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Showtime’s upcoming fifth season of The L Word will premiere first on OurChart.com, a lesbian-focused social community, according to BusinessWire.com. The OurChart.com premiere is slated for December 30, 2007 followed by the Showtime premiere on January 6, 2008. The choice is no coincidence, as co-founder and CEO of OurChart.com, Ilene Chaiken, is also the creator/producer of The L Word. This is, regardless of anything else, another example of how technology and the new online media is becoming more and more intertwined with traditional television viewing.
LONDON — Sony Pictures Releasing Intl. has signed a non-exclusive long-term deal with European digital cinema deployment org Arts Alliance Media.Under the deal, SPRI will supply digital versions of their films to AAM-deployed DCI-compliant digital screens and make financial contributions to promote d-cinema.
AAM already has similar deals in place with 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures Intl. and Paramount Pictures Intl.
In November, AAM pacted with French circuit CGR Cinemas to convert all 400 of its screens to digital.
“This is encouraging if not unexpected news for digital cinema in Europe,” commented Karsten-Peter Grummitt from cinema analyst outfit Dodona Research. “Price remains the big stumbling block for distributors and exhibitors and there is plenty more good news still to come before the European digital cinema revolution is complete.”
The first half (maybe the only half if the strike continues) wrapped up Monday with several startling events: Sylar regained his power and turned on that chick with the mascara who runs, Hiro, Peter, his flying brother and Parkman stopped Adam and Noah joined forces with The Company. The fate of two major characters were left up in the air, and oh, and of course, Claire cried. Also of note, the series continued to stock up those product placements. I especially noticed the sequence of Mika (or is it Mica… I know Mika’s the singer) and his split personality mother (Nikki/Jessica/who cares) in their car with Mika navigating a Sanyo Sprint phone’s GPS system. The Sprint logo was as clear as day three times. I also noticed a Ford logo on a red truck while Nikki/Jessica/who cares was kicking butt in one sequence. All in all, a lackluster half season for the show, but an extremely successful run with product placements.
Digital cinema in the Asia-Pacific region continues to expand on a country-by-country basis, with an interesting mix of distribution infrastructures ranging from locally created e-cinema networks up to full DCI-specified 2K networks. Unlike the U.S.—or even the European markets—progress in Asia varies by country depending much on the status of the domestic cinema industry and the local popularity of Hollywood content.
Missing so far in Asia are the pan-regional third-party providers who provide financing, integration, and distributor-provided conversion incentives. Companies like North America’s AccessIT and Technicolor and Europe’s XDC and Arts Alliance Media have yet to emerge in the Asian market. The driving factors in the Asian rollout tend to be local exhibitors themselves who want to get ahead of the curve, the equipment vendors who are trying to jump-start business, and in the case of China, government incentives.
In China, digital-cinema deployment is being supported by the China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), the Chinese state-owned company which is leading the Chinese film industry. CFGC got off to a roaring start in 2002 with initial purchases of pre-DCI MPEG-based equipment with 1.3K projection technology. China deployed 100 of these systems in major market cinemas that typically play Western content. As Hollywood standards began to evolve, CFGC took a wait-and-see attitude to further investments and remained largely quiet on further large-scale d-cinema deployment. Instead, CFGC moved forward by deploying a large number of e-cinema systems using standard three-chip DLP projectors and GDC servers in theatres that play domestic content, while keeping a close eye on evolving d-cinema standards.
Q-Ratio: 4.5086
With the number one featured product placement of the week…it’s Howie Mandel. Well, not Howie per se - but his show!
(Hershey’s Kisses) NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” Contestant: Erin Krafft of Dallas, Texas. The latest Deal or No Deal gimmick has three teams playing the “Kiss Someone” game. This is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hershey Kisses. The prize $100 million.
Q-Ratio: 2.9491
(VO5) VH-1’s “America’s Most Smartest Model” Eight models find themselves boxed into a geometric mess. Fashion designer Santino helps them design and model their own clothing. But tempers flare, alliances form and not everyone makes the cut.
Q-Ratio: 1.9537
(Guitar Hero) CW’s “Gossip Girl” Blair is devastated by the current state of her relationship with Nate and the guilt from her recent indiscretion. But she manages to put on a happy face for her 17th birthday party and attempts to hide her feelings from her friends. Hoping to ease the tension between Serena and Vanessa, Dan takes Vanessa to Blair’s party so the girls can bond together, but this ends up making Serena more uncomfortable. Jenny brings her mother home as a surprise visit, but Rufus isn’t ready to forgive and forget. Finally, Nate’s parents ask him to make a huge sacrifice to save his father’s business as he faces charges of embezzlement and fraud.
ROTTERDAM — Thirty-nine projects have been selected to pitch for co-production coin at Rotterdam’s CineMart from a record 550 entries.The market, for low- and medium-budget features, runs Jan. 27-31 during the Rotterdam Intl. Film Festival.
CineMart topper Marit van den Elshout said the list is more focused and selective than in previous years. “In order to give each project the exclusivity it deserves, we have brought down the number of projects to below 40.” In 2007 there were 48 contenders.
Name directors in the selection include Abbas Kiarostami, director of Palme d’Or winner “A Taste of Cherry,” Cristi Puiu, whose “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” won Un Certain Regard in Cannes, Jafar Panahi, the helmer of Berlin Silver Bear winner “Offside,” and Alex van Warmerdam (“The Northerners”).
There are also projects from helmers who debuted in past Rotterdam fests, such as Koen Mortier (”Ex-Drummer”) and Pia Marais (”The Unpolished”).
Professionals attending CineMart will see project dossiers in advance, and for the first time helmers’ previous work will be available to view on-line, thanks to a hook up with Arts Alliance Media’s Vizumi Network.
Rotterdam’s official selection will includes several films launched at previous CineMarts, including “Gitmek” by Huseyin Karabey, “Egg” by Semih Kaplanoglu and “A Song of Good” by Gregory King.
…Nina made an unnecessary cameo to plug Elle and deliver this week’s challenge: Working in teams of three, create a collection of three looks that incorporates three outdated trends. And make the collection cohesive and relevant for today. Each team would have a budget of $225 and two days to complete the challenge. The teams and trends broke down as such, leaders’ names appearing first…
Q-Ratio: 1.9190
(Prevention Magazine) NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” As a reward for their hard work, the remaining contestants receive a day of star treatment and makeovers on the set of NBC’s popular daytime drama, Days of our Lives. However, the surprises don’t end there, as their family and friends, whom they haven’t seen in over three months, are waiting to surprise them.
