Tuesday, December 6th, 2005

CynKids

CynKids
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CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis: Kids!

 

12/06/05

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, December 6, 2005, and this is your first early morning Kids! briefing.

Sony is not making any friends and may not be selling too many PSPs in the San Francisco area with its most recent guerrilla marketing endeavor, according to a Wired magazine report.  Targeting urban gamers, Sony enlisted graffiti artists to spray paint images, designed by its ad agency, of kids playing with their PSP.  Some San Francisco residents began to take issue with the graffiti. With no specific Sony branding on them, gaming websites and bloggers went to work to figure out who was behind the images, and identified Sony.  Before I go on, it should be noted that there are people who like the graffitied artwork.  And if you’re thinking Sony will likely face vandalism charges, think again. All the graffiti has been done on private property that Sony had rented from its owners.  So, Sony is within its legal rights then I guess it all boils down to a matter of artistic taste?  Whether or not the Sony campaign is a good one, and its begs the question given that it wasn’t clear to consumers it was Sony or the PSP, it has spurred lots of buzz.  It has also spurred some to graffiti over the Sony ads with their own comments, including “get out of my city,” “Fony” and my personal favorite “Advertising directed at your counter-culture.” 

NEW PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

New Line Cinema‘s movie adaptation of the fantasy novel Inkheart, will be directed by Iain Softley (The Skeleton Key, K-Pax), per Variety.  Based on the young-adult book of the same name by German author Cornelia Funke’s fantasy novel, New Line signed on David Lindsay-Abaire in 2004 to pen the screenplay.  The director hopes to begin principle photography in spring 2006, with the movie currently slated for a spring 2007 release.

Fox has released a video trailer/teaser for its upcoming movie X-Men 3, which can be accessed at http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/x3/ . Directed by Brett Ratner, X-Men 3 is slated for a May 26, 2006 release. The official X-Men 3 movie website is http://www.x3movie.com , however several comic book and movie blogs are reporting that the domain xmenthelaststand.com has been registered.  I tried it and it leads right to http://www.foxmovies.com.

This will come as a real shock (duh), Fox has a Fantastic Four movie sequel is in the works, and set for a July 4, 2007 release date.  Much of the cast is returning for the follow-up movie, as are director Tim story and writer mark Frost.

MORE KIDS STUFF

To celebrate the holiday season PBS Kids Go is hosting Winter Pop-Up-Palooza, a 2hr on-air stunt on December 16.  The programming event includes Arthur’s Perfect Christmas; from Maya & Miguel’s, Miguel’s Wonderful Life; and Cyberchase’s Starlight Night, during which season related facts will pop-up on the screen throughout the block.  Kids can go online ( http://www.pbskidsgo.org ) to follow-up on pop-up facts and find holiday related activities (e.g. holiday card making, recipes), games and polls.  PBS Kids Go! is targeted to younger school-aged kids, while PBS Kids is aimed at preschoolers.

MARKETING/LICENSING

Sega Corporation has entered into a worldwide partnership with International Sports Multimedia, the exclusive licensee of the International Olympic Committee, to become the publisher of the Official Video Game of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.  Under the agreement SEGA has the rights to publish a range of interactive software titles based on the Beijing Olympic Games.  In addition, SEGA will publish mobile phone games in Asian markets.  As part of the worldwide partnership that will conclude in 2009, SEGA secures the exclusive rights to publish console, PC/Macintosh, arcade, and handheld games worldwide.

Mitsubishi Electric US Holdings has signed up as the charter sponsor of MHD, MTV Networks Music Group’s new high definition music channel.   Scheduled to launch January 16, 2006, MHD will feature original music-based programming sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric, as well as HDTV acquisitions and original content from MTVN family of channels.  As charter sponsor of MHD, Mitsubishi Electric’s production technology will be incorporated into the new MHD studio in Vail, Colorado, and its HDTVs will be featured on set.  The phrase “Powered by Mitsubishi Electric” will appear on tune-in promos and commercials.  Also, Mitsubishi will be the title sponsor of original programming including MHD Top 10 and MHD Video Stew.  Previously MTVN and Mitsubishi Electric joined to present the really huge HDTV in Times Sq. NY across from the MTV Studios/Viacom HQ.

Taffy Entertainment has signed an exclusive publishing deal with Grosset & Dunlap, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group to produce a line of books based on the animated TV series, Pet Alien.  Grosset & Dunlap plans to publish Pet Alien Pet Alien chapter books, comic style books, activity books, joke books and coloring books, with the line slated to launch in spring 2007.  The series is based on a property created by Jeff Muncy of John Doze Studios and co-produced by Mike Young Productions with partners including Moonscoop/TF1 (France); Crest (India); and Telegael (Ireland).  Taffy Entertainment is the rights and distribution arm of Mike Young Productions.

Jakks Pacific, Inc. has entered into a worldwide licensing agreement with Scholastic Media to produce a line of Jakks Pacific’s new Tell-A-Story interactive books based on Scholastic Media’s popular preschool properties, Clifford the Big Red Dog and I Spy.  Jakks plans to launch the Tell-A-Story product line for spring 2006 at mass and specialty retailers nationwide, with the Scholastic “mini-books” expected in fall 2006.

STONE SOUP

blinkx, an internet audio/video search service, has entered into content agreements with Diesel, visit4info, the Advertising Producers Association, and the Central Office of Information of the UK government to index its archives of TV commercials and make them available via the blinkx.tv website. Under these deals blinkx users around the world will be able to search through 5,000+ TV commercials that have become popular cultural references in the UK and mainland Europe for the last 60 yrs.  Included in the library of ads will be UK governmental educational cartoon ads from the 1940s among others.  ( www.blinkx.tv).

ASIFA-Hollywood, the International Animated Film Society yesterday announced the nominees for the 33rd Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the best in animation across film, TV series and commercials, short subjects, and gaming.  Hosted by Tom Kenny (voice of SpongeBob and many others) with Brad Bird, Jason Alexander and Seth McFarlane, the Annie’s will be handed out Saturday February 4, 2006 in California.  In the feature film categories, Aardman Features’ Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit leads the way with 16 nominations including nods for bests in Voice Acting for Ralph Fiennes (Victor Quartermaine), Helena Bonham Carter (Lady Tottington), Peter Sallis (Wallace), as well as Effects, Directing, Character Design.  DreamWorks Animation received nine nominations for Madagascar including for Effects and Production Design.  On the television side, Nickelodeon earned 11 nominations (Avatar, My Life As A Teenage Robot – from Nickelodeon & Frederator, Catscratch), followed by Cartoon Network Studios with 7 nods (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Star Wars: Clone Wars II), and Disney TV Animation (Buzz on Maggie, Kim Possible), Warner Bros. Animation (The Batman, Justice League Unlimited), and Fox TV Animation (Family Guy, King of the Hill) each with 5 nominations.  A full list of categories and nominees can be found at http://www.annieawards.com . 2005 Annie Award nominees for bests in categories include:

Animated Feature:

  • Chicken Little (Disney Feature Animation)
  • Corpse Bride (Warner Bros. Presents A Tim Burton/Laika Ent. Prod.)
  • Howl’s Moving Castle (Disney Studios/Studio Ghibli)
  • Madagascar (DreamWorks Animation)
  • Wallace & Gromit-The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Aardman Features)

Animated TV Production:

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender (Nickelodeon)
  • Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends (Cartoon Network Studios)
  • My Life As A Teenage Robot (Nickelodeon/Frederator)
  • Star Wars: Clone Wars II Chapters 21-25 (Cartoon Network Studios)
  • The Batman (Warner Bros. Animation)

Animated TV commercial:

  • Conoco ‘1975’ (Ring of Fire)
  • Bastard Wants to Hit Me (Laika/House)
  • Coke “Futbol” (Laika/House)
  • GE “Tower” (Quiet Man Inc.)
  • United Airlines “Mr. Pants” (Acme Filmworks)

Animated Video Game

  • Psychonauts (Double Fine Productions, Inc.)
  • Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, PANTS! (THQ, Inc.)
  • Tak The Great Juju Challenge (THQ, Inc.)
  • Ultimate Spider-Man (Activision)

Animation Home Entertainment Production:

  • Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows (Creative Capers Ent, Inc)
  • Kronk’s New Groove (DisneyToon Studios)
  • Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch (DisneyToon Studios)
  • Tarzan II (DisneyToon Studios)
  • The Batman vs. Dracula (Warner Bros. Animation)

Electronic Arts, the interactive game developer/publisher, has set up a new development studio in Singapore.  The studio will focus on localizing and customizing EA games into at least five different languages for distribution throughout the Asia region. In addition, the long-term plan is for the studio to evolve into an online game development facility. A development team is already in place and the first localized projects have already started to be shipped. 

EXECUTIVE MOVES

DreamWorks Animation SKG board member and former Vice Chairman/CFO, Bank of America Lewis Coleman has been named President/DreamWorks Animation SKG, reporting CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg.  Coleman will work with Katzenberg and COO, Ann Daly to further DreamWorks’ goal of producing two CG animated movies a year as well as expand the company into business including direct-to-video movies, licensing, Broadway musicals and live entertainment.  Executives who previously reported to the Katzenberg will now report to Coleman.  In keeping with the company policy of maintaining an independent majority on its board, Coleman has resigned as a director and as Chairman/Audit Committee.  He is expected to be re-elected as a director when the balance of independent directors on the board is sufficient.  Recently elected DreamWorks Animation SKG board member, Karl von der Heyden, formerly Vice Chairman/CFO, PepsiCo, has taken over Coleman’s role as Chair/Audit Committee.

Carrie Dumont has been appointed VP/Business Affairs, Cookie Jar Entertainment.  Dumont responsibilities include leading the Cookie Jar’s expanding property acquisition, development and merchandising activities.  Her immediate attention will be to oversee agreements with the company’s TV and merchandising partners on The Doodlebops and other properties.  Most recently Dumont toiled for a decade with Nelvana as VP/Business & Legal Affairs.

Irene Chua has taken on the responsibilities as VP/Operations, Electronic Arts Asia’s new studio in Singapore.  Chua is now managing the studio which currently has a development team of 20 international staff from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Holland.  EA veteran Chris Thompson, VP/GM, EA Southeast Asia has moved to Singapore where he will oversee EA’s publishing business.  Thompson makes the move to Singapore from Tokyo where he served for 7-yrs as GM, EA Japan.

RATINGS

Kids Cable Network Averages in thousands (000) for Friday, December 2, 2005, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON:            K2-11 1105; K6-11   536; TWEENS 9-14 410
DISNEY CHANNEL:       K2-11   751; K6-11   454; TWEENS 9-14 355
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11   612; K6-11   382; TWEENS 9-14 260
TOON DISNEY:              K2-11   150; K6-11     65; TWEENS 9-14   41
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data



Answer to yesterday’s trivia question:
What is the name of the group of boys who follow Peter Pan?  LOST BOYS    Kudos to: Julie DePue-Stelor Productions/Darnestown MD; Bob Eisenstaedt-Granite Spring Productions/Tampa; Mike Doyle-Time Warner Cable/Stamford CT; Rich Thomas-Disney Press/NY; Valerie Heilbron-Heilbron Associates/Santa Fe NM; Joy Star-HIT Entertainment/Allen TX; Bethany Scheuerman-GRP Media/Chicago; Rosemary Cunningham-MMT/Chicago; Eric Covert-Disney ABC Cable Networks Group/Burbank; Delphine Pham-Taffy Entertainment/Woodland Hills CA; Justin Meadows-Disney/ABC Cable Networks Group/Burbank; Kelly Syers-Thewb Radio/Santa Monica; Lynn Valiquette-Ellis Releasing/Toronto Ontario Canada; Sam Ewing-Cookie Jar Entertainment/Paris France

Today’s Trivia Question Today:  Home Alone 2 Lost in New York is about Kevin lost again for the second time during the family’s Christmas vacation.  Kevin ends up in New York. Where did the family go? (click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone with your answer. 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 Billings for Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis Kids!
12/06/05 – 3:54a
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JOB OPENING: Cablevision seeks PRODUCTION ACCOUNTANT  in NYC. Assist Dir of Prod in creating production/programbudgets.1+ yrs exp in entertainment req’d. BS/BA req’. Res to [email protected] w/1201CYN15700MRK in subject (12/13)

JOB OPENING: Cablevision seeks PRODUCTION MANAGER  for Fishkill, NY to manage commercial production process. 3-5 yrs TV production exp. Strong copy writing skills. Send res to [email protected] w/1130CYN15782MRK in subject (12/13)

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JOB OPENING: HEAD OF PRODUCTION. Production genius for busy NY-based indy prodn co. MUST have 10+ years experience as Head of
Production/EIC. Juggle many projects. Full package. Growth. Send & Paste. Resume: [email protected]  (12/13)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/The Outdoor Channel/NYC: Immediate opening for aggressive/self-starter w/ 3+ yrs. Nat’l sales experience.  Pls send resume to: [email protected] (12/13)

JOB OPENING: SALES PRICING AND OPERATIONS ASST. Court TV, NY For info go to: http://www.courttv.com/about/careers (12/13)

JOB OPENING: N’WORK CABLE ADMIN/Asst/BET Ad Sales NY: 2-3yrs exp. Must be det. oriented & have ability to multi-task in fast paced environment. Proficient in MS Word/Excel/PP. Exc oral/written skills.  [email protected]   (12/13)

JOB OPENING: SR. WRITER/PRODUCER SCI FI Channel, NBC Universal, NYC. Must have 5+ yrs Promo/Prod exp and college degree. Spot reel a must. www.universalstudios.com/jobs keyword # 438660 (12/13)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASSISTANT/AMC & WE/LA– Support National Ad Sales Team with the daily sales and servicing of advertising clients. BA/BS pref. Good comm and org skills nec. resumes to [email protected]   (12/13)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASSISTANT/CBS Television Sales/LA: Assistant works with 2 Senior Account Executives inputting orders, resolving discrepancies, dealing with agencies, etc. Send cover letter & resume to: [email protected]   (12/13)

JOB OPENING: New reality show looking for EXP’D SD/HD Shooter Producers, Reality Field Producer, Prod Mgr, FCP Editors for fast paced production starting immediately, Resume to:  [email protected]    (12/13)

JOB OPENING: BROADCAST DESIGNER/ Comedy Ctrl/NYC: Dev creative concepts, create show/network pckging; strong design sk; After Effects; thoro knwldge software, eg,  PhotoShop&Illustrator.  EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvncareers.com (12/13)

JOB OPENING: SR RES. ANALYST/Scripps Networks Brand Research-KNOXVILLE: 3-5 yrs nat’l TV exp; proficient in market research, stats & TV data, Nielsen software and media math. Email: [email protected]. Ref job #4898-U(12/10)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, AFFILIATE MARKETING, OLN- Stamford, CT – Develop/execute affiliate and LAS promos for anchor pgming. 7+ yrs affiliate mktg exp at cable network req’d. See www.olntv.com Resume/salary: [email protected] (12/08)

JOB OPENING: CLIENT MARKETING SOLUTIONS MANAGER/ Court TV, NY Develop/Execute added value marketing programs for ad sales. 3-5yrs exp. in cable or media planning a+. For info go to: http://www.courttv.com/about/careers/ (12/08)

JOB OPENING: MANAGER OF DEVELOPMENT/ National Geographic Channel/DC. Devlp concepts to meet aggressive ratings goals. 5-10yrs exp. TV prod, writing, program financial budget. Must apply on-line @ www.foxcareers.com FNG 1363.EOE (12/08)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, Mercury Media/LA: 3+ yrs experience in DR long-form buying or campaign mgt, strong communication & analytical skills. Email resume & sal history to [email protected] (12/8)

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JOB OPENING:  MANAGER RESEARCH/Buena Vista TV, LA. 3+ yrs exp. Broadcast, Synd, Cable.  Nielsen Gal. Expl., N-Power, Mkt. Brks, WRAP Overnights/Sweeps, MS Ppt/Ex/Wd.  Top writing/analytical skills.  Email: [email protected]  (12/7)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR RESEARCH, OLN-Stamford  Provide research support to all depts.  7+ yrs exp nat’l cable/broadcast tv & sports exp req’d. More info: www.olntv.com Resume/Salary: [email protected] EOE/AA/Drug (12/07)

JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR OF SALES/Petry International/LA: highly motivated w/ experience in the internat’l/multicultural sales & marketing area preferred. Client and agency contacts a must. Pls send resume to: [email protected] (12/07)

JOB OPENING: VP SALES/Petry International/NYC: Experienced deal maker (both advertising and bus. dev) for international and multicultural. Channel, client and agency contacts a must. Pls send resume to: [email protected] (12/07)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST, The Golf Channel / ORLANDO, FL. 3 yrs media research exp preferred. Day-to-day will use NPOWER; Market Breaks; StarTrak. Golf exp. not mandatory. EOE. M/F/D/V Fax to: 407.363.7976. No calls please. (12/13)

WINTER INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here.  They are posted for free, and students work for school credit only.  For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at [email protected].

Winter Internship Credits Only: MOW, TV, and feature production company,seeks a development intern. In addition to administrative duties intern will have the opportunity to be creatively involved.Please resume to [email protected] (12/13)

Winter Internship Credits Only: CHANNEL ONE NEWS/NYC: ASSIST MKTG DEPT of teen TV news network w/sales & consumer mktg projects, promotions, sponsor programs. 3-5 days/wk. Enthusiastic/organized, Excel/PPoint. Cover ltr/resume: [email protected]  (12/10)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED —

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SITUATION WANTED: ASSISTANT/PA Attentive and ambitious NYU grad with dynamic experience seeking assistant job in New York.  Very pro-active, creative, and talented.  Contact:  [email protected] (12/13)

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SITUATION WANTED: Award Winning Network EXECUTIVE PRODUCERseeking position at prod co.or network.Expert in Prgrmng, Dev.& Management. Recently received an MBA.Very pro-active. Willing to relocate. Contact [email protected]  (12/30)

SITUATION WANTED: PROGRAMMING/ACQUISITIONS/DEVELOPMENT Executive seeks post. Expert in “Lifestyle” programming and created the Q Television Network. Produced series, specials, etc.  Relocation acceptable. Contact: [email protected]  (12/10)

SITUATION WANTED: Award Winning Network CREATIVE DIRECTOR seeking position at up and coming or thriving network. Solid experience in On and Off-Air Design and Management. Very pro-active. Willing to relocate. Contact [email protected] (12/8

SITUATION WANTED: VP/SALES Latin America.Previously at Fox & HBO Latin America. Multilingual, master negotiator, creative and strategic thinker. Open to all areas of New Media and Entertainment. Contact: [email protected] (12/07)

E-mail [email protected] for rates and specs for Job Openings.

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