#Futureartists need your feedback, just started a new short film project, its going to be developed online http://ping.fm/Dk7ZX

Channel 4 (UK) is going to be cool again

After the success of the red-riding triliogy on Channel 4 earlier this year, is appears that Channel 4 are going to concentrate on quality drama out put, with an edge, something that has been lacking for years on BBC (except for 'The Street', which has been canceled after this series)

With ITV cutting its drama output and focusing on reality and cheap format (and also closing its Leeds studio operation) it looks like channel 4 is taking a bold move, and hopefully looking to americas HBO for insperation, they have signed up SHANE MEADOWS to develop a series based on 'This is England' see below,

Death Of Big Brother Triggers C4 Commissioning Spree

So Big Brother is to be evicted from the Channel 4 schedule in 2011. Once the broadcaster's cash cow, poor ratings for the current series have convinced management that it is time to cut its losses and freshen up the channel's output.

This is potentially a big boost for independent producers. While much of the talk in recent times has been of cutbacks at C4, the decision to drop BB will free up 200 hours of airtime across the broadcaster's channel portfolio.

In financial terms, C4 is said to have freed up around £50 million from its 2011 budget to spend on BB replacements. Comedy and drama are both expected to attract particular attention - something which will play out well in political circles as the debate about C4's future rumbles on. Expanding on the decision, C4 head Julian Bellamy said "we've got 18 months to transform the schedule. If you’ve got a brilliant idea, now’s the time to pitch it to C4."

Particular priorities are a long-running comedy soap in the mould of Teachers or Shameless and home-grown drama. £20 million has been set aside on top of the existing budget. Bellamy also wants entertainment-led stunts and events that can attract young audiences during the summer schedule.

The end of BB UK is a blow for producer/owner Endemol - which raked in around £60 million a year from its C4 deal. So far, other terrestrials have said they aren't interested in picking up the show. But it would be a surprise if the format didn't re-emerge on the UK TV landscape (unless Endemol decide to rest the brand for a couple of years).

posted 28th August, 2009

This Is England To Be Adapted For C4 TV Drama

A sign perhaps of the new Channel 4 ethos is the news that it has ordered a four-part drama based on Shane Meadows' 2007 film This Is England. Meadows will direct the drama - We Were Faces - his first outing on the small screen.

This is England was a £1.5 million budget film which was backed by FilmFour - going on to gross around £5-6 million worldwide. Released in the UK by Optimum, it went on to develop a cult following and critical acclaim.

In the TV adaptation, the story picks up four years on with the central character Sean about to leave school. Explaining the decision to continue the story, Meadows said: “When I finished This Is England I had a wealth of material that I felt very keen to take further. Out of my relationship with Film4 and Channel 4 the idea for a TV serial developed.”

The drama will be written by Meadows and Jack Thorne (Skins). As with This is England, it will be produced by Warp Films - whose MD Mark Herbert is series producer. The plan is for the drama to start shooting in spring 2010.

Other new drama commissions announced by Channel 4 include a four-part adaptation of William Boyd novel Any Human Heart and a four-part drama from Peter Kosminsky called Homeland. Homeland will explore the events and aftermath of the British Mandate in 1940s Palestine. "These projects show the quality and breadth of talent that Channel 4 drama continues to attract," says head of drama Liza Marshall. "We have a reputation for working with the best of British writers and directors, and although these three serials will look and feel very individual, what they do share are extraordinary characters, gripping story-telling and the passion and ambition their creators bring to them."

#oasis , the band that defined my generation with a soundtrack to my Teens and 20s is no more, expect an akward christmas dinner!!

asia set to push on 3D Film

While 3D filmmaking is still in the early stages in Asia, speakers at a forum held today by Korea’s Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) agreed that the technology is set to broaden the cinema-going demographic and help the Asian industry bust through tough economic times.

Producers across Asia are starting to develop 3D projects, which along with the slew of 3D Hollywood movies that are being released this year, is encouraging exhibitors to ramp up the number of 3D screens. Korea currently has 47 3D screens, while Japan has around 100 and China has more than 200.

San Fu Maltha of Singapore and Jakarta-based Komodo Films observed that the technology also alleviates one of the biggest problems facing the Asian film industry as it has yet to be successfully pirated.

“In Indonesia, we have about ten 3D screens, but they get more admissions than 2D and they cost sometimes up to double the ticket price,” said Maltha. “We saw withMy Bloody Valentine – which had already opened in the US and been pirated in Indonesia – that it still made it into the top ten for 3D screens because people wanted the experience of seeing it that way.”

Komodo is partnering with Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) to produce a slate of three 3D movies, the first of which, Brian Yuzna’sAmphibious, started shooting yesterday. The roughly $2.5m film, about prehistoric sea scorpions let loose by a tsunami, is set for release by April 2010.

While the English-language Amphibious is aimed at a younger demographic, both in Indonesia and overseas, Maltha observed that 3D technology could also bring older audiences back to the cinema to see content such as music concerts and nature documentaries.

Meanwhile, Joe Ikeda of Japan’s Asmik Ace Entertainment spoke of his company’s plans to increase theatrical revenues from 3D cinema, which he described as “something special” to lure audiences back into cinemas. Japan’s box office market is the largest in the world outside the US but has been flat for several years.

Asmik Ace recently wrapped principal photography on Japan’s first ever live-action 3D film, The Shock Labyrinth, directed by Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge). “We expect it to have potential at local cinemas as well as in international sales,” Ikeda said.

Kay Heeyoung Kim from Korean computer graphics house Macrograph noted that 3D films cost roughly 1.5 times as much as 2D films to produce. “However, we saw with Bolt that 3D screenings might account for only 16% of the total but bring in 50% of ticket sales.”

Macrograph, which has artists who formerly worked at ILM and James Cameron’s Digital Domain, is also working on a horror film that will be Korea’s first 3D movie. Details will be announced later during NAFF.

“People talk about the lack of technology but I think at present it’s a lack of access for audiences that is the bigger problem,” said Kim. “If we can get that, 3D is a great medium for genre films and can find a stable niche market.”

Kim added that 3D technology will also be developed for interactive home entertainment – including games, shopping and films through IPTV – but that this will simply increase the audience’s familiarity with the technology and not deter them from going to the cinema to see 3D films.

Held as part of the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan), NAFF is a projects market and seminar programme that focuses exclusively on genre movies.

The event’s focus on genre films with the potential for remake has helped attract of slew of US and European guests for its second edition, including producers Chris Lee (Superman Returns) and Mike Macari (The Ring) and former Fox Atomic exec Zak Kadison who spoke on a KOFIC panel about the US production system.

“Korea has led pop culture in Asia so that’s why we’re here looking for the next remake,” said Lee.

NAFF runs until Thursday (July 23), while PiFan wraps on Sunday (July 26).

My new film 'The actors guide to survival' coming soon, add me on FB for more info http://ping.fm/KAvWp

Mark is on Holiday until 1st of sept, see you all when i get back.

Just watched inglorious basterds, Tarantino has made his first non english language film, snuck that in, was impressed and enjoyed.

Salfords Tree of Knowledge to be DESTROYED by the COUNTY COUNCIL!!! In 24hrs http://tiny.cc/xNL1d help stop it!!!!!

Disney Chief Bullish on Online Content Monetization

Disney Chief Bullish on Online Content Monetization

By Mansha Daswani

Published: July 23, 2009

PASADENA: Speaking at a conference in California, Robert Iger, the president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, was optimistic that viewers will be willing to pay to access content on the Internet and hinted at plans for a Disney-branded subscription service delivering TV series and movies.

"People are willing to pay for quality," Iger is quoted as saying. "They are willing to pay for choice. They are willing to pay for convenience."

He made the comments at Fortune's Brainstorm: Tech conference in Pasadena, California. Iger noted that people still pay $5 per hour to go watch a movie, 75 cents an hour to read books and magazines, 50 cents an hour to watch cable and 25 cents an hour to access the Internet. "There's plenty of room for people to spend more money on for things they are doing online. I think it is wrong to assume that because there is a lot on the Internet that is free that it is going to be impossible to monetize."

Iger continued: "We're not monetizing as much as we do in our traditional business. It's very early in the timeline. I think there is going to be ample opportunity to improve monetization from advertising online."

Iger added that the company is developing a subscription service that would deliver TV shows and movies from the Disney library, but did not offer up any additional details. "Subscription has the most promise because people will pay to subscribe to something that is really good. Our brand offers us some rich opportunities for subscription," he said.

BBC Launches on XBOX LIVE

BBC Earth Launches on Xbox LIVE Marketplace By Kristin Brzoznowski Published: July 22, 2009 NEW YORK: For the first time in the U.S., BBC natural-history programming such as The Blue Planet and Walking with Dinosaurs is available for purchase and download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Zune Marketplace. Starting today, customers can purchase single episodes of BBC Earth content—representing the BBC’s natural-history content spanning the last 50 years—such as David Attenborough’s Life in Cold Blood and Life in the Freezer, Walking with Beasts, Walking with Cavemen, Wild South America and Galapagos. Further titles will be added to Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Zune Marketplace in the coming weeks. BBC Worldwide has a host of programming available to purchase and download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Zune Marketplace, including shows from BBC AMERICA such as Top Gear, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Little Britain, Robin Hood and Primeval.