CHICAS PRODUCTIONS

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It was once so rich that Concorde used to fly from Caracas to Paris. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed. Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing people and animals that are dying of starvation. The Venezuelan government knows, but won’t admit it!!! Four in five Venezuelans live in poverty. People queue for hours to buy food. Much of the time they go without. People are also dying from a lack of medicines. Inflation is at 82,766% and there are warnings it could exceed one million per cent by the end of this year. Venezuelans are trying to get out. The UN says 2.3 million people have fled the country - 7% of the population.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Los Angeles Sees Moderate Production Gains in Features...

Gains in feature film production offset a decline in TV shooting to lift overall third-quarter location shooting in Los Angeles by 9.5% to 11,792 permitted days, according to the FilmL.A. permitting agency.

The hike in activity may appear to undercut the contentions that the state of California needs to do more to put the brakes on runaway production, so FilmL.A. president Paul Audley issued a statement aimed at providing context for the latest statistics.

"Any increase in local production is cause for celebration, as long as we don't lose sight of the big picture," said Audley. "California has yet to match and overcome out of state competition for this business. For feature film production to be where it once was and should be in L.A., production would need to increase by 125%. Until Sacramento acts to level the playing field, we won't see the kind of growth and prosperity that California families are counting on."

The 19.5% jump in features — concentrated in small-budget projects such as Zach Braff's Kickstarter-funded "Wish I Was Here" — was enough to overcome a 3.4% slide in the mainstay TV production category, according to statistics released Tuesday by FilmL.A.

Feature production totaled 1,959 days during the quarter, a continuing sign of moderate recovery in a segment that's been hit hard by runaway production as the category improved its 5-year quarterly average by 14.6%. Still, FilmL.A. noted that the activity lags far behind the record setting numbers of 1996.

The report was issued with momentum gaining to improve the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program, which is far smaller than rival incentive programs in other states with a $100 million annual limit in credits and exclusion of features with budgets over $75 million. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently appointed Tom Sherak as film czar to address the runaway issue and several state legislators have announced plans to increase the scope of the incentive program.

"I've made the industry a priority for my administration because it generates 500,000 jobs," Garcetti said in statement Tuesday. "This isn't about the stars we see on the screen but about carpenters, caterers, and electricians and the stores they shop in."

State-qualified feature projects generated 107 days of shooting between July and September, or 5.5% of the category's quarterly total and included "Best Man," "Jersey Boys," "Kitchen Sink," "OT Beach" and "Ride."

Other features shot in Los Angeles during the quarter included "Life After Beth," "Reversal," "Stretch" and "Whiplash."

FilmL.A. president Paul Audley asserted that — when compared with five-year averages — the numbers also show that Los Angeles has continued to see erosion in features and TV dramas, which generate the highest level of economic activity, as other states lure away production via incentives that are far richer than California's.

"We are seeing increases but they are in the low-economic area," he added. "We're not seeing tentpole films shot here. It's great that we are getting micro-budget projects, but those use small casts and crews."

The television production category totaled 4,091 days during the third quarter as TV dramas gained 6.5% to 983 days — but have dropped 25.5% below the five-year average.

Reality TV was down 14.3% 1,353 days; sitcoms slid 15% to 517 and web-based TV production fell 15.6% to 357.

State-qualified TV projects generated 182 days, or 18.5% of all TV drama activity including "Lost Angels," "Major Crimes," "Rizzoli & Isles" and "Teen Wolf."

The commercials category jumped 17.7% to 1,925 days for its strongest showing so far this year. Production in this category has increased notably in recent years.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a two-year $200 million extension of the tax credit program last fall. Those funds will be doled out in June, 2014 and June, 2015.

Only 31 of the 380 projects that applied for the state tax credits were selected in June. That number has increased to 34, with thriller "Nightcrawler" receiving a $2.3 million allocation from the California Film Tax Credit program after moving off the waiting list.

August's cancellation of "Bunheads" freed up credits for seven other California projects, including "Sam and the White Tiger," "Perfect Heist," "Xoxo" and "Straight Outta Compto

Thank you Variety

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Rio Film Commission Moves To City Hall...

RIO DE JANEIRO – In a move likely to bolster – and simplify – arrangements for international movies shooting in Rio de Janeiro, Rio City Hall film investment fund RioFilme and Rio Negocios, its municipal investment agency, are creating a new Rio Film Commission.

Presided by Steve Solot, the entity takes over from a Rio film state commission, which Solot also led. The Rio Film Commission will be based out of Rio Negocios offices.

The relocation – bureaucratic, geographic – serves in part a question of logic. As in any city in the world – think Paris – it is the city offices, not the regional film commission, however energetic, which leads the key day-to-day issuance of shoot-permits, and attends the minutiae of productions' needs.

The Rio Film Commission brief ranges from attracting Brazilian and international productions, to promoting Rio as an ideal filming location, to providing support to producers and facilitating the installation of film and TV companies in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The last may not seem such as pipedream as funding facilities and home markets for many film and TV companies in wither in old Europe.

"The Rio Film Commission will lead the campaign to ensure that the city is properly equipped to host film shoots of all dimensions and in all formats, ranging from student short-subjects to major international productions, for the advertising sector, as well as for film, television and the internet," explained Solot.

"The union of expertise of Rio Negocios and RioFilme offer the ideal combination to fulfill this goal," he added.

Bringing the Rio Film Commission under the co-aegis of RioFilme will also allow the two companies to officially co-ordinate their involvement in movies that not only set up shop in Rio but are framed as official Brazilian co-productions.

The City of Rio still has yet to approve a rebates system. That may, however, be only a matter of time.

For the meantime, the new Rio Film Commission will work towards the standardization of shoot permits, and the easing of the authorized circulation of production vehicles in the city. It will also meet with principal players in the market to discuss improvements to the sector's business environment.

Thank you Variety

MPAA’s Chris Dodd Calls for California to Expand Tax Credits to Lure Big Budget

Speaking on Friday to a San Fernando Valley business group, MPAA chairman Chris Dodd called for an expansion of California's production tax incentive program to include big-budget films, noting that the state has lost out to others on projects like the sequels to "Man of Steel" and "The Amazing Spider-Man."

California's incentive program, adopted in 2009, provides $100 million per year for film and TV productions, but movies with budgets above $75 million are not eligible. The intent was to prevent only a handful of movies from depleting the annual outlay, but Dodd said that the result has been a dearth of big-budget tentpoles shooting in the Los Angeles region.

It should be no surprise, then, that "11 of this year's 12 biggest blockbusters were filmed in states like Louisiana and New Mexico instead of California," Dodd said, according to his prepared remarks to the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. "And this trend is only going to continue."

"The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ shot in New York, and the sequel to "Man of Steel" will shoot in Michigan, he noted.

The MPAA actually advocates for incentives nationwide, and the industry's lobbying org, in seeking congressional support, has often promoted the fact that so many states benefit from production jobs.

Dodd said his "job at the Motion Picture Association is to advocate on behalf of my studios, not the locations of their productions, but I know the studios I represent would prefer, everything else being equal, to make their films and television programs here in California, for many reasons."

He warned that with other states offering incentives, "It does not take long for those states and countries to attract and train talented local people to do the work that historically could only be found here and a few other places."

Dodd also called for a California incentive program that will make it possible for long-term productions, like TV series, to budget well into the future. The state program was renewed last year until 2015, even after advocates called for a longer-term extension.

Critics of incentive programs have called it a "race to the bottom" and have challenged some claims of job growth when productions shoot at a location. And while Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has put runaway production on his priority list, with a plan to lobby state lawmakers to expand the California program, he will have to convince them to do so against many competing interests.

Critics of expanding the incentives, however, have questioned the urgency given that NBCUniversal, Disney and Paramount each have plans to expand their production facilities in Southern California. Indeed, Dodd said that the "film industry is not suddenly folding its tent and moving elsewhere." He said that the expansion plans indicate that the industry "is betting on California's future as well." But he said that "more needs to be done to keep this industry from slowly slipping away."

Dodd also called on Google to do more to fight piracy, citing a study funded by the entertainment industry showing that 74% of consumers surveyed cited using search engines to discover or navigate to infringing sites in their initial effort to download a movie or TV show.

"These search engines have the ability to stop directing audiences to sites with illegitimate content, and I am still hopeful that we can work with them in the coming days to find ways to make this happen," Dodd said.

Thank you Variety

Italy Renews Production Tax Incentives, Including for Foreign Films...

Bill is considered a crucial lifeline for Italo industry and key to luring foreign shoots

The incentives — which give local producers a 20% tax break, outside investors a 40% tax shelter, and foreign productions a 25% tax credit — have been in place since 2009, and had been previously approved through 2013.
But in recent months foreign producers started seeing them as a risky proposition because the country's cash-strapped government initially indicated the tax breaks would be frozen and also not renewed again. This fear has caused an estimated thirty million dollars in lost business over the past few months.
Bowing to an Italo industry uproar, the decree called Valore Cultura (Culture Value) has now cleared its final hurdle with an overwhelming majority in the Lower House. It provides a total of Euros 110 million ($150 million) in production incentives over the next three years. Most of the coin is for film, but 20 million Euros have been designated for TV productions, marking the extension of the Italo incentives to TV.
"It was a life of death situation, so we are very relieved," said Riccardo Tozzi (pictured), prexy of Italo motion picture association ANICA, in a statement. "Now we have to build on this new dialogue to make cultural industry a driver for this country."
Italo tax incentives offer a 25% deduction for international productions capped at $7 million, payable through an Italian executive producer.
Woody Allen's "To Rome With Love," produced by Letty Aronson with financing from Italy's Medusa, Amber Entertainment's "Romeo and Juliet," helmed by Carlo Carlei, and "Third Person" by Paul Haggis, produced by Belgium's Corsan, are among foreign titles that have tapped into the generous Italo incentives.

In separate Italo industry news , Andrea Occhipinti, head of prominent Italo indie shingle Lucky Red, has been appointed head of the country's distributors org. a sub-section of ANICA. Occhipinti has pledged to step up efforts against the country's rampant piracy plague.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Santa Barbara Offers California’s First Production Rebate Program...

In an attempt to attract production to the region, the county of Santa Barbara is offering an incentive program that it says is the first of its kind in California.

The Santa Barbara County Film Commission will provide a cash rebate for films, TV shows, unscripted series, commercials and still photography shot in the country, which was the home of California's first film studio in 1910.

Production companies qualify by booking a set number of room nights, as determined by the type of production, in certain areas including Montecito, Santa Barbara, Los Olivos and Solvang. For example, a feature film must book 200 room nights, while a reality show needs 50 room nights to qualify. Permit fees will qualify for reimbursement along with 50% of California Highway Patrol or police costs.

Total funding for the program is $50,000 for the fiscal year, and eligibility is determined on a first come, first served basis until available resources are depleted for the year. For more information, visit FilmSantaBarbara.

Thank you Variety

California Lawmakers Say They Will Introduce Bill to Boost Film and TV Production

California Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) and and state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) say that they plan to introduce a film and TV production tax credit legislation in January, 2014, once the legislature returns from an interim recess.

GET CALIFORNIA FILM TAX CREDIT NEWS AND ALERTS FREE TO YOUR INBOX

California's existing tax incentive program, which originally passed in 2009, provides credits up to $100 million per year. Critics say that the sum is insufficient to meet the demand or to compete with other states, and that the credit is not available to categories like premium cable shows and commercials.

Gatto and de Leon have key roles in Sacramento as chairmen of their respective chamber's appropriations committees.

In an interview, Gatto said that specifics of the legislation are still being drawn up, but he said that an expansion of the total amount available to producers is "the most obvious thing to consider."

He also said that they are looking at proposals to try to draw tentpole feature film production back to California, which are not eligible for the current credit because it is capped to features with budgets over $75 million. What they are looking at, he said, is removing the restrictions on those big-budget movies, but limiting the amount of credit that is available to them. That would be a way to try to lure such productions without burning through the state's total incentive budget with just a handful of productions.

"Those tentpole productions can be very lucrative to a local economy for a long time," Gatto said.

Another area they are looking at is a way to give some sort of extra incentive for productions that shoot in areas of the state that rarely see much movie and TV production, as a way of addressing criticism from lawmakers who may see the program as solely benefiting Los Angeles.

Also being studied, he said, is a "tiered system," where producers would be eligible for credits for locating their production in California and for another type of credit for wages that are paid to state residents.

Gatto also said that they were looking at ways to expand the eligibility of more types of TV production, in particular TV pilots and hourlong drama series. "We think the bread and butter are scripted hourlongs," he said.

He also said that they are working on measures to retain post-production and other types of production infrastructure.

Gatto and de Leon said that they have been meeting with below-the-line workers and small business owners to create their legislation. Gatto also said that his staff has been collecting the many studies that have been done on film and TV tax incentives — some of them favorable, some of them critical — so as to "try to get a sense of what works and what doesn't work" and to "try and anticipate what critics will say."

Although the state's tax incentive program has been extended twice, they have been for short increments, with proposals for five-year extensions whittled down in the face of opposition. Orgs like the California Federation of Labor and the California Teachers Assn. have been on record opposing incentive legislation, arguing that the measures didn't make sense at a time of strained resources for areas like education. The last extension, for two years and $200 million, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last fall.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has made the issue of runaway production a priority of his administration, but he has suggested that the key to meaningful incentives lies in Sacramento. He and his newly appointed film czar, Tom Sherak, plan to lobby Sacramento lawmakers.

Gatto acknowledged that the legislation will be a "heavy lift." "If it was easy to get done, there would be a much bigger, broader incentive than the one on the books," he said. He also acknowledged what Garcetti has: That Brown also remains to be convinced to expand the program. A big push among advocates for the industry is expected to be the impact it has on middle-class workers and related businesses.

Thank you Variety

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In order to avoid all the SCAMS, we decide not to publish all the info of the recruter in the job postings. You'll find the Daily Password in our Monthly Newsletter. You can Subscribe to our Newsletter here Thanks. A.

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Korea Is on the Cusp of a New Golden Era...

Fresh talent and diverse pics draw big B.O. as local indies make inroads

New faces behind the films and fresh stories on the screen have reinvigorated the Korean film business. In the first nine months of 2013, two local films have entered the all-time top 10, market share for local titles has hovered around the 60% mark, and Hollywood has seemed powerless to respond to a succession of well-made and diverse local titles.

Making the picture even rosier for Korean cinema, the B.O. boom has been accelerated by new filmmakers, movies (mostly) made on reasonable budgets — up to $4 million in some cases — and the growing influence of five-year-old distributor Next Entertainment World.

The industry's recovery from the slump of 2007-08 feels like it's been a long time coming.

The year kicked o with an unexpected hit, "Miracle in Cell No. 7." Handled by NEW, which was launched by former Showbox employees, the film is by far the biggest of 2013, and with 12.8 million admissions and $84 million, it's one of the biggest Korean titles of all time.

Melodrama "Miracle" joins other local successes that have been edgier and darker; indeed, Korean screens have seen more thrillers and horror, and a markedly lower emphasis on romance and comedies than in the recent past.

"The films are better, they are fresher, they have better ideas," says producer Jonathan Kim. "The scene is vibrant because there are many people having a chance to make big movies in Korea these days."

It's notable that many of this year's hits came from first-time directors.

Two of the biggest were action thriller "The Terror Live," which collected $36 million at the box office, and started as a pitch at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films genre film project market in 2010 before being picked up by giant local distrib Lotte Entertainment; and thriller "Hide and Seek," which was made by Huh Jung, a director with four shorts to his credit, and distribbed by NEW. The latter pic has made $36 millon so far.

Finding newcomers and backing have been deliberate strategies by NEW, which this year ranks as the country's No. 2 distributor, behind traditional market leader CJ, and ahead of the combined might of Disney and Sony.

"NEW has contributed a lot," says Suh Young-joo, head of sales agency Finecut, and who has represented many NEW titles overseas. "Eighty percent of their fi lms are by fi rst-time directors. They are also good at script analysis. They want to work with budgets of $3 million-$4 million, even for new directors."

The success of NEW has been significant in another way too. For many years Korean cinema has been dogged by worries that two or three vertically integrated groups — CJ, Lotte and Megabox — backed by even larger chaebols (Korean-style conglomerates) have dominated the exhibition and distribution scenes.

But NEW has managed to crack the so-called monopoly, with three films so far in the Korean top 10.

"We have strong distribution companies with enormous cinema chains behind them. But this year NEW has been very successful without a cinema chain," says Nam Dong-chul, Korean film programmer for the Busan festival. Nam notes that independent producers and big distrib/exhib companies are working together and achieving B.O. success.

Nevertheless, some are still wary of the big players.

"I'm worried by the number of screens available to arthouse and independent directors," says Lee Tae-hun of Opus Pictures, one of the producers of "Snowpiercer," which was distributed by CJ and has racked up some $62 million in grosses. "The independents are not challenging the hierarchy. Rather the Korean studios are choosing to cooperate with the slaves. Just like Hollywood, they are always looking for new blood. They are not adopting the indie spirit, they are just buying it. I'm worried by that too."

And the Korean films are thrilling local auds only.

"The big overseas markets have shrunk. The Japanese market is again down after the 2010 natural disaster," says Finecut's Suh.

Perhaps the burgeoning indie scene will make monopolies a thing of the past and boost global interest again.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

AFM: Indie Hits Fuel Optimism as 2013 Market Kicks Off...

The American Film Market kicks off Wednesday with a kind of cautious bullishness, following the relatively robust business at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival in September.

With 402 films scheduled to screen — including 321 market premieres and 75 world premieres — more than 8,000 buyers and industry professionals are expected to attend, including some 100 distributors, producers and executives repping more than 50 companies from the hot Chinese market.

With "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" opening in two weeks and successes from indie-financed titles like "2 Guns," "Lee Daniels' The Butler," "Now You See Me," "Insidious Chapter 2" and "Olympus Has Fallen," AFM, which runs until Nov. 13, sees more ambitious slates from the indies at the beach mart.

The less-than-dazzling returns of indie-financed films such as "The Fifth Estate" and "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" has not deterred financiers from coming on board bigger budget projects.

In a move that underscored the growing clout of the independent sector, QED Intl. and Worldview Entertainment announced Nov. 1 that they would finance and produce the crime thriller "Term Life" — a few weeks after Universal Pictures had backed away from the project. Universal will simply handle U.S. distribution for the Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld starrer. QED will introduce the film at AFM to international buyers, joining a slate that includes Takashi Miike's Tom Hardy topliner "The Outsider," which is being produced and financed with Worldview; World War II actioner "Fury," starring Brad Pitt, and "Sabotage," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which are both directed by David Ayer; and Barry Levinson's "Rock the Kasbah," starring Bill Murray.

"It is our goal to identify high-caliber star-driven films," said John Friedberg, QED's exec VP of international sales. "We think that buyers are coming to AFM with money to spend. We're seeing new buyers in the U.K., China and Latin America. There's even been an upswing in Italy."

Marc Damon of Foresight Unlimited is similarly bullish, following a solid performance by "2 Guns" with $130 million worldwide. Budget was $85 million.

"With something like `2 Guns,' you do generate momentum," Damon said. "And it's helpful that we oversee the campaign so I have 36 different territories on my desk right now."

Last week, Foresight disclosed that it was in talks to bring on Spike Lee to direct Justin Timberlake starrer "Spinning Gold," a biopic about record exec Neil Bogart. It is set to update international buyers at AFM after beginning sales at Cannes.

Foresight Unlimited is one of a growing number of financing-sales-production entities that have emerged during the past decade. the hyper-competitive list includes QED, Worldview, Studiocanal, Voltage, Mister Smith, IM Global, Sierra/Affinity, FilmNation, Exclusive Media, the Solution Entertainment Group, Radiant and Hyde Park.

"We go over 100 to 150 projects a month," Damon said. "We fund development, pre-production, bank loans, oversee production and find the right U.S. distribution. The most difficult part of this is pulling all the pieces together."

That sentiment is echoed by Lisa Wilson at the Solution, now at its second AFM with "The Forger," "How to Make Love Like an Englishman" and a pair of Pierce Brosnan projects — potential franchise starter "November Man" and corporate thriller "The I.T. Man."

"I think we saw fewer packages over the summer," she said. "Buyers don't want to spend the time to read scripts if they're not part of a package. When something like `The Butler' does well, it gives people renewed faith."

Jere Hausfater of Aldamisa Intl., which is screening action thriller "Red Sky," starring Cam Gigandet and Rachael Leigh Cook, said buyers are much more discerning today.

"If you hit the bull's-eye, you can do very well," according to Hausfater. "The problem is that the bull's-eye keeps getting smaller."

Jonathan Wolf, AFM's managing director admits that he's bullish this year.

"One of our key measuring tools is how many participants — bankers, lawyers — are general attendees and that is up 15% this year," Wolf said. "We had 400 in 1998 and we are going to have 2,500 this year. This is a trade show so we have been building programs — just the same way that Disneyland keeps building rides."

The AFM started its conference program three years ago and it's launching a producers forum this year with anticipated attendance at about 300 for 16 sessions Saturday through Tuesday.

Thank you Variety

Signs of things to com? Paramount to Lay Off 110 Employees

Paramount Pictures has announced it will be eliminating 110 positions on its lot and internationally, slicing 5% of its workforce of 2,200.

Paramount CFO Frederick Huntsberry said in a memo to employees that the cuts represented an organizational realignment in select areas and the departments that will be most affected by these cuts will be primarily in the finance, human resources, information technology, international home media distribution, legal and marketing departments.

Paramount is having a bounce back year after having hardly any major successes in 2012. "Star Trek Into Darkness," "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" and "World War Z" have all grossed more than $350 million worldwide.

"As our industry continues to adapt to an increasingly competitive environment, we are always ensuring that Paramount is conducting its business as efficiently and productively as possible," Huntsberry said.

"Change is always difficult and we never take these steps lightly," he added. "We are confident that these changes will allow us to manage our business with greater speed and flexibility and fully capitalize on opportunities in the global entertainment market."

The layoffs are not a major surprise in light of recent statements by Philipp Dauman, CEO of studio parent Viacom, stressing the need to keep expenses down.

On Sept. 24, Dauman told investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference that Paramount would focus on "low risk," even on high-budget franchises such as Transformers and Mission: Impossible. He also said that the risk on the sequel to "World War Z" would be alleviated by bringing in co-financing.

"We have a history even in tough times of maintaining or growing margins," he also said.

Dauman said means keeping "a tight lid on expenses, including in programming."

In May, Dauman sounded similar themes at the Nomura U.S. Media & Telecom Summit, saying that Paramount would "focus on profitability" by integrating with other Viacom businesses.

"For the most part we're going to greenlight films with consumer products potential," he said, citing plans to reboot the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise.

It's the second time in two years that Paramount has sliced more than 100 slots from studio staff. In October, 2011, Paramount cut about 120 staff positions as part of a consolidation effort in the face of declining DVD revenue as it merged its DVD, television and digital divisions and moved headquarters of its international operation to Los Angeles from London.

Thank you Variety

U.K. Supermarket Giant Tesco Enters Tablet Market With Hudl Launch...

The $191 device includes a button that allows users to watch movies and TV shows via the company's Blinkbox online video service.

LONDON – U.K. supermarket giant Tesco on Monday launched its own tablet, the Hudl, in a challenge to Apple's iPad and Amazon.com's Kindle.

U.K. Retailer Tesco Buys Digital Music Service Co-Founded by Peter Gabriel

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The seven-inch Android-operated Hudl will go on sale Sept. 30 and cost about $191 (£119), less than the iPad, but around the same as the Kindle and Google Android devices.
The Tesco tablet, which comes in four colors, has a button that allows users to watch movies and TV shows via the supermarket company's Blinkbox online video service, listen to music, shop or check their Tesco club card points. Club card holders can also watch free video content via the company's Clubcard TV service.
"Hudl is a colorful, accessible tablet for the whole family to enjoy," said Tesco CEO Philip Clarke. "The first stage in our tablet offering, it's convenient, integrated and easy to use with no compromise on spec. Customers are quite rightly very discerning about the technology they buy, so we knew we had to be competitive on all fronts."
Addressing the tablet competition in Britain, he said: "Being online is an increasingly essential part of family life, and whilst tablets are on the rise, usage is still quite limited. We feel the time is right for Tesco to help widen tablet ownership and bring the fun, convenience and excitement of tablets to even more customers across the U.K."
According to U.K. media regulator Ofcom, three quarters of British households do not have a tablet yet. "Tesco's research found that many feel that the technology is too expensive or intimidating," the supermarket firm said.
The Wifi-enabled Hudl has 16GB of memory, which can be extended to 48GB. It includes apps for the likes of YouTube and Google Chrome.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Study: Only 14 Percent of Cable Customers Satisfied; 73 Percent Want a la Carte

PwC finds that though customers want changes, they aren't willing to pay much for them: "With TV in such a state of flux, companies must revisit their business models," says PwC analyst Matthew Lieberman.

A la carte television programming is a popular concept among consumers who presume they'd save money by ditching channels they don't watch, but given that only 38 percent would be willing to pay more than $3 per channel each month, it's not likely the idea will catch on with TV providers who aren't inclined to stray from bundling. Not at that price.

Hollywood, Take Note: Here's What TV Viewers Really Want (Guest Column)

Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman Doesn't Expect A La Carte Cable Law

A new study out Wednesday from PricewaterhouseCoopers says that 44 percent of consumers would like a total a la carte system and that 73 percent of consumers would prefer a la carte or at least more customization of packages than is currently offered. Only 14 percent are satisfied with the status quo.

When it comes down to it, though, even customers who want such changes aren't willing to pay much for them. Sixteen percent, for example, say they won't pay more than 99 cents a month for a channel they want, while 24 percent will pay $1.99 and 22 percent will pay $2.99.
At $8 a month per channel, the highest option offered in the PwC survey, only 5 percent say they'd pay up.

The survey also indicates that 57 percent would not pay more than 99 cents a month for access to an individual show each month, while 20 percent would pay $1.99 and 12 percent would pay $2.99. Only 2 percent would pay $8 a month for a show.

Despite the lowly amounts that surely would be dismissed as unfeasible by distributors and content providers alike, TV executives would be wise to note the popularity of the a la carte concept, says PwC entertainment, media and communications analyst Matthew Lieberman.

GUEST COLUMN: Hollywood, Take Note: Here's What TV Viewers Really Want

"With TV in such a state of flux, companies must revisit their business models," says Lieberman. "The winners will be those that offer custom services or curate content in the most appealing ways."
For its study, PwC also held focus groups. "I have a bunch of channels that just sit there," one participant said. "If they could take them off and lower my bill each month, that would be great."
If given the a la carte option, 65 percent say they would subscribe to 10 or more channels, the most popular being basic cable offerings, followed, in order, by premium cable, sports, lifestyle, news, premium sports and children's programming.

The comprehensive PwC report also explores ways that consumers currently watch television, how they discover new shows and the amount of advertising they're willing to view in lieu of subscription fees. In regard to the latter, the rule is simple: The smaller the screen, the fewer the number of ads viewers will tolerate.

TV online is dominated by Netflix to the tune of 63 percent, while 49 percent go to the websites of the TV networks for their online viewing, 35 percent to Hulu, 28 percent to Amazon Prime, 25 percent to iTunes and 24 percent to HBO Go. Three percent go to Pirate Bay.

Only 14 percent say they prefer a web service for their TV viewing, but 31 percent acknowledge that the availability of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and others decreases the value of television to them.
PwC found that 55 percent of TV viewers use their mobile devices while watching television and, of those, 56 percent use them for activities specific to a particular TV show.

Lieberman said focus groups revealed that consumers want more programming guidance from TV service providers. For now, 59 percent say they find new shows through recommendations from friends or family, 45 percent through channel flipping and 42 percent via advertisements. Only 4 percent discover new shows through social media.

Not surprising, DVRs are hugely popular, with 57 percent of consumers saying they record most of their shows for later viewing. Ten percent say they engage in "binge viewing" and 7 percent acknowledge that they often record shows but never watch them.

PwC surveyed 1,008 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 59. Seventy percent of the respondents have cable TV, 41 percent have Netflix, 26 percent subscribe to satellite, 18 percent use Amazon Prime, 16 percent use iTunes and 8 percent use Hulu.

"This study shows that during the next five years, an even greater portion of viewing of and interaction with TV and film content will take place on multiple screens and devices," says Lieberman. "Hollywood must adapt accordingly."

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Mobile platforms fuel spending growth in U.S. advertising...

Advertising spending in the U.S. and Canada is expected to grow 4% next year, according to newly released forecast by ad giant ZenithOptimedia.

This year, spending is expected to inch up 3.4% in North America, slowing a bit after last year's infusion of spending to capitalize on viewer interest in the London Olympics, ZenithOptimedia said in its Advertising Expenditures Forecast, released Monday.

"Consumer confidence, retail sales, job numbers and house construction are all trending encouragingly upwards," ZenithOptimedia's report found.

Mobile advertising is fueling the growth. ZenithOptimedia predicts that advertising geared for smartphones and tablets will account for half the total growth in ad expenditures in North America this year. The mobile advertising market is estimated at $6.2 billion.

Although it is the fastest-growing segment, mobile ads still represent less than 4% of the total ad spend in North America.

Internet advertising continues to outpace growth in traditional ad platforms of television and print media. Television remains marketers' favorite medium, collecting nearly 40% of the total ad spend.

Worldwide ad spending is expected to grow 3.5% this year, surpassing the $500 billion mark -- thanks to a strengthening European economy and continued growth in developing nations, ZenithOptimedia found.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

The firm is predicting larger gains -- 5.1% in 2014 and 5.9% in 2015 -- as European economies continue to stabilize and improve.

Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe are posting the highest rates of expansion. Commercial spending in Latin America is expected to swell 9.6% this year, while Eastern Europe and Central Asia is on track to notch growth of nearly 11%.

However, the peripheral Eurozone region -- which includes the reeling economies of Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland -- is on track to post a 16% decline this year, ZenithOptimedia found.

Thank you Los Angeles Times

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013