Los Angeles – Emmy-nominated production company Big Fantastic has signed on as a signatory to the Writers Guild of America, West. Going forward, all new media content produced by the company will be made in accordance with the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (“MBA”). Big Fantastic becomes the 33rd digital company to become signatory under the Guild’s recently won jurisdiction in the digital and mobile space. Big Fantastic has storytelling on multiple platforms and emerging technologies as well as more traditional outlets. Prom Queen streamed over 20-million times online, was featured on Verizon phones and sold to over 45 countries, including a successful format adaptation for Japanese mobile. It is now available on DVD. After Foreign Body was featured on Borders.com, it was re-edited for television and sold in multiple foreign markets.
Big Fantastic co-founder Doug Cheney said: “The Guild has done a great job of recognizing and legitimizing the efforts of online creators like us. We chose to become a signatory now because it affords us tremendous opportunities as writers while allowing our company access to the vast WGA talent pool.”
“Now is a crucial time in the history of online entertainment. As it continues to demonstrate its tremendous potential for growth, it becomes ever more important for creators to stand together and make certain that their work is covered by a Writers Guild contract,” said WGAW Executive Director David Young.
To date, 73 successful web projects, including original works such as Dr.
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BENTONVILLE, Ark., Feb. 22, 2010 -- Walmart announced today a definitive agreement to acquire VUDU, Inc., a leading provider of digital technologies and services that enable the delivery of entertainment content directly to broadband high-definition TVs and Blu-ray players. The deal is expected to close within the next few weeks.
VUDU is a revolutionary service, built into a growing number of broadband-ready TVs and Blu-ray players, that delivers instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows directly through the television. Customers with broadband Internet access and an Internet-ready TV or Blu-ray player can rent or purchase movies, typically in high-definition, without needing a connected computer or cable/satellite service. New movies and features will be added continually, enabling customers to enjoy a product that continues to become more robust long after they have left the store.
"The real winner here is the customer," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman for Walmart. "Combining VUDU's unique digital technology and service with Walmart's retail expertise and scale will provide customers with unprecedented access to home entertainment options as they migrate to a digital environment."
VUDU has licensing agreements with almost every major movie studio and dozens of independent and international distributors to offer approximately 16,000 movies, including the largest 1080p library of video on-demand movies available anywhere. Via their broadband Internet connection, users have the ability to rent or buy titles and begin viewing them instantly.
VUDU will continue developing entertainment and information delivery solutions such as VUDU Apps, a platform that delivers hundreds of streaming Internet
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According to an announcement by both companies today, Verizon's FiOS TV will be the first affiliate to offer HBO Go, the premium network's broadband video portal, with 600 hours of content available to subscribers. See their statement: Read More »
LOS ANGELES – February 10, 2010 – A Squared Entertainment (A2), a full-service brand entertainment company, and Archie Comics, the leading producer of comic book entertainment, announced today an exciting collaboration with Stan Lee, founder, chairman and chief creative officer (CCO) of POW! Entertainment (PK:POWN), to create a new print and digital comic book line from the most successful comic book entertainment producer of all time. Lee is also known as the co-creator of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, and Iron Man, among many others.
Scheduled for release first is a new, original multimedia series called
“Super Seven” to be distributed in print, online, on air and at retail. It’s the story about seven aliens who find themselves stranded on planet Earth after their spaceship crashes, only to be befriended by none other than Lee himself. Taking them under his care, Lee becomes their leader and enables them to resume their lives as superheroes on earth.
“A2 Entertainment is humbled and honored to be collaborating with such a legendary figure in the entertainment industry,” A2 Entertainment Co-Founder and CEO Andy Heyward says. “Stan Lee has been delivering groundbreaking entertainment to consumers for decades and we couldn’t be more excited to venture into the digital space together and introduce him to a new generation of fans.”
"Stan Lee is a global icon. He has single handedly changed modern entertainment. His legendary creations are timeless," says Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater. "Archie Comics is incredibly proud to be working with Stan Lee in publishing
‘Super Seven’.”
“Nothing
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LONDON - Channel 4 has announced the appointment of David Abraham, 46, as its new Chief Executive. Abraham, who is currently Chief Executive of leading multi-channel digital broadcaster UKTV, will take up his new post at a date to be confirmed. He replaces Andy Duncan, who stepped down in November last year.
Lord Burns, Channel 4’s Chairman, said: "The board spoke to a number of other candidates and considered many more as part of a very thorough process and we’re convinced that, in David, we have identified a creative manager of the highest quality. He has a track record of success as a Chief Executive and the right mix of skills to get all parts of Channel 4 working together to unlock our full creative and commercial potential and complete our transition into digital.”
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London/New York – January 19, 2010 – Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment today announced the creation of a new long-term global venture to focus on the production and exploitation of music, television, film and digital content. The new venture will own all of the existing Syco television and music assets, which include the global TV franchises "The X Factor" and "Got Talent", as well as Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle and Il Divo. The new venture, which will continue to use the "Syco" name, will be co-owned by Sony Music and a Simon Cowell-owned company. Syco will be based in London and will also have offices in Los Angeles.
As the first project under the new Syco banner, Fox Television announced (on January 11th) that it will launch the U.S. version of the worldwide hit TV show, “The X Factor”, in the fall of 2011. Cowell will serve as both executive producer and judge on the U.S. version of the show. “The X Factor” is a Syco-owned television format, which currently airs in 17 countries and has been the #1 UK entertainment show for the last three years, reaching record UK audiences in 2009 of 20 million with 60% audience share. “The X Factor” is the No.1 music- entertainment format in Europe.
In addition to "The X Factor", Syco is also the owner of the "Got Talent" TV format which currently airs in 27 countries and is the UK’s most successful TV format export. In 2009, “Britain’s Got Talent” launched the
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From Deadline|London editor Tim Adler: The number of television channels in Europe continued to nudge upwards in 2009 despite the global recession. There are 7,200 television channels based in Europe. If you take into account U.S. channels and others being beamed into the EU, the number of channels available to European viewers reaches a staggering 8,600. Movie channels and television drama continue to dominate in terms of channel genre. There were 496 movie and drama channels in the 27 European Union member states last year. Sports were in second place with 419 channels followed by light entertainment (318 channels).
There were 25 more television channels being watched in European homes overall last year. The most popular genre for new channels were sports channels (38 new channels in 2009), followed by children’s channels (17 launches). Although 245 new European channels launched, there were about 220 closures. Almost half of the closures came from Spain, where Prisa Group shut down 100 local Spanish channels. Other notable closures included MTV closing its Baltic versions and the Setanta Group’s botched attempt to show UK Premier League football (ESPN took over control of soccer rights). According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, the Strasbourg-based film and television data organisation, Italy is the second busiest hub for TV channels, hosting 388, followed by France (297), Germany (227) and then Spain (195).
Remember when Britain had only the BBC and ITV? Then came the launch of Channel 4 in the mid-1980s. Well, Britain now hosts more than a thousand ... Read More »
Los Angeles, Calif., October 19, 2009 – Peter Levinsohn, President of New Media and Digital Distribution for Fox Filmed Entertainment (FFE), today announced the appointment of Roger Mincheff to the newly-created position of Senior Vice President of Branded Entertainment for digital content. Reporting to Levinsohn, Mincheff will be responsible for monetizing all made-for-digital content for the company’s vast portfolio of production entities.
Levinsohn also announced the formation of Fox Digital Studios (FDS), a new group dedicated to the development, production and distribution of original and derivative programming for initial release on new and emerging media platforms. Former Fox Atomic executive David Worthen Brooks will oversee creative for the new digital studio, guiding the group’s content strategy and all creative aspects of show development and production. Mincheff will work closely with FDS to drive revenue for content developed by the new group.
“All of our production entities are exploring digital platforms as a means to tell new stories to new audiences and we’re thrilled to have someone of Roger’s caliber join the team. In addition to understanding the brand dynamic, Roger has a proven track record across content, distribution, marketing and technology,” said Peter Levinsohn. ”With Fox Digital Studios, we are leveraging our storytelling and production expertise to create a centralized unit solely focused on bringing consumers unique entertainment experiences on the Web, and on mobile and gaming platforms. We’re pleased to have David on board to steer this group’s creative efforts.”
“Fox has a successful
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This is news to make your eyes glaze over, but it's important. B&C reports that the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) is announcing today it has approved the Mobile DTV Standard. That means retail sales can start next year, which is why broadcasters, transmission vendors, and consumer electronics manufacturers wanted to fast-track a common technical standard for transmitting digital TV signals to cellphones and other mobile devices in the first place.
Fans of monster truck rallies and bikini clad hotties may join the executives at Hearst Television, Time Warner, and Comcast in shedding tears for Ripe Digital Entertainment. I'm hearing that the Hollywood-based production and ad sales firm has gone belly-up, another victim of the lousy ad market. So ends a much hyped effort beginning in 2005 to become the primo destination for horny and manly young guys on cable video-on-demand, mobile phones, and online.
Once upon a time, Ripe vowed to become the world's first free ad-supported on-demand network. Comcast and Time Warner Cable gave Ripe coveted distribution to 40 million homes on their VOD platforms. And advertisers including Dodge, Cingular, and Procter & Gamble lent support to a lineup of barin-dead programming that included Stuff 4 Dudes, Girls of FHM, and Sexy Road Test. Hearst Television, Time Warner and investment firms Columbia Capital and Rho Ventures kicked in $32 million in 2006 for the second round of funding. But Ripe couldn't make a go of it.
I've seen an internal memo that SPHE will now oversee worldwide digital distribution for the studio. This includes all sales and marketing activities for the distribution of product on iTunes, PlayStation Network, etc. Heading this will be Sean Carey, Senior EVP of Digital Distribution. His staff will be coming from Sony Pictures Television, where the digital distribution department was previously housed, and will include Joe Arancio, currently SVP of Digital Media, and SPHE’s Jason Spivak, currently SVP of Strategic Development. Also joining is Kara Bilkiss, VP of Mobile Entertainment, who will continue to oversee mobile gaming and applications, reporting to Carey.
But what I find really interesting is SPE's own incredibly upbeat assessment of both the New Media and DVD biz: "What this does strategically for SPHE is to place us right in the center of a nascent but critical business which is growing quickly and has the potential of being an important revenue source for SPE," the internal memo says. "This is not to say that digital distribution will replace package media. Rather, it will serve as a complement to the portfolio of titles and distribution options which we offer our customers worldwide. Our Blu-ray and DVD business is still robust and will be around for quite some time."
EXCLUSIVE & UPDATED: Sources tell me that outcast AOL CEO Jon Miller has agreed to join News Corp in a newly created role as CEO, Digital Media. 
He will report to Rupert Murdoch and be based in NYC and in charge of Internet and mobile businesses in a global role driving digital strategy across all News Corp business. This is a really big job, I'm told, because he will collaborate with the heads of the other News Corp businesses. Post-AOL, Miller became one of the founding partners at the VC firm Velocity. But his former employer Time Warner had a contractual hold on him until the end of this month. The digital media veteran served from 2002 to 2006 as Chairman/CEO of AOL. He was brought in to create a new business model so he restructured AOL's core business lines, and focused the company on online advertising (including the 2004 acquisition of Advertising.com). Previously, Jon was President/CEO of USA Information and Services, now IACI and Expedia (the company split in two in 2005), and, before that, Managing Director of Nickelodeon International, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks.
Meanwhile, Peter Levinsohn, who has been President of News Corp's Fox Interactive Media (FIM) since 2006 will return to the studio with a promotion "in a big job" under chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman. Levinsohn had been President of Digital Media for the Fox Entertainment Group and negotiated deals to spread Fox content across available digital platforms.
And here's the answer to a ... Read More »
After protracted behind-the-scenes negotiations throughout the halls of Congress, often involving angry debate, the American public wll get its digital TV reprieve. After the Obama administration pushed, the House vote today means the cut-off date for analog has been moved from February 17th to June 12th. Consumers with expired coupons can reapply, and those who never got their coupons have more time.
UPDATE: Hollywood's DECE Not Ready Yet
It's DECE, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem which is going to unveil some details at CES today, 
including a new name and a new logo, about DRM that will make digital media as easy to use and as consumer friendly as a physical medium like DVD. For the digitally challenged, DECE is that Hollywood effort to offer a new set of standards for the transfer and storage of copyrighted digital content. Specifically, it's a multi-studio effort to standardize file format and distribution methods so that content can be played anywhere on any device. Should be interesting to see if Hollywood can make a “buy once, play anywhere” mantra a reality. But the real point of DECE is to stop the dominance of Apple and iTunes in this area. I'm told DECE was prompted because the major studios, networks and other entertainment providers are tired of Apple using its incredible iTunes market share to dictate how much content is worth. So this is a way for Big Media to take back their pricing power. 
(Remember how NBC yanked its content from iTunes upset with the deal it was getting from Apple, only to come crawling back with only a marginally better deal even after NBC launched Hulu?) Of course, the only major studio not on board DECE is Disney due to its strong ties to Apple. What ... Read More »
Tomorrow at the Beverly Hills Hotel will be the revamped Madison + Vine conference on how entertainment will continue to be funded, marketed, distributed and consumed in a digital world. (Geez there's another one of these every other week. Does anyone ever actually learn anything new at them?) Among those speaking tomorrow at the Ad Age/William Morris Agency event are Google CEO Eric Schmidt. NBC U co-chairman Ben Silverman. MJE CEO Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Take Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick. producer Darren Star, director Barry Sonnenfeld, NASCAR CEO Brian France. MySpace COO Amit Kapur, Coke global brand marketing's Marc Mathieu and T-Mobile director of media marketing's Brett Dennis. Panels include:
SPORTS: As Leagues Become Media Companies, What Does It Mean For Athletes, Networks and Brands? ... TELEVISION: TV On The Fritz: Eroding Ratings, Sky-High Pilots vs. Year-Round Promotion And Development. ... KEYNOTE: High Noon For Hollywood: What Does Google Mean For Tinseltown? ... VIDEO GAMES: A Guitar Hero Will Rise: How And What Can You Market To Casual And Fervent Gamers. ... MUSIC: Are We Being 99 Cented to Death? The Arbitrary Price Of Content.
EXCLUSIVE: I'm told that Warner Bros will now aggressively push Diane English's remake of The Women skedded for release September 12th with wider distribution and bigger marketing in the wake of the success of Sex And The City. This is an about-face from the studio's earlier decision to leave plans intact for about-to-shutter Picturehouse to debut the chick flick in limited release and with a small P&A. But after weeks of hemming and hawing, Warner Bros now believes that the low budget $16.5M remake could make money. 
I'm told that as a result The Women's marketing budget has moved north from a planned $7M-$8M to $25M-$30M. Back on June 2nd, I criticized Warner Bros for sitting on a pic written, directed and produced by one of the biz's best women comedy writers (of seminal Murphy Brown fame), and starring a quality cast of Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Bette Midler, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Debi Mazur, Joanna Gleason, Carrie Fisher, Lynn Whitfield and Cloris Leachman. Forget about the merits of the movie: there's potential for box office moolah stirred up by some savvy Sex-exploiting, Even if the movie is no good, it could reach SATC's two-quadrant audience with ad slogans like: "If you loved Sex And The City, then you need to see The Women who started it all." After I posted, a top Warner Bros exec phoned me and said, "We should give it another look." And the studio did. I bet women eager for another pic about female friendships and upscale ... Read More »
I'm told that not only is Pixar/Disney internally hoping for a $70+ million dollar opening for Wall-E, but also a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the L'il Robot. 
It's possible with 100% great reviews from top critics and even rival studios bigwigs gushing about the pic: "I saw it on Wednesday and it's just adorable and smart and interesting. It has more character development and emotion than any movie I've seen this year." My box office gurus are projecting a $65M to $70M opening, and maybe more from 3,992 theaters. Clearly it'll be another giant box office since Universal's Angelina Jolie / James McAvoy starrer Wanted now looks like an all-round date movie instead of just a guyfest.
Universal is hoping for at least $35M and maybe even $40M from 3,175 venues for Wanted's Fri/Sat/Sun total. My box office gurus are projecting $40M to $42M. "In terms of comps, that would be an extraordinary result for an R-rated summer action movie," a source tells me. "So anything above $35M is absolutely a franchise." 
The appeal for well-reviewed Wanted is a surprise: women want to see it as almost as much as men, young and old are coming in nearly even, and relative newcomer McAvoy is almost as much of a draw for the film as veteran Jolie.
Wall-E and Wanted will compete for older females. But it won't matter. "All the Wall-E reviews have been extraordinary. And Pixar is a brand that has earned the complete and total trust of the public," ... Read More »
How often does this happen? Will Smith was on Letterman last night and noted that his 7-year-old daughter Willow's film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl opens wide against his Hancock in U.S. theaters on the same day (July 2nd). Said Will, "I told her, 'Daddy loves you sweetie, but I gots to stomp you at the box office.' " Then Dave snarked, "I've got a son, but even I know that American Girl thing is very popular." But Willow was quoted as saying a few days earlier about her Dad, "He thinks he is going to be beat me, but I think not. I think I am going to beat him."
I give TV and movie fans a lot of credit: when they get mad, they scare the crap out of the moguls. That's happening at Lionsgate where the studio's phones and email accounts are jammed with angry fans for the past week. They're making a stink because new Lionsgate topper Joe Drake appears to be dumping all of ex-prez Peter Block's movies. That includes Midnight Meat Train, the adaptation of the Barker short story that's a fan fave. Supposedly the trailer tested higher than any film in Lionsgate history. But when Drake took over, he promptly bumped Midnight Meat Train from its May 16th release date. The result was that Rogue Pictures' The Strangers (which was skedded two weekends later) had zero competition in the hard-R category. And guess who was exec producer of The Strangers? Joe Drake.
Then, the websites, Shock Til You Drop and Fangoria found out Lionsgate is planning only a 100 theater run on August 1st to merely fulfill the contractual obligation with Lakeshore Entertainment. The plan is to release the DVD immediately after. So fans are asking if Drake is such a dummy that he'd intentionally sink what to them is a sure-thing hit. And they want to know if the studio that was built on horror gross (both the gory and cash kinds) is going to bite the hand that's fed it so well in favor of four Tyler Perry movies a year.
The result is a lot of anti-Lionsgate blogging in Horrorville by fans, by self-appointed horror flick experts, and also by Barker himself. "I would passionately encourage everybody who cares about my work ... Read More »
SUNDAY AM: North American numbers are fulfilling what promises to be one of the most interesting box office weekends of the summer movie season. That's because the two films opening -- a comic book reboot, and an M Night Shyamalan horror thriller -- have received really bad buzz for months ahead of time because of their troubled pedigrees. While No. 1 The Incredible Hulk and No. 3 The Happening had better-than-expected debuts overall, they experienced fall-offs from Friday to Saturday (-15% and -21% respectively).
Let's face it, most film analysts thought Marvel and Universal were nuts to go back to the drawing board for Friday's No. 1 The Incredible Hulk after the 2003 Ang Lee/Eric Bana version was beaten up so badly both by critics and the box office. "When Marvel and Universal announced they were making a Hulk film again, there were big whoops this would be the first flop of the summer," a studio insider recalled to me. "But now something good is going to happen." But this was another huge risk for Marvel Studios which self-financed its PG-13 comic book caper for around $160 million. 
Then the studio manhandled both director Louis Leterrier and star Edward Norton, who rewrote the script, then fought Marvel's deep cuts to the final pic which nevertheless was well reviewed (67% positive). So it's miraculous that The Incredible Hulk, which opened in 3,505 theaters, made $21.7 million ... Read More »
Carl Icahn Now Wants ALL Of Lionsgate 
Action Comedy TV: Showrunner Matt Nix 
SAG National Board Approves Joint Bargaining … 
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