News Broadcasting
Virgin Comics & Tiger Hill launch ‘Seven Brothers’ in Yahoo’s Time Capsule
MUMBAI: Virgin Comics and Tiger Hill Entertainment have announced that their new comic John Woo’s Seven Brothers is available online exclusively through Yahoo!’s Internet Time Capsule, an electronic anthropology archive.
Seven Brothers is the initial launch in Virgin Comic’s “Director’s Cut” imprint, which for the first time allows the world’s top filmmakers to incubate stories and characters in comic book form for further development into film and animation, informs an official release.
Developed by popular Hollywood director John Woo (Face Off, Mission Impossible 2) and Tiger Hill Entertainment in collaboration with Sir Richard Branson’s newly formed comic book media company, Virgin Comics, the inaugural issue of Seven Brothers takes place in contemporary Los Angeles and follows a global epic spanning seven centuries and seven continents featuring a cast of international characters, each with supernatural abilities.
While the debut issue of Seven Brothers will be released in the US on 18 October, an exclusive digital version of the comic book will be offered through the Yahoo! Internet Time Capsule, which will be featured on localised Yahoo! home pages around the world, including the most popular home page on the Internet, www.yahoo.com, the release adds.
“Graphic novels are an exciting new medium for me and I am excited to work with Yahoo! to bring this comic book series to audiences around the world and to preserve it for the future,” says series creator John Woo.
“John Woo is an international icon who stands at the forefront of creative innovation,” said Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Virgin Comics. “Yahoo! is an excellent partner to help us share this milestone entertainment event with a worldwide audience.”
In collaboration with John Woo, Seven Brothers is written by renowned comic book author, Garth Ennis. Ennis, whose work includes the action comic titles Punisher and Preacher, is regarded as one of the industry’s bestselling and most critically acclaimed writers.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
