World Screen

LOS ANGELES/TORONTO, August 17: Blueprint Entertainment has promoted Elizabeth Madariaga to executive director of development, a move that will see her relocate from Los Angeles to the company’s Toronto offices. In her new role, she will continue to develop prime …

HOUSTON, August 17: Illumitoon Entertainment has licensed two new anime series, B’tx and AM Driver, to the VOD service Anime Network, which will premiere the titles on September 6 and September 9, respectively. B’tx follows the adventures of Teppei, who, …

BEIJING/HONG KONG, August 17: MTV Networks China will launch MTV Dance To Kill, a new street dance competition series targeted at Chinese youth and sponsored by Italian sports apparel retailer Kappa. Hosted by Taiwanese hip-hop star Jeffrey Kung, the weekly …

TEL AVIV, August 17: Dori Media Group has opened a new U.S. subsidiary, Dori Media America (DMA), based in Miami, and has tapped former RCTV International executive Jose Escalante to lead the new division as its CEO. In addition to …

SINGAPORE, August 17: ESPN STAR Sports, along with affiliate EML, has secured a number of broadcast deals for the first edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 tournament in September, with more than 105 countries slated to air …

LOS ANGELES, August 17: Production has begun in Australia on The Pacific, a new 10-hour HBO mini-series on U.S. marines in the Pacific during World War II that will be executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, …

LOS ANGELES/BASKING RIDGE/SAN DIEGO, August 17: CBS Mobile, Verizon Wireless and MediaFLO USA have teamed up for a new dedicated Big Brother 8 channel on Verizon’s mobile V CAST service that will stream live 24/7 footage from the reality series. …

LOS ANGELES, August 17: HBO has given a fifth-season renewal to Entourage and a second-season order to Flight of the Conchords for launch in 2008. Both series are currently airing back to back on Sunday nights and wrap up their …

LOS ANGELES, August 17: United Artists Entertainment (UA) has secured $500 million in financing through Merrill Lynch for the production of 15 to 18 films over the next five years. The specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The …

ATLANTA, August 17: Following similar moves by Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Discovery Kids, Cartoon Network has announced new guidelines limiting the use of its characters on junk food. The guidelines were developed primarily from nutritional standards for kids’ food in …