6 April 2011
Silver Ant animation studios and Al Jazeera Childrens Channel (JCC) yesterday launched the co-produced animated feature film SEEFOOD. The event took place in Cannes, France at MIPTV 2011 where distributors, broadcasters, media networks, and production companies had the chance to have a first glimpse of this major co-production.
SEEFOOD joined the efforts of both corporations for the first time with the support of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in Malaysia and the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). The must-see animated feature film is a major leap in JCCs content making taking two years of production and 35 animators to complete.
SEEFOOD is expected to be released later this summer in theaters followed by DVD in English, Arabic and other languages. The film follows the exciting adventures of a bamboo shark named Pup, and when human poachers steal egg sacks from his reef, he makes it his mission to save his brothers and sisters no matter how impossible the task may seem. His determination to make right what is wrong takes him above water into Man’s world – a landscape fraught with beauty and danger – an exciting destination the young shark could never ever have imagined! Afraid for Pup’s safety, Julius the big blue shark, embarks on his own quest to bring home his best pal.
Goh AunHoe, the Film Director said: I am very proud to be here today to launch our companys first animated movie; the journey with SEEFOOD was exciting yet rough given the challenges we faced on several fronts that are known to our industry. Nevertheless, we have learnt a great deal during these last two years, and we hope this movie will touch the heart of the audience around the world as it did for me, my partner and all our team members.
SEEFOOD highlights different aspects of maritime life through a thrilling storyline that raises awareness on the intrusion of mankind into the ecological balance under the sea surface.
JCCs Executive General Manager Mahmoud Bouneb stated: It is vital for all families to see SEEFOOD as it raises a red flag on the damages occurring in the marine world where mankinds ill treatment of this precious environment and its inhabitants has already resulted in some extinction. We wanted the world to SEE, so we came up with the title SEEFOOD.
JCC and its partner Silver Ant will be working hand in hand to promote SEEFOOD on an international scale alongside our appointed global distributors. Bouneb added.
Al Jazeera Childrens Channel is present at MIPTV, a major peer to peer content platform, with a wide range of TV content in different genres between challenge and game shows like Maa Al Tayar (Power Struggle), science magazine Physiakawn (Discover Science), debate program Khair Al Kalam, quiz Al Aalam Soual (Quiz World), sports magazine Anta Battal (Be a champion!), and cookery Al Tabaq Al Taer (Flying Saucer). Preschool channel Baraem also comes with an offering consisting of famous animations like Everythings Rosie, award winning Nan and Lili, and famous skin character series Al Maaa (The Baaas).
5 April 2011
The Associated Press has appointed Julia Howe, a media executive with a considerable international background, as its director of marketing for Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and Asia.
The appointment was announced by Senior Vice President Daisy Veerasingham, who heads APs video business. Howe reports to Veerasingham.
Howe will join APs London management team and lead on all aspects of APs marketing activity outside the United States and Latin America. In this new position, her primary charge is to raise global awareness and appreciation of the AP brand during a time of major transformation within the business and to communicate the vision and the value of APs products and services as the organization undertakes a comprehensive reinvention of its international video business.
Julia has an impressive record of success in European and international roles across both business-to-business and business-to-consumer media in a world where understanding your customer and customers customer is vital to success, Veerasingham said. She brings an ideal combination of customer targeting and thought leadership marketing to her new position.
Most recently, Howe was a brand strategy consultant at Loewy, a London-based brand and communications firm. Previously, she held senior marketing roles with media and entertainment companies, including as vice president of international marketing at Universal Pictures International and European marketing manager at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Her educational background includes a bachelors honour degree in international business and French earned from the U.K.s Aston University, which included a year spent at Ottawa University in Canada.
AP is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar upgrade of its newsgathering infrastructure in order to provide high-definition images to the broadcast and digital industries. At the same time, AP will also significantly increase the depth and breadth of video content available from around the world. The upgrade is the single biggest investment in the APs London-based video business since 1998, when the AP bought its competitor, Worldwide Television News.
31 March 2011
Voice of Americas comprehensive coverage of global, regional and African news is now available on Top Rádio 104.2 FM in Maputo, Mozambique.
VOA Portuguese Service Director Ana Guedes says the partnership, which officially began Monday, allows VOA and its network of correspondents in Africa and around the world, to offer a global perspective to the Maputo station. We are pleased to be working together with Top Rádio, Guedes said, and hope listeners will enjoy VOAs coverage of international news and current affairs.
Top Radio, with its mix of youth and adult contemporary music, broadcasts in three languages, Portuguese, English and Changane.
Under the rebroadcasting agreement, Top Rádio 104.2 FM will air VOAs Portuguese news and current affairs program from 1930 to 2000 hours (7:30 pm to 8 pm) local time on Monday through Friday. A one hour VOA English lesson will air at 1800 hours (6 pm) Monday through Friday, and the VOA health show Vida Sem Medo will air from 1400 to 1600 (2 pm to 4 pm) Saturday afternoons.
The agreement also gives Top Rádio full access to VOAs popular music programs.
Carlos Henriques, Regional Adviser for VOA Audience Development, says, “Mozambique is an important market for VOA Portuguese Service programs and we are delighted to be on Top Rádio 104.2 FM with a full range of VOA content.
Top Rádio station manager David Muianga, says, “We are consolidating the promotion of social values by integrating the VOA programming on Top Rádio, and therefore offering to our listeners and the general public, in particular in the Maputo City and Maputo province area, news and information that is up-to-date and credible.
VOA Portuguese brings comprehensive world and regional news and information to Lusophone Africa including Angola, Mozambique, S.Tomé and Princípe, Guiné Bissau and Cape Verde. For more information visit: www.voanews.com/portuguese. For more information on Top Rádio visit: www.topradio.co.mz.
31 March 2011
The Eurosport Group has unveiled a new brand identity across its global multimedia platform, spanning its operations in Europe, the MENA and Asia-Pacific.
Todays announcement marks the end of an 18-month branding review with new on-air graphics, a new musical identity and a soft evolution of its iconic logo.
Since launching in 1989, Eurosport has grown from a single TV channel to the leading European multimedia platform. The brand review — the biggest in the group’s history — represents a major step-change for Eurosport, and is designed to create an improved and visually engaging environment to showcase Eurosports brand values of emotion, live action and diversity of sports.
The new brand identity and graphics revamp will be deployed on-air, online and mobile and in every Eurosport office around the world from Tuesday 5th April, as well as for the groups advertising, marketing and corporate communications.
The new brand strategy also positions the group for future expansion into new territories and the launch of new products on to the market.
“We believed the time was right to modernise and energise our brand to reflect our position as the leading provider of live sports in Europe, as well as our continued expansion as an international media group,” says Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Eurosport Group Chairman & CEO.
“Live sport generates powerful emotions for sports fans, and we wanted to create an environment centred around these emotions, putting the fan at the heart of the action. Additionally, Eurosport covers the widest variety of sports of any media in Europe, over 150 different disciplines across our platforms, and we have integrated this diversity into our branding to underline that we are the brand for all sports, with a rich and compelling offer for all communities of sports fans.
The emergence of new technology has enabled us to constantly innovate, today bringing fans top live sports action wherever they are, across all screens from TV to PC, to mobile and tablet PCs. We have remained true to our sporting heritage and fans while succeeding in harmonising our new brand universe across all our media platforms.”
After over 20 years of existence, the company has achieved massive brand equity and trust, with 91% awareness across Europe*, so Eurosport decided to preserve the iconic brand logo but develop a fresher and more contemporary design. The greatest change has therefore been in the elements around the logo, creating a new brand universe.
New on-air elements, scripted and directed by Paris-based broadcast production agency, Les Télécréateurs, put the fans and the emotions felt when watching sport at the heart of the narrative. A series of six new channel idents have been filmed, drawing inspiration from six identified emotions felt by fans: Joy, Anger, Empathy, Encouragement, Surprise and Anguish, and incorporating 18 different sports disciplines.
The work includes all on-air infographics, from broadcast (ranking and standings updates and “coming up next” visuals) to commercial elements (graphic pop-ups, text banners, opening and closing titles, and advertising break bumpers). They will also make viewers visual navigation easier, providing information quicker and in a clearer format.
New audio branding was also specially commissioned to enhance the moods associated when watching sport. The new audio elements were created by award-winning Amsterdam agency Massive Music and will be heard during the channel idents and in the programme links.
A cross-media pan-European communications campaign including TV, print, web and mobile advertising, PR, dedicated micro-site, consumer competition, music downloads, viral and social media activation with blogger outreach, will launch simultaneously with the new on air look & feel, 5 April.
29 March 2011
This Monday, March 28th at 8:00 pm/GMT, Bloomberg Television anchor Francine Lacqua (@flacqua) meets billionaire Sir Philip Green 135 meters up in the sky on “Eye To Eye,” a new series on Bloomberg Television program shot on location in London inside the world’s most iconic Ferris wheel, the London Eye. Hosted by Francine Lacqua, each episode of “Eye To Eye” features a new conversation with a self-made billionaire, entrepreneur or lifestyle icon, riding with Lacqua around the highest observation wheel in the world. In the premiere episode, Lacqua speaks with Sir Philip Green, founder of the famous retailer Topshop and known for his work with iconic supermodel Kate Moss.
“‘Eye To Eye’ captures the kind of conversations you don’t have in a restaurant or boardroom,” said Lacqua. “By bringing guests like Christian Louboutin, Sir Philip Green and Bianca Jagger to an unexpected venue like the London Eye, the show offers a whole new perspective on what makes these talented individuals such a powerful force in their fields.”
The half-hour program “Eye To Eye” airs Monday evenings at 8:00pm GMT on Bloomberg Television, with additional repeats on Wednesday and Friday evenings and weekends. The first six episodes will air Monday, March 28 through Monday, May 2, 2011. This season, “Eye To Eye” will feature conversations with luxury shoe designer Christian Louboutin (April 4); Michael O’Leary, one of Ireland’s wealthiest business leaders and CEO of the low-cost airline Ryanair (April 11); Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, one of the world’s leading communications and advertising companies (April 18th); Bianca Jagger, social and human rights advocate (April 25); and Margherita Missoni, fashion icon and brand ambassador for her family’s famous Italian luxury brand, Missoni (May 2). Air dates and times in the U.S. may differ. To check air dates and time for “Eye to Eye” in the U.S., please visit www.bloomberg.com/tv
Bloomberg Television can be seen in the U.K. on Sky Channel 502, Freesat Channel 208 and Virgin Media Channel 609.
28 March 2011
Vizrt, a leading provider of digital media software for the TV and online publishing industries, announced today that Central European Media Enterprises (CME), the largest multinational media company in Central and Eastern Europe, has chosen Vizrt’s Ardome media asset management (MAM) software to store and manage its HD and SD video content across its entire group of TV channels, which address an audience of more than 50 million consumers in six countries.
“We have selected Viz Ardome after extensive research and testing of media asset management systems available for the complex workflow at CME stations. We are absolutely sure that we have made the perfect choice”, said Claudiu Paraschiv, CME’s Head of TV Technology.
Martin Burkhalter, CEO of Vizrt, stated, “We feel it’s quite telling that, after carefully comparing our system with several others, such an important customer has chosen Vizrt’s technology solution to look after their valuable video content for the entire group. This project is further proof that our MAM system is best in class. Customers producing and working with video always highly appreciate Ardome’s ease of use and the time savings due to its efficient workflow. Furthermore, this being one of the largest MAM deals to date gives a good indication of the increasing awareness with broadcasters of the importance of managing their key assets.”
The project consists of six Viz Ardome systems, one for each country CME is present in; Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Users can search, browse, rough-edit and move video and associated metadata between any CME station. Searching can be done in all local languages, and can be limited to the internal storage sources with specific local stations, or it can be extended to encompass CME’s entire archive.
