TV / Film News

ESPN Lands New 3-D Channel on Comcast Cable Systems

Source: Michael Ricci
May 13, 2010

The nation's largest cable operator, Comcast Corp., has jumped on the 3-D bandwagon.

Comcast is expected to announce Wednesday that it will offer ESPN 3D when it launches June 11 with coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The new network has pledged to carry a minimum of 85 live sporting events in its first year, including college football's Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. ESPN announced its 3-D plans at this year's Consumer ...

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Turner Classic Movies to Pay Tribute to Singer-Actress Lena Horne Friday, May 21

Source: CHC Network
May 12, 2010

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will dedicate the Friday, May 21, primetime lineup to paying tribute to legendary singer-actress Lena Horne, who passed away yesterday at the age of 92.

The nights collection will feature three films with defining Horne performances. Also included is one of Hornes favorite films, the 1943 John Garfield drama The Fallen Sparrow.

8 p.m. The Duke is Tops (1938), Hornes film debut, featuring performances of the songs I Know You Remember and ...

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8-Bit Imagery Invades Music Videos

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2010

Like a relentless swarm of Space Invaders, retro videogame graphics have marched into music videos over the past decade.

Directors, never immune to the nostalgic allure of the pixel, have injected bold, blocky 8-bit imagery into the videos of all kinds of songs. The videogame-inspired visuals seem an especially appropriate accompaniment for chiptune music, itself spawned from an aural fascination with retro games.

With more and more filmmakers adopting the visual vibe of old-school videogames, its time to pay tribute ...

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Beatles 'Party' on Bigscreen

Source: All About Jazz
May 10, 2010

Richard DiLello's rock-history tome “The Longest Cocktail Party," which tracks his experience at the Beatles' company Apple Corps, is set to be adapted for the bigscreen.

Pic will be produced by London-based Revolution Films in conjunction with Liam Gallagher's newly formed shingle In 1 Prods. Gallagher, the former Oasis frontman, is known for his love of the Beatles and has often credited the group as an inspiration for his music. Revolution toppers Andrew Eaton and Michael Winterbottom will develop the ...

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FCC Lets Hollywood Turn Off Your Output Jacks

Source: All About Jazz
May 10, 2010

Hollywood will soon have the power to remotely disable the analog outputs on your set-top box, under a decision by federal regulators on Friday intended to prevent home recording of new movie releases. The move by the Federal Communications Commission grants cable and satellite providers the power to block consumers from viewing just-released movies in an analog format through a process known as Selectable Output Control. Hollywood requested SOC powers as a condition of allowing providers for the first time ...

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Media Moguls on Elevated Pay Scale

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

While most CEOs of U.S. companies saw their compensation fall in 2009, top executives of TV, movie and cable companies continued to rake it in.

When an executive runs a company whose success depends on stars whether they are richly rewarded TV news anchors or generously compensated movie idols it is only fitting that the boss is paid, well, like a star.

Call it the Katie Couric Syndrome.

That's one take-away from a Los Angeles Times survey of compensation packages ...

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FCC Approves New, Barred Window for Pay-TV Movies

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

Hollywood won another incremental battle Friday in its war on digital piracy, persuading the Federal Communications Commission to approve a new approach to protecting movies on cable and satellite TV systems.

The likely result is that some, but not all, pay-TV subscribers will be able to pay a premium to watch a movie at home, in high definition, before it comes out on disc. My colleague Richard Verrier wrote about the order for the Company Town blog, focusing on the ...

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Anita O'Day Biopic in Development

Source: All About Jazz
May 8, 2010

Producer Sheri Howell is developing a biopic of jazz singer Anita O'Day through Los Angeles-based 47 Pictures Inc.

Howell, who spent over a decade as an MTV exec, has optioned the life rights to O'Day, who died three years ago at the age of 87. The documentary “Anita O'Day: Life of a Jazz Singer" received a 2010 Grammy nomination for longform music video.

O'Day performed with the big bands of Gene Krupa and Stan Kenton, teamed with Charlie Parker and ...

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