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Tag: Mike Benson

  • WWE teams with Film Roman for adult animated comedy

    WWE teams with Film Roman for adult animated comedy

    MUMBAI: WWE Studios and Film Roman are going to co-finance and co-produce up to 13 three-minute webisodes of a new adult animated series, Camp WWE.

     

    Film Roman is the animation studio behind The Simpsons and King of the Hill. It will now help to bring to life an animated comedy about what WWE Superstars were like as kids. Mike Benson of Entourage and The Bernie Mac Show will script the series.

     

    “Film Roman has been involved with some of the most well-known and humorous animated series,” said WWE Studios president Michael Luisi. “They are the perfect partners for WWE Studios to capture our Superstars in a truly unique and fun way.”

     

    “Camp WWE is a new and exciting project with a great creative team for Film Roman to be working on with WWE Studios and we are very bullish on its prospects for success. With a combination of their unique personalities, distinctive characteristics and huge built-in loyal fan base, WWE Superstars make for ideal animation subjects in Camp WWE,” added Film Roman GM Dana Booton. “We are very pleased to be working with WWE Studios and hope that it will begin a mutually beneficial, long-term business relationship.”

  • ABC to make music video for ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

    ABC to make music video for ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster ABC and Epic Records have partnered to produce a music video for the show Grey’s Anatomy.

    The video will combine scenes from the third season of the medical soap and The Frays title track video from their gold debut album, How to Save a Life. In India the show airs on Star World.

    ABC senior VP marketing Mike Benson says, “Music has become an integral part of the storytelling on Greys Anatomy. Using a song like How to Save a Life really captures the tone and essence of the show. Its a great opportunity to take moments from the programme and present them in a new and entertaining way for existing fans and people not familiar with the series.”

    Epic Records senior VP, marketing Lee Stimmel says, “The partnership of The Frays How to Save a Life and Greys Anatomy is a perfect match. The use of the song in last seasons episode was truly compelling and had a huge impact with fans of the band. Both How to Save a Life and Greys Anatomy have a similar emotional connection with fans. Its exciting to expand the pairing and spotlight this connection.”

  • ‘Lost’ interactive game gathering steam

    ‘Lost’ interactive game gathering steam

    MUMBAI: In a bid to enhance the brand of the action adventure television show Lost US broadcaster ABC had launched an interactive web-based game Lost Experience in May in the US, UK and Australia.

    Currently in phase three of five of the interactive challenge, the meaning behind the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42, which play a significant role on the television series, will be revealed.

    So far, the Lost Experience has unveiled information regarding the Black Rock. The Lost Experience will continue to the premiere of the third season revealing secrets behind the mysterious Alvar Hanso and the Hanso Foundation.

    Those wishing to participate can do so by viewing a synopsis at blogs.abc.com/inside_the_experience/ which allows new participants the chance to enter into the Experience with ease.

    For the uninitiated, the Lost Experience follows a parallel storyline not featured in the television broadcast and is designed so that both fans of the series and those unfamiliar with the show can participate. The Experience provides insight to unlock some of the island’s secrets for those savvy enough to collect the clues, make the connections and find the answers.

    Although the Lost Experience is internet-based, participants should not assume that clues and story content will be limited to the online world. Any and every platform has the potential to contain hidden secrets. Given the different broadcast windows around the world, this challenge is designed in a manner that is not dependent on information specific to either Season One or Season Two, allowing those who have not yet seen either season of Lost to participate.

    Indian fans might be interested to know that the second season will see new characters coming in. Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), joins the cast as a resident of the island whose story is one of the mysteries that will be explored as the season progresses. In addition, one will discover that there are more previously unknown survivors of the crash of the ill fated flight 815 who all crashed in the tail section of the plane – Ana Lucia playde by Michelle Rodriguez who starred in the films Girlfight, The Fast and the Furious — the mysterious woman Jack met at the Sydney airport bar, Rose’s husband Bernard (Sam Anderson), Libby (Cynthia Watros)

    The most mysterious, and perhaps most important of all the new characters is Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), who begins the second season inside the hatch, explaining the importance of the button before taking off into the woods.

    The Lost Experience is a collaboration between the executive producers from Lost, ABC, Channel 4 in the UK and Channel 7 in Australia. Lost deals with the travails and experiences of a group of survivors from a plane crash.

    Talking about the online extension in the US, UK and Australia ABC senior VP marketing Mike Benson says, “The reward we’ve always promised from the Lost Experience is information, which is currency to anyone who is a fan of the show or a participant in this game.

    “This additional form of storytelling allows us to engage current and new fans in a genuinely innovative way while delivering the same extraordinary content that ‘Lost’ provides as a television series.”

    In India, the second season of Lost will air on Star Movies from 3 August at 9 pm.

  • ABC to roll out ‘Lost Experience’ game in UK, U.S. & Australia

    ABC to roll out ‘Lost Experience’ game in UK, U.S. & Australia

    MUMBAI: ABC is teaming with many networks around the world to launch a global interactive web-based game inspired by the hit TV series Lost. ABC announced the creation of an interactive multiplatform treasure hunt game called Lost Experience that will introduce a new story line but stay true to Lost’s signature mix of supernatural and psychological mystery.

    The Lost Experience will feature a parallel story line to the show. Clues will be provided either during the broadcast of the episode itself, or during a commercial break. Not all clues will be given in the U.S, according to media reports.

    ABC is teaming up with 19 other media outlets to bring the The Lost Experience to continents the world over. Each part of the world will be receiving different clues.The network also hopes that the game will appeal to both fans and non-fans of the TV show.

    Rollout is expected to begin 2 May in the U.K., 3 May in the U.S. and 6 May in Australia. There is no winning prize to the game, but it is expected to provide some extra information to fans of the series. The Lost Experience will require players to trade e-mail messages and phone calls and check out billboards, TV commercials and websites to gather all the necessary clues.

    “It’s like a giant, worldwide mysterious jigsaw puzzle that will come to life for all the world to solve,” ABC Entertainment senior VP of marketing Mike Benson is quoted as saying. “The game reaches back into Lost history and looks forward to future episodes. We wanted to make it so that if you watched Lost from the beginning or if you’ve never watched the show before you can get into this.”

    The storyline of the game will be different from the one seen in the show but users will have to watch the show to collect clues and other information for the game. The game will also feature new characters and background on the Hanso Foundation, the mysterious group behind the Dharma Initiative.

    ABC also announced earlier this month that it is making new episodes of Lost, Desperate Housewives, Alias and Commander in Chief, available in May for free online viewing, although fans will have to sit through ads that they can avoid if they download commercial-free shows for $1.99 per episode from Apple’s iTunes Music Store.

    Lost, which has averaged 15.4 million viewers this season and is one of iTune’s most popular TV downloads to date, will leave viewers staring into the dark hatch of summer hiatus with a two-hour season finale on 24 May.