Home Authors Posts by Martie Bester

Martie Bester

0 POSTS 0 JOBS

BBC Worldwide appoints Joel Churcher as VP and GM for Africa

Martie Bester
-
0

BBC Worldwide has announced the appointment of Joel Churcher as Vice President and General Manager for Africa, which is a new role for the business and emphasises a long-term commitment to Africa as a priority market.

In 2013, BBC Worldwide underwent restructuring from its divisional to geographic lines of management, which enables it to capture future growth opportunities globally and as a result, the role of Vice President and General Manager for Africa was created.

Churcher’s appointment as General Manager is the second for the Asian, Central Eastern European, Middle and East African (CEMA) region after Jacek Koskowski was appointed as Vice President and General Manager for Poland in 2011.

Based in Johannesburg, Churcher will be responsible for strategy and business development across all BBC Worldwide businesses in the CEMA region, including television and digital sales, production and format sales, licensing and publishing, live events, and the daily management of the BBC-branded channels portfolio available on DStv.

Churcher excelled in his previous position as Account Director for BBC Worldwide Channels across the European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) region, driving the advertising sales business in markets such as Norway, Poland and Italy. He was also Advertising Sales Director in charge of advertising sales on all BBC-branded channels in Western Europe and within the CEMA region, including South Africa.

Working closely with the senior management team in London, Churcher will report to Ian McDonough, BBC Worldwide’s Executive Vice President for CEMA.

MGI, Molden Media and never.no showcase latest trends in on-air graphics

Martie Bester
-
0

Media Group International (MGI), the United Arab Emirates’ leading systems integrator, has partnered with Molden Media and never.no for Cabsat 2014, which takes place from 11 to 13 March in Dubai.

The three companies have combined forces to showcase the latest trends in on-air graphics and live social management based on multi-touch screen technology at the content management event.

Molden Media’s screen will broadcast a football match, demonstrating the latest in picture-in-picture (PIP) broadcasting technology. During the screening, live data graphics, social media content and user voting results will be displayed on the interactive video wall.

The exhibit consists of an interactive multi-touch fully HD video wall (4m x 2.1m), fitted with social media interaction technology, such as M2Social as well as M2Vote (iPad and smart phone voting integration).

The LED video wall will feature touch widgets and is enabled with an interactive multi-touch technology, which can support up to 32 simultaneous touches at a time. The position of a presenter is also tracked, and the widgets follow automatically, which enables the content to always be at the presenter’s control.

In addition, MGI’s partner never.no will showcase “Interactivity Suite’, its live social management and interactive broadcast platform suited for both programming and live advertising. The platform allows live content to be harvested from social and second screen sources (including comments, trends, images, video, and polls), which are moderated and then broadcast in real time.

Paul Hennessy, CEO of Media Group International, said: “We are extremely pleased to partner with Molden Media and never.no for CABSAT 2014, and to be involved in showcasing such innovative on-air graphics technologies. The exhibit will offer a fully interactive experience, incorporating social media, which we look forward to sharing with our visitors.’

The MGI CABSAT 2014 exhibit can be found at Stand B5 20.

12 Years a Slave wins best picture at Oscars

Martie Bester
-
0

Director Steve McQueen’s movie, 12 Years a Slave won the Oscar for best picture at the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday 2 March in Hollywood while Alfonso Cuaron won best director for Gravity, which scooped up six more awards, including a best actor win for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto taking the Oscar for best supporting actor.

The glamorous and highly anticipated event was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and will be broadcast on 3 March at 19h30 on pay-channel M-Net.

Full list of winners

Best Picture
12 Years a Slave: Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas (producers)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave

Achievement in Directing
Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity

Original Screenplay
Spike Jonze for Her

Adapted Screenplay
John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
Let It Go from Frozen; Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
Steven Price for Gravity

Achievement in Production Design
Catherine Martin: Production Design and Beverley Dunn: Set Decoration for The Great Gatsby

Achievement in Film Editing
Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger for Gravity

Achievement in Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity

Achievement in Sound Editing
Glenn Freemantle for Gravity

Achievement in Sound Mixing
Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro for Gravity

Best Foreign Language Film
The Great Beauty, Italy

Best Documentary Feature
20 Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers

Best Documentary Short Subject
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed

Best Live-Action Short Film
Helium: Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson

Achievement in Visual Effects
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould for Gravity

Best Animated Feature
Frozen

Best Animated Short Film
Mr. Hublot: Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews for Dallas Buyers Club

Achievement in Costume Design
Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby

Ster-Kinekor announces opening of new Cine Prestige sites

Martie Bester
-
0

Ster-Kinekor is expanding its luxurious Cine Prestige theatre offerings to three more sites, including The Grove in Pretoria East, which commences trading on the evening of Friday 28 February with the screening of multi-Oscar nominated American Hustle in the two theatres.

The conversion process has started at Gateway in Durban and in Sandton City in Johannesburg, and the completion date for the two new Cine Prestige theatres at Gateway is expected to be mid-March. The cinema in Sandton will open shortly thereafter.

Says Fiaz Mahomed, CEO of Ster-Kinekor Theatres, “The exclusive Cine Prestige concept, the “business class’ of cinema theatres, was launched at The Zone in Rosebank in 2012, and extended to our new complex at Cradlestone Mall, which houses two of these cinemas, when the mall opened in November last year.

“It has proved to be an extremely popular option in which to watch a film, and our decision to introduce this upgraded format at more of our cinemas is as a result of positive audience feedback. The builds at these new sites join our growing Cine Prestige offering, and bring the number of these luxury cinemas to an impressive eight.’

At Gateway, the two Cine Prestige cinemas will comprise 39 seats each, with the converted cinema in Sandton providing seating for 57 people. All 3D-enabled, the screens in each of these new cinemas – and at The Grove – can accommodate any new title that is released in this format.

Ster-Kinekor began its roll-out of full digital conversion at all its cinemas at the end of 2013, and these innovations follow on this business model. Every site is now equipped with the latest in digital projector technology and quality surround-sound speaker systems, providing viewers with the latest in cinema technology.

Mahomed adds that it is interesting to note that the Cine Prestige format performs consistently well throughout the year, irrespective of what title is being screened. He contributes this to the fact that audiences go there to enjoy the luxurious experience, while being treated to a great movie at the same time.

“We are very proud of our new Cine Prestige cinemas, as we continue to bring the very best in cinema entertainment – in the most luxurious environments – to South Africans. We have pledged to give our audiences “great moments at their greatest’ with every movie experience.

“Our investment into the new Cine Prestige theatres at The Grove, Gateway and Sandton provides further evidence of our ongoing commitment to continuously deliver on this promise,’ concludes Mahomed.

Visit www.sterkinekor.com for more information about Cine Prestige and Ster-Kinekor, or to book tickets, or call Ticketline on 082 16789.

For news and updates, go to Facebook: Ster-Kinekor Theatres, follow Ster-Kinekor on Twitter: @SKTheatres, or download the SK App on Nokia, Samsung Android, iPhone or Blackberry smartphones for updates or to make a booking.

SA film Kanyekanye wins award at prestigious international fest

Martie Bester
-
0

South African film Kanyekanye has won the Audience Choice Award for the Best Short Film at the CineSud Short Film Festival in France.

The festival, which celebrates African film, is one of the biggest in the world.

Kanyekanye was written and directed by Miklas Manneke and received the award for Best Student Film at the second annual Jozi Film Festival in 2013.

The movie was also nominated for a Student Oscar last year and has won several accolades since, screening at various film festivals globally.

Key Hollywood film executives visit SA to discuss opportunities

Martie Bester
-
0

Visiting key film executives from Hollywood received an overview of the South African film industry at a briefing in Johannesburg hosted by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and Gauteng Film Commission in partnership with Brand South Africa.

The executives are Vance van Patten, Executive Director of the Producers’ Guild of America; Mary Ann Hughes, Vice President of Film and Television Production Planning at Disney; Sara Spring, Senior Vice President of Feature Production at Paramount; and Kate Beyda, Senior Vice President of Physical Production at Warner Bros.

Held at the NFVF offices in Houghton, the briefing session was the first of several planned engagements in South Africa between the film executives and local industry players.

Van Patten said that South Africa’s film landscape presents a range of creative and cost effective-opportunities and that they want to make movies here that will benefit both the local and American industries.

He also reiterated that there are opportunities for credited South African producers to work with the Association by stating that it is a professional trade organisation aimed at protecting, promoting and educating producers globally.

Van Patten elaborated: “As the Producers’ Guild Association we are looking at establishing a base in South Africa, and part of this trip is to build a relationship with an active service provider that has film credits as a working producer.’

The aim of the discussions is to provide an overview of locational advantages and opportunities for filming in South Africa. Topics that will be addressed include government incentives, the tax regime, prime locations, availability of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, the depth of the human resource capacity and bandwidth capacity for directors who rely on high-speed internet to send daily “rushes’ to their overseas bases.

The location scouting visit is scheduled until 1 March in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Media representatives are invited to join the executives at the Cape Town briefing on Thursday 27 February from 13h30 to 16h00 at Daddy O at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock.

Visit: http://www.southafrica.info/ for further details.

Shotgun Garfunkel wins Best Feature Film at JFF

Martie Bester
-
0

SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Shotgun Garfunkel, directed by Johnny Barbuzano,
won Best Feature Film at the third annual Jozi Film Festival (JFF) while iNumber
Number by Donovan Marsh took the Audience Choice Award.

JFF came to a close on Sunday 23 February with an awards ceremony hosted by
stand-up comedian John Vlismas at The Rand Club.

Preceded with a performance by The Soweto Opera Quadro, the awards were
handed out by members of the jury such as radio personality and writer Kate
Turkington, Nthabeleng Phora, unit co-ordinator at the Gauteng Film
Commission, and Mike Boyd of TakeOneCFF.com and the Cambridge Film Festival.

The winners are:

Best Student Film
Across the Colour Bar by Luscious Dosi

Best South African Short Fiction Film
Security by Mark Middlewick

Best International Short Film
That Music (Colombia) by Dario Vejarano

Best Short Documentary
Bamba (Senegal) by Yirmeyah Beckles

Best Feature Length South African Documentary
The Devil’s Lair by Riaan Hendricks

Best Feature Length International Documentary
American Promise (US) by Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson

Best Feature Film
Shotgun Garfunkel by Johnny Barbuzano

Audience Choice Award
iNumber Number by Donovan Marsh

JFF founder Lisa Henry and Brendon Burmester, festival director, concluded the
three-day event which, for the first time, included international films in the line-
up, by thanking all the filmmakers for entrusting their films with them. Burmester
said: “We are excited to have reached this point with JFF, the festival can only
grow from here.’

Report by Martie Bester

iNumber Number captivates moviegoers at Jozi Film Festival

Martie Bester
-
0

SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: The third annual Jozi Film Festival (JFF) opened on 21 February with a sold-out performance of the South African premiere of action-packed thriller iNumber Number at The Bioscope. The movie was written, directed and edited by Jonathan Marsh.

The director and lead actor S’dumo Mtshali were both in attendance. Marsh said: “I am excited that the movie has its South African premiere at Jozi Film Festival. We made the film with a low budget and had only one chance to shoot most of the scenes. I had a great cast who delivered exceptional performances. The crew, everyone, did what was required of them, there was perfect synergy on set.”

Produced by Harriet Gavshon of Johannesburg-based Quizzical Pictures, US production and distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to iNumber Number.

Universal Pictures optioned the remake rights to iNumber Number at the end of last year after the movie had its world premiere at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival in September.

The movie also stars Presley Chweneyagae, Brendon Daniels, Pallance Dladla, Daniel Hadebe, Israel Makoe, Warren Masemola, Percy Matsemela, Hlubi Mboya and Brandon Auret, among others.

iNumber Number releases nationwide in South Africa from 25 April through Ster-Kinekor.

JFF screens a selection of acclaimed local and international fiction and documentary shorts and full-length features at The Bioscope, Killarney CineCentre and The Rand Club over the weekend.

The festival closes on Sunday 23 February with an awards ceremony hosted by John Vlismas.

Talking Movies Academy Awards Preview on BBC World News

Martie Bester
-
0

The Talking Movies Oscar Preview screens this weekend on BBC World News DStv Channel 400.

Reporting live from Los Angeles with a special preview of the Academy Awards, the programme features extended interviews with the nominees seen as favourites to win in the key categories: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave).

Presenter Tom Brook will give his predictions of who will win the big prizes on Oscar night on 2 March and an Academy member provides personal insights into how the voting process works.

The programme airs on Saturday 22 February at 14h30 and Sunday 23 February at 09h30 and 21h30.

Phumeza Mdabe to host Season 3 of Our Perfect Wedding

Martie Bester
-
0

On Wednesday 9 April at 19h00, popular show Our Perfect Wedding returns to Mzansi Magic for its third season with new host Phumeza Mdabe.

She takes over from previous presenters Thuli Thabethe and Brenda Ngxoli, who hosted Season 1 and Season 2 respectively. Mdabe previously presented music programme Cula Sibone on Mzansi Wethu with Bujy Bikwa.

Says Mdabe: “I am excited to present the third season of Our Perfect Wedding (OPW). I have been a huge fan of the show and now being part of the OPW family is amazing. I will be working in a different environment which definitely will allow for growth. I am looking forward to being amidst other couples on their special day. The show is going to be an exciting season of brides and wedding butterflies!’

Visit: www.mzansimagic.tv for more information.

1...789...13Page 8 of 13
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
© Copyright 2017

Pin It on Pinterest