ITV

Category: Production House

  • Warner Bros lines up three Lego movies till 2018

    Warner Bros lines up three Lego movies till 2018

    MUMBAI: Building a strong slate of animated tentpoles that extends well into 2018, Warner Bros. Pictures has announced the release dates of three much-anticipated Lego movies. 

     

    The next Lego film to open will be the as-yet-untitled Lego Batman feature, which will come to theatres earlier than planned, with the global launch starting in North America on 10 February, 2017.

     

    The second movie Ninjago, which had been slated for release in fall 2016; will now release on 22 September, 2017 in the North American market, with international dates to follow. The release has been pushed as the film is still under construction.

     

    The Lego Movie Sequel, the follow-up to The Lego Movie, will open one week earlier than originally slated, on 18 May, 2018 in North America.

     

    Warner Bros. Pictures president, domestic distribution Dan Fellman said, “We are very excited about dating our upcoming Lego animated features, which already have a worldwide fan following, built on the foundation of the first film. These three films already in the pipeline are just the beginning of a creative and diverse animation slate that will be delighting audiences for years to come.”

     

    Warner Bros. Pictures president, international distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg added, “We are looking forward to expanding the Lego film franchise globally with these three incredibly imaginative movies, each offering something different to appeal to a broad range of audiences around the world.”

     

    The Lego Group vice president of licensing and entertainment Jill Wilfert said, “We are so pleased to continue our creative partnership with Warner Bros. on these upcoming projects. It’s truly amazing to see how the big screen lends another dimension to the rich Lego world, and offers new ways for fans to be engaged and entertained by these characters.”

  • Ex-Disney chief Dick Cook launches studio with $150 million Chinese investment

    Ex-Disney chief Dick Cook launches studio with $150 million Chinese investment

    MUMBAI: Former Disney chairman Dick Cook is launching Dick Cook Studios with a $150 million investment from Citic Guoan Group Co. Ltd., which is a division of China’s Citic Group.

     

    Cook said, “I am thrilled to formally announce the launch of Dick Cook Studios. Our mission will always be to provide the very best in family entertainment inclusive of all generations, which inspires, engages, excites and always contributes positively not only to our communities but to the world at large. We will have many more announcements in the coming weeks and months as our long standing plans come together.”

     

    The new studio will be a creative content company focusing exclusively on the development, production, marketing and distribution of multi-generational family entertainment including live-action and animated motion pictures, television, digital, educational media, stage and other themed entertainment among other avenues.

     

    Cook added, “China is very important and this investment will serve as a significant building block in helping us reach our goals. It took us quite awhile to find the right partners that share our vision to create quality content and our passion of family entertainment through telling rich stories that will travel the globe. Citic Guoan is an extremely diverse company with many businesses that range from film and television, publishing, media, to sports, tourism and outsourcing services that will be of great benefit to both of our companies

     

    Citic Guoan chairman Li Shilin said, “With Mr. Cook and his highly respected team, we are guaranteed that every segment of our cooperation will be of the highest standards. They appreciate and understand traditional Chinese culture, and they look forward to telling Chinese stories that will play to families across the globe. We both believe that cultural works in spreading love and positive energy is the world’s eternal theme.”

  • FremantleMedia and Canal+ deploy ‘Deutschland 83’ into France

    FremantleMedia and Canal+ deploy ‘Deutschland 83’ into France

    MUMBAI: Inspired Cold War drama, Deutschland 83 continues its successful roll out across Europe and the US as FremantleMedia International (FMI) has inked a major deal with France’s first pay TV channel Canal+.

     

    The title has been pre-sold to six significant European markets, in addition to a previously-announced partnership with SundanceTV that sees the eight part mini-series become the first German-language drama to have ever aired on a major US network. Deutschland 83 was produced by UFA Fiction for RTL Television in Germany and is distributed worldwide by FremantleMedia International.

     

    FremantleMedia International EVP sales & distribution EMEA Jamie Lynn said, “Since its world premiere at the Berlinale festival earlier this year, Deutschland 83has continued to attract both critical praise and the attention of buyers from all over the world. Sitting on the world class Canal+ platform, alongside some of the world’s best scripted content, Deutschland 83 is proving to be one of 2015’s must have dramas. With the combination of suspense, action and humour, Deutschland 83 is compelling viewing and I’ve no doubt that the show will captivate the French audiences.”

     

    Deutschland 83 is a suspenseful coming-of-age story set against the real culture wars and political events of Germany in the 1980s. The drama follows Martin Rauch (Jonas Nay) as the 24 year-old East Germany native is pulled from the world as he knows it and sent to the West as an undercover spy for the Stasi foreign service. Hiding in plain sight in the West German army, he must gather the secrets of NATO military strategy. Everything is new, nothing is quite what it seems and everyone he encounters is harboring secrets, both political and personal.

     

    Created by Anna Winger and Joerg Winger, Deutschland 83 is executive produced by UFA Fiction’s Joerg Winger and Nico Hofmann and directed by Edward Berger and Samira Radsi.

  • FremantleMedia secures two new markets for ‘My Mom Cooks Better Than Yours’

    FremantleMedia secures two new markets for ‘My Mom Cooks Better Than Yours’

    MUMBAI: FremantleMedia has secured two new runs for My Mom Cooks Better Than Yours in Albania (Top Channel) and in the Czech Republic (TV Nova).

     

    With this the total number of local versions of the show goes up to seven.

     

    Additionally, Turkish broadcaster TRT has commissioned a second season of the show.

     

    My Mom Cooks Better than Yours was cooked up by Spanish producer Mandarina and launched on Spain’s Cuatro in March 2014, where it was an immediate hit.

     

    FremantleMedia has already sold the format to picked up by El Trece (Argentina), Prima TV (Romania), TRT (Turkey) Pop TV (Slovenia) and TV Joj (Slovakia).

     

    My Mom Cooks Better Than Yours has just won a C21 Format Award for Best Studio Based Gameshow.

     

    FremantleMedia head of global entertainment production Chris O’Dell said, “We’re delighted to add Albania and the Czech Republic to a growing list of international broadcasters who are hungering for My Mom Cooks Better than Yours. By fusing food, comedy, competition and family clashes, this action-packed format instantly strikes a chord with anyone who’s ever tried (and failed) to impress their parents in the kitchen, and are looking forward to rolling it out further to even more markets in the future.”

  • FremantleMedia licenses new game show format to Paraguay & Egypt b’casters

    FremantleMedia licenses new game show format to Paraguay & Egypt b’casters

    MUMBAI: FremantleMedia’s brand new family friendly game show format Cash or Splash has launched in Cannes with two international versions of the show already under its belt: the first to Paraguay’s Telefuturo and the second to Egypt’s MBC Masr. 

     

    An amalgamation of the hit Fuji TV formats Clock Hanger, Boxing Glove, and Run Quiz Run, the format sees teams of contestants compete for cash prizes by answering questions and completing hilarious physical challenges in order to avoid being sent for a plunge into an icy pool of water.

     

    The news reflects an increasing appetite for game and studio shows that have a strong comedic element, and follows recent international successes for other FremantleMedia titles like Thank God You’re Here, Through the Keyhole and Total Blackout. The trend suggests that laughter may not just be good for the soul, but good for the format business too.

     

    Thank God You’re Here, which tests celebrities improvisational skills by throwing them into an unknown situation which they must ad-lib their way through, aired for the first time in Turkey (TRT), Vietnam (VTV3) and Finland (MTV3), where the show became an instant hit rating number one in its timeslot among 15-24s and +97 per cent above the slot average for the same age group.

     

    Through the Keyhole, which sees the show’s host let loose to rummage around three mystery celebrity houses giving comic clues to an all-star panel who then has to guess which famous face lives there, launched as the UK’s highest rated new entertainment show among adults 16-34 in 2013. The Belgian version’s first run on VTM earlier this year, established a similar record as it became Belgium’s highest rated entertainment launch of the past 12 months.

     

    Total Black Out, already in 17 territories worldwide, extended its international footprint to two further markets in the few months; Brazil (Bandeirantes) and France (W9). In France the show, in which six people struggle over a series of knock-out rounds to compete to survive outrageous challenges in complete darkness, outperformed the broadcaster across all key demographics (including the lucrative 15-34 year old demo, where it performed +86 per cent above average).

     

    Even long-established formats such as Family Feud are benefitting from the trend. In the US, where the show has been running since 1976, the series, which is now fronted by comedian Steve Harvey, reached a new high in January 2015, attaining an average Household rating of 7.2 – the show’s highest performance for over 20 years. In Australia, it regularly ranks as the No.1 show in its time slot for young adults and in the UK S11 launched to an audience of 5.4 million viewers outperforming the S10 launch by +37 per cent.

     

    “Laughter is a global currency and the fact that these shows all extended their global footprint and performed so well in these new markets is proof that comedy in a Gameshow or Studio show is a winning formula, no matter where in the world they go. While these shows have always been about fun, today’s clever casting and scripting, which aims to maximize comedic value while still staying true to the principals of the core show, are attracting new viewers, particularly in the sought-after younger demo. That’s got to be great news for broadcasters,” said FremantleMedia director of global production Chris O’Dell.

  • CBS upgrades LA’s Television City with Sony’s new 4k live production camera

    CBS upgrades LA’s Television City with Sony’s new 4k live production camera

    MUMBAI: CBS’ Television City production facility — home to many of television’s top-rated entertainment programs including Survivor finale, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, The Price is Right, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Late Late Show, and So You Think You Can Dance — is adding Sony’s new HDC-4300 live 4K high frame rate camera system to its line-up. The facility will roll-out eight of the new 2/3-inch sensor models starting in June.

     

    The new cameras will complement CBS’ current inventory of Sony high-definition HDC camera models. Now with HD/4K simultaneous recording, the facility can continue to deliver the highest-quality HD programming, while also giving CBS Television City the option to capture an “evergreen” 4K master for archival and future broadcast use.

     

    “With the capabilities of these new cameras, we can continue to put the best-looking product on the air today, enhance our production values and protect our assets well into the future with the highest resolution master,” said CBS Television City senior vice president and general manager Barry Zegel.

     

    CBS has a long history with Sony HD technology, starting with the first demonstration ever of HD in the US and including a variety of HD broadcast firsts in sports and entertainment.

     

    The new camera also uses the same control surface as Sony’s previous HDC series cameras, so operators will be instantly familiar with the new HDC-4300 operation.

     

    The HDC-4300 uses three 2/3-inch chips with Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) native resolution; 3x Super Slow Motion as standard, with even higher speeds up to 8x planned for the future; and support for the same 2/3-inch sports, studio and ENG lenses used with Sony HDC models.

     

  • Warner Bros’ new show ‘Ice & Coco’ to air on Fox TV Stations

    Warner Bros’ new show ‘Ice & Coco’ to air on Fox TV Stations

    MUMBAI: Fox Television Stations and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution will debut a three-week daily preview of Ice & Coco, an all-new take on the popular talk show format that adds a husband and wife twist.

     

    The series will premiere on 3 August on select Fox-owned stations in markets, including New York and Los Angeles.

     

    Ice & Coco features veteran actor and rapper Ice-T (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and his wife, Coco (Ice Loves Coco), as they take on the topics of the day — all things newsworthy, celeb-worthy and, of course, puppy-worthy — showcasing the couple’s fun, authentic vibe and honest curiosity about what’s happening in the world. With years of chemistry together, this married duo from very different backgrounds brings a fresh perspective to the daily talk show format with their unique interview style and enthusiasm for joining in the conversation. Ice enjoys kicking back with a video game just as much as taking on tough topics and sharing his own sharp standpoints; Coco holds her own with honest positivity and a sincere interest in people and new ideas, and isn’t afraid to call out anyone — including her husband. The two hosts plan to interact with their celebrity guests via fun segments, games and open interviews.

     

    Fox Television Stations SVP programming Frank Cicha said, “We see this as another attempt to do something different — big personalities, new to the daypart. Ice-T helped change popular culture. We’re trying to do the same thing for daytime.”

     

    “We are thrilled to continue our ongoing relationship with Fox attempting to develop the next generation of successful talk shows. Ice & Coco has all the earmarks of a success,” Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution president Ken Werner added.

     

    Series’ hosts Ice-T and Coco said, “It’s a fun show with our own style of hip, married humor and honesty.”

     

    Executive produced by Candi Carter (The Oprah Winfrey Show, Just Keke), Ice & Coco is produced by Telepictures Productions.

  • FremantleMedia inks JV with Shanghai Media Group

    FremantleMedia inks JV with Shanghai Media Group

     

    MUMBAI: FremantleMedia has inked an exclusive joint venture deal with Shanghai Media Group’s (SMG) BesTV and China Media Capital (CMC). Under the JV, the companies will create and develop entertainment formats for the China market, set to reach millions of viewers on Dragon TV and BesTV platforms, and take proprietary China content to the world market through FremantleMedia’s global distribution network.

     

    Based in Shanghai, the bespoke development team will include international experts and local producers and will draw on FremantleMedia’s creative strength to develop original entertainment IP. Outside of mainland China, FremantleMedia International will represent the newly-created IP through its worldwide distribution network. 

     

    FremantleMedia global CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz said, “The Chinese television market is rapidly becoming one of the most important in the world. This new relationship with BesTV, SMG and CMC allows FremantleMedia to build on its existing presence in China and strengthen our ties in this territory. It brings with it the opportunity for FremantleMedia to showcase its world-renowned creativity to millions of new viewers, with content that is made specifically for them.”

     

    CMC founding chairman Ruigang Li added, “China’s TV sector is undergoing the most exciting transformation, and the value of premium content is being created and manifested with unprecedented enthusiasm. CMC is delighted to team up with SMG and FremantleMedia, a global leader in entertainment content, to bring together the profound understanding of the market, the established creative capacity and the strength of a global network to further shape the China TV landscape and take more of China’s original content to the world market.”

     

    SMG president Madame Wang Jianjun said, “We envision BesTV to be a new media conglomerate after the restructuring and China’s foremost OTT service provider. It will build a new media eco-system in which BesTV straddles over content production, distribution channels, and products and services. As format and idea development is a key part in content production, the joint venture will undoubtedly bring the best resources from all the companies together and gives a strong boost to BesTV. The collaboration will give SMG the wonderful opportunity to learn how to create good ideas and how to grow these ideas into formats and productions. It will greatly enhance SMG’s production capacity and help SMG make phenomenal variety shows in the future.”

     

    FremantleMedia Asia Pacific CEO Ian Hogg added, “This is a ground breaking deal, not only for Best TV, SMG, CMC, and FremantleMedia, but for Chinese audiences. The opportunity to create and execute story telling that focuses on Chinese values and tastes blended with western structure and creativity is a very powerful combination.”

     

    FremantleMedia has already forged strong relationships with a number of China’s broadcasters and has licensed around 20 titles, including Got Talent, Idols, The X Factor, Don’t Stop Me Now, Take Me Out Hole in the Wall and Family Feud.

  • Endemol Shine Group inks pan Balkan deal for ‘Big Brother’

    Endemol Shine Group inks pan Balkan deal for ‘Big Brother’

    MUMBAI: The newly launched global content creator, producer and distributor, Endemol Shine Group, has inked a new Pan Balkan deal for Big Brother. The reality juggernaut will return to five markets in the region including Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro, marking the format’s comeback where it last aired in 2011.

     

    Endemol Shine Group has licensed the format to RTL Croatia, who will produce in house as well as airing the smash hit series. Meanwhile Serbian production company Emotion has also picked up the rights and will make the show for major broadcasters in Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro, details of which will be announced in due course.

     

    The production will be filmed over 100 days at the regional hub in Serbia and will air simultaneously in each market, launching later this year. The series will feature housemates from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia all filmed together in the one Big Brother house.

     

    “Big Brother remains one of the world’s biggest and longest-running entertainment hits and this deal is just the latest in a series of comebacks the format has made over the years. We’re thrilled to see the show returning to the Balkans for a pan regional series that will introduce a new, multi-national line up of housemates to fans in five markets,” said Endemol Shine Group CEO of Central and Eastern Europe and MENA regions Marina Williams.

     

    The original reality format Big Brother launched in the Netherlands more than 15 years ago and changed the face of television. Twenty-five series aired in more than 70 countries across 2014. The format continues to be a hit in the USA, UK, Italy, Spain, Canada and Israel as well as in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and Asia.

     

    Williams and her teams regionally oversee Endemol Shine Group’s newly combined catalogue of formats. The new company’s regional presence includes local production hubs in Poland, Middle East and North Africa, Russia and Turkey, with the Central and Eastern Europe format distribution team representing remaining territories.

  • Warner Bros & ProSiebenSat.1 extend licensing deal

    Warner Bros & ProSiebenSat.1 extend licensing deal

    MUMBAI: In a major licensing deal, Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and ProSiebenSat.1 have extended their existing licensing deal.

     

    Thus ProSiebenSat.1 will continue to hold the exclusive free TV rights to Hollywood blockbusters and successful television series produced by the US studio for years to come. Movies such as Batman vs. Superman, Tarzan and King Arthur are among the highlights of the deal that have already been announced.

     

    Furthermore, the trilogy Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling, will be aired by the broadcasting group. German movie productions like Der geilste Tag with Matthias Schweighofer and Florian David Fitz are also part of the deal.

     

    The agreement will also enable ProSiebenSat.1 to significantly enhance its range of TV series: The latest Warner Bros. productions are among the highest-rated series aired on ProSiebenSat.1 stations. The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men regularly obtain above-average market shares.

     

    The extension of the agreement also gives ProSiebenSat.1 continued access to the extensive Warner library including the fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter movies, the cult movie The Hangover and the superhero movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

     

    ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG executive vice president, group programming acquisitions Rüdiger Böss said, “Movies and series from Warner Bros. are among the best of our industry. We have been collaborating for many years and Warner productions are regularly rated highly by our viewers. I am therefore delighted that we have managed to continue this extraordinary partnership and thus to secure many attractive film and series productions for the coming years.”

     

    Jeffrey Schlesinger, President, Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution: “We have long enjoyed a mutually-beneficial relationship with ProSiebenSat.1, which provides a terrific platform for our series and films. This latest agreement between our companies speaks for the quality of our films and television series as well as for the healthy appetite of German TV viewers for good programming.”

     

    Licensing acquisitions across all platforms from free TV to video-on-demand and mobile is getting strategically more and more important for ProSiebenSat.1. Therefore, the division Content Acquisitions has been part of the executive department of Conrad Albert since 1 January, 2015. Conrad Albert continues also to be responsible for the areas Legal, Distribution and Regulatory Affairs.