ITV

Tag: Peter Guber

  • Natpe Conference to have an in-depth focus on mobile

    Natpe Conference to have an in-depth focus on mobile

    MUMBAI: The National Association of Television Programme Executives (NATPE) in the US has announced the schedule for its annual conference. This takes place from 15-18 January 2006 in Las Vegas.

    A highlight is the daylong NATPE Mobile++. This is is a specially focussed and separate conference addressing the impact and business opportunities for wireless, mobile and digital distribution platforms for television producers, developers, technology companies, broadcasters and advertisers.

    The conference will analyse the rapid evolution occurring in the digital media industry, its impact on the traditional media industry and the many lucrative business opportunities it presents. It will explores cutting edge audience behaviours – the rapid consuming of mobile and digital entertainment. It will look at

    – Branded entertainment and the important role of advertising in the digital media industry

    – The ever-growing role of mobile media and mobile services

    – Mobile technology’s role in social networking and community building

    – Monetisation strategies for user generated content

    – The importance of user-centric design in the digital media industry

    Another session looks at The Long Tail. Online services carry far more inventory than traditional retailers. Even as consumers flock to mainstream books, music and films there is a real demand for niche fare found only online. To one degree or another, the same is true for all other aspects of the entertainment business.

    These potential markets may be twice as big as they appear. If the biggest money is in the smallest sales, how do we get over the economics of scarcity? Attendees will find out more about the markets that lie outside the reach of the physical retailer – they are big and getting bigger says Natpe. The panelists are Wired Magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson; ICM (International Creative Management) vice chairman Robert Broder, USA Networks president Bonnie Hammer and Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn.

    There will also be a sesion on IPTV in terms of the lessons learned from global Rollouts and what the implications are for the US. IPTV Natpe notes has already achieved significant penetration in both Asia and Europe; however, the degree to which IPTV will successfully penetrate the United States market is still anyone’s guess. With that said, insights into how IPTV has achieved this success overseas foreshadow the coming challenges for the US market.

    What will compel subscribers to leave their existing provider and switch to IPTV. Is it interactivity? specialised programming? price? Will telcos find new revenue streams or simply a way to reduce churn?

    There will also be a Shoot Out session that looks at Hollywood. This is a live extention of the TV show Shoot Out which is hosted by Variety editor Peter Bart and Mandalay Entertainment chairman/CEO Peter Guber. On the TV show which kicks off in India on Star World next month they take their best shots at the industry, the movies, and each other. If Hollywood is talking about it, they’re fighting about it.

    Now at Natpe the two hosts will conduct a session in order to get an international perspective on the industry’s changing landscape. The speakers are MGM worldwide TV Group Harry Sloan and Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.

    Another session is called The Currency of Content “In a time where content development and its marriage to marketing can cause chaos, adult supervision is at a premium,” says panel moderator Media Link’s Michael Kassan. How best to quantify, monetise and harness the explosive energy that is the result of ever more personalized and divergent content delivery?

    That is the challenge faced by businesses who work in the field of cross-platform content delivery and marketing. This panel chosen Natpe says has demonstrated the ability to recognise opportunity, bring disparate creative forces to bear on initiatives, and convert the resulting content into business currency. The panelists include Microsoft corporate VP global marketing Jeff Bell; Cingular Wireless VP, advertising and marketing communications Daryl Evans; FremantleMedia North America CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Digitas president Laura Lang and Unilever US head of worldwide media Alan Rutherford.

    Another session looks at TV formats. From American Idol to Project Runway to Next Top Model, some of the most successful shows on TV today started as international formats and in some cases spawned their own international versions. Producers of hit shows have had to learn to adapt success for audiences that speak different languages, live in different cultures and even have different senses of humour.

    Producers of some of these shows talk about what makes a successful format that can be taken worldwide and the challenges of adapting a format for multiple markets.

    Another session aims to impaort knowlege on generations X, Y, and Z. Natpe notes that it is important for media firms to keep up with how our most wired, engaged and media savvy generation of consumers experience media content? Brian Seth Hurst, one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Digital 50, interviews members of this on-demand, user-engaged community. The panel of 18 -25 year olds will break it down for attendees – how they experience brands, consume content and, yes, even create their own networks for themselves and their peers. Where does traditional media fit in and how can firms capture this audience?

    There will also be a chat with Elise Doganieri who co-created the reality show The Amazing Race.From the creative processes to strategic decisions to the seemingly infinite logistics, this hands-on executive producer oversees every single detail of The Amazing Race which airs in India on AXN. So, what is the recipe for reality TV success and how do you create award-winning programming that consistently beats the competition and is considered the real must-see TV? That is what the sesion looks to answer.

  • Star World focusses on ‘Hollywood Shootouts’, Christmas next month

    Star World focusses on ‘Hollywood Shootouts’, Christmas next month

    MUMBAI: English general entertainment channel Star World will during the yuletide season next month focus on Christmas as well as on a new show Hollywood Shootouts.

    Hollywood Shootouts will air every Sunday from next month at 5 pm. Two of Hollywood’s big shots – Variety editor Peter Bart and producer Peter Guber – take on some of moviedom’s biggest movers and shakers: top actors, directors, producers and studio executives who make Hollywood what it is today.

    The show gets behind the hype and into the minds of some of entertainment’s most elusive and fascinating personalities. Names to watch for include Dustin Hoffman, Charlize Theron, Samuel L. Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson and Harvey Weinstein.

    The two hosts have attracted critical acclaim for complementing each other perfectly as two sides of the Hollywood coin. The A-list guests are willing to discuss their careers with frankness.
    All the episodes revolve around the general topic of surviving and thriving in Hollywood. However the varied guests shape each episode according to their individual identities.

    Since next month is the time to spread good cheer the channel will air the special Christmas Miracles on 19 December at 8 pm, 20 December at 11 amand on 24 December at 9 am. Celebrities Halle Berry, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Melissa Joan Hart and Richard Karn serve as first-time Santa’s helpers by fulfilling the wishes of children and their families, from specially selected letters that were written to Santa and found in the “dead letter” bins at the U.S. Postal Service.

    Also showcased are stories by everyday people who have, in some way, been miraculously touched at Christmas time. Some of the soul-warming highlights include: Melissa Joan Hart and the cast of Sabrina The Teenage Witch fulfilling a young girl’s Christmas wish to experience what it’s like to be an actress. Jennifer Love Hewitt redecorates a young boy’s bedroom and presents him with the gift of his dreams – his very first bed.

    Halle Berry helps a nine-year-old boy create a better Christmas for a group of less-fortunate children with a surprise visit from Santa Claus. And Richard Karn uses his “Home Improvement” skills to create a yard filled with snow for a young girl who dreamt of having a “white Christmas”.

    On Christmas Eve 24 December at 1 pm the channel will air a classic film The Man Upstairs. It is about the unlikely relationship that grows between Victoria (Katherine Hepburn) – an elegant, lonely reclusive, and a fast-talking fugitive, Moony Polanski (Ryan O’Neal), who she finds hiding in her attic one day. It is a story about how love and life can be found in the strangest places, Ryan soon finds the family he never had in Victoria, while the older woman’s loneliness disappears with his presence.

    But idyllic though this life is, it couldn’t stay the same with Moony’s checkered past haunting them. The climax is played out on Christmas Eve, where the two celebrate over a true-blue Christmas tree, only to find out that more than just presents are waiting for them.

    The channel has also lined up a slew of episodes of its comedy shows that have the Christmas theme. These will air on 24 December from 3 pm and on Christmas Day 25 December from 8:30 am onwards. An episode of Scrubs that will air is called My Own Personal Jenus. While his friends don’t really feel like celebrating ther birth of Jesus, Turk makes a huge deal about it. But his faith and happiness are gone after a very busy night at the hospital. Dr. Cox has J.D. videotape the birth of the child of one of his friends.

    In the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond called The Thought That Count Robert gives Ray a great idea on what to get Debra for Christmas, but he isn’t very happy when Ray takes all the credit for it.

    An episode of Just Shoot Me is called Christmas? Christmas!. In the episode of Still Standing
    Judy is excited to host Christmas in the Miller house for the first time, but her plans are scrapped when Bill’s mom insists on having Christmas dinner for the entire family in her tiny apartment. Meanwhile, Linda’s good deed for Christmas – making over her helpless co-worker – goes better than planned.

    Even The Simpsons get into the holiday spirit. In the episode Tis The Fifteen Season the Simpson family goes Christmas shopping at the Springfield Heights Promenade, where the rich people shop. Homer spends the remaining portion of his share of the money for a gift for himself (a personalised talking astrolabe) and has no money left to buy the family a nice Christmas tree.

    Marge and the kids find out what he’s spent the money on and are disappointed in him. Spending the night on the couch, Homer watches “Mr. McGrew’s Christmas Carol” and the story works its magic on Homer, and Homer wakes with resolve to be good and unselfish.

    In the Malcolm In The Middle episode called Christmas Tree Hal and the boys begin selling Christmas trees, but every time that they are about to gain money for actually doing it, something unexpected happens. At the ranch, Francis and Piama are reminded of home when Otto’s relatives come to stay at the ranch, while Lois recruits the help of vagabonds in order to find a squirrel that bit Craig, to confirm if it has rabies.