Novovision Places Foot Pop Around the Globe

PARIS: Novovision has sold the new soccer-themed comedy show Foot Pop to Turkey's TTNET, Fine TV in Malaysia and MBC in the Middle East.

Foot Pop features a compilation of gags and funny clips that center on soccer. The dialogue-free program watches as players, children and animals have amusing encounters with a soccer ball. MBC and Fine TV picked up 26 episodes of 22 minutes each, while Turk Telekom's TTNET went for a 50×2-minute version.

Novovision has also launched a Foot Pop website, where visitors can post humorous soccer footage and win prizes. This Internet experiment is part of a larger strategy for the company to acquire programming by building a global community of content suppliers among amateur filmmakers.

"Today, we are aiming at soccer fans to coincide with the FIFA World Cup. Tomorrow, it will be other events in other fields," said François-Xavier Poirier, the president of Novovision. "For us, this Internet experiment represents the start of a long-term relationship with amateur content suppliers, who we will compensate financially, and who will thus benefit from a global showcase for their output."

In other news, Novovision has added two new members to its sales teams in Asia and Europe.

Wai Kuan Hong has been appointed as the company's head of sales for Asia, and Patricia Cardis, who spent the last year serving as Novovision's head of new media, has become the head of sales for French-speaking Europe. In her expanded post, she will work under Philippe Deleplace, the company's director of sales.