industry news Disney to make TV shows available free on web
Sequel of Animated Movie Hanuman Announced ‘Hanuman 2’, sequel to the first Indian animated blockbuster Hanuman has been announced.
Walt Disney’s ABC Television will offer some of its most popular shows, such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” for free on the Internet in a two-month trial.
Budgeted in the range of Rs 9-12 Crore, with a release scheduled for Diwali 2007, the sequel is to be co produced by Percept Picture Company and Toonz Animation India on a 50:50 financial investment.
“Commander in Chief ” and “Alias” along with “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” will be available on the Web in May and June, starting the day after they are first broadcast.
Hanuman 2 will be directed by V G Samant the director of the original Hanuman. Toonz recently closed a mega deal with Marvel Studios for doing 104 episodes of Marvel characters (X-Men Franchise) and also another 3 picture DVD deal with Paramount Pictures, USA. All of these latest projects are in 3D arena. Source: www.indiantelevision.com
Viewers will be able to pause and move between “chapters” in an episode but will not be able to skip ads that are technically embedded. Disney also launched a high-speed Internet channel for soap opera fans, called Soapnetic, on April 17 for subscribers to Verizon Communications’ Internet services. Leading U.S. media companies are experimenting with ways to deliver programs via new technologies and still maintain revenue as viewership for their prime-time schedules slowly erodes.
Source: www.news.com
Buzzword of the Month Animatronics - Animatronics are electrical and mechani-
cal creatures that perform as actors on a live action shoot. They can represent a nonexistent beast such as a dragon, dinosaur, or space alien or a real animal that is difficult to impossible to film. Sometimes an animatronics is an entire creature, while on other occasions it is only a head worn by a performer in a body costume. When an animatronics represents the entire body of a creature, it is first made as a sculpture, which is used to make an eproxy or fiberglass mold. The mold is then injected with silicon or foam latex and baked to make skin. Meanwhile the creature’s skeleton, or armature, is made out of steel and/or light weight aluminum.
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Issue 03 April 2006
