ITV

Tag: Tokyo

  • Preety Ali to take special workshop at Okinawa Film Commission

    Preety Ali to take special workshop at Okinawa Film Commission

    MUMBAI: Humara Movie co founder and wife of Imtiaz Ali Preety Ali will be taking off on 22 March for the 5th Okinawa International Film Festival, Tokyo.

    The International Film Festival organized by the Okinawa Film commission is spread across seven days and includes international movie screenings, workshops, location scouting, presentations and much more.

    Ali will be attending the festival along with two other representatives from the Indian film fraternity. At the festival, she will be conducting workshops on the aspects of filmmaking and elaborate the culture and functioning of the Indian film industry and the production processes in India. She will also shed light on the recent production styles applied in India, market expansion, distribution and other relevant aspects of production which is her forte. As a part of the workshop, Ali will also be conducting a location scouting to share the insights on Indian movie production.

    Ali has 16 years of experience in film and TV production. She has recently ventured into Humara Movie along with her partners, Vinay Mishra and Pallavi Rohatgi to provide a platform to budding filmmakers. She handles the creative process at Humara Movie and also heads the feature film division.

    In her kitty, Ali has produced big budget and independent films like Black Friday and Namaste London. She started her career with Sony Entertainment Television, and went onto work on landmark TV shows like CID. She also conceptualized programs like Surabhi on Doordarshan and Good Food Guide on Star Plus.

    Ali said, "I am thrilled to be invited at the Okinawa Film Festival. It will be interesting to share perspective on how our Indian film industry works as well as understand the take on films internationally. I am looking forward to discovering locations that may catch the Bollywood industry."

  • UTV to come out with a coffee book on the making of Paan Singh Tomar

    UTV to come out with a coffee book on the making of Paan Singh Tomar

    MUMBAI: When Paan Singh Tomar released early last year, little did one realise that the film would go on to make such a significant mark globally.

    A story of an Indian athlete (represented India at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan) turned army man turned dacoit was an exciting concept for writer Tigmanshu Dhulia and Sanjay Chouhan to develop into a film. Great content, superb reviews, incredible word of mouth and a correctly targeted distribution strategy contributed to the success of the film.

    In its zest to immortalise the story, UTV Motion Pictures, the producer of the film, has decided to come out with a coffee table book on the making of Paan Singh Tomar. Journalist turned author Priyanka Jain was roped in to write about it. (She has earlier co-written a book on Vinod Chopra along with scriptwriter of 3 Idiots Abhijat Joshi).

    The book will give readers a good glimpse of the real and reel life of PST with some never seen before pictures depicting his life. Both director Tigmanshu Dhulia and leading actor Irrfan are backing this project.

    Says Disney UTV Managing Director – Studios, Siddharth Roy Kapur, “It is very important for filmmakers and studios to archive stories around iconic movies which have the ability to inspire future generations. As an industry we have not done enough so far to document our incredibly rich cinematic heritage, and this is a small step in that direction. To see the film alive in the form of a book is a way to share the experience of Paan Singh Tomar with all those who were touched by the movie.”

    Observes Tigmanshu Dhulia, “The story of Paan Singh Tomar was so captivating that both UTV and I believed that it needed to be told so much so that as a rare case UTV even funded the research for this film. The story of the making of the film Paan Singh Tomar, I believe, is equally compelling. Paan Singh Tomar‘s struggle is not very different from what our real heroes face even today. Hence the book and the film will be contemporary even today.

  • Craft Worldwide goes global, sets up 2 offices in India

    MUMBAI: McCann Worldgroup has consolidated its production assets under a single business unit called Craft Worldwide and has launched it globally including India with offices in Mumbai and Delhi.

    The agency with a client-centric operating model and an emphasis on the craft of execution will have a network of integrated production hubs in 23 markets, capable of producing every type of print, digital and video media available.

    Apart from Mumbai and Delhi, Craft’s main offices are located in New York, London, Singapore, Toronto, Manchester, Paris, Milan, Oslo, Manila, Bucharest, Santiago, Budapest, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Detroit, Bangkok, and Melbourne, with plans to expand further in 2013.

    All Craft Worldwide offices are linked through an innovative technology platform, called the Craft Cloud.

    “Success in global adaptation and production requires the dedication of true craftspeople who care deeply about their clients’ brands and who work tirelessly to drive maximum savings for our clients,” said Craft Worldwide CEO Fred Schuster. “We have assembled a team of the industry’s best, each with a rich and robust background in advertising, adaptation, design and production.”

    Craft Worldwide currently offers clients capabilities in a number of key areas:

    – A marketing operations consulting group that develops go-to-market models that yield maximum efficiency
    – An adaptation design capability that extends the reach of existing tactics into new audience and communication segments, while maintaining brand consistency
    – A world-class translation offering providing translation, transcreation and cultural consulting services
    – Access to a distribution network that can deliver a final asset to literally anywhere in the world
    – A technology platform that streamlines these capabilities and links them together through a cloud-based, highly secure interface

    To deliver these capabilities, Craft currently employs more than 570 full-time employees and is already working for many of the world’s leading brand marketers, such as Coca-Cola, L’Oréal, Aldi, General Mills, and Microsoft XBox, as well as supporting the Commonwealth Agency.

    With its global launch, Craft Worldwide becomes McCann Worldgroup‘s eighth major marketing solutions offering. “Craft is the perfect example of how we can leverage our talent, our global footprint and our ability to work quickly and cost-efficiently to drive our clients’ businesses forward,” said McCann Worldgroup Chairman & CEO Harris Diamond.

    “One key differentiator for Craft is our ability to design bespoke operating models for our clients. These unique plans leverage our vast network of low-cost hubs and have proven success both in maintaining brand consistency and in driving maximum efficiency,” explained Craft Worldwide COO Quinn O’Brien.

  • Director Kaneto Shindo dies at 100

    Director Kaneto Shindo dies at 100

    MUMBAI: Director Kaneto Shindo, whose last film Postcard was Japan‘s foreign language Oscar entry this year, passed away at his home in Tokyo yesterday morning. He was 100.

    Postcard was based partly on the director‘s own experience in World War II when he was one of only six survivors of a unit of 100 middle-aged men called up toward the end of the conflict. He shot Postcard at the age of 98, despite being wheelchair-bound and suffering from failing eyesight.

    “The crew had worked with him many times before, so they understood what his vision was. It was very emotional when they finished shooting as he knew it would be the last time they worked together,” Jiro Shindo, the director‘s son who acted as producer for Postcard had reportedly said late last year.

    Born in Hiroshima, Shindo entered the film business when he was 22, later working under legendary director Kenji . His career spanned nine decades, during which he directed 48 films and wrote 238 scripts.

  • Joy Mukherjee passes away

    Joy Mukherjee passes away

    MUMBAI: Joy Mukherjee, who had mouthed lilting songs like ‘Bade miyan deewane aise na bano‘ and ‘Sawere ka suraj tumhare liye hai‘ breathed his last this afternoon at the Lilavati Hospital.

    The 73-year old star, Mukherjee, was put on a ventilator a few days ago after he was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. He had not been keeping well for some time.

    Mukherjee made his acting debut in 1960 with Love In Simla. Post that he became popular with films like Shagird, Love in Tokyo, Bahu Beti, Ziddi, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, Puraskar, Ishaara and Hum Hindustani.

    He also directed movies like Love in Bombay (1974), Chhaila Babu (1977), Saanjh Ki Bela (1981) and Umeed (1989).

    Mukherjee hailed from a film family; his father Sashadhar Mukherjee, who had married legendary actor Ashok Kumar‘s sister Sati Devi, was the co-founder of Filmalaya Studios. His brothers are Deb and Shomu Mukherjee, father of Kajol and Tanisha Mukherjee.

    Mukherjee leaves behind wife Neelam and three children.

  • Brad Pitt-starrer Moneyball to close TIFF

    Brad Pitt-starrer Moneyball to close TIFF

    MUMBAI: Baseball film Moneyball, produced by Bennet Miller will close this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) on 30 October.

    Based on the 2003 book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, the film starring Brad Pitt as Oakland Athletics’ general manager Billy Beane tells the true story of how Beane attempted to compete with richer teams by ignoring much of baseball’s conventional wisdom in analyzing players.

    The film that was to have been directed by Steven Soderbergh, who was later replaced by Miller. Aaron Sorkin was also brought in to rework the script. Sorkin also wrote the script for The Social Network, TIFF’s opening film last year.

    Moneyball, that also features Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright, will be released in Japan by Sony Pictures Entertainment on 11 November.

    TIFF will have double opening films this year with Jackie Chan’s 1911 and The Three Musketeers will be screening at the TIFF on 22 October.
     

  • Reuters to deliver CCTV content globally

    Reuters to deliver CCTV content globally

    MUMBAI: Global news agency Reuters has announced that it will distribute China Central Television’s (CCTV) content and scripted footage to more than 700 broadcasters across the US, Europe, Asia and Africa beginning 10 February.

    The agreement with China’s state broadcaster marks the latest enhancement to its long-standing relationship with Reuters and will span political, economic, social, cultural, sports, and entertainment news categories.

    Reuters news agency MD Christoph Pleitgen said, “The extension of this relationship allows CCTV to broaden its reach into the global broadcasting community while simultaneously satisfying our clients’ increasing appetite for news from China. We hope these mutually beneficial relationships continue to present themselves in all corners of the world.”   
         
      This announcement follows the launch of Reuters America, the first phase in the global transformation of the Reuters news agency. The transformation will offer Reuters‘ clients a unified platform, delivering content from a variety of sources to meet the needs of publishers and broadcasters around the world.

    CCTV director of the International News Department Cao Ri said, “We are pleased that Reuters will assign a dedicated channel for CCTV News Content inside its TV distribution platform that will help CCTV in building its brand and international reputation as one of the world’s leading broadcasters”.

    Reuters currently provides bespoke business reporting to CCTV 2 and CCTV 9 from six bureaux: London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and New Delhi.

    Reuters has had a presence in China since 1871, expanding over the years to include news bureaux in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong which produce stories focused on treasury, commodities, investment and company news. Reuters Chinese News, the company’s Chinese language wire service, has been available since 1992 and carries daily coverage of China’s currency, government and corporate bond market.

    Most recently Cn.Reuters.com was ranked China’s leading international news portal by China Internet Weekly. It is a leading international business and financial website in China with more than 2.8 million unique visitors a month.
     

  • Amrita TV launches travelogue

    Amrita TV launches travelogue

    MUMBAI: Amrita Television, the 24 hour satellite channel announced the launch of its international travel show called “Sundara Bhoomi” (Beautiful Earth)

    Each episode will be anchored by a person who lives in the location .The idea is to provide the viewers with a familiar face ad at the same time a local guide to the locations featured. Anchors on the show include American actress Ashley Richardson, Australian host Kane Robinson and South Indian film star Divya Unni who now resides in the US.

    The show travels to various locations like Universal Studios, Niagara Falls, Swiss Alps, Tokyo, America’s Wild West, Australia and France.

    The show is jointly produced by an international crew from USA, Japan, France and India and will air from 4 February every Sunday at 12 pm as a 30-minute travelogue.

    Amrita TV has a global footprint covering Australia, Middle East, USA, Canada and parts of South Africa and now in UK and Europe. The show addresses both domestic and South Indian immigrant audiences abroad.

  • IBC to offer its new show, ‘VIP Passport’ at Mipcom

    IBC to offer its new show, ‘VIP Passport’ at Mipcom

    MUMBAI: Taking viewers behind the velvet ropes and into the first-class life of a jet-setter, International Broadcast Communications (IBC) is bringing LUX Entertainment’s VIP Passport to Mipcom’s global marketplace.

    VIP Passport will take viewers into the exotic lifestyle of five American jet-setters as they party at the hottest nightclubs, dine at the most exclusive restaurants, shop at the trendiest boutiques and party at the finest locales around the world.

    The 13-episode weekly series serves up extravagant settings, with intriguing plotlines—sure to leave viewers craving more.

    “The world is obsessed with the lives of today’s socialites,” says Founder and president of IBC Jon Helmrich.

    “VIP Passport allows viewers to virtually experience a fantasy lifestyle. It takes you into a world full of the hottest parties, the finest champaigne and the world’s most exotic cars. I am confident that this visually stunning show will be a hit at this year’s market.”

    Destinations for the series include Paris, Milan, Monaco, Rome, Belize, Singapore, Tokyo, Las Vegas, New York, Miami and Los Angeles among others.

    The new weekly one-hour program has been cleared on the FOX Television station group in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and is on track to be cleared in 85% of US television households by 30 October 2006, when the first-run series debuts in broadcast syndication.

  • CNN’s daily audience base up 35%: Pax Survey

    CNN’s daily audience base up 35%: Pax Survey

    MUMBAI: Global market research company Synovate Pax’s survey results reveal that CNN’s audience growth across the Asia Pacific region out-paced all gains for the news genre, with daily audiences up by a remarkable 35 per cent year-on-year.

    Further evidence of CNN’s pre-eminence is supported by results that show, the network is viewed by 14 per cent more people each week, and 16 per cent more each month, than all other news and business channels combined, informs an official release.

    This represents the sixth successive set of Pax results to show growth in CNN’s audience, claiming that one which also added 56 per cent more past-week viewers and 65 per cent more past-month viewers than the next placed news channel (BBC World).

    Turner International Asia Pacific VP of research Duncan Morris says, “With the fast pace of globalization more and more people find they need an international perspective so we are absolutely delighted with
    this further ringing endorsement of CNN’s newsgathering credentials.”

    “Our award winning coverage of global events has clearly resonated with our audience, particularly so as we are watched by 39 per cent more top management each day than any other measured channel.

    ” The benefits of this audience growth for advertisers are real as, for example, each month CNN now reaches 169,000 (+40per cent) more people planning to buy an LCD or plasma TV than it did a year ago, as well as 479,000 or 23 per cent more car owners,” adds Morris.

    The full-year survey results, conducted by Synovate, further reveal almost half (46 per cent) of CNN’s weekly audience view no other news/business channel during the course of a week, and 39 per cent of them remain loyal across a month.

    CNN.com remains the leading regional website, visited by 54 per cent more Pax respondents across a month than the next largest broadcaster or publisher’s website.

    Pax represents a universe of 14.2 million adults aged 25-64 within 11 Asia Pacific markets, including Australia (Sydney + Melbourne), Bangkok, Hong Kong, India (Delhi + Mumbai + Bangalore), Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo.

    These 14.2 million individuals consist of 13.0 million affluent adults, 3.8 million business decision makers and 0.8 million top management.With a total sample size of over 20,000, Pax fieldwork takes place continually throughout the year. Results are released each quarter on a rolling 4-quarters basis. The Q1-Q4 2005 period represents the latest Pax data release.