ITV

Tag: sleepy hollow

  • Paul Edwards tapped to helm National Geographic’s four-hour movie event

    Paul Edwards tapped to helm National Geographic’s four-hour movie event

    MUMBAI: Acclaimed television director Paul Edwards has been tapped to direct National Geographic Channel’s four-hour scripted movie event Saints & Strangers.

    The program, produced by Sony Pictures Television with Little Engine Productions, is scheduled to start shooting this summer in South Africa, with a premiere set for fall 2015. The film puts a new lens on the familiar historical account of the trials and tribulations faced by the first American settlers and the native Americans they encountered upon their arrival.

     
    “Paul’s resume reads like a ‘must-watch’ list of TV programs from the last two decades, and we’re excited to watch him bring this story to life in a creative and cohesive way,” said NGC president of original programming and production Tim Pastore.

    “We are thrilled that Paul will be at the helm of this extraordinary project to contribute his vast expertise and experience as a director and cinematographer,” said Sony Pictures Television executive vice president of movies and limited series Helen Verno.

     
    Edwards has been directing for television series for more than 15 years. He has directed episodes of the popular current hits Gotham, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Blacklist, Once Upon a Time, Sleepy Hollow and Bates Motel, along with such cult favorites as Fringe and Lost. He received a BAFTA TV award for his work onHeroes.

     
    Saints & Strangers is a story that goes beyond the familiar historical version of the founding of America, revealing the trials and tribulations of the first American settlers: 101 men, women and children who sailed on the Mayflower for a place no one had ever seen. Half of these “pilgrims” were religious separatists who had abandoned their prior lives for religious freedom and an opportunity to create a new social order built on their values. The other half, “adventurers,” were mostly single men seeking financial opportunity and a rapid acquisition of wealth in a new land or trying to escape their old identities or criminal pasts. Intertwined with these complex inner struggles is the relationship with the Native Americans and the conflicting allegiances among these groups, culminating in trials of assimilation, faith and compromise that to this day define our country.

    Saints & Strangers will be produced for National Geographic Channels US by Sony Pictures Television. For Little Engine Productions, executive producers are Grant Scharbo and Gina Matthews; Teri Weinberg is executive producer; Eric Overmyer is executive producer/writer; Seth Fisher is writer. Original script was written by Chip Johannessen, with revisions by Walon Green. For Sony Pictures Television, executive vice president of movies and limited series is Helen Verno. For National Geographic Channels, president of original programming and production is Tim Pastore; vice president of production is Matt Renner.

  • Kitano Takeshi hits out at Japanese cinema at Tokyo filmfest

    Kitano Takeshi hits out at Japanese cinema at Tokyo filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Eminent Japanese filmmaker Kitano Takeshi used the occasion of receiving the ‘Lifetime Achievement Samurai Award’ at the Tokyo International Film Festival to speak about the current state of Japanese film industry.

     

    He was one of the two filmmakers who received the award, the other being American filmmaker Tim Burton known for his dark, gothic, macabre and quirky horror and fantasy films such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie, and for blockbusters such as Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,Batman, its first sequel Batman Returns, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Kitano said: “The bad thing about the Japanese film industry is that production companies have relationships with cinemas. Look at the Academy Awards. The Japanese representative needs to be recommended by the film industry, and that is the only one that can be nominated… it irritates me, but if you look at all the Japanese representatives at the Academy Awards, I do not think there is hardly any case in which the film selected is not from the same three or four companies. This year, it would be Shochiku, then it would be Toho, and then it would be Toei. It’s ridiculous!”

     

    Kitano went on to criticise Japanese media for turning a blind eye to industry problems and exaggerating the reception of Japanese films at international film festivals in order to sell ads.

    In a mentoring session of sorts between Kitano and eight award-winning young filmmakers, he said: “I know you are up-and-coming, so make sure that you do not get entangled with the major studios.”

     

    The second half of the event mostly consisted of curator and critic Tony Rayns and Cannes Film Festival selector Christian Jeune discussing Kitano’s films and their cultural impact. But Kitano offered little but polite responses to the two foreign guests’ praise, and had to be reminded of the moderator’s questions multiple times after Rayns and Jeune made their respective comments.

     

    Although Kitano himself also insisted that his works are left to the audience to interpret it in their own way, he did explain the way he creates his films.

     

    “I do not have any themes in my mind. I start with a final scene. With that final image in mind, I decide how much story I can put in,” Kitano said, “I create a shot list, and I shoot a film in order to realise that. As for the theme, it is up to the critics to decide what that might be.” 

  • FOX renews four shows, cancels one

    FOX renews four shows, cancels one

    MUMBAI: Early this year, at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, officials at FOX Broadcasting announced that the network had decided to pass the traditional pilot season henceforth. At the tour, FOX had announced that it would order series all year long, which is clearly evident from the series order of 24: Live Another Day, M. Night Shyamalan’s Wayward Pines and the Batman-prequel Gotham, all ordered to series before the traditional pilot season schedule.

     

    Usually during the pilot seasons, the fate of the older programmes is announced. Last April, the ground-breaking teen phenomenon Glee was renewed for two seasons. However, later creator Ryan Murphy said that the sixth season would be its last. In October, Sleepy Hollow became the first new series to be renewed for a second season during its 13 episode first season run. In January this year, FOX renewed its veteran forensic procedural Bones for a tenth season.

     

    Last week, FOX announced renewals for four of its series – the Critics Choice Television Award winning New Girl and The Mindy Project, along with the Golden Globe Award winning comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the Kevin Bacon-starrer The Following. Along with renewals come cancellations too, in order to balance the weekly schedule. As announced on Monday, 10 March, the first series to be passed on is the quirky comedy Raising Hope. The acclaimed comedy will bow out with an hour-long farewell with the season four finale now airing as the series finale next month.

     

    In India, The Mindy Project and Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs on Comedy Central, while Glee, Bones and New Girl air on STAR World. Sleepy Hollow will be finishing its first season run on STAR World Premiere and The Following completed its first season run on Zee Cafe.