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Tag: Fox

  • Andy Forssell is Hulu acting CEO

    Andy Forssell is Hulu acting CEO

    MUMBAI: Jason Kilar who stepped down as Hulu CEO has announced that Andy Forssell will be stepping up to lead Hulu as acting CEO.

    Hulu is a site and an OTT subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, TBS, and other networks and studios. It is co-owned by NBC, Fox and Disney.

    In a blog post Kilar wrote, “Andy has been a critical senior executive and has been here from the start of this great adventure. Andy exemplifies the Hulu culture and has been central to Hulu‘s journey, helping to grow this company from two content partners and no revenue to over 450 content partners and approximately $700 million revenue in 2012.

    “In his role, Andy has built strong relationships with many of our Board members. Andy has the Board‘s strong support in leading the team during this important time.”

    Kilar added that Disney and News Corp are currently finalising their forward-looking plans with Hulu, and the senior team has been working closely with them in that process. Once the plans are finalised, a permanent decision will be made regarding the CEO position.

    “As I mentioned to you all at the beginning of this year, Hulu‘s focus remains on delivering a fantastic 2013 for customers and shareholders. Hulu is well on its way, with new records being set in Q1 across both revenue and subscriber additions. The unwavering focus on delighting Hulu‘s customers is clearly showing up in the outputs of the business.”

  • Life of Pi tops intl. box office for second week in running

    Life of Pi tops intl. box office for second week in running

    MUMBAI: Life of Pi has topped the international box-office chart for the second consecutive week as it collected $33.2 million from 9,347 screens in 67 markets. Its overseas total has jumped up to a handsome figure of $357.4 million.

    Opening No. 1 in the Philippines, the Fox release drew its highest weekend tally in Russia ($4.4 million from 1,575 sites for a market total of $25 million).

    The best market however remains the UK where the film generated $3.8 million in its fourth frame from 673 sites for a territory total of $35.5 million.

    Warner Bros‘ The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey placed second collected $26.1 million from more than 10,000 screens in 63 markets. The film‘s collection in the overseas market surpassed the $600 million mark to $608 million.

    Garnering record-breaking No. 1 openings in the UK and New Zealand, Universal‘s Les Miserables bagged $25.5 million overall on the weekend at 2,432 screens in 22 territories, thus amassing an international gross total to $115.1 million.

  • Fox lines up 12 DWA titles till middle 2016

    Fox lines up 12 DWA titles till middle 2016

    MUMBAI: 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation films (DWA) have expressed ambitious intentions to release three movies a year over the next four years so that 12 movies would have released by June 2016.
    The 12 DWA films include The Croods (22 March, 2013), Turbo (19 July 2013), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (1 November 2013), Me and My Shadow (14 March, 2014), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (20 June, 2014), Happy Smekday! (26 November 2014), The Penguins of Madagascar (27 March 2015), Trolls (working title, 5 June 2015), B.O.O: Bureau of Otherwordly Operations (6 November 2015), How to Train Your Dragon 3 (18 June, 2016), Mumbai Musical (working title, 19 December 2015) and Kung Fu Panda 3 (18 March, 2016).
    DWA chief creative officer Bill Damaschke was quoted by the Hollywood Reporter, “This is the moment when we can declare that we will have three films a year going forward on a continuing basis.”
    “Everyone of the movies in our lineup – whether it is an original film or a sequel to one of our beloved franchises – comes from the unique and special vision of our filmmakers, and we look forward to joining together with Fox to make them available to family audiences starting next year,” Damaschke added.
    Fox‘s upcoming in-house animation slate includes Epic (24 May 2013) and Rio 2 (14 April 2014).

  • CBS claims ratings victory among US networks

    MUMBAI: CBS has announced that it has come out on top among US networks for the season. According to the most current Nielsen ratings data, Fox will finish as number one in the 18-49 demographic thanks mainly to ‘American Idol‘.

    CBS, which has a JV with Reliance Broadcast Network in India, has come out on top for nine in the past 10 years. This year the network averaged 11.78 million viewers each week, up by one per cent over last year. This is around three million more viewers than Fox.

    In the 18-49 demographic Fox finished the season with a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating and 9 share, according to Nielsen, down nine per cent from a 3.5/10 last season, when it carried the Super Bowl. NBC aired the game this year.

    In this demographic Fox placed seven per cent ahead of CBS, which averaged a 3.0/8, up three per cent from a 2.9/8 last year. 132 million votes were cast for Fox‘s music based competition show ‘American Idol‘.

    CBS is first in adults 25-54. In a statement CBS has said that it will deliver year-to-year increases among viewers on five nights (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) while finishing even on Tuesday and on four nights in adults 18-49 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) and even on Friday.

    CBS also said that it has the season‘s number one new series in viewers ‘Person Of Interest‘ for the third time in four years and the number one new programme in adults 18-49 ‘2 Broke Girls‘ for the second consecutive year.

    CBS says that it had the nine of the 10 dramas including ‘NCIS‘, ‘The Mentalist‘ and ‘Blue Bloods‘. It had eight of the top 10 comedies including ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ and ‘Two And A Half Men‘.

    NBC says that it managed to get a 2.5 rating and a 9 per cent gain in adult 18-49 rating versus last season‘s 2.3. This it says is the biggest increase compared to ABC, CBS and Fox.

    NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said, “Not since the 2003-2004 season has NBC been out of fourth place in 18-49 viewers, so we‘re thrilled to rank in third place for this season. We‘ve taken some key first steps towards rebuilding primetime, including a great second cycle for ‘The Voice‘ and promising first seasons for shows like ‘Smash‘ and ‘Grimm‘.

    “With a largely new staff in place and a strong development season under our belts – not to mention some big promotional opportunities presented by this summer‘s London Olympics and two nights of ‘The Voice‘ in the fall – we‘re in a very good position to build on the progress of this past season. We‘re genuinely excited about the future.”

  • FCC rules TV channels to disclose political ads

    MUMBAI: US media and telecommunications regulator Federal Communications Commission has approved a controversial proposal requiring television stations to disclose details of political ads aired on their channels.

    The FCC pushed through the legislation 2-1 despite stiff opposition from broadcasters with the Democratic commissioners in favour and the lone Republican opposed to the measure.

    With the proposal through, local television stations like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox need to publish detailed information about political advertising, including the cost of specific commercials on their websites. Starting 2014, all the TV stations will be brought under the ambit of the new rule.

    The move has come in from criticism from National Association of Broadcasters which believes the rule will jeopardize the competitive standing of stations.

    The broadcasters have criticised the FCC‘s proposal to include specific rates for individual advertisements contending that the disclose will hurt them financially and will put them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis their rivals. The broadcasters are also unhappy that the new rules won‘t apply to cable or other media platforms as well.

    The television broadcasters stand to rake in more than $3 billion in political ads this year, say media watchers.

    The commission staff spent 61 hours and incurred nearly $1,700 in copying costs to get the public file from eight stations in Baltimore, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said before the vote.

    Earlier he had termed broadcasters who resisted the move as “against technology, against transparency and against journalism”.

  • Fox embraces digitization, to stop distributing 35mm films within two years

    Fox embraces digitization, to stop distributing 35mm films within two years

    MUMBAI: Bringing an end to 35mm film prints, 20th Century Fox has become the first major Hollywood studio to officially announce that it will distribute all of its films domestically in a digital format within the next year or two. bringing an end to 35mm film prints, according to National Association of Theatre Owners president-CEO John Fithian.

    “Last year, I stood on this stage and predicted that domestic distribution of movies in the format of celluloid film could cease by the end of 2013. That prediction is becoming a reality,” Fithian has reportedly said. “As a letter from our friends at Fox confirms, no one should rely on the distribution of film prints much longer.And we know that most other distributors share that belief,” he added.
     
    The CEO said that 27,000 US screens have been converted to digital, more than two-thirds of the total. He also promised that efforts to help smaller cinema operators convert to digital continue in earnest. The movement to digital is designed to cut down dramatically on print fees and projection costs.

    Fithian and Motion Picture Association of America chairman and CEO Chris Dodd were speaking at a press briefing. Dodd suggested that the rift between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over recent online piracy legislation could solve itself without congressional input if the sides can come to an nderstanding.

    He said that entertainment companies and technology firms could sign a memo of understanding whereby piracy sites are identified by certain means, but he didn‘t rule out another round of legislation that could be supported by both sides. He also conceded the consumer was left out of the discussion by the MPAA during the SOPA battle.

    On the subject of premium VOD, both speakers said studios and exhibitors no longer are feuding over the topic and are working to find an acceptable compromise.

  • Fox 2000 makes changes in staff

    Fox 2000 makes changes in staff

    MUMBAI: Fox Filmed Entertainment has announced that Elizabeth Gabler has renewed her deal as president of Fox 2000 Pictures. The studio has also announced that Jessica Goodman has joined Fox 2000 Pictures as executive vp production and Marisa Paiva has been promoted from creative executive to director of development.

    In about 12 years that Gabler has been in charge, Fox 2000 has consistently produced at least one or two sizable hits most years. “For the past 12 years, Elizabeth’s savvy, vision and taste has taken Fox 2000 Pictures to a level of success and accomplishment that exceeded our already high expectations,” Fox said in a statement.

    Among the films she has overseen are Walk the Line, The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me and the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies, which the studio says have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.

    Forthcoming films that would come out of the Fox 2000 stable this year include Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee; Guernsey, directed by Kenneth Branagh and the sequel Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters.

    Goodman was recently with Warner Bros. where she was executive vp production overseeing projects such as Contagion, I Am Legend, Oceans 11 (and its two sequels), Michael Clayton and The Informant.

    Paiva is working on Life of Pi. Last year, she was creative executive on Water for Elephants.

  • Fox Searchlight to distribute The Surrogate

    Fox Searchlight to distribute The Surrogate

    MUMBAI: In a deal, Fox Searchlight has lapped up the rights to distribute Ben Lewin’s The Surrogate in all territories worldwide. A source close to the deal pegs the price at around $6 million.

    In the fact-based film produced by Judi Levine and Stephen Nemeth, John Hawkes plays a 38-year-old poet and journalist in an iron lung who decides to lose his virginity with the help of Helen Hunt’s sex surrogate. William H. Macy plays the priest who provides guidance to the conflicted man.

    It may be remembered that at last year‘s festival, Searchlight bought Martha Marcy May Marlene along with two other films. The Surrogate is the company‘s first purchase at this year‘s festival.

    So far during the fest, Sony Pictures Classics has grabbed North American rights of Malik Bendjelloul‘s competition documentary Searching For Sugar Man while Magnolia Pictures has picked up Lauren Greenfield’s competition doc The Queen of Versailles.

  • Political ads to go up 30% in US this election

    Political ads to go up 30% in US this election

    MUMBAI: The 2012 political elections has come as a boon for the local television channels in the US as candidates are expected to spend big monies on advertising.

    According to a report by Reuters, the hard-fought, and expensive, battles will provide a welcome windfall for TV stations, particularly in the most tightly contested states that will decide if President Barack Obama wins re-election or loses to his yet-to-be-decided Republican opponent.

    The experts believe that spending on political advertisement will go up by 30 per cent this year as compared to 2008. The increase might be attributed to the landmark “Citizens United” 2010 Supreme Court ruling, which ended most restrictions on donations by corporations and unions. This is the first presidential election since the ruling.

    As per Reuters, the Court decision encouraged the creation of Super Political Action Committee (PACs) fundraising committees that can spend money to support a candidate but cannot officially coordinate with campaigns.

    “Around 85 per cent of the money that is raised and spent on advertising historically goes toward local broadcast TV. In 2012, that could total between $2.5 billion to $3 billion,” Kantar Media‘s Campaign Media Analysis Group president Ken Goldstein told Reuters.

    It is expected that the ruling will help boost the fortunes of local TV stations.

    CBS Corp is among potential beneficiaries, which owns stations in Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

    Other beneficiaries include Rupert Murdoch‘s Fox controls stations in Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania, and Gannett Co with channels in Colorado, Florida and Michigan.

    Meanwhile, which stations cash in the most will also depend on how quickly the Republican party settles on a nominee. A long, tightly-contested Republican Primary, for instance, could mean stations in the 6 March “Super Tuesday” states such as Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia could see heavy activity from Republican spenders.

    Even California may get an unexpected shot of campaign spending right before its 5 June vote if the Republican race is still up in the air.

  • Fox organizes sneak view of …Zoo on Nov 26

    Fox organizes sneak view of …Zoo on Nov 26

    MUMBAI: 20th Century Fox has decided to give a sneak view of Cameron Crowe‘s We Bought a Zoo for children and their parents on Thanksgiving Day on November 26, a month before the film releases on December 23.

    The studio is teaming with social networking video site Tout to encourage audiences to share their post-screening thoughts, and a broader campaign will include a live Q&A with Crowe and more.

    Led by Matt Damon, the film based on a true story, follows Ben (Damon), a single father who attempts to fulfill his late wife‘s wish of moving their family to the titular animal sanctuary, along the way coming across the possibility of moving on thanks to a beautiful, dedicated zookeeper Scarlett Johansson).

    Cute animals and Jonsi singing ensue, followed most likely by tears and a big heart-warming finish.