Cable nets mine SXSW energy

Bravo takes 'Watch What Continues Live' to SXSW with host Andy Cohen and TaskRabbit, an internet site for services including bartending. SXSW keeps cooking for fans, customers South by Southwest can be a three-headed monster turning around film, music and interactive, there's however another thread that winds using the festival: cable systems.Cablers including IFC, Bravo, MTV and VH1 are utilizing the fest's wired aud to push brands for instance "Top Chef" that stress their interactive character. The fest's growing concentrate on comedy offers an all-natural tie-together with cable comedy designers for instance IFC and Comedy Central, which hosts the "Workaholics" house party March 16 in Austin. The nets start to see the festival just like a prime place to attain both fans as well as the designers of that's indie, fresh and appealing to the 18-49 demographic. "The festival is ongoing to develop a great deal. It's where people go after they launch tales about interactive things, not just to be heard with the press, but furthermore with the fans. It's incredibly social and viral," mentioned Bravo senior V . p . of marketing Ellen Stone.People visit SXSW to uncover what's new, she mentioned, which dovetails in what she calls the net's early adopter audience. Bravo's activities in Austin are known as to interactive late evening series "Watch What Continues Live." The show, situated by Bravo professional Andy Cohen, can have a panel on transmedia with "Top Chef's" Tom Colicchio, which is joining as much as advertise TaskRabbit, an online service that will help people uncover assistants to accomplish various chores. Bravo may even take advantage from the interactive conference to create statistics around the introduction of second-screen viewing. Getting a show like "Top Chef," "the (viewing) experience cannot be complete without prone to another platform," mentioned Stone. On Saturday, professionals from Bravo, MTV and Food Network will consider ale social networking to operate a vehicle TV ratings through the Interactive section panel @TVEngagement.IFC, a sponsor in the festival, hosts the Crossroads house within the Vice Bar on Austin's sixth Street, with five days of comedy and music including Delta Spirit and Produced to Spill. IFC senior V . p . of marketing Blake Callaway mentioned the web will there be because the festival "includes my way through independent culture -- film, music, comedy." Funny customers are progressively crucial that you IFC, which sees SXSW just like a place to locate and showcase emerging names. Knowing what's funny is really a type of social currency for youthful males, mentioned Calloway. While MTV and VH1 are actually heavily mixed up in music part of the fest for any very long time, VH1 may also be prominent inside the film area, due to the festival's strong selection of music-focused docus. Two VH1 documents are screening, "Marley" and Snoop Dogg-read "Uprising: Stylish Hop as well as the L.A. Riots." A sneak take a look at docu "Downloaded: Digital Revolution" features a panel with Napster founders Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker.MTV Group prexy Van Toffler mentioned the web elevated its participation within the music fest by beginning the Woodie honours a year ago. It's a good option to hold the music activity kudos that's selected on by college auds, Toffler mentioned, since many bands are available to do, including Imagine Dragons and Santigold. MTV also streams concerts within the Hive house music venue within the fest. "It's a great way to consult with artists, fans as well as the industry," mentioned Toffler. Despite the fact that Bravo is relevant the transmedia way of getting audiences connected with Tv shows, MTV will announce an idea to help artists connect directly utilizing their fanbase. Toffler will unveil the forthcoming professional-artist initiative and platform just like a Featured SXSW Music Speaker on Thursday. "We will create a home for artists,Inch he mentioned. Contact Pat Saperstein at pat.saperstein@variety.com

Art galleries maneuver into cloud technology

Studio professionals spoken concerning the opportunites given with the further implementation of cloud technology simply because they try to pin lower a digital media enterprize model and styme piracy through the Hollywood IT Summit at Pepperdine College Friday."There's great chance to operate a vehicle lower costs and improve implementation of services," The brand new the new sony CIO Steve Andujar mentioned, adding the cloud may also be rewritig the means by which art galleries create and deliver content.Round the production side, filmmakers are often using 10s of petabytes cost of information simply because they mine the most recent digital and 3d technologies, which drives up data usage for consumer delivery and stokes advances in presentation."HD might be the brand new standard definition and you'll find 4K shows you are seeing at CES that will begin to transition to the home," Darcy Antonellis, leader of Warner Bros. technical methods noted in conversation with Variety's David Cohen. Nevertheless the promises in the cloud needs to be completed with caution Vital CIO Abe Wong mentioned, considering tech enhancements advance with amazing speed as well as the cloud systems are quite recent.InchYou have to have a look at possible vendor lock-in and what continues along with your data once it's [round the cloud]," he mentioned.Because the cloud offers anytime-anywhere utilization of studio content, Antonellis mentioned there is a disconnect involving the services and experience Warner Bros. desires to offer clients and ale network infrastructure to assist people enhancements.The present arguments between Hollywood and Plastic Vally also found the forefront Friday, as studio professionals lick their wounds within the SOPA/PIPA backlash."[Google's] no. 1 goal, as it must be, is always to boost their relevance, their engine. They wish to connect you along with your make least volume of clicks...where there might be tensions have associated with results returned. Once the most current listings for a film appear a piracy site first we'll have a problem with that," Antonellis mentioned.The present media attention on Wikileaks and hacktavists org Anonymous, that are presently a menace towards the art galleries data and bottome by marketing total Internet freedom whatsoever necessary, might galvanize Hollywood's IT honchos to bolster their security."Things like Wikileaks have really changed the sport. Just as it is great in the firewall doesn't always mean it's safe" Leo Collins, an individual consultant to Oracle as well as the moderator in the studio CIO panel mentioned. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Thunderbird is really a choose Giustra

VANCOUVER -- Lionsgate founder Frank Giustra is coming back towards the entertainment biz, creating a significant purchase of Vancouver-based Thunderbird Films to increase and broaden its TV procedures. Although the quantity of gold coin wasn't revealed on Wednesday, it'll make the Canadian businessman and philanthropist certainly one of Thunderbird's major investors, per the development company's co-founders Tim Gamble and Michael Shepard, who function as Boss and leader, correspondingly. "Once we expand our business and step-up production, Frank's support guarantees that people can maintain our independence and parlay incredible possibilities," Gamble stated. Going for a non-traditional method of privileges management, Thunderbird can give producers distribution advances. "By supplying producers with advances, we are in a position to guide them into finance and production possibilities and then be flexible with distribution contracts, which paves the way to greater options," stated Shepard. Giustra's investment goes a lengthy way towards obtaining and creating future programming. "I'm very happy to get this to purchase of Thunderbird and admire the success Tim, Michael as well as their team have accomplished with the organization throughout yesteryear eight years," stated Giustra. "Thunderbird will get access to sufficient capital to pay attention to being a prominent entity within the production and distribution of television programming having a special focus on privileges management. I anticipate moving the organization to the next stage of success, using its independence to take advantage of global possibilities." Thunderbird will even soon unveil a brand new title which will better reflect its various procedures. It's presently taking pleasure in success using its TV series, "Mr. Youthful," that has been running on Disney XD and was lately gone to live in a primetime slot. The organization also is the owner of a 50% stake within the "Edge Runner" film franchise. An old investment banker, Giustra setup Lionsgate in 1997 to take advantage of the growing Vancouver film industry. He offered the majority of his stake six years later. He's presently a board member. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Comic Doug Benson around the Ups, Downs and Delights of Live-Tweeting the Academy awards

The Oscars telecast stopped as being a one-screen experience years back. An Oscar viewing party is fine and dandy, however with a pc or phone nearby, an online theater filled with individuals will boost the experience in the first red-colored-carpet arrivals towards the music playing within the Best Picture those who win speech. Yes, your buddies are witty and may also fetch a beer, however the best jokes concerning the those who win, nonwinners and my way through between take presctiption Twitter. Some professionals make watching the Academy awards simply well worth the hrs (and hrs) spent. Doug Benson is one. A stand-up comedian and author including penning jokes for award shows Benson started recording an every week podcast known as Doug Loves Movies in 2006. Movieline spoken using the devoted movie fan concerning the fleeting art of live-tweeting movie theaters finest evening, who the very best hosts are and if the Academy awards ever really accomplish comedy. Are you currently live-tweeting the Academy awards this season? The number of events (Academy awards, Golden Globes) excuses have you employed? I am thinking about it. As lengthy when i could possibly get Access to the internet wherever I am watching the show. I live-tweet every show will be able to, as lengthy as everybody is seeing it live simultaneously. The Grammys take presctiption a tape delay around the West Coast, so it is not fun live-tweeting that after the New England first viewed it all hrs before. What's been the entertainment worth of the Oscar events of history couple of years? There's hardly any entertainment value. For this reason I live-tweet throughout it. To entertain myself and other people who will dsicover the entire factor boring. I really like movies, and that i love the Academy awards recognition filmmakers which do great work, however the whole factor is generally a fucking slog. The Golden Globes were so boring this season, I lost curiosity about live-tweeting it midway through. Do you consider the Twitter/comedian commentariat accumulates the mythology ofthe Academy awards? It can make the Academy awards more tolerable, without a doubt. Which will work for the Academy awards, I suppose. Once the jokes are missing on the program, people can look to Twitter for many laughs, rather than turning the showcase and finding something of worth related to their evening. Exactly what do you consider the connection between comedy and also the Academy awards? Getting written for many award shows, I understand that banter is difficult to drag off, even by entertainers recognized for their comedy chops. Since the whole setup is really artificial, and also the audience within the auditorium really does not provide a shit about hearing jokes. They would like to successful or unsuccessful and visit a party. Should most presenters stay with non-comedy intros? That may be much more deadly than attempting to be funny. Once the Academy awards trot out an actress to inform us how seem editing works, the house audience trots towards the kitchen or even the bathroom. My personal favorite intro I ever authored for somebody, that was really approved and stated by Jennifer Jason Leigh around the Independent Spirit Honours: Without screenwriting, movies could be plays. Can there be anything you are searching toward in the Academy awards this season? Billy Very singing about Very Noisy and extremely Close. It's usually strange in my experience he sings a medley about nominated movies, even when its serious shit like Schindlers List and Saving Private Ryan. Where can you rank Billy Very one of the past Oscar hosts? Certainly available online for with Johnny Carson and Bob Hope because the best. Individuals men understand how to say something funny after something silly just happened, as well as in a self-deprecating way. I loved when Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin located together. I even loved the David Letterman year. A comedian is definitely the best option. Follow Doug Benson's Oscars live-tweeting at @DougBenson. [Photo: Robyn Von Swank]

Keck's Exclusives Start Looking: Betty Whitened and Erectile dysfunction Asner Reunite on Hot in Cleveland!

The Walking Dead Fact: The Walking Dead never shies from bloodstream, guts and gore. Though Ron (Andrew Lincoln subsequently) & Co. found "safety" around the Greene Farm in Season 2, the threat of ramblers has continued to be. And maybe it's a barn filled with the undead or just one hungry zombie in the local pharmacy, each master should be rapidly (and extremely) sent The Walking Dead Boss: Lori is becoming Lady MacBeth Watch the exclusive video below to discover the way the hit AMC series puts together its most nasty zombie kills, such as the splitting of the overweight, soaking-wet master in two or creating the flesh-hungry hoard that descended upon Shane (Jon Bernthal) and Otis. The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

Robin Thicke Busted on Pot Possession Charges

Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph is coming back to her old Saturday Evening Live stomping grounds now - there is however a small problem: She still owes Fred Armisen $20 from 2007 and she's also got writers' block. Once she will get over individuals hurdles, she'll suffer from what's within the time capsule she left out. Discover what that's during these promotions for Rudolph's go back to SNL:

Other 'Beauty and the Beast' Pilot Gets a Casting Director

Other 'Beauty and the Beast' Pilot Gets a Casting Director By Pete Keeley January 30, 2012 Photo by Disney Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" Every pilot season, there's always a few similar-sounding projects that get set up at different networks, and this year is no different.Last week we wrote about the CW's "Beauty and the Beast" pilot, a reboot of the '80s Ron Perlman-Linda Hamilton TV series, which is being cast by Sherman/Knight. But the CW isn't the only network in the beauty/beast business, as ABC also gave an order to a project of that name. Details on the exact nature of ABC's version are scarce, but it seems to be in the "modern re-imagining" vein. There's a beauty, there's a beast, but it's fresh and new! Anyhow, ABC's "Beauty and the Beast" (both projects still have the same title, which will most likely not be the case in the event both pilots get series orders) is being cast by Deb Aquila at Aquila/Wood. No word on a start date for this project yet. Other 'Beauty and the Beast' Pilot Gets a Casting Director By Pete Keeley January 30, 2012 Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" PHOTO CREDIT Disney Every pilot season, there's always a few similar-sounding projects that get set up at different networks, and this year is no different.Last week we wrote about the CW's "Beauty and the Beast" pilot, a reboot of the '80s Ron Perlman-Linda Hamilton TV series, which is being cast by Sherman/Knight. But the CW isn't the only network in the beauty/beast business, as ABC also gave an order to a project of that name. Details on the exact nature of ABC's version are scarce, but it seems to be in the "modern re-imagining" vein. There's a beauty, there's a beast, but it's fresh and new! Anyhow, ABC's "Beauty and the Beast" (both projects still have the same title, which will most likely not be the case in the event both pilots get series orders) is being cast by Deb Aquila at Aquila/Wood. No word on a start date for this project yet.