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CYNTHIA TURNER'S CYNOPSIS Kids! 01/12/04
Good morning. It's Monday, January 12, 2004, and this is your early morning Kids! briefing.
You remember the movie The Wedding Singer (New Line, 1998) starring Adam Sandler about a down on his luck wedding singer and the waitress he falls in love with, who is engaged to be married to another. Well, following up on the success of the recent movie to stage production, Hairspray, New Line Cinema will introduce The Wedding Singer as a Broadway musical for the 2005-06 season. The book for the stage production will be adapted from Tim Herlihy?s movie screenplay by Herlihy and Chad Beguelin. The score will be composed by Matt Sklar, with lyrics by Chad Beguelin, the team who wrote the score for Wicked City and the upcoming stage show of Get Shorty and Disney?s Aladdin. Herlihy also wrote the screenplays for Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, Big Daddy and Mr. Deeds, and was a writer on Saturday Night Live for five seasons. The Wedding Singer will be produced by Margo Lion, who worked with New Line on the Broadway production of Hairspray, and Mark Kaufman, SVP/Music & Theatre, New Line Theatricals.
Rumors on the web are spinning again about the reality of a new animated series featuring Krypto (AKA Superman?s pouch), only this time Comics2Film.com reports that according to a ?highly reliable source? in the animation world, the series has been given the go ahead. What remains a constant since the possibility of such a series first surfaced last year, is Krypto would be targeted to the preschool age audience. As to what network would air the series, the original discussion had the toon on either Cartoon Network or Kids? WB, though there does not seem to be a current consensus on that.
The Game Show Network announced it has changed its name to GSN, the network for games and is aiming for a younger audience. Proof of that is the announcement of a new two hour documentary Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession, sked to premiere Sunday, March 21, 9-11p. Hosted by pro-skateboarder and video game star Tony Hawk, the documentary will cover the creation and evolution of video games. Video Game Invasion is executive produced by David Carr and David Comtois of Beantown Productions, and includes interviews of Nolan Bushnell, former CEO of Atari, Al Alcorn, former VP/Atari and designer of Pong, Seamus Blackley, CAA agent who leads their video game division and former CTO and lead designer for Microsoft Xbox, John Romero, CEO of Monkeystone Games and co-creator of Doom and Quake, and many other industry pioneers.
PBS in conjunction with Thirteen/WNET New York announced a four part documentary series titled Slavery and the Making of America that examines the complexities of this era in American history. The series is scheduled for Fall 2004. New York Life Insurance Company is the sole corporate underwriter of the series and its adjoining educational outreach component. PBS will also launch website as part of its www.pbs.org site which will detail the African American experience through interviews, archival footage and interactive presentations. New York Life has also launched a companion website at www.slaveryinamerica.org designed largely for educators. Other news from PBS, the net is still looking for that elusive corporate sponsorship to pick up the Masterpiece Theatre $7 million tab once the long term Exxon Mobil ends this season.
Animal Planet kicks off a new series on February 10, airing Tuesdays at 8pm called Beastly Countdown, each week feature the top ten ugliest, scariest, smelliest, laziest, nosiest and most annoying on Earth.
Disney Animation will produce a feature length CGI animated picture based on A Day with Wilbur Robinson, a 1990 book from author William Joycel. The film is currently slated for a 2006 release. A Day with Wilbur Robinson tells the story of a quirky ?You Can?t Take it With You? style family including the young boy prodigy who creates a machine for the unique purpose of recovering the lost memory of the past. An altruistic endeavor until the kid realizes that he has actually unlocked time instead, which takes him to the future where things are grim and a world dependant upon him for survival. Several of William Joyce?s other works have been translated into animation including Rolie Polie Olie (Disney Channel) and George Shrinks (PBS Kids). The movie will be produced at Disney?s Burbank animation studio.
Warner Bros. has chosen the release dates for two of its movies based on DC Comics superheroes. Catwoman, starring Halle Berry is now slated for a July 30, 2004 release; and Constantine starring Keanu Reeves has been pegged for September 17, 2004. Constantine, not for kids, is based on DC?s Hellblazer comic book title.
Ashton Kutcher might be back on MTV, and no you haven?t been Punk?d. According to BaselineFT.com, it appears Ashton Kutcher didn't wander too far once he announced he was walking away from Punk'd. Kutcher and MTV will create another hidden camera series, this one titled My New Best Friend (Katalyst Films) wherein players try to convince friends and family that this complete stranger is in fact their new best friend. Of course the actor playing the 'best friend' does his or her best to complicate matters. Successful improv-ers earn bucks.
Weekend Box Office Estimates for kids/tweens/teens rated G, PG or PG-13 - January 9-11, 2004: Big Fish (Sony) PG-13 $14.5m-5 wk total $24.1m
The Lord of the Rings: Return King (New Line) PG13 $14.1m-4 wk total $312.2m
Cheaper by the Dozen (Fox) PG $12m-3 wk total $101.4m
Something's Gotta Give (Sony) PG-13 $8.2m-5 wk total $93.0m
Chasing Liberty (Warner Bros.) PG-13 Opening weekend $6.0m
Paycheck (Paramount) PG-13 $5.2m-3 wk total $46.5m
Mona Lisa Smile (Sony) PG-13 $4.5m-4 wk total $57.0m
Peter Pan (Universal) PG $4.1m-3 wk total $39.9m
Calendar Girls (Disney) PG-13 $3.6m-4 wk total $12.3m
Stuck on You (Fox) PG-13 $1.0m-5 wk total $32.5m Source: Box Office Mojo
According to a January 2004 Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) study, titled Five Consumers to Watch: An In-Depth Look at Emerging Consumer Groups in the Consumer Electronic (CE) Marketplace, 91 percent of teens (13-17) made a CE purchase with the past 12 months, compared to 82 percent of adults. The study also confirmed just how tech-savvy teens are. Seventy-nine percent of all teens responded that they usually can figure out new high-tech products without assistance from others, versus 59 percent of US adults. To that end, the CEA has launched a search for a teen spokesperson. The contest, which runs through the end of February, is designed to find a teenage spokesperson who will help convey the integral aspect of consumer electronics products in teens' lives by educating their peers about the latest trends and developments in the industry. The selected individual will write teen-focused consumer electronics-related articles, conduct media interviews and serve as a teen advisor to the industry. The spokesperson contest is open to high school sophomores, juniors and seniors who maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. Students are asked to submit a 400-500 word essay or a two to three minute video segment answering several questions about the importance of technology in their lives and those of their peers and what impact technology has, or will have, on teens in the future. Details and online applications can be found at www.ce.org/teentech or by e-mailing
@ce
.
Cartoon character Tintin is turned 75 this weekend in Belgium. Created by cartoonist Herge (aka Georges Remi) Tintin's first appearance was in a Brussels newspaper in 1929. Since then ace reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy?s 23 adventure stories have been translated into 55 languages and sold more than 200 million copies around the world, though Tintin never seemed to reach the same fever pitch here in the US. So celebrated is Tintin in Europe that a commemorative 10-euro coin has been issued, featuring Tintin and Snowy on one side and the map of Europe on the flip side and selling for 31-euros (about $40). There have been no new Tintin adventures since Herge?s death in 1983.
DC Comics, Cartoon Network & Kids? WB have partnered with Hostess for a new promotion titled Create Your Own Super Hero. Throughout January and February viewers can go online (www.createyourownsuperhero.com) to create their own character, enter the sweepstakes and play online games. The contest winner will appear in a DC Comic strip along with their superhero creation. Those not feeling as creative do not have to create a character in order to enter the sweepstakes. Consumers will be able to link between the four company websites throughout the promotion. Though the promotion ends 2/29/04, the superhero creation program will be operational until April 30, 2004.
One hundred years ago this year the Campbell Soup Company first introduced The Campbell Kids. Created by a Philadelphia artist Grace Drayton, the Campbell Kids first appeared on streetcars and then made the shift to being included in all of the company?s advertising. Throughout the years, the kids appearance was reflected by what was going on in the country. During WWI the Campbell Kids donned Red Cross uniforms and appeared as doctors and nurses in ads; during the Depression, the kids appeared in ads supporting FDR?s National Relief Asso. with the slogan ?We Do Our Part"; and at the outset of WWII the Campbell Kids were featured in a Life Magazine ad, urging Americans to buy war bonds. Campbell?s? never named the kids, believing that they represent every child.
Steven A. Hobbs joins Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. in the newly created position of SVP/Chief Legal & Development Officer. Hobbs will report to David J. Barrett, President/CEO, Hearst-Argyle Television. Hobbs, a partner with the law firm of Clifford Chance since 1993, is a member of Clifford Chance's corporate and securities law practice and has served as the firm's Americas merger-and-acquisition group practice leader as well as a member of its Americas management group.
Gap Inc. has appointed Ivy Ross, EVP/Product Design & Development, for its Old Navy brand. Ross, who will report to Jenny Ming, President/Old Navy, will oversee all aspects of product design and development for the brand. Prior to her appointment Ross was Mattel?s SVP/Worldwide Product Design & Development, girls division. In addition to her more than twenty years of experience working with designers including Calvin Klein, Coach, Liz Claiborne and Swatch, Ross is a jewelry designer with pieces in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institute, the Victoria and Albert Museum of London and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, NYC.
Twenty year toy industry veteran Dave Schwartz has been appointed SVP/Marketing, What Kids Want. In this newly created position Schwartz will oversee marketing and product development initiatives. Most recently Schwartz led marketing efforts for Funrise Toy Corp., and prior to that he was in management with Hasbro, KIDdesigns and Casio. Additionally, What Kids Want has named Jamie Mendoza as Marketing Manager. Mendoza will coordinate marketing and product development efforts. Before joining What Kids Want Mendoza was with Applause, LLC.
Kids Cable Network Averages in thousands (000) for Thursday, January 8, 2004, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON: K2-11 1005; K6-11 424; TWEENS 9-14 298
DISNEY CHANNEL: K2-11 766; K6-11 440; TWEENS 9-14 300
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11 576; K6-11 259; TWEENS 9-14 201
TOON DISNEY: K2-11 124; K6-11 59; TWEENS 9-14 36
ABC FAMILY: K2-11 96; K6-11 71; TWEENS 9-14 80 Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data
A MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS Kids!
psst! what are you waiting for?
Answer to Friday's Trivia Question:Who is this quote from: "You know the monkey is the only cookie animal that gets clothes...I wonder if the hippo is like, 'Hey, were are my clothes?' and the monkey is like, 'I mock you with my monkey pants!'...All monkeys are French, you didn't know that?" Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kudos to: Robin Kenwood-ITN/NY; Kimberly Kahne-Nickelodeon/NY; Pauline Santos Sherry-ABC Cable Networks Group/NY; Jim Smith-Healing Touch Massage/Dallas; John Butler-Rogers & Assoc/LA; Susan Garrett-Humanoids Publishing/Studio City; Liz Sterbrenz-ABC Family/Burbank; and Donna Newton-Gulf DTH Prods Ltd/London, John Rooney-Corus Ent/Toronto.
Today's Trivia Question: What TV character owned a La Strada bicycle - mind you this is not something little Jimmy rides around the block, this is more like a professional bicycle. (To answer the trivia, click hereand please remember to include your name, company, city and time zone. Only the second four from each time zone will appear in tomorrow's kudos list.)
Later -- Gwen
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