, UK and parts of Europe and some growth in the US.

     

    How does Asia stand?

     

    Koh: Asia is surely a place to reckon with. India, Indonesia and Malaysia are big markets for media consumption which is why a lot of exhibitors want to be present at BroadcastAsia.

     

    What are the key changes at this year’s BroadcastAsia?

     

    Koh: We have improved the physical experience. We have streamlined level four exhibition by anchoring key exhibitors to get people to come to level four. We are moving from a vendor speaking to user speaking format, where we are engaging people to talk about their experiences.

  • Zee’s Magic turns Wembley Arena into a dance floor in first event

    Zee’s Magic turns Wembley Arena into a dance floor in first event

    MUMBAI: In one of its biggest endeavour to bring the greatest Bollywood personalities to the UK and offer world class entertainment to the people here, ZEE Network has clearly turned out to be a winner. ZEE recently organised one of the biggest Bollywood musical events at Wembley Arena, with Pritam taking centre stage along with 7 of the most sought after singers from Bollywood. The event was a huge hit and Pritam and his troupe played to an enthusiastic full house. The event was also attended by esteemed personalities such as Mr. G P Hinduja amongst many others.

     

    The event kick-started with ZEE’s very own Sa Re Ga Ma Pa winner, Jasraj Joshi and his rendition of Vande Mataram which left the crowd feeling nostalgic and was the perfect beginning to the Bollywood night. Pritam’s grand entry onto the stage was with his popular chartbuster “Mere Bina”, which made Wembley Arena reverberate with people’s cheers. This was followed by power packed performances from Benny Dayal, Aditi Singh Sharma, Harshdeep Kaur, Sreerama Chandra, Soham Chakraborty and Nikhil George, who sang popular numbers like Badtameez Dil, Dhoom Machale, In Dino, Jugni, Aashiyan amongst many more. Since it was also Vaisakhi, Harshdeep sang Ek Onkar, wishing everyone a happy new year. There was an extraordinary Dhol session, which got the crowd on their feet dancing and Harshdeep gave a powerful act singing popular Punjabi and Sufi numbers. Aditi did a spectacular song and dance act on the Dhoom series which left the crowd whistling. There also was a special unplugged session by Pritam where Soham and Sreerama sang soothing and romantic numbers such as Subhanallah and Tu Jaane Na. Benny’s high energy numbers like Ilahi and Badtameez Dil got the crowd dancing to his tunes. The evening ended with all the performers together on stage and the audience on ground singing the blockbuster song Balam Pichkari. Security tried hard to keep the audience on their seats throughout the show but eventually gave up, as every person in the arena was on their feet dancing. The audience even persuaded Pritam and his gang with a lot of “once mores”, but ZEE had to end the show due to time constraint.

     

    With a well promoted event, there was a lot of anticipation amongst people. Also, there was immense buzz about the show on social media, a Live interaction throughout the event and innumerable post event tweets and comments congratulating ZEE. People were all praises for ZEE’s initiatives, right from the stage lighting to the line-up of songs and singers.

     

    ZEE Network Europe CEO, Mr. Neeraj Dhingra said, “We are extremely pleased with the response to the concert. The performances by Pritam and the singers converted the near full house in Wembley into a large dance floor. Never has there been a concert with so many persons dancing and swaying to the popular tunes. Keeping with the premium image of ZEE, we ensured that the production quality (stage and sound) was second to none and surpassed most mainstream concerts held in the UK. A special thanks to Bank of Baroda and other sponsors who helped make this event a memorable affair. This gives us the confidence to arrange several more concerts in the time to come and bring acclaimed artists to London and rest of UK and Europe.”

     

    ZEE Network Europe Dy. Head & CFO, Mr. Parul Goel said, “We are very happy with the overwhelming response we have received for this concert. We were always confident that this one of a kind event with 1 music composer and 7 singers will be a grand success. ZEE has set a benchmark with this event and we are sure that every event we organise is going to get bigger from here on.”

     

    Mr. Dhimant Trivedi, Chief Executive Bank Of Baroda said, “We are proud to sponsor the event and thank ZEE for organizing it successfully. We also convey our thanks to Pritam and Company for leaving a memorable experience for music lovers.”

     

    Pritam himself was impressed with ZEE’s initiatives and humbled by people’s response. He said, “ZEE has done an excellent job and organised the concert extremely well. I was very happy to collaborate with them and give my first performance in the UK. I am now looking forward to visiting the UK and Europe again and having several concerts for my fans.”

     

    With such a successful event, everyone at ZEE definitely has all the reason to smile, and with a promise to bring on more such events, all of you keep a look out for world class entertainment by ZEE.

  • The Channel V Nokia IndiaFest 2014 Rocked!

    The Channel V Nokia IndiaFest 2014 Rocked!

    MUMBAI: Channel V Nokia IndiaFest 2014 turned out bigger and better than previous years with rock competitions, DJ duels, fashion shows and what have you along with prizes worth Rs 50 lakh and dream-come-true career opportunities to be won.

    Held at Goa’s Baga Grounds from 7 to 8 February, the fourth edition saw Nokia once again as the title sponsor apart from adding four new sponsors, taking the tally to 12 sponsors on-board.

    A host of competitions like Footloose, Karaoke, Gaming Challenge, Director’s Cut, Campus Stud, Popstars, Nokia Tamasha, Beat it – Thumka, Turning Tables and Nokia Launch Pad marked the two-day fest which also saw electrifying performances by music composers Vishal-Shekhar, singer Sunidhi Chauhan and UK’s DJ Vicky Devine among others.

    Of the 30 events spread across two days, some were online like photography, while the rest happened on-ground. Judging these were celebrities from all walks of life including Neha Dhupia and Dino Morea, who chose the Campus Diva and Campus Stud, respectively; Nishka Lulla, who decided the winners of the Fashion Show; Rohan Sippy, who picked up the best filmmaker; DJ Suketu, who zeroed in on the DJ of the future, Suraj Jaggan, who pronounced the winner of the rock competition and so on.

    Speaking at the grand finale, Channel V general manager and EVP Prem Kamath exulted: “It’s a no-holds-barred finale to a rollercoaster fourth edition of the IndiaFest. The Channel V Nokia IndiaFest is no longer just a college fest but the one-stop coming-together of a generation every year.” Kamath said he wouldn’t be surprised if the number of visitors this year had doubled from last year’s 40,000.

    The vision behind IndiaFest – taking it to as many cities as possible and having the quality of participation grow year-on-year – stems from the knowledge that there is no real pan-Indian college festival. So, in its very first year, IndiaFest had four zonals whereas this year, the number rose to eight. The 2014 edition reached out to a record over 2 million students in 2,200 colleges across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Calcutta, Chennai, Chandigarh and Goa. “We were very clear we wanted to keep IndiaFest free for everybody. We are funded entirely by our sponsors. If we manage to increase the number of cities and convince our sponsors that it’s an exercise worth the effort, we will definitely do 12 zonals next year,” said Kamath.

    Not just the number of zonals, the participants per zone too has increased from just 500 to 600 last year to over 1000 this year. However, there’s more to the fest than just quantitative growth. “It is not a rock concert. The fest is not evaluated by how large it is or how many people attend it. First and foremost, it is a college festival and our priority has always been that the participants are college goers. Also, with college kids organising it, they should enjoy the organisation part as well. And they should own it as their own festival. This has been our focus from the beginning,” clarified Kamath. “Although I’d like more students to engage and more cities to be added to our zonals, at its heart, it’s a college festival and college festivals are all about events, display of talent and competition. Those are the things I’d really like to push going forward.”

    About their continuing association with IndiaFest, Nokia director – marketing Viral Oza said: “It is really exciting for us to associate with IndiaFest for the third consecutive year. We continue in our endeavor to bring the youth closer to their passions. At a time when the youth are constantly looking towards expanding horizons, we bring to them Nokia IndiaFest, a perfect platform for them to showcase their talent in front of their peers.”

    IndiaFest follows the tradition of collecting feedback and suggestions from both participants and organizers after conclusion of every edition. As per last year’s feedback to incorporate elements of a finale in the zonals, this year, mini India fests as well as concerts were held during the zonals. “The mini fests are on a smaller scale but try and mirror a lot of what happens in the grand finale,” Kamath explained.

    The other thing is that the network tries to showcase the winners at these festivals. For instance, winner of the solo dance competition at IndiaFest 2013 was featured in Hrithik Roshan’s dance show on Star Plus while the winning short film was aired on Star World. “As a network, we have the ability to do two things. One – we can improve the scale of our festivals tremendously. Two – we can create a platform to showcase talent; we haven’t done this as much as we would like to but next year, we will go for it,” said Kamath.

    Marketing and promotion

    Like every year, Channel V Nokia IndiaFest 2014 had 350 students as campus representatives or V Reps.

    Interactions happened through the year on a closed group on Facebook and work took speed when the festival drew near with the V Reps helping Channel V to put up posters in colleges and so on.

    The entire sponsorship revenue was generated on-ground with IndiaFest being a 100 per cent on-ground event. Instead of the entire fest, only one hour showcasing festival highlights was aired on television. Apart from streaming the fest on YouTube, there was no other digital promotion of the event.

    According to Kamath, the reason for not promoting IndiaFest as a television property is that they don’t want an on-ground event to be measured in terms of the number of spots or promos put on air. In any case, sponsors benefit tremendously from the two-day show. “It is great value for the sponsors and it is definitely value for the channel and the students who participate. We started as a marketing initiative where we were not planning to make any revenue in the first year. However, it has to be a win-win for organizers, the channel, sponsors and everyone who is attending it. That is what makes it successful,” said Kamath.

    Meanwhile, Nokia head – activation, media, consumer intelligence Abhish Chandhok said: “For us, it is not about sponsorship but a partnership. It is not about putting a logo in the background, but about how we can use IndiaFest to engage with our core target audience. Nokia targets the 15-24 years age group and there is no bigger platform than IndiaFest to engage with them. It is giving us a lot of scale because of the number of people coming in and the conversations you can start around these activities.”

    Road ahead

    From the first year where IndiaFest generated close to Rupees four and a half crore of revenue, it is now worth nearly Rs 10 crore, according to industry sources.

    Plans are afoot to add two more events to the property. “Now we are fairly confident in terms of our understanding of organizing these events, how to manage the scale in terms of numbers and participants. We want to make sure that our team is in place and organized well,” Kamath signed off.

    ArtistSpeak

    “It is always fun to perform at college festivals. The energy is very different from other kind of shows. I was never good at communicating, and I formed a band and decided not to do any covers.”

    –          Suraj Jaggan

     “It is a beautiful experience. It brings a lot of memories I had during my college days. When I come to see and judge, it feels so good. I used to take part in dance and public speaking activities, so judging at IndiaFest is always fun.”

    –          Dino Morea

     “It is great to be in Goa for Channel V’s IndiaFest. The crowd is so energetic here; I think it is going to be a mad concert. We are going to rock the stage. The youth is crazy and it is always special performing here at a huge platform like Indiafest.”

    –          Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani

     “It is flattering to be at a place where we know the large chunk of our future lies. Today, the youth is at the largest festival of the country, I have been called to judge it. I feel it is an awesome experience. It is nice to have such an association for the second consecutive year with Channel V. Getting on stage is one thing, but getting on stage and doing what you want to is like having big guts.”

    –          Neha Dhupia

  • Supergroup formed to create music for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

    Supergroup formed to create music for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

    NEW DELHI: Oscar-and Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer will work with Pharrell Williams, Johnny Marr, Michael Einziger, and Dave Stewart to create music for The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

    Making this announcement in Culver City, Sony Pictures Worldwide Music president Lia Vollack said the film, directed by Marc Webb from a screen story and screenplay by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, is produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach.  

    The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be released in theaters in the United States on 2 May 2014, and international release dates commence 16 April 2014.

    Commenting on the announcement, Zimmer said, “Marc and I were talking about Spider-Man, and as the word got out, so many of our friends and musicians started calling us up, wanting to be a part of it because they love Spider-Man. That was the thing that united all of us – the great love for Spider-Man. With all of these hugely talented people wanting to join us, it was Marc who said, ‘Why not start a band?’ Marc and I have had a great start jamming with everybody, and we still have a few surprises up our sleeve.”

    Vollack added, “This kind of collaboration is only possible because of who Marc Webb is – not only a director but also a musician – combined with who Hans is and what Spider-Man means to so many people. Nobody has ever approached film music in this way before and this likely can never be replicated. We are huge fans of Hans, Pharrell, Johnny, Mike, and Dave, and when combined, we know the result will be truly unique… and amazing!”

    Zimmer, a nine-time Oscar nominee and winner for his work on The Lion King, previously collaborated with Williams on the film Despicable Me, as Williams produced four original solo songs and several other character-sung pieces. They later collaborated on the music for the 84th Annual Academy Awards. Marr played on Zimmer’s score for the hit film Inception, Einziger played on his score for The Lone Ranger, and Stewart played with Zimmer on the score for Madagascar 3.

    Hans Zimmer has composed the scores for more than 100 films taking in more than 17 billion dollars. His many credits include scoring the Pirates of the Caribbean blockbusters, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, 12 Years a Slave, Rush, Man of Steel, Sherlock Holmes, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Gladiator, The Thin Red Line, Rain Man, and many more. He has been honoured with an Academy Award, two Golden Globes and four Grammys. In 2003, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers presented him the prestigious Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement for his impressive and influential body of work.

    Pharrell Williams, a three-time Grammy winner, is one of the world’s most in-demand and influential music producers and recording artists. This summer, Williams became the 12th artiste to hold the #1 and #2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously as he was featured on two songs – Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines, also featuring T.I., which Williams also produced, and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, which Williams co-wrote – both of which have been called the Song of Summer. He has previously composed songs and the score for the hit animated films Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2.

    Johnny Marr rose to fame as co-songwriter and founder member of The Smiths. Since then, Marr has continued to push boundaries and work with some of the world’s most exciting musical artistes, including Modest Mouse, The The, Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, and Beck. This year NME awarded Marr the Godlike Genius award. He recently released the critically acclaimed solo album, The Messenger.

    Michael Einziger is the founder/guitarist/songwriter for the groundbreaking band Incubus. Wake Me Up, the worldwide smash he co-wrote with Avicii, has been #1 in 70 countries. As an acclaimed record producer, he produced /co-wrote/executive produced three projects set for release in the coming months: Chuck Inglish, Yuna and the Internet (Odd Future). In addition to scoring the Josh Duhamel film Scenic Route he has scored Supremacy and is working on three additional film projects. Einziger previously collaborated with Zimmer on The Lone Ranger, for which he composed additional music.

  • It’s a SCaT man’s world!

    It’s a SCaT man’s world!

    MUMBAI: The SCaT (Satellite and Cable TV) trade show in its 22nd year took place at the World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade here over the weekend between 25 and 27 October. The show received a great response with all the stalls sold out. The show was buzzing with energy and enthusiasm.

    “I feel like a kid in a candy shop, I am really spoilt for choice. I would love to check out all the new products and try out a few,” said one of the visitors.

    According to the organisers, they had to take additional hall space to cater to the higher demand from exhibitors. It was deliberately held over a weekend to make it convenient for outstation visitors and the number of registrations clearly out did the previous years on both days. Several operators from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh attended in groups and of course from all over India too.

    The show attracts visitors to review and purchase products from over 150 companies and brands, not only from India but worldwide. Over 40 international companies participated in the show this time around. The focus of SCaT 2013 was to showcase attractively priced digital headend products to meet the needs of smaller cable TV networks looking to migrate to digital cable TV within a year.

    In fact, the entire idea to hold the exhibition is to make work easier for the people in the industry, say the organisers, who also come out with a monthly magazine, SCaT. “We launched the magazine in 1993 and it was the first trade publication catering to the satellite and cable TV industry in the south-Asian region. Simultaneously, we also started organising the SCaT Trade show for which we got huge appreciation,” says SCaT Media & Consultancy publisher and MD Sudeep Malhotra.

    According to Malhotra, the entire idea was to cash in on the growing cable TV industry, which was at a nascent stage at that time. “There was a big barrier between the manufacturers of cable TV products and the cable operators who were the buyers. They could only connect through the shopkeepers, who at times were not really helpful. So, if an operator was looking for an amplifier, he would be supplied only those products that was available at the shops. He may not even be aware of the better products that are being manufactured,” says Sudeep, who with the magazine and the trade show wanted to bridge that gap.

    The organisers hosted the first show in February 1993 and had just nine companies on board. In the same year in October, the show had 30 companies participating which was a huge jump for the organisers. “Over the years, we have been growing at a rate of almost 20 to 30 per cent. Now, we have 156 companies on board, with participation of about 21 countries,” says Malhotra, also adding that they have special permissions from the government to get the products from other countries.

    The footfall has increased considerably too – from 300 people in the first show over three days to almost 18,000 in the present show. “We have visitors not just from India but from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka etc as well. We also have cable associations visiting the show in groups of 100, 200 from various states in India,” says Malhotra.

    The exhibition was spread across two buildings and witnessed a great response in terms of visitors. The show had a great mix of companies varying from those providing headend equipments to those providing end to end solutions. There was also a prominent presence of news channels like Captain TV (Chennai) and Channel News Asia (Singapore).

    Satellite & Cable TV Magazine editor and executive publisher Dinyar Contractor expounded, “We hold this exhibition annually to let the industry get together under one roof and explore the new products that are available or will soon be available in the market. We at SCaT believe that the opportunities are manifold at this show and the industry can benefit at large.”

    With the DAS rollout and impending phase III and IV implementation, the focus was but naturally on affordable digital headends and STBs which are cost efficient for small networks of the smaller towns that are not MSO dominated. Like always, it was the Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers who dominated. Interestingly, the key Indian hardware companies like Catvision, Channel Master, Saibaba Electronics among others had all tied up with international manufacturers and were offering complete end to end DAS solutions. 

    “While clearly the focus was on hardware, the middleware and software vendors offering value added services, SMS and billing integration were yet to see significant traction. Also on display was the sole HITS service provider JainHits offering complete services including content, having recently won his legal case against the aggregator/distributors,” said media analyst Sanjeev Hiremath.

    One of the products that caught everyone’s attention was the Android OTT IP-STBs – these are set top boxes that function on an Android 4.0 and can be easily synced with any device – which can enable internet surfing, listening to online music via WiFi or Ethernet interface. The STB also supports Live TV watching and VoD if the user has an account with the solution provider.

    Another attraction at the event was Gaian Solutions’ new product through which cable operators and DTH players can now customise the advertisements being aired not only within states, but also within the city limit. “The new technology helps you to air different ads at the same time. So if in south Mumbai, a consumer will see a Mercedes ad on TV during a programme, another consumer in other part of the city can watch a different ad, according to the need of the market,” informed Gaian Solutions director-operations Mrigesh Gaurav.

    The lobby of the Taj Vivanta President where most of the participants stayed was also a meeting place for networking and also became the hotspot for the trade party on the penultimate day.

    All in all, it was an exciting and eventful three days of knowledge enhancement, serious business and networking.

  • Documentary pitching in a new age

     

     

    CANNES: “Pitching is not a matter of life and death, it is more than that.” This is how European Documentary Network (EDN) director Lena Pasanen ended the workshop session on How to pitch? at MipDoc, at the Hotel Carlton in Cannes in the south of France.

    Hosted with Paul Pauwels, project manager of the European Television Management Academy, the session was well attended and proved an eye opener to many.

    Pauwels said: “The world of television has changed. No longer is one person – the commissioning editor – the decision maker, it is teams that decide, based on the profile of the broadcaster. Therefore you keep things simple, bullet points, not too much detail, in one or two sheets of paper. Have a big picture so that they can remember, have visual impact.”

    He added that: “Once they buy in these people become your evangelists internally within their organisation. Once they are sold on your idea that is.”

     

     

    Added Pasanen: “Please don‘t catch the commissioning editors when they are eating; it is annoying. Also don‘t corner them in the toilet. If you get them in the lift, make sure you have a one-liner which will get their attention. Also make sure you have your contacts in each page pat down and clear so they can get in touch with you later.”

    After the commissioning editor shows interest, you will have put together a four five page document pointed out Pauwels, packed in with a lot of research.

    “They will ask you, why you want to make this documentary? If they don‘t get a feeling, this is a documentary you want to die for, they will drop you,” he said. “Then they will ask you when you can deliver,” he added. “You will sign agreements and then they will then set milestones for you, for getting more financing, if you don‘t deliver on your milestones, they will probably pull out.”

    The EDN TV guide is a good reference tool for a database of European Documentary Makers, he added.

    According to him, a bound script is needed very early, after the commissioning editor has shown interest. “This probably will come within four months of interest. You can do it in advance, it depends on the topic. Though of course the script changes as you produce. A very good research file is what you should work on, if not a script.”

    On the question of linking with a distributor he said that it is important to start talking to distributors very early; not when it is finished. “Remember if a documentary has gone to festivals, it is finished. So show the distributor when you have 20-30 minutes to show,” he said.

    He added that development cost should be 15 per cent of the project, “A sum of 5,000 euros can be good for research, fliers, EDN sessions etc. Documentaries cost 100,000 to 500,000 euros, it‘s a business, and producers who have the pockets should be your partners.”

    But he cautioned that deals should be done carefully. “Sometimes film makers have to pay money to distributors, because of costs,” he added.

     

    Pasanen pointed out that broadcasters have fixed slots genre wise. So you cannot cross over genres, have history and science in a project, she said.

    Pauwels pointed out that the positive side is that the European television market is going to explode with 5,000-6,000 broadcasters slated to come up. “You will get 500-1000 Euros per broadcaster. To recover your costs you have to have a 360 degree experience like DVDs, books, mobile, websites dgitial channels for smaller audiences”,” he said.

    Additionally, a route for recovering costs is to have different versions of the same documentary for different channels, opined Pasanen. “You need to know your broadcast partners needs…you must face the fact you need to do versions…for instance for one of our projects the Spanish people wanted emotions ,Germans wanted to know how they did it, the English wanted something else.”

    Both emphasised that the various windows of sale and creating versions can open up a rights nightmare. “Broadcasters want to cover themselves; they want all the rights whether DVD, or online or what have you. It‘s a just in case option even if they don‘t know what to do with them, You have to make it clear that they will have to deal with them or get more production budget, ” highlighted Paul.

    He added that currently this issue is open and no solution has been found. “Within three years an economically sustainable model will be found when with mobile TV, broadband will take off. Until then it will be a test period. There will be victims. But you can work with advertisers, brands, to help lower costs,” he opined.
     
     

  • Debate on ‘Content is King’

    MUMBAI: Over two days of seminars on distribution platforms, consumer preferences and content in various media and the last session on Day 2 had both the panelists and audience divided on the question – ‘Who really is the King?‘ .

     

    Someone from the audience quipped ‘if content is the king, then who is the queen?‘ There were fewer answers and more questions that the session on ‘Content is King‘ elicited.

    MUMBAI: Over two days of seminars on distribution platforms, consumer preferences and content in various media and the last session on Day 2 had both the panelists and audience divided on the question – ‘Who really is the King?‘ .

     

    Someone from the audience quipped ‘if content is the king, then who is the queen?‘ There were fewer answers and more questions that the session on ‘Content is King‘ elicited.