Tag: Television

Singapore to take the spotlight at MIPTV in Cannes

At MIPTV. Photo by ulybug

Come April 12-16 at MIPTV, one of the biggest market places for the sale and purchase of television content worldwide, Singapore will be the Country of Focus and have the honor of hosting a half-day conference to promote our local content and services.

Making the trip with the largest contingent of 14 media companies there, will be MIPTV’s Guest-of-Honor and the island-city’s Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew.

Click here to read the full article from PR Newswire.

That’s such exciting news from home!  And congratulations to MDA for the great work in pushing our local content to the world. I’d love to see what one of these conventions is like, but the $1.3K price tag makes that impossible right now. Perhaps I’ll get my chance in future. In the meantime, though, I look forward to hearing good news from the team heading to Cannes soon! :)

by Categories: Film Events, Learn Something NewTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

When one door closes, one more always opens.

When Oprah rocked the world with the announcement of the final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show come 2011, a huge grey cloud loomed over many a Chicagoan’s mind. What will the media giant’s departure mean for the city and its people? Will her employees and local suppliers be left stranded and lose their source of income?

Well, the good news is, Harpo Productions is here to stay. In an article on Ruth L. Ratny’s ReelChicago.com, it states that:

“Harpo Productions plans to develop and produce new and continuing shows for syndication, prime time, cable, digital, radio and emerging platforms from Chicago.

The transition to a large assortment of content produced out of the Washington St. studio will be a huge boon for the local industry.

To everyone’s relief, it won’t suffer the loss of millions of dollars worth of annual Harpo business that might have left with Oprah’s departure.”

(read full article here)

I guess that means good news for production peeps like me too. With the focus moving from a single show to an entire network, The Oprah Winfrey Network is bound to lead to the rise in demand for content to fill their slots… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… you can do the math.

Add that to the stringent content selection process I’m sure she’ll put in place to maintain the positive image of her brand, the content demanded will likely be right in line with the type of production I’m passionate about – social issue media. Nice. Content on air really doesn’t always have to be about sex, drugs and violence. Whether or not I’ll still be in the city to witness these changes, I’m glad that there’ll at least be more positivity on television.

Subscribe in a reader

Bookmark and Share

by Categories: Personal Reflection, Social ChangeTags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Oprah… 2011’s too soon…

So it’s official. After months of speculation that Oprah was going to move her show out of Chicago to join the rest of big time TV in LA, the word is out that it’s not a move she’s planning. The Oprah Winfrey Show will record its last episode in Sep 2011.

While this will mean a huge loss to Chicago, it’s the bigger loss I shall mourn: The loss of what I believe is the most influential and life-changing show on television. 25 seasons of touching peoples’ hearts. Wow. She’s the earliest influence I’ve had that’s fueled my belief the powerful world of media can indeed be used for positive social change.

I have shed many a tear watching her show. And I’ve laughed out loud in front of the telly, from halfway around the world in Singapore. I often joked with friends that my reason for choosing to study in Chicago was because i harbored a secret desire to be a part of her live studio audience! By a stroke of luck, that dream was fulfilled. Being in that studio was tremendously exciting. It fascinated me how huge the place was and how much crazy action was going on outside of what we often see within the frame on TV. Oh life is funny that way. The more we learn, the more we realize we don’t know.

But when one door closes, one more always opens. I’m thankful that she’s not leaving the media completely. Just look forward to what she does with the Oprah Winfrey Network. Afterall, change can be created in more ways than one. And based on her track record, the most influential woman in media is bound to move mountains there.

by Categories: UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment