Category: English Entertainment

Trinny & Susannah’s makeover mission India is back with a new season on TLC

MUMBAI: TLC brings a new season of its successful fashion makeover series,TRINNY & SUSANNAH’S MAKEOVER MISSION INDIA. Trinny and Susannah are by far the world’s most prolific makeover gurus and fashion experts and now they are ready for the suits in India and teach them a thing or two about fashion. TRINNY & SUSANNAH’S MAKEOVER MISSION INDIA will premiere on February 10th and will air Monday-Thursday at 10pm on TLC.

The all new episodes will showcase makeovers of professionals from diverse backgrounds.It willalso bring the men and women out from the confines of their corporate boardroom and help them to imbibe fun and colour in their everyday lives. The world famous fashion duo will hunt for anyone in need of their help and expertise.

TRINNY & SUSANNAH’S MAKEOVER MISSION INDIAhas been shot in Delhi and Mumbai and each episode will see Trinny and Susannah walk the city streets looking for people of various shapes, sizes, fashion preferences and personal backgrounds.

Rahul Johri, Senior Vice President and General Manager – South Asia & Head of Revenue, Pan-Regional Ad Sales and Southeast Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said, “Based on the tremendous viewers’ response, TLC is delighted to bring the new season of the extremely popular series TRINNY & SUSANNAH’S MAKEOVER MISSION INDIA. The show has a twist this time and it will be fun to watch the two fashionistas spot and transform people’s wardrobe.”

Trinny and Susannah are assisted with their professional makeover team that includes a hairdresser, make-up artist, seamstresses and a photographer. Together they bring about dramatic transformations.With glamorous new outfits, hairstyles, make-up and armed with new found self-confidence, the transformed men and women then walk the catwalk for their friends and family.

World-renowned style experts, Trinny Woodall & Susannah Constantine have changed the way people from across the world feel about themselves and by far are two of the world’s most popular fashion experts and makeover queens. From Scandanavia to the UK and North America – they have encouraged women to embrace their shapes, dress to impress and turn fashion faux-pas to fashion fabulous. And now, they are headed towards India.

February 6, 2014
Marvel Superhero debuts on UTV Action with the premiere of Iron Man I and 2

MUMBAI: Gear up for an intense ride with Marvel’s highly anticipated epic superhero Iron Man in his armed suited glory with the premiere of ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Iron Man 2’ on UTV Action, India’s Home of the Warriors. Known to showcase the best of action flicks starring the world’s biggest heroes, UTV Action presents Marvel fans with their favourite legendary hero in action once more.

Produced by Marvel studios, Iron Man is a superhero film about the billionaire philanthropist and industrialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who uses his intelligence and ingenuity to develop an invulnerable robotic suit to fight evil after a life-threatening incident. Stark discovers a deadly conspiracy that could destabilize the entire globe, and dons his powerful new suit on a mission to stop the villains and save the world.

In the high octane sequel Iron Man 2, the world is now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man and billionaire inventor Tony Stark faces pressure from the government, the press, and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, along with Pepper Potts, and James Rhodes at his side, must forge new alliances – and confront powerful enemies who are on a quest to destroy Iron Man.

Starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson this Oscar nominated super hero sequel and winner of the People’s Choice Award promises exhilarating action, smart comedy, fast-paced aerial stunts, dramatic energy and jaw dropping sequences.

Don’t miss the thrilling action and catch the premiere of ‘Iron Man’ on 6th February and ‘Iron Man 2’ on 7th February at 8.45pm on UTV Action.

February 5, 2014
Black List teams with TNT & TBS to promote diversity in the industry

MUMBAI: TNT and TBS are partnering with The Black List – an online community where video content creators find scripts to make and writers to write them and where writers find producers, studios and networks to make their scripts and employ them. The three are partnering on an initiative to promote diversity in the industry by identifying talented writers to develop scripts and concepts for the networks. TNT and TBS are the first television networks to team up with the Black List following the site’s expansion into episodic content.

The networks will be looking for writers from diverse backgrounds for possible blind script deals and staffing consideration on TBS and TNT series, with the goal of signing script deals with particularly strong writers in the half-hour comedy and hour-long drama genres.

Launched in October 2012, the Black List has hosted more than 10,000 screenplays and teleplays and has completed more than 13,000 script evaluations. More than 40 writers have found representation at major agencies and management companies, while more than 20 writers have sold their scripts as a direct result of introductions made via the site. At any given moment, more than 2,000 screenplays and teleplays are being actively hosted on the site for perusal by over 2,300 film industry professionals, ranging from agency assistants to studio chairs and network heads.

As part of its program with TNT and TBS, the Black List will solicit teleplays to be evaluated via the Black List website by its community of industry professionals and readers. The Black List will then provide TNT and TBS with a short list of five finalists in each genre. The finalists will be chosen based on criteria the networks provide and on the evaluations received. The networks will then have the option to offer blind script deals. The list of finalists may also be shared with TBS and TNT’s current showrunners, who will have the option to offer staff positions.

“As we continue to expand the original programming lineups for TNT and TBS, it’s important that we forge partnerships not only with established producers but also with fresh talent,” said president, TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) head of programming Michael Wright in a release. “We’re confident that through this initiative with the Black List, we’re going to find an abundance of exciting, highly creative work from a wide array of emerging writers.”

In addition to TNT and TBS, the Black List is currently partnered with the Writers Guild of America, East; the Writers Guild America, West; the Sundance Institute; and Warner Bros Pictures.

February 4, 2014
Romedy Now will leave you bewitched, bothered & bewildered

MUMBAI: It’s been almost a decade since the Halliwell sisters kept us Charmed with their Book of Shadows and the Triquetra. Now, the Beauchamp quartet is brewing to leave us spellbound in The Witches of East End, airing Sunday nights at 8 on Romedy Now, 26 January onward.

The series was acquired by the channel as part of its content acquisition across studios during the Los Angeles screening in May last year. Based on Melissa De Cruz’s New York Times bestseller of the same name, The Witches of East End revolves round a family of witches. Freya, a wild-child bartender played by Jenna Dewan Tatum and her sister Ingrid, a shy librarian played by Rachel Boston are unaware of their supernatural powers until one of them gets engaged to a wealthy newcomer and their mother is forced to reveal that they are indeed powerful and immortal witches.

According to Times Television Network English Entertainment Channels CEO Ajay Trigunayat, acquiring the new series is in keeping with the conceptualisation of Romedy Now as a blend of movies and the best TV series from around the world. The channel’s content stems from its identity and key communication formulated post extensive consumer research, feedback, analysis and strategy.

The channel is betting big on the new series. “The demographic audience is SEC AB 15 – 44 years of age both male and female across eight metros. However, as recommended by TAM, we are also measuring the channel at CS4+ and CS15+ across eight metros since viewership data and analysis are very volatile since 2013 and continue to be volatile as of the beginning of 2014. The 8 pm slot shows promising PUT and we have an interesting FPC combination so that people will get to watch the shows in other timeslots as well on both week days and during weekends,” explains Trigunayat.

“Romedy Now reaches out to each and every urban – affluent audience across eight metros and we have given it a short concentrated communication burst across all Times Television Network channels (Romedy Now, Movies Now, Zoom, Times Now and ET Now) to build salience for the property and ensure high trial and we have received excellent consumer response as word of mouth, direct consumer interaction and social media.”

Apart from witches and witchcraft, Romedy Now plans to cast a spell on its audience with the classic David E Kelly court room dramedy – Ally McBeal and the Bradley Cooper-starrer – Kitchen Confidential.

Trigunayat calls Ally McBeal, “A compelling show about a strong independent young woman, her relationships, her career and her unusual experiences in the backdrop of a legal comedy-drama. The show has captivating characters which gives viewers more reasons to watch the show. It is likely to beat many new shows on popularity and is anyway new to a whole new generation!”

Romedy Now is leveraging the biggest English speaking platform, The Times of India, and extensively promoting the new series on the Times Television Network, supported by heavy engagement driving conversations in the digital space. “Using the core element of each show, we will engage viewers in a series of innovative contests and quizzes on our twitter and Facebook pages. Additionally, selectively used outdoor campaigns across select cities are being explored,” says Trigunayat, pointing out that while the channel has gained 35 per cent facebook fans since the announcement, it is too early to come to a conclusion regarding the overall consumer response.

Trigunayat is confident about getting advertisers for the new content. “The Witches of East End, Ally McBeal and Kitchen Confidential reinforce our brand promise of ‘Love.Laugh.Live’ and cut across age groups and gender. Any advertiser/brand looking for a platform for either Love or Laughter or a combination of both will find value in the series. We already have brands across categories on-board for example., J&J, Panasonic, Honda, Swatch, Airtel, BPCL, to name a few,” he says.

“Romedy Now is content neutral and the content mix will be dynamic at any given point of time,” is his parting shot.

February 3, 2014
Friends’ Ross Geller is making a comeback on TV

MUMBAI: David Schwimmer, best known for his role as Ross Geller, the insecure paleontologist in the hit 90’s sitcom, F.R.I.E.N.D.S. has just signed on to play the lead in an upcoming comedy pilot called Irreversible by American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

Based on the hit Israeli series Bilti Hafich, the comedy centers on an eccentric, self-absorbed couple and the trials and tribulations they often bring upon themselves. Schwimmer will play one half of that couple, a pessimistic writer named Andy.

In addition to F.R.I.E.N.D.S., Schwimmer has guest-starred on 30 Rock and Web Therapy. He also lent his voice to the hypochondriac giraffe Melman in the hugely popular Madagascar film franchise. If Irreversible is picked up to series, this would make his first series regular role since F.R.I.E.N.D.S. The actor will also serve as a producer on the comedy, written by Segahl Avin, co-creator of the original series. Peter Tolan (Rescue Me) and Michael Wimer (10, 000 B.C., Rake) will executive-produce the show.

February 1, 2014
Sky and HBO extend content partnership deal

MUMBAI: The Home of Box Office certainly wants to live up to its name. In a recent development Sky and HBO have extended their original drama commitment and output deal to at least 2020.

Under the new agreement, BSkyB and HBO will work together to develop and produce new drama series for broadcast on their networks in the UK, Ireland and US. Their goal will be to identify projects with the potential to run for multiple seasons and to commission these shows, with production to be jointly funded by the two companies.

The collaboration includes an extended content output deal to ensure that Sky Atlantic remains the exclusive home of first-run HBO programmes in Britain and Ireland through 2020.

The co-production agreement builds on the partnership that Sky and HBO have enjoyed since 2010. With the extended output deal, new HBO programmes – including True Detective and Looking – will continue to premiere exclusively on Sky Atlantic along with the return of award-winning shows such as Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and Girls.

Sky Atlantic has become one of the strongest channel brands in British television in just three years since its launch and is currently rated among one of the top three must-have pay TV networks according to Sky customers.

January 31, 2014
Emmy awards to air on a Monday because of NBC

MUMBAI: In a recent update from National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will now air on Monday, August 25, instead of its traditional Sunday slot.

This year, the network and the TV Academy have taken an unexpected decision by scheduling the show on a Monday. Earlier, it was almost 40 years ago on 17 May, 1976 that the Emmy was aired on a Monday. The Oscars used to air on Mondays before moving to Sundays in 1998, and the Golden Globes have aired on Sundays since 1996.

According to NBC, the particular date was chosen because of possible scheduling conflict with pre season National Football League (NFL). While the network has not given any other details, the NFL has not released its schedule for the 2014-15 season. However, usually, the season starts on the first Thursday of September with primetime games starting the following Sunday and Monday. Four years ago, when NBC aired the Emmys in late August, the NFL aired a pre season game that night on Fox.

This year’s telecast of the award show will air live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. The Television Academy and NBC are yet to announce the host and the producers for the show. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards, at which the Emmys for the technical categories will be presented, will take place on Saturday, 16 August.

January 29, 2014
Zee Café brings home the biggest show of 2014; House Of Cards

MUMBAI: The American political drama; “House of Cards” is all set for its Indian television premiere this February on Zee Café. Starring Academy award winner Kevin Spacey as the protagonist along with Golden Globe winner Robin Wright, House of Cards is the story of Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), a politician, who exacts his revenge on those who betrayed him. The show also stars Corey Stoll and Kate Mara in lead roles.

The show is helmed by noted American playwright and screenwriter, Beau Willimon with Hollywood bigwig David Fincher onboard as one of the executive producers. The first few episodes have been directed by David Fincher, who is well known for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “The Social Network” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” amongst other Hollywood blockbusters.

Touted as one of the best political drama series of the year, House of Cards more than proved its mettle with the numerous nominations and wins at prestigious award ceremonies. It garnered a total of 9 Emmy nominations and 3 wins including the prestigious “Outstanding directing for a Drama Series”, creating history with this win as it was the first time that a major category award was given to an online video provider. The show also earned 4 Golden Globe nominations including, best drama, best actors for leads Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and best supporting actor for Corey Stoll, with Robin Wright bagging the Globe for “Best Actress in a TV series-Drama” category. The show also made a mark at the SAGs with Kevin Spacey’s nomination for the Best Actor in a TV series category. Awards aside the show has also become immensely popular with a massive fan following including the likes of President Obama and Amitabh Bachchan amongst others.

Anurag Bedi; Executive VP and Business Head, Zee Café states, ‘House Of Cards is a ground breaking show and there is already a lot of buzz and excitement surrounding it. The content has a universal appeal and the viewers here are definitely going to enjoy watching the show.’

House Of Cards premieres on Zee Café on 20th February, Monday to Friday at 11.00 pm.

January 29, 2014
FOX’s latest offering: a reality show ‘Utopia’

MUMBAI: Utopia: a word we have mostly seen being used in literary articles, often times in reference to a society that the entire human community desires to live in. Literally, the word means a community or society that possesses highly desirable or perfect qualities. While most of us are still wondering if it’s feasible to have an Utopian society, FOX, one of the major American Television networks, seems to be working on the idea to create one such society with a new reality show, Utopia – an adaptation of a Dutch reality show of the same name.

The Network has given a series order to executive producer and creator John de Mol, Jr. (The Voice, Big Brother).

Utopia moves a group of everyday people to an isolated, undeveloped location for an entire year. Throughout the course of the year, the group is followed by cameras 24/7 and challenged to create their own civilisation. The US series is envisioned to last a year but its length will depend on what happens in Utopia. As the Utopians build the new society, each contestant must try to become indispensable to the group or risk being exiled to their regular lives and replaced by potential newcomers. (The original series has new participants joining at part of the elimination process, but it has not been determined whether the FOX version will feature that.) Cameras will follow the pioneers 24/7, with their efforts chronicled weekly on FOX and also online. The online component of the original series has been very successful, something the producers will try to replicate in the U.S.

The show premiered in Holland earlier this month, where it was SBS 6’s top-rated unscripted series premiere in six years. Utopia continued as the No. 1 series in its Monday through Friday time period for 10 consecutive nights.

Casting and location scouting for the U.S. series of Utopia will begin almost immediately.

January 24, 2014
Debra O’Connel to preside over ABC National Sales

MUMBAI: American Broadcasting Company (ABC) executive Debra O’Connell has been promoted to president of ABC National Television Sales, it was announced today by Rebecca Campbell, president of the ABC Owned Television Stations Group. She succeeds John Watkins, who previously announced that he will retire at the end of January.

ABC National Television Sales is the sales and marketing arm of the ABC Owned Television Stations Group. Ms. O’Connell will be responsible for national advertising sales at ABC’s eight owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno as well as their extensive digital platforms, The Live Well Network and ABC Regional Sports & Entertainment Sales. ABC National Television Sales has nine regional sales offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit and Boston.

Ms. OConnell has been with ABC for 17 years. She was previously senior vice president of sales for ABC National Television Sales, a position to which she was named in 2011. Prior to that, she served as senior vice president of Multimedia Sales and Marketing for the division from 2006-2011. She was also vice president of Marketing at WABC-TV in New York, where she first joined the ABC Television division in 1999 after working at ABC Radio in Sales and Marketing.

She began her career as an account executive for two of Liberty Broadcasting’s radio stations, and marketing director for DiCarlo Distributors.

Ms. O’Connell serves as chairman of the Television Bureau of Advertising Sales Advisory Committee, as well as being an Executive Board Member, where she works with senior media & advertising executives to develop policy and new trends in the local broadcasting industry. She is also a member of Nielsen’s Local Alliance Committee. Ms. O’Connell is a mentor in The Walt Disney Company mentor program and is deeply involved in the ABC NTVS internship program.

January 24, 2014