GECs
First CGI telly show next year courtesy DreamWorks, NBC
MUMBAI: Computer generated image (CGI) technology has made a major impression on the silver screen over the last couple of years. Shrek won Dreamworks an Oscar. Ice Age proved to be a monster hit for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox last year. It was only a matter of time before the concept came to television.
US network NBC has teamed up with DreamWorks for what is a first on television, namely a primetime series made only using computer-generated images.
A Reuters report indicates that the show, titled Father of the Pride, will deal with the foibles of a family (albeit animals) with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour. The half-hour series will revolve around the competition between a family of snobbish white tigers and a white lion pride featured in the Siegfried & Roy theatre act. The Las Vegas show is filled with elaborate sets, costumes, illusions, and live exotic animals. The NBC Dreamworks TV show will debut next year.
CGI has blown away the old fashioned technique of animated drawings. Besides the kids the above-mentioned CGI feature films have managed to hook in the adults and that is something NBC and Jeffrey Katzenberg no doubt must be hoping for.
Readers will recall that the CGI technique came into prominence in 1995 with the release of Toy Story. Through painstaking work involving hours of research the production team was able to make the facial features and movements of Woody and Buzz Lightyear somewhat resemble Tom Hanks and Tim Allen who memorably voiced the characters.
Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and the rest of the Dreamworks gang are obviously looking to push the envelope regarding the work possible with CGI. The project will mean that the studio will have to stay in front regarding the latest advancements in CGI.
GECs
ZEEL overhauls sales structure to chase growth across TV and digital platforms
New structure sharpens digital push as viewing habits fragment fast
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is reshuffling its sales playbook as it looks to keep pace with a fast-changing media landscape, where audiences are scattered, screens are multiplying and advertisers are following the data.
According to media reports, the rejig is anchored in the company’s push to build a more integrated, data-led monetisation engine, one that can straddle both traditional television and fast-growing digital platforms with equal ease.
At the heart of the move is a reworked sales architecture designed to deliver cross-platform solutions. With connected TV gaining ground and digital consumption surging, ZEEL is aligning its teams to move quicker, think broader and sell smarter.
The restructuring is being led by chief operating officer, advertisement revenue, Sandeep Mehrotra, at a time when the company says it is seeing tremendous growth. The idea is simple: match the right talent to the right opportunity in a market that is anything but static.
As part of the overhaul, several long-serving executives have been elevated to chief sales officer roles across regions and content clusters. Sanjoy Chatterjee will head the east market, while Gunjarav Nayak takes charge of the west along with high-margin verticals such as hmg, brand works, intellectual properties and digital sales. Rajnish Gupta will oversee bengaluru and chennai markets alongside the kannada and tamil clusters.
In other key moves, Divjyot Dhanda will lead hyderabad and kochi markets and manage zee tv, zee keralam and the telugu cluster. Roshan Vasu Kotian will supervise a diverse portfolio including Zee Marathi, &tv, Zee Punjabi, Zee Anmol, Big Magic and Zee Biskope.
The company is also strengthening its bench, appointing national sales heads across retail, regional clusters, digital and brand solutions. Ankur Kapila’s appointment to lead digital sales signals a sharper push into a segment that continues to outpace traditional formats.
Behind the scenes, dedicated strategy and operations roles have been carved out for both linear and digital businesses. Nitin Shetty, Rajkiran Shrivastav and Priya Nambiar will take on key responsibilities to ensure the new structure runs with precision.
The broader aim is clear. ZEEL wants a bigger slice of advertising budgets that are steadily drifting towards digital and connected TV ecosystems. By integrating its offerings, the company hopes to deepen client relationships while unlocking new revenue streams.
The new structure takes effect immediately, with Mehrotra continuing to report to chief executive officer Punit Goenka and steer the company’s advertising revenue strategy. Senior executive Laxmi Shetty will support the transition, with her revised role expected to be announced soon.
In a market where content is everywhere but attention is scarce, ZEEL’s latest move is less about rearranging the org chart and more about staying in the game.
