ITV

Tag: Studio

  • Universal dates The Mummy reboot for April 2016

    Universal dates The Mummy reboot for April 2016

    MUMBAI: Nearing the end of its best year ever at the domestic box office, Universal announced a slew of release dates today. The recently shaken-up studio has set its reboot of The Mummy for 22 April 2016, and Seventh Son, the Jeff Bridges-Julianne Moore fantasy that Legendary picked up from Warner Bros in August, will bow 6 February 2015, a week before the arrival of Universal’s Fifty Shades Of Grey.

     

    Legendary‘s untitled Michael Mann cyber thriller for 16 January 2015 and Blumhouse’s Jennifer Lopez thriller The Boy Next Door hits theaters on 23 January 2015. The studio also is pushing its video game adaptation Warcraft – the first film that had been dated under the new Universal -Legendary partnership – from 18 December 2015 to March 2016.

  • Anchorman 2 heats up its publicity drive

    Anchorman 2 heats up its publicity drive

    MUMBAI: Paramount’s marketing team is working overtime and coming up with PR stunts for its Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues; now the studio has landed Ron Burgundy (AKA Will Ferrell) a gig on Canada’s The Sports Network. Paramount’s is working against time to pack in the promo gags before the 20 December release. Last week Burgundy stopped by Conan to riff on Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s recent headline-making news.

     

    Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy will be calling a pro curling match during the Tim Horton’s Roar of the Rings, 1 December in Manitoba.

     

    The studio’s co-branding partnerships so far include: Ron Burgundy’s Dodge ads, his MTV EMAs appearance, the renaming of Emerson College’s journalism school, Newseum’s Anchorman exhibit, Burgundy’s new biography (penned by Ferrell), Ben & Jerry’s Scotchy Scotch Scotch-flavored ice cream, a partnership with Jameson Irish Whiskey, and limited edition Jockey underwear available in Sex Panther Red and Beard Of Zeus Blue.

  • Sony Pictures Entertainment gears for high-octane action on small screen

    Sony Pictures Entertainment gears for high-octane action on small screen

    MUMBAI: After successful production of TV series like Breaking Bad, Sony Pictures Entertainment has now decided to produce fewer films as it readies itself to make a significant shift from motion pictures to higher-margin television production and also to operating TV channels.

     

    It is learnt that Sony had earlier in May received a letter from hedge fund investor Daniel Loeb. It was after this letter that the channel has been looking at investor support to improve the studio’s profitability. There have been several media reports which state that the studio is working with a third party to identify further cuts.

     

    Sony’s pictures business, which includes its film and television operations, is expected to have revenues of $8.4 billion in fiscal year 2015, and an operating margin of 7.4 percent. In its music business, the company expects revenue of $4.8 billion with a 9.5 per cent operating income margin.

     

    Media reports suggest that the studio is expected to release fewer than 20 films, down from the 23 released previously every year.

     

    According to the company record released in October, the studio had an operating loss of $181 million in its fiscal second quarter that ended 30 September for its pictures unit, which includes film and TV production.

  • Studio 100 signs a deal with Universum Film

    Studio 100 signs a deal with Universum Film

    MUMBAI: Germany-based Studio 100 Media has signed up a deal with Universum Film for the distribution of the upcoming Maya the Bee, Vic the Viking, Heidi and Blinky Bill films in the German-speaking territories.

     

    The first feature-length animation to premiere will be Maya the Bee – Movie, which is co-produced by Studio 100 Media and Buzz Studios. The film will release in September 2014 in German theatres.

     

     
    Studio 100 Film, Studio 100 Media’s newly launched movie division, will handle the global cinematic film sales for all four titles.

     

    Set against the backdrop of a longstanding hatred between bees and hornets, Maya is born into a hive where conformity rules. Her attempts to fit in and “be a bee” immediately bring her into conflict with the narrow-minded Queen’s Royal Advisor. When Maya stumbles onto the Advisor’s plot to steal the Queen’s royal jelly, she is forced to embark on a journey with her best friend Willi.

  • Good and bad times unfold for Pinewood Shepperton

    Good and bad times unfold for Pinewood Shepperton

    MUMBAI: In what seems to be a mixed bag of news for Pinewood Shepperton, the group which has posted fair financials for the fiscal year 2012-13 currently faces a potential production crisis.

    The studio provider which has played home to a number of blockbuster Hollywood features including the James Bond franchise has posted revenues at ?63million ($96.3M) for the financial year 2012-2013 with healthy operating profits of $8.25 million versus $4.13 million in the previous period. The only blight on the balance sheet was the performance of the TV division, which made revenues of ?5.2m ($ 7.94). Net debt was ?44.7m ($ 68.28m) at 31 March, down from ?50.4m ($76.98) a year ago. The company paid a final dividend of 1.5p per share; whereas in 2011 it did not pay one.

    However Pinewood is still facing a hindrance from the stubborn South Buckinghamshire district council that rejected Pinewood‘s second planning application to secure a ?200m Hollywood-style expansion plan, last month. A public inquiry into the decision scheduled to start on 19 November.

    The studio‘s filt attempt in 2011, called Project Pinewood, also failed to gain clearance and ultimately cost ?7.1m – pushing the company into pre-tax loss in 2011.

    The studio business revealed that it has already spent almost ?2m on its latest attempt to convince authorities to affirm the ambitious project to double the size of its presence in Buckinghamshire.

    CEO Ivan Dunleavy said that he did not expect the second planning application to cost as much, but that Pinewood was fully committed to winning clearance for the plan.

    “We are reusing a lot of the work we invested in the first time around, like environmental analysis. The proposal for adding more capacity is clearly a simpler one than Project Pinewood and we don‘t anticipate anything the costs rising like it previously. However, our shareholders are supportive of those sorts of sums for something as critically important to the future as this.”

    Among the recent films to be shot at Pinewood are The Muppets… Again! And Maleficient. Lining up are Kenneth Branagh‘s Cinderella, Marvel‘s Guardians Of The Galaxy and J.J Abrams‘ Star Wars: Episode VII.

  • DD on studio upgradation drive

    DD on studio upgradation drive

    New Delhi: A total of 39 studio centres in the country have been taken up for full digitization as part of the ongoing scheme of digitization of Doordarshan’s Network, Parliament has been informed.

    State of the art digital equipment would therefore be made available at the studio centres in the north east states on a par with other similar studio centres in the country.

    Of these 39, eleven are in the north east states: three in Assam, two in Meghalaya, and one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The others are: five in Uttar Pradesh; two each in Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal; and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh and Puducherry.

    Five Digital Satellite News Gathering Units (DSNG) have also been provided at Guwahati to cater to the coverage requirements of north east states. DSNG Units are deployed at different places in north east states as per coverage requirements. As part of the ongoing schemes, four additional DSNG Units for North East States are envisaged to be procured.

    Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati sources said upgradation/modernization which includes induction of new technologies, replacement of old aging equipment and augmentation/upgradation facilities of all Doordarshan Kendras including those located in north-east region is a continuous process and schemes in this regard are formulated and implemented from time to time.

    The sources said that for the north east region there is a dedicated 24×7 North East Channel, besides Kendras in North East like DDK Guwahati, DDK Aizwal, DDK Gangtok, DDK Tura, DDK Shillong , DDK Silchar, DDK Dibrugarh, DDK Itanagar, DDK Agartala, DDK Kohima and DDK Imphal which telecast programmes in their respective regional languages.

  • JENNIFER LOPEZ on ‘Inside the Actors Studio’ on Pix

    PIX, Sony’s new English movie channel is all set to bring home to its viewers the best of Hollywood stories and shows. The popular Hollywood talk show, Inside the Actors Studio launched successfully on PIX with ANGELINA Jolie the celebrity guest. So, get ready as PIX airs another exciting episode of ‘Inside the Actors Studio’ with Jennifer Lopez as she chats up with James Lipton this Sunday, 30th July at 7.00pm only on PIX.

     

    About Inside the Actors Studio

    This unique talk show has been on air in the US for more than eleven years and is now broadcast in over 125 countries. James Lipton, the host and the Executive Producer of “Inside the Actors Studio” since its conception in 1994, has interviewed more than 200 of the world’s most talented and accomplished artists – ranging from actors and directors to musicians and comedians. While other Hollywood talk shows focus on gossip and glitz, Inside the Actor’s Studio focus’s on the craft of acting. The penetrating and extremely fascinating interviews of celebrities have led to countless awards including 11 Emmy award nominations and The New York Festival Award for the World’s Best Talk/Entertainment.