ITV

Tag: Twentieth Century Fox

  • Sky Broadband to launch co-branded campaign with ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’

    Sky Broadband to launch co-branded campaign with ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’

    MUMBAI: Sky has joined forces with Twentieth Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation to create a brand new campaign featuring characters from DreamWorks Animation’s latest feature Kung Fu Panda 3 to promote Sky Broadband. 

     

    The new campaign, which launches on Christmas Day, features the characters from the latest Kung Fu Panda 3 film, which will be premiering in the UK on 11 March, 2016. The bespoke 50 second animated advert shows us what life is like inside the peaceful paradise that is the Panda Village – and how unreliable internet can disrupt everyone’s ‘feng shui.’

     

    In the TV ad, Po’s biological father Li Shan is seen lulling the last of the baby pandas to sleep so he can snack on his favourite dumplings. Not wanting to miss the picturesque moment, Po and his adoptive father, Mr. Ping, decide to film it on their tablet as Li Shan adds some flavour to his dumplings with pepper. Unwittingly, he sprinkles some on one of the baby pandas which causes it to let out an almighty sneeze, startling Li Shan in the process and setting off a chain reaction of sneezing baby pandas.

     

    Po, delighted at what he has just captured, decides to upload the hilarious video but is hindered by a slow internet connection. Mr. Ping, points out that they wouldn’t have had this issue if they had Sky Broadband, which is now available in the Sky Broadband Big Sale. The campaign will also feature on radio as well as on digital platforms, print media and on posters across Britain. 

     

    In the Sky Broadband Big Sale, new customers can get 12 months free Sky Broadband Unlimited, on a 12 month contract, or take advantage of half price Sky Fibre offers.

     

    Sky Broadband director Lyssa McGowan said, “We’re delighted to have teamed up Twentieth Century Fox Film Company and DreamWorks Animation to come up with a truly great ad. We’re sure our customers will love it just as much as our great broadband deals. ”

     

    To preview the ad, click here.

  • Twentieth Century Fox & Imax ink maiden multi-film deal

    Twentieth Century Fox & Imax ink maiden multi-film deal

    MUMBAI: Twentieth Century Fox and Imax Corporation have entered into their first long-term, multi-picture agreement.

     

    Their first joint multi-picture agreement includes future tentpoles from the Fox slate, including Deadpool, Independence Day Resurgence,Maze Runner: The Death Cure and the studio’s untitled Wolverine project.

     

    “We are very happy to announce this new global affiliation with Imax and look forward to offering our audiences another choice in their viewing of our movies. We look forward to working with our partners in what is sure to be an exciting and rewarding future,” said Twentieth Century Fox president of worldwide marketing and distribution Paul Hanneman, president of domestic theatrical distribution Chris Aronson.

     

    “We are extremely pleased to enter into this strategic alliance with Fox, with whom we have experienced some of our greatest successes. Given their exciting upcoming slate, the agreement makes strategic sense for both companies. We are also excited to be able to release blockbusters together in China, which we think could help Imax and Fox expand our footprint in that market jointly,” said Imax Corp CEO Richard L. Gelfond.

     

    “With this new multi-picture deal, Imax closes the loop among the Hollywood studios and takes our relationship with Fox to a new level. We are excited to bring this particular slate of films to Imax fans worldwide,” said Imax Corp senior executive vice president and Imax Entertainment CEO Greg Foster.

     

    The Imax release of each film will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The Imax Experience with proprietary Imax DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images, coupled with Imax’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

  • Major Hollywood studios embrace Dolby’s Total Cinema experience

    Major Hollywood studios embrace Dolby’s Total Cinema experience

    MUMBAI: Five new Hollywood features, including the first two titles from Twentieth Century Fox, will be joining the Dolby Cinema experience featuring Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

     

    The Sony Pictures title The Perfect Guy, in theatres 11 September; Twentieth Century Fox’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials directed by Wes Ball, in theatres 18 September; and Ridley Scott’s The Martian, in theatres 2 October; followed by the Warner Bros. Pictures title Pan, in theatres 9 October, and In the Heart of the Sea (Village Roadshow Pictures), in theatres 11 December, will deliver a sense of fear, adrenaline, and fun when experienced at a Dolby Cinema location.

     

    “We are delighted to see a dynamic slate of movies, with all the major Hollywood studios embracing today’s most advanced and powerful imaging and sound technologies. Dolby Cinema has demonstrated that it can transport the audience into a new world of action-packed blockbusters with booming sounds, but can also pack animated films with heart and emotion,” said Dolby Laboratories senior vice president, cinema Doug Darrow. 

     

    Dolby Cinema begins with the filmmaker’s vision—using the full storytelling capabilities that Dolby offers in image and sound production to transform the way movies are made. Combined with state-of-the-art image, sound, and acoustic capabilities, the movie comes alive to deliver cinema in its purest form.

  • EU files anti-trust charges against Sky TV & major Hollywood studios

    EU files anti-trust charges against Sky TV & major Hollywood studios

    MUMBAI: The European Commission has filed anti-trust charges against Sky UK and six major US film studios namely Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros, accusing them of unfairly restricting customers’ access to content within the European Union.

     

    The Commission takes the preliminary view that each of the six studios and Sky UK have bilaterally agreed to put in place contractual restrictions that prevent Sky UK from allowing EU consumers located elsewhere to access, via satellite or online, pay-TV services available in the UK and Ireland. Without these restrictions, Sky UK would be free to decide on commercial grounds whether to sell its pay-TV services to such consumers requesting access to its services, taking into account the regulatory framework including, as regards online pay-TV services, the relevant national copyright laws.

     

    If the Commission’s preliminary position were to be confirmed, each of the companies would have breached EU competition rules prohibiting anti-competitive agreements. The sending of a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

     

    EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said, “European consumers want to watch the pay-TV channels of their choice regardless of where they live or travel in the EU. Our investigation shows that they cannot do this today, also because licensing agreements between the major film studios and Sky UK do not allow consumers in other EU countries to access Sky’s UK and Irish pay-TV services, via satellite or online. We believe that this may be in breach of EU competition rules. The studios and Sky UK now have the chance to respond to our concerns.”

     

    US film studios typically license audio-visual content, such as films, to a single pay-TV broadcaster in each Member State (or combined for a few Member States with a common language). The Commission’s investigation, which was opened in January 2014, identified clauses in licensing agreements between the six film studios and Sky UK, which require Sky UK to block access to films through its online pay-TV services (geo-blocking) or through its satellite pay-TV services to consumers outside its licensed territory (UK and Ireland).

     

    The Commission’s preliminary view as set out in the Statement of Objections is that such clauses restrict Sky UK’s ability to accept unsolicited requests for its pay-TV services from consumers located abroad, i.e. from consumers located in Member States where Sky UK is not actively promoting or advertising its services (passive sales). Some agreements also contain clauses requiring studios to ensure that, in their licensing agreements with broadcasters other than Sky UK, these broadcasters are prevented from making their pay-TV services available in the UK and Ireland.

     

    As a result, these clauses grant ‘absolute territorial exclusivity’ to Sky UK and/or other broadcasters. They eliminate cross-border competition between pay-TV broadcasters and partition the internal market along national borders. The Commission’s preliminary conclusion is that, in the absence of convincing justification, the clauses would constitute a serious violation of EU rules that prohibit anticompetitive agreements (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).

     

    The Commission previously also set out concerns as regards licensing agreements between the film studios and other major European broadcasters (Canal Plus of France, Sky Italia of Italy, Sky Deutschland of Germany and DTS of Spain). The Commission continues to examine cross-border access to pay-TV services in these Member States.

     

    These antitrust investigations focus on contractual restrictions on passive sales outside the licensed territory in agreements between studios and broadcasters. At the same time, broadcasters also have to take account of the applicable regulatory framework beyond EU competition law when considering sales to consumers located elsewhere. This includes, for online pay-TV services, relevant national copyright laws. In this context, in parallel to its actions under EU competition law, the Commission will propose to modernise EU copyright rules and review the EU Satellite and Cable Directive as part of its Digital Single Market Strategy adopted in May 2015. The aim is to reduce the differences between national copyright regimes and allow for wider access to online content across the EU.

     

    Background

    EU antitrust rules prohibit the restriction of passive sales, i.e. the sales of products cross-border in the internal market responding to demands from customers not solicited by the seller. In its October 2011 ruling on the Premier League/Murphy cases, the EU Court of Justice specifically addressed the issue of absolute territorial restrictions in licence agreements for broadcasting services. The Court held that certain licensing provisions preventing a satellite broadcaster from providing its broadcasts to consumers outside the licensed territory enable each broadcaster to be granted absolute territorial exclusivity in the area covered by the license, thus eliminating all competition between broadcasters and partitioning the market in accordance with national borders.

     

    As part of its Digital Single Market strategy, the Commission will propose to reform EU copyright rules. It seeks to improve people’s access to cultural content online as well as to open new opportunities for creators and the content industry. More specifically, the Commission wants to ensure that users who buy online content such as films, music or articles at home can also enjoy them while travelling across Europe.

     

    Currently, service providers, in particular in the audio-visual sector, may be prevented from providing such portability features by copyright licensing arrangements. The Commission also wants to facilitate wider access to online content across borders. In this context, the Satellite and Cable Directive will be reviewed and a public consultation will be launched after the summer. The Commission will notably assess if the scope of the Directive needs to be enlarged to broadcasters’ online transmissions.

  • Colors Infinity to launch amidst 25 city marketing blitzkrieg

    Colors Infinity to launch amidst 25 city marketing blitzkrieg

    MUMBAI: Moving towards a new horizon in the English entertainment space in the country, the soon to be launched Colors Infinity from Viacom18 stable is all set to break new ground by ushering in the growing trend of ‘Essential Viewing’ – An immersive experience of watching three continuous episodes of globally applauded narratives back to back. The channel is expected to launch by July end.

     

    The experience will be further augmented by the ‘First Indian Premiere’ of a new show every day of the week that includes critically acclaimed and multi-award winning series like Fargo, Orange Is The New Black, Better Call Saul, The Flash, amongst others. The channel has been co-curated by Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt, bringing in a great blend of finesse and insight to the channel through curating world class content.

     

    Viacom 18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats said, “In 2008 Viacom18 scripted the first few pages of its journey to establish its first milestone in Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors, thereafter disrupting the genre landscape. In 2015, we once again embark on a journey to recreate history, this time in the English entertainment space with Colors Infinity. Our first home grown English entertainment channel for India, through its many firsts, is all set to subvert convention in the genre through providing a consummate viewing experience.”  

     

    In unprecedented acquisition for the Indian market, the network has entered into major multi-year deals with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Century Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, BBC and Endemol Shine amongst others.

     

    Viacom18 EVP and head English entertainment Ferzad Palia said, “Colors Infinity is ready to be the absolute for the best in English language entertainment with its handpicked international content and extensive multi genre offering. Adding to the immersive experience, the innovation of facilitating essential viewing is set to be a definitive game changer through inviting newer audience and growing the viewership pie.”

     

    Palia added, “Till September, we will telecast seasons already aired in the US and update Indian viewers, and then eventually when the new series starts in the US we will have simultaneous screenings. This is something which will stop people from illegal streaming. Fresh content was unavailable to them as channels were telecasting repeats even in the primetime so they were forced to take the pirated route. No one indulges piracy for fun, it’s just that they lack options.”

     

    Launched after a thorough research spanning over 24 months, the network has roped in four brands as launch partners viz. L’Oreal, Renault, Grey Goose and Intigriti. All these four brands will have presence on the channel post launch too.

     

    The launch will be backed by high decibel marketing campaign in over 25 cities across the country. Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt will play the anchor role and every promotional strategy will be orchestrated around them. The promo featuring the Kjo and Alia Bhatt will reverberate both on digital and television. “Most of the creative, promos, packaging, graphics have been created by our in-house creative team and I am delighted that we have such an innovative team who has won many global accolades,” informed Palia.

     

    Programming

     

    1) My Kitchen Rules: Every day, at 8 pm.

     

    2) The Flash Season 1: Three back to back episodes, every Monday at 9 pm.

     

    3)The Musketeers: Three back to back episodes, every Tuesday at 9 pm.

     

    4) Forever season 1: Three back to back episodes, every Wednesday at 9pm.

     

    5) The Big C: Three back to back episodes, every Thursday 9pm.

     

    6)The Orange Is The New Black: Three back to back episodes, every Friday at 9pm.

     

    7)Better Call Saul: Three back to back episodes, every Saturday at 9 pm.

     

    8) Fargo: Three back to back episodes, every Sunday at 9 pm.  

     

    The channel will have seven day programming instead of five. Not just this, the 8pm to 12 pm slot will be the primetime slot where original content will be premiered. “Colors Infinity will strictly avoid showing repeats in primetime and will offer viewers exquisite content,” concluded Palia.

  • Viacom18 bullish on English entertainment; launches Colors Infinity

    Viacom18 bullish on English entertainment; launches Colors Infinity

    MUMBAI: The English general entertainment channel (GEC) bouquet is set to get bigger with the launch of Viacom18’s Colors Infinity. The channel is in keeping with the network’s philosophy of growing and deepening its presence in the genres it is present in. 

     

    The to be launched channel will have both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) feeds. With the addition of the new channel, Viacom18’s English entertainment channel bouquet will now have four offerings namely VH1, Comedy Central, Colors Infinity and Colors Infinity HD. 

     

    Even before its launch Colors Infinity has acquired 2000 hours of original content from across studios, including the likes of NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Century Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, BBC, Endemol Shine and a host of other independent and small studios. “These are all multiyear deals,” said Viacom18 EVP head – English Entertainment Ferzad Palia. 

     

    Additionally, the new English GEC, which has spent close to a year and a half in curating content, will have shows from across genres like drama, comedy, super heroes, talent, lifestyle, action, mini-series and live events. 

     

    The channel, which aims to target approximately 30 million consumers countrywide, at the time of launch, is using a phase wise marketing strategy. The first of this is informing consumers about the channel by using the well entrenched ‘Colors’ brand name. 

     

    “Colors by far is perceived as a successful media brand. It is also known for its disruptive and progressive programming and that is what Colors Infinity is about. The idea behind using the name Colors Infinity is to build a broader base of people,” informed Palia. 

     

    For Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, using the brand Colors is part of the network’s GEC approach. “If you look at our Hindi or regional channels, it is under the ‘Colors’ brand. So from a strategic perspective it fits well. Also Colors is a very urban and inspirational brand. It will have a lot of resonance and appeal with the right set of people that we want to reach out to,” said Vats. 

     

    The channel has roped in director-producer Karan Johar and actor Alia Bhatt as co-curators. The duo has worked closely with the channel on picking shows and giving insights on the programming. “Together the two of them have over 10 million Twitter followers and through them we plan to build relevance with a greater audience. They will be integrally involved with the marketing campaign as well,” said Palia. 

     

    Colors Infinity will not charge premium subscription for the channel and will work on the advertisement and subscription model. “The Indian market has so far not grown enough for channels to make money with just subscription. In the future, may be after cable starts billing and there is addressability, it may start generating revenue,” opined Vats. 

     

    Targeting viewers in the age group of 15 – 50 years, Colors Infinity is looking at a distinctive scheduling strategy. “It will be disruptive and something which has never been done in India before. We are mapping it the way a consumer would want to watch it,” informed Palia, adding that the content will comprise Indian television premieres. 

     

    While the network already has highly targeted channels in VH1, which is a pure music and lifestyle channel and Comedy Central, a comedy channel, both Vats and Palia feel that the viewership will not get cannibalized. “We are not here to eat from a small pie, we are here to grow the pie. In fact with time, we will have more switchers from competition channels than our own cluster,” asserted Palia.

     

    According to Vats, all the channels will co-exist. “Colors Infinity is a GEC, while the others are sharply targeted channels. This is how it is worldwide,” added Vats.  

     

    The growing English entertainment genre 

     

    According to Palia, this is the ‘Golden age of television.’ “The production of TV series in the US and UK was up 400 per cent in the past five years. This can be attributed to the growth of cable, over the top services and the aggressive nature of networks in the US and UK,” he opined. 

     

    Talking from an Indian market perspective, Palia said that English entertainment in India was now becoming main stream. “Close to 250 million Indians now are English literates, whereas 10 years ago, it was close to 25-30 million. It is the second language to most now,” he pointed out. 

     

    English entertainment genre currently reaches to 200 million consumers. “We have added 20 per cent viewers in the genre post DAS and our advertising revenue over the past five years has grown by 60 per cent. Not just this, close to 60 per cent of English entertainment consumption is coming from non-metros,” informed Palia. 

     

    Palia is of the opinion that from an advertiser’s perspective, the genre is lucrative as English entertainment consumers have 35 per cent higher disposable income. 

     

    Addressing the issue of ‘torent’ing, Palia said that the habit has been inculcated by broadcasters themselves. “We have forced consumers to go and download. Research shows that people do not download just because they want to watch content immediately after the US launch. The real reason is that they aren’t getting enough content that they should be. There is plethora of content that is not even brought to the country,” he said.

     

    While the shows are first aired in the US in September and go on till May, Palia points out that in India viewers have to wait for the first episode till May. “There is a huge time gap and through our new offering, we will be taking care of this aspect,” he informed. 

     

    According to Palia, the English entertainment genre has never really invited a much larger base of people who understand the language and are watching the content in their personal space and not on TV. “We want to be that channel, which takes the category to a larger audience. We are not going mass, but since English is now main stream, we are reaching out to a wider base,” concluded Palia.

  • MPAA extends CEO Chris Dodd’s contract to 2018

    MPAA extends CEO Chris Dodd’s contract to 2018

    MUMBAI: The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) has extended chairman CEO Chris Dodd’s contract to 2018.

     

    In a joint statement, MPAA member companies’ representatives namely – Twentieth Century Fox chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, Paramount Pictures chairman and CEO Brad Grey, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Michael Lynton, NBC Universal vice chairman Ron Meyer, Universal Filmed Entertainment chairman Jeff Shell, Warner Bros. Entertainment chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara said, “We are pleased to announce that Chris has agreed to extend his contract into 2018. He has been an impactful leader and a vigorous champion for the industry. We are confident he will continue to effectively help steer our interests through a challenging media and policy landscape and represent our member companies around the globe.”

     

    Dodd added, “I am grateful to our member companies for their continued support. This is an exciting time of almost unparalleled creativity and innovation in film and television and I look forward to continuing to promote and protect that creativity, and the jobs of the men and women who go to work in this industry every day.”

  • ‘The Monuments Men’ team get an access to Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’

    ‘The Monuments Men’ team get an access to Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’

    MUMBAI: The team of The Monuments Men got an unprecedented access to photograph the cast of the movie in front of one of the world’s greatest art masterpieces – Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

     

    This art masterpiece was in danger of being lost during WWII and was rescued by the Monuments Men as depicted in the film, so there is a direct correlation to the film. These images have been shot exclusively for Fox by Italian photographer Gianmarco Chieregato.

     

    It became possible because of the cooperation among the Italian Ministry for Culture and Tourism, the Milan’s Monuments, Fine Arts and Landscape Department, and Twentieth Century Fox, the film distribution company.

     

    “The Magificent Seven” in the snapshot are: the director, screenwriter, producer and star of the film George Clooney and co-stars Matt Damon, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, and Dimitri Leonidas. 

     

    The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci is the set of one of the opening scenes of the film that will release on 21 February, because the bombing that endangered Leonardo’s masterpiece strongly contributed to the decision to set up the Monuments Men, a group of art critics, museum curators, and archivists, who towards the end of the Second World War, saved thousands of artworks from bombings, pilfering, looting and Nazi barbarity.

  • Journey… stays strong in 4h week too

    Journey… stays strong in 4h week too

    MUMBAI: With no strong competition, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island held on to the top box office spot grossing $14.7 million from 6,600 screens in 52 territories.

    The family adventure co-starring Josh Hutcherson and Dwayne Johnson opened at No. 4 in Germany by roping in $1.7 million from 438 screens. Till now, Journey 2’s total foreign box office stands at $184.5 million, that is 29 per cent more than the overseas tally compiled by Journey To The Center Of The Earth.

    Universal’s 3D animation title, Dr. Seuss’The Lorax, that opened No. 1 domestically, tested international waters on the weekend by way of 43 Middle Eastern dates, grossed $500,000. The distributor plans a big overseas push late this month for Easter holidays. More than 60 territories will play the adaptation of the children’s classic over the next five months.
     
    Opening in eight markets, Twentieth Century Fox’s romantic comedy This Means War drew in $14.1 million in the weekend playing at 3,962 screens in 51 markets and grossing an overseas gross total to $43.2 million.

    Making its debut in five markets, Universal’s Safe House hoisted its foreign gross total to $51.6 million thanks to $10.8 million weekend at 3.500 situations in 50 territories.

    Fourth was DreamWorks/Disney’s young-man-and-horse drama, War Horse, that made $10.6 million in the weekend playing in 52 territories. The total foreign gross total of the film now stands at $79.1 million.

    No 5 was Director Martin Scorsese’s Hugo that grossed $9.6 million in the weekend at 2,091 venues in 34 territories.

  • Fox prepones This Means War release

    Fox prepones This Means War release

    MUMBAI: Twentieth Century Fox has preponed the release of McG‘s This Means War. The film, that was to open on February 17 will now open on February 13 hoping to woo couples.

    It is said that the studio decided to move up the release by three days after strong test screenings. “Starting Valentine‘s Day, we‘re making war, not love. We‘re armed and ready with the perfect movie. This is a picture that has it all — humor, charm, wit and action — and it plays through the roof,” Fox president of distribution Bruce Snyder has been quoted to have said.

    In the film starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, Pine and Hardy portray the world‘s deadliest CIA operatives, as well as inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman (Witherspoon) and use their incomparable skills against each other.

    The other Valentine‘s Day offering is Screen Gems‘ drama The Vow starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.