CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis: Kids!
01/30/06
Good morning. It’s Monday, January 30, 2006 and this is your first early morning Kids! briefing.
More terms of the Disney/Pixar deal were made public at the end of last week when Disney filed papers for the acquisition with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According the regulatory filing information, Pixar’s John Lassiter, the new Chief Creative Officer of animation for both the Disney and Pixar Animation studios, has been bestowed with the power to green-light animated movies for both studios, with of course Disney Chairman/CEO, Bob Iger having veto power. Other points underlined in the SEC filing:
- Lassiter, Catmull and Iger are all of the essence to the Disney/Pixar deal, and should one of them back out of the agreement for any reason, the rest of the dominoes will fall.
- Also essential to the closing of the acquisition deal is maintaining a majority of Pixar’s key creatives and that they agree to join the newly conjoined company, the seven (Hi-ho, Hi-ho) directors and creative executives in question include: Andrew Stanton (Director/Finding Nemo); Peter Docter (Director/Monsters Inc.); Brad Bird (Director/The Incredibles); Bob Peterson (Director/Writer); Brenda Chapman (Story Artist); Lee Unkrich (Editor/Director); Gary Rydstrom (Sound Engineer).
- Lassiter, Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull, President of Disney Animation and Pixar studios, Iger, and Dick Cook, Chairman, Disney Studios and Tom Staggs, CFO, Disney, will all be part of a new committee overseeing animated feature films projects at both Disney and Pixar. The committee, which will meet monthly, will have approval on budgets, and Pixar related financial compensation, as well as maintain the Pixar experience for its employees.
- Feature animated movies beginning with the upcoming release Cars, will have a Disney Pixar copyright.
- Lasseter has five years remaining on his 10 year contract, which will be up for renewal in 2011.
NEW PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
In other Disney and Pixar news … Though there has been no official statement from either, work has ceased on Toy Story 3, which was in production at Disney’s Circle 7 animation group. That group was established under former Disney head Michael Eisner to produce Pixar movie sequels. According to its previous agreement with Pixar, Disney had the right to produce sequels to Pixar movies, with Pixar having the right of first refusal. In January 2005, Disney announced it would produce Toy Story 3 based on a story and script by Jared Stern. Several months later Bradley Raymond (The Lion King 1-1/2 and The Hunchback of Notre Dame II) was named to direct the project.
Central Park Media Corporation has picked up the exclusive North American distribution rights to Negadon: The Monster from Mars (2005) from Japan-based CoMix Wave. Directed by Jun Awazu from his original script, Negadon is a CG movie that pays homage to the look of Japanese monster movies of the 1950s and 1960s (e.g. Godzilla). In production for three years, the film portrays a time when Mars must be transformed into a habitable planet because the overpopulated Earth can’t handle anymore people. When a Japanese spaceship returning from Mars crashes, it unleashes a monster that only Dr. Narasaki and his robot Miroku can go up against to save Earth. Central Park Media will release the film theatrically this spring and on DVD/VHS this summer 2006. Negadon was released in Japan October 2005, where it won an Outstanding Production Award at the 20th Digital Contents Grand Prix and has been named a Jury Recommended Work at the 2005 Japan Media Arts Festival.
And more from Central Park Media — ImaginAsian TV has named Central Park as its partner in launching the ImaginAsian Home Video label in North America. Central Park will provide sales, warehousing and physical logistics services to the label. ImaginAsian Home Video will announce its initial release schedule at NAVD and will appear at the VSDA with a complete roll-out campaign.
MARKETING/LICENSING
Nintendo is readying a newly-designed version of its DS handheld gaming console for the Japanese market, where it will be released at the beginning of March. The new unit, the DS Lite, is 42% smaller and 21% lighter than the original. Unlike its predecessor, the new DS Lite will allow users to select from several different levels of screen brightness.
Warner Bros. Consumer Products has entered into a partnership with McFarlane Toys to produce a new line of action figures based on characters from the Hanna-Barbera library. Slated to be available beginning summer 2006 the action figures will be sold separately and some in box sets.
MORE KIDS STUFF
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., and Rockstar Games, the respective publisher and developer of the video game franchise Grand Theft Auto, were hit with a lawsuit on Friday, filed by the office of the Los Angeles City Attorney over the infamous secret Hot Coffee micro-game within the game source code of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game. When the micro was unlocked, it opened the way for illicit content. The lawsuit alleges that the game was sold to consumers through deceptive marketing practices and “fraudulent manipulation of an industry rating system,” in the marketing of the game to minors. You may recall that the rating of GTA: San Andreas was changed to M for mature, and that a new version of the game was issued, as well as a downloadable patch for those existing games already purchased. Take-Two Interactive has not, as of yet, issued a response.
European soft drink manufactures, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Cadbury Schweppes, have agreed to take on stricter self-regulation of their advertising and marketing practices; specifically they will voluntarily stop targeting their efforts to kids under the age of 12. There is also a move in Europe to install vending machines that offer healthy drinks in lower and middle schools.
Breakthrough Entertainment has quite a bit of news in the works and out on the table. Atomic Betty is in production for its 2nd season and can be found in 125 countries. The latest pick-up was by Indonesia’s PT Indosar Visual Mandiri for 52 eps plus the 1-hour special. Captain Flamingo is in production for an original with YTV as the commissioning broadcaster. Luk (Spain and Portugal) inked a deal at Natpe for all 52 eps (originally signed for 26 before the event) with other deals to be announced. Breakthrough is closing a deal with a pan-European service soon. The show has been picked up by Canada’s YTV (52 eps), France’s Teletoon (26 eps) and Australia’s Nickelodeon (52 eps). The Miss G series has been renewed for 52 eps by TVO, TFO, ABC Australia and Australia’s Nickelodeon. In addition, the company has 3 animated shows in development including 26×30 Rocket Rodents with YTV, 26×30 Jimmy 2 Shoes with Canada’s Teletoon and 26×30 Black Planet also with YTV
Warner Bros. signed a long-term output agreement with Middle East satellite broadcaster Orbit. The international television deal includes exclusive pay rights for the Middle East and North Africa covering content such as Batman Begins, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Invasion and Close to Home.
Weekend Box Office Estimates for kids/tweens/teens rated G, PG or PG-13 – January 2729, 2006:
Big Momma’s House 2 (Fox) PG-13 Opening weekend $28.0m
Nanny McPhee (Universal) PG Opening weekend $14.1m
Annapolis (Buena Vista) PG-13 Opening weekend $7.7m
Hoodwinked (Weinstein Company) PG $7.4m-7 wk total $37.7m
Glory Road (Buena Vista) PG $5.2m-3 wk total $34.8m
Last Holiday (Paramount) PG-13 $4.8m-3 wk total $32.6m
The Chronicles of Narnia: (Buena Vista) PG $4.4m-8 wk total $277.8m
Fun with Dick and Jane (Sony) PG-13 $3.6m-6 wk total $106.3m
Walk the Line (Fox) PG-13 $2.9m-11 wk total $106.0m
The New World (New Line) PG-13 $2.5m-6 wk total $7.8m
Source: Box Office Mojo
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Michael Anderson has been promoted to VP/Project Development for Razor & Tie Entertainment, based at the company’s headquarters in New York City. He will report to SVP/Finance & Operations Victor Zaraya. Michael’s many responsibilities include overseeing all phases of the creation and development of music compilations and the production of the majority of direct response television commercials.
RATINGS
Kids Cable Network Averages in thousands (000) for Tuesday, January 24, 2006, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON: K2-11 1157; K6-11 508; TWEENS 9-14 362
DISNEY CHANNEL: K2-11 699; K6-11 384; TWEENS 9-14 326
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11 458; K6-11 283; TWEENS 9-14 226
TOON DISNEY: K2-11 120; K6-11 51; TWEENS 9-14 32
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data
Kids Cable Network Averages in thousands (000) for Wednesday, January 25, 2006, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON: K2-11 1251; K6-11 524; TWEENS 9-14 366
DISNEY CHANNEL: K2-11 776; K6-11 454; TWEENS 9-14 431
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11 453; K6-11 266; TWEENS 9-14 207
TOON DISNEY: K2-11 91; K6-11 48; TWEENS 9-14 44
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data
Kids Cable Network Averages in thousands (000) for Thursday, January 26, 2006, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON: K2-11 1298; K6-11 574; TWEENS 9-14 379
DISNEY CHANNEL: K2-11 764; K6-11 451; TWEENS 9-14 383
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11 515; K6-11 298; TWEENS 9-14 200
TOON DISNEY: K2-11 109; K6-11 53; TWEENS 9-14 22
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data
Answer to yesterday’s trivia question: Who did the renovated 1957 Thunderbird with the license plate TANNA belong to? DAN TANNA ON VEGAS Kudos to: Bob Friedland-Toys R Us/NY; Michael Portney-Smart4kidz/NY; Christine Ferrara-WSBK/Boston; Dave Marcou-Zoom Media/NY; Tom Boyd-WGN TV/Chicago; Jan Flowers-HIT Entertainment/Allen TX; Glenn Mantel-Brand Central/LA; Julie Bricklin-C/A Inc/Studio City CA; Eric Shain-ABC Cable Networks Group/Burbank; Liz Stahler-Suppertime Entertainment/LA
Today’s Trivia Question: Happy Days and Three’s Company were both shows which debuted during the ’70s. One actor from each sitcom appeared in a box office hit during the 70’s, what film was it? (click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)
Later — Gwen
Gwen Billings for Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis Kids!
01.30.06 – 3:35a
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JOB OPENING: REGIONAL ACCT DIR/SCREENVISION/LA: Dev, present & sell integrated media prgrms to clients in LA & W. Coast mrkts. Sales exp in radio, TV & Cable ind. a must. Much travel reqd. Email res: [email protected] (2/4)
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SITUATION WANTED: EXPERIENCED NEWS MANAGER, award winning journalist, all broadcast operations know- how, web/new media friendly seeks Station Manager opportunity. Fluent in Spanish. Coaching & Consulting available. (2/2) [email protected] (2/2)
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