AlphaRx has signed a binding letter of intent to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of UMeLook Holdings Limited. The transaction is expected to close on or before August 15. UMeLook is a digital media startup and its first product is a global online advertising distribution platform with full motion video. The company is releasing a beta site www.umelook.com for public testing in China and the USA simultaneously.
Cinedigm Digital Cinema and Altive Media have announced that they are working together to jointly distribute alternative content in their respective territories of the United States and United Kingdom. Recent releases by Cinedigm include: Life In A Day a Ridley Scott production with National Geographic Google and YouTube; a one night special event for the documentary No Room for Rockstars; a weekend screening event for the newest Pokemon movie; and ground-breaking Live 3D events with both the Foo Fighters and the UFC.
Chris Ball president and CEO of LA-based film production and distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment has announced that the company will open the overseas phenomenon The InBetweeners in the U.S. on September 7. Created written and executive produced by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley produced by Chris Young and directed by Ben Palmer the movie is based on the hugely popular and multi award-winning British TV series of the same name and also stars original cast members Simon Bird James Buckley Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas.
On a given shoot they may be capturing the grueling tension of a 24-hour car race or the adrenaline excitement of a 400-foot motorcycle jump. But veteran extreme action sports cinematographers Mike Mack Dawg McEntire of Mack Dawg Productions and Jay Schweitzer of Powerband Films recently faced an extreme test when they shot the Red Bull: New Year. No Limits jump event for their independent feature documentary on daredevil distance jumps. McEntire and Schweitzer chose Fujinon’s Premier PL mount zoom lenses the 75–400mm/T2.8 - T3.8 (HK5.3x75) and 24-180 mm/T2.6 (HK7.5x24) for the shoot.
Little Hobbits seem to have a big impact—not only in the mythology of Middle Earth but in the real world where the release of the much-anticipated film The Hobbit is expected to bring major changes to the movie theater business potentially requiring new investments in digital projection technology in order to support the film’s higher frame rates. The frame rate issue is just one of several challenges for the global movie theater business presented by the ascendance of digital cinema technology according to an IHS Screen Digest Cinema Intelligence Service report.
Warner Bros. Consumer Products has announced that it will showcase a robust Looney Tunes licensing program for retailers and licensees from around the world at Licensing Show 2012 next week in Las Vegas. The Looney Tunes are everywhere right now: animation theatrical shorts online video games home video and of course merchandise. All of this activity and success is driving our opportunities to develop a refreshed and ever-expanding product line for fans of all ages said Brad Globe president of Warner Bros. Consumer Products.
NEC Display Solutions of America has promoted president Pierre Richer to CEO. The company said that Richer has guided NEC to strong growth product innovation and channel development over the last five years. In his new role Richer will continue to shape the vision of the company which has enabled NEC to enhance its standing as the projector and LCD market leader while capitalizing on the growing Digital Out-of-Home advertising market through Vukenet.
Production is underway in China on Man of Tai Chi. The film which marks the directorial debut of Keanu Reeves (who also stars) is an homage to kung fu films of the past and will feature more than 40 minutes of martial arts style fight sequences. The film is slated for a 2013 release by Universal Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures Asia and China Film Group. Reeves recently produced a documentary Side by Side in which he examined the transition from traditional filmmaking techniques to digital ones and interviewed pioneers such as James Cameron David Fincher and George Lucas.
An organization with the rather cumbersome name the FascinatE Consortium (for Format-Agnostic SCript-based INterAcTive Experience) has unveiled the Omnicam a new panoramic camera system that uses six Arri Alexa M cameras to capture footage in ultra-high resolution for immersive viewing. The Omnicam was used last month at Arena Hall Berlin to record a dance performance of the Carmen Suite by the Berlin Philharmonic. This prototype system allows users to interactively view and navigate the video panorama of the live event no matter what display device they are using.
Solid Camera has unveiled Unity which the company says is a completely integrated system designed to provide operators with a more efficient power supply critical signal distribution and intuitive ergonomic capabilities. Unity features a compact flexible architecture that is customizable based upon the intended operating environment.
