“Titanic” director James Cameron has signed on with Panasonic Corp. to promote new 3-D TVs.
The deal disclosed Friday comes as Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. are aiming to break new ground with the release of “Avatar,” a movie shot entirely in 3-D.
At the same time, Panasonic is making a big push to get consumers excited about three-dimensional viewing in the home – excited enough to buy new flat-panel sets and new Blu-ray disc players. Consumers will have to wear special glasses to experience the 3-D effect.
Panasonic is planning to start selling 3-D TVs next year. Rivals, including Sony Corp., which has its own movie division, and Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea have shown prototypes and may offer similar products. It’s not clear how much 3-D TVs would cost.
The manufacturers face a problem in that 3-D content is scarce. There’s also no agreement on a disc or broadcast format to bring the content to TV sets, though the industry group behind the Blu-ray disc may be close to finalizing a standard.
Several animation films are already being shown in theaters in 3-D, along with a handful of live-action movies. “Avatar,” set for release Dec. 18, will be the first major live-action Hollywood film debuting worldwide in both 2-D and 3-D.
“I believe 3-D is how we will experience movies, gaming and computing in the near future. 3-D is not something you watch. It’s a reality you feel you could step into,” Cameron said on video.
Panasonic is hoping its collaboration with Cameron will give its brand an edge as a 3-D leader, and give the company ideas for technological improvements for home TVs, said General Manager Masayuki Kozuka.
“We want to get global interest rolling,” he told The Associated Press. “For people to want to watch 3-D at home, the movie has to be a blockbuster.”
Panasonic plans to have several trailer-vans driving around in the U.S. and Europe next month with large-screen 3-D TVs inside showing “Avatar.” In Japan, footage from “Avatar” – a science-fiction romance set in a futuristic jungle inhabited by creatures evocative of Cameron’s “Aliens” – will appear in ads for 3-D TVs. Cameron developed a new computer-controlled 3-D camera system for the movie.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More