Tag: USA Today

  • DreamWorks in talks to acquire feature film rights to Stedman’s debut novel

    DreamWorks in talks to acquire feature film rights to Stedman’s debut novel

    MUMBAI: DreamWorks Studios co-chairman and CEO Stacey Snider has revealed that it is in exclusive talks to acquire the feature film rights to M.L. Stedman‘s debut novel "The Light Between Oceans".
    Heyday Films‘ David Heyman (Harry Potter series, Gravity) will produce the film adaptation along with Jeffrey Clifford. Rosie Alison, who brought the book into Heyday, will be the executive producer.
    The film is based on a remote Australian island in the years following World War I, where a lighthouse keeper and his wife are faced with a moral dilemma when a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a two-month-old infant. When they decide to raise the child as their own, the consequences of their choice are devastating.
    "M.L. Stedman has crafted a visually stunning and emotionally harrowing love story with a confounding moral dilemma at its center," said Stacey Snider in the media. "We were completely transfixed by the story and instantly imagined it as a sweeping, classic film. David Heyman is an ideal partner to bring Stedman‘s story to the screen," he added.
    "I was deeply affected by M. L. Stedman‘s powerful and primal story of human choices and their consequences," said Heyman. "It‘s a novel which tackles grand emotions, but everything is rooted within an intimate yet universal story of marital and parental love. I am excited to be working with such sympathetic partners in Stacey and the team at DreamWorks."
    ‘I‘m both thrilled and incredibly honored that filmmakers of the caliber of DreamWorks and David Heyman are combining their brilliance in plans to bring the book to the big screen," said Stedman.
    ‘The Light Between Oceans‘ was published in the United States in July 2012 by Scribner and has appeared on both the New York Times and USA Today‘s bestseller lists, and others internationally, as well as being selected as Amazon‘s Best Book of the Month for August. It is due to be translated into nearly 30 languages.
    Negotiations are being handled by Nick Marston of Curtis Brown in association with Sue Armstrong of Conville and Walsh.

  • Critical Mention names CNBC’s Ron Insana to its board of directors

    Critical Mention names CNBC’s Ron Insana to its board of directors

    MUMBAI: Critical Mention, Inc., the web-based television search and monitoring service for corporate communications and business intelligence professionals, has named former CNBC anchor Ron Insana to its board of directors effective immediately.

    Insana, who remains a regular contributor to CNBC, will also provide strategic direction and counsel in support of Critical Mention’s new ad-supported video syndication platform. This platform enables broadcasters and other content producers to monetise their content and extend their brand in the “long tail” of the internet by syndicating video clips to the thousands of vertical web sites looking for specific content of interest for their end users.

    “I’m very excited about my involvement with Critical Mention and am especially bullish about the new video syndication service. The syndication service promises to revolutionise the way web sites search and publish timely and relevant rich media clips from respected broadcasters and content providers. More importantly, it will also give broadcasters new opportunities to reach and prove their value to wider audiences online,” said Insana.

    Critical Mention founder and CEO Sean Morgan added, “We’re delighted to have Ron join the board. Ron’s reputation in the industry, willingness to challenge convention and understanding of our business model make him a great addition to the company.”

    Insana joined CNBC in 1991. He was a regular contributor to NBC’s Today Show and The Nightly News with Brian Williams, as well as to Imus in the Morning and Market Wrap on sister network MSNBC, and other programs when market activity warranted. Additionally, Insana has written a monthly column for USA Today entitled “Talking Business with Ron Insana” and hosted the nationally syndicated radio program, The Ron Insana Show, for Westwood One.

    He was also nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award as part of NBC’s coverage of 9/11, and in 1999, was named one of the top 100 business news journalists of the century by TJFR Group.