In today’s Daily Bite, the VFX Oscar shortlist is announced, BBC commissions ‘risqué’ panel show, & Jeff Zucker accepts CNN position.
Oscar VFX Shortlist Announced… Ten films have made the Oscar shortlist for visual effects. They are: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, ‘Cloud Atlas’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘John Carter’, ‘Life of Pi’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘Prometheus’, ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Snow White & the Huntsman’. Irish filmmakers attached to the shortlisted films include cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, who worked on ‘The Avengers’ and Michael Fassbender, who starred in ‘Prometheus’. The Oscar nominations will be announced on January 10, with the awards ceremony taking place on February 2012.
Graham Norton-Produced Show Comes To BBC… ‘Would You Rather’, the panel show produced by Norton’s So Television for BBC America, has been commissioned by BBC in the UK. Norton presented the series for BBC America, which has been dubbed as an extremely ‘risqué’ panel show where celebrities are asked a series of controversial questions. According to Broadcast Now, the tone of the UK show promises to be “extremely adult” compared with the US original. British comedian Humphrey Ker is set to host the UK version. Norton sold his independent production company So Television to ITV earlier this year, reportedly netting the Cork-native €21m up front.
Jeff Zucker Confirmed as New Head Of CNN… The former NBCUniversal CEO has been appointed the new president of CNN Worldwide, making the transition from entertainment to news. The television exec, who will take up his new position at CNN in January, said: “There’s no doubt that I made some mistakes in the entertainment world and I own those”. The most notable of Zucker’s mistakes are the commissions of failed shpws sch as ‘Friends’ spin-off ‘Joey’ and ‘Father of the Pride’. NBC also dropped from first place on the ratings chart to fourth under Zucker’s leadership. Speaking to press at a confernce call in America, Zucker said: “The challenge is to make [CNN] relevant, vibrant and exciting in a world where consumers are getting their news in real time."
If you watch one trailer today… Check out the latest trailer from Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained’, starring Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio.
