We're bringing you a world exclusive...the Sky Arts channels are showing a live broadcast from London's Coliseum...but this is no ordinary live broadcast...
Sky Arts 1 gives you incredible access to what goes on backstage while an opera is being performed live and Sky Arts 2 gives you the actual opera performance...with HD viewers able to watch this simultaniously on Sky Arts HD in stunning clarity of sound and vision.
For more...go to the Sky Arts website feature page about it.
We're pretty excited about bringing something like this to TV viewers - hopefully we'll not only make the opera fans very happy but possibly interest some viewers who've never really experienced opera before.
This is the whole production, warts an' all, as they say. If the leading lady's dress rips backstage then you'll see the panic as the wardrobe team try to stich it up in time to make her cue! Or, perhaps, nothing will go wrong and it'll it be a well-oiled, slick night of flawless movement between the stage and wings. We'll see....!
La bohème live from 7:30pm 2 Feb '09, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2 and Sky Arts HD
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Crackin' Nuts
The whole team headed off to see English National Ballet's The Nutcracker last night at London's Coliseum.
Sad to see that this is the last Christmas that this particular production will be be staged but after 7 successful years I guess it's time for a change.
The wildly eccentric production is designed by Gerald Scarfe and choreographed by Christopher Hampson and features what I can confidently say is the largest stage fridge in any theatre in the country this Christmas....unless there's a panto about giant white goods that I don't yet know about...either way, their fridge probably won't have what seemed like a hundred snowflake dancers leaping out of it!
We weren't sure about the ending. Or lack of. But we still enjoyed it....a really seasonal class outing that's put us all in the right mood for xmas.
And just to prove we're in the right mood...we posed for a team xmas pic...our own live interpretation of Botticelli's nativity painting. The key artistic reference here is 'interpretation'....
The Sky Arts team could never be accused of not taking their fun seriously...
Sad to see that this is the last Christmas that this particular production will be be staged but after 7 successful years I guess it's time for a change.
The wildly eccentric production is designed by Gerald Scarfe and choreographed by Christopher Hampson and features what I can confidently say is the largest stage fridge in any theatre in the country this Christmas....unless there's a panto about giant white goods that I don't yet know about...either way, their fridge probably won't have what seemed like a hundred snowflake dancers leaping out of it!
We weren't sure about the ending. Or lack of. But we still enjoyed it....a really seasonal class outing that's put us all in the right mood for xmas.
And just to prove we're in the right mood...we posed for a team xmas pic...our own live interpretation of Botticelli's nativity painting. The key artistic reference here is 'interpretation'....
The Sky Arts team could never be accused of not taking their fun seriously...A very merry Christmas from everyone at Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2 & Sky Arts HD. Enjoy your festive viewing!
Monday, 15 December 2008
Sky Arts' new media team pop 'round to Madame Zingara's place...
On arriving at Battersea Power Station we were told to walk down a darkish little alleyway made of bamboo that would have looked great in a more lush green environment but slightly odd in the carpark for the power station...and, as instructed, walked thought the loveheart and basked in the warm glow of the giant tent's entrance. It was bloody freezing last Thursday night so the very fast-moving Q at the door was a relief.
Inside, this was awesome. And not in a west coast USA I-say-that-all-the-time kinda way...I really mean it was awesome. And warm. Did I mention what a cold night it was?! Lavish, stylish, atmospheric and instantly welcoming, this whole evening was pretty special right from the start. Click on the TENT TOUR interactive 360 to see what I mean...and that was taken in the daylight - lit for the evening it was spectacular.
There's a fantastic HISTORY about the tent that's well worth a read - though the most incredible story from the night was the 40-strong kitchen staff, including 4 head chefs, that served the 400-strong restaurant the most incredible food in a rather unbeliveably efficient and stylish manner. The South African wine was also, naturally, excellent.
The old 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet' definately came into play with our dinner companions...
Once seated, Raymond, our table's server looked after our every need. Though this was a media invite night and we didn't know who'd be sitting at our table...it turned out that they were as up for a good fun evening as we were so we all hit it off famously.
The acrobatics, fused with incredible choreography did not disappoint - we were all ooh-ing and aah-ing much as you'd have expected but the rounds of spontaneous applause when something particularly spectacular happened were far more frequent than certainly I was expecting. It felt like you weren't given a second to breathe (in a very good way!) as the entertainment and food were seamlessly served to you.
The food…ummm, the food. Serving the most tender, medium-rare fillets to a couple of hundred people at the same time might give you shivers of the hotel wedding kind – but fear not. This was exceptional. The ONLY food complaint is that there was far too much. It was all amazing.
Sky Arts' Sinead and Sari get into the swing of things at Madame Zingara in London...
The plate of little novelties that were presented to you upon arrival included a warm soup thing in a kind of a big shooter glass that was so incredibly delicious I could have drunk it, and it alone, all night and walked away content. The South African wine they chose for the tables was very good indeed and the menu choices were superb - extremely limited, but very well thought out.
Incredible handmade pasta stuffed with mushroom for starters, the Chocolate Chilli Fillet was my choice for main…or a choice of lamb shanks (they got a thums up from those at our tabel who enjoyed them) or freshly-caught fish or a four cheese polenta stack, with the desert being a plate of 3 mini deserts…a ‘to die for’ sticky toffee pudding, a light & fluffy tiramisu and umm…something else that I can’t remember but it was delicious whatever it was…chocolate mousse methinks? My taste buds were overawed with surprise and delight by this stage and I was a bit busy watching the final act to notice what I was actually eating...it was yummie anyway, whatever it was!
The dressing-up shop is a must-visit and with prices so low that you don’t even have to think twice about it – you can quickly pick up anything from theatrical hats and feather head-dresses to novelty glasses to…if you’re so inclined…fake burlesque boobs. A must for all the men…
Then, after all the acrobatic performances and the food, somehow, the whole tent…full of cynical media types, was up on its feet, dancing to the fabulous “Original Tons” belting vocals and having an all ‘round jolly time.
There was one problem with the whole night…we didn’t pre-order a cab to get us back to our respective train stations and hailing a cab late at night in Battersea is, as we found, like panning for gold in the Thames. Be warned.
So, if you’re going to be visiting London in the next 3 months MAKE SURE you book a table at Madame Zingara for a night of full-on entertainment that you won’t forget for a long, long time. We loved it :-)
Read our PREVIEW on skyarts.co.uk
Friday, 7 November 2008
Hello Arts Virgins...
...or, those in Virgin cable homes who've never previously had the pleasure of enjoying Sky Arts...
We're coming to Virgin!
From Thursday, Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 will be available to all those Virgin cable customers who subscribe to the XL package of channels.
We're coming to Virgin!
From Thursday, Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 will be available to all those Virgin cable customers who subscribe to the XL package of channels.
Welcome Virgin households, to the wonderful world of arts broadcasting....
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Returning to something resembling normality...
After what has been an incredibly busy past few months Sky Arts Corner is finally managing to get itself back to a regular routine. We've successfully re-launched the brand onair as Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2 and Sky Arts HD, overhauled the website and planned more original commissions for the coming year than ever before. We're even starting to go home before 10 at night now!
We're currently recording a brand new second season of What The Dickens? with Sandi Toksvig and a third season of The Book Show with Mariella Frostrup (episode 2 onair this Thursday) as well as being in pre-production on our fantastic new Bridge programme that you may have read about in the media - Celebrity Bridge: Grand Slam.
Our launch drinks on Wednesday were a very pleasant affair with people like Tim Marlow, Peter Ackroyd and Antony Gormley...
We're currently recording a brand new second season of What The Dickens? with Sandi Toksvig and a third season of The Book Show with Mariella Frostrup (episode 2 onair this Thursday) as well as being in pre-production on our fantastic new Bridge programme that you may have read about in the media - Celebrity Bridge: Grand Slam.
Our launch drinks on Wednesday were a very pleasant affair with people like Tim Marlow, Peter Ackroyd and Antony Gormley...
...and of course the whole Sky Arts team...
Can you guess what the theme was in this corner of the room where we had our "Sky Arts Class of '08" photo taken? The clue is probably in the green 'grass' carpet and the stacked bales of, ahem, hay, ahem....
We hope you're enjoying the new channels and finding the kind of programmes that you want to watch.
Monday, 27 October 2008
I survived MIPCOM 08
Ah MIP, the big international TV marketplace held twice a year in Cannes - MIPTV in April and the bigger MIPCOM in October. A week out of the office to swan around the Croissette, sipping cocktails and schmoozing. Er, no. A week out of the office with three solid days of meetings from 9 til 7pm. Then drinks. Then dinner. Then more drinks...
For a channel our size these are important markets as it's where a lot of our cool content comes from. The excellent doc "Who's Afraid of Michel Gondry?" for example. Found at MIPTV in April. "Queen Rock Montreal"? April again.
We buy content from all over the world so twice a year we actually get to meet, in the flesh, the distributors and producers. You get a good working relationship and everything's cool - distributors will come to you with new programming and that saves time - and shoe leather. Imagine a giant trade fair held across multiple floors with thousands of TV types from all over the globe running around trying to look more important than anyone else. Want to stand out from the crowd? Wear a ridiculous Rupert Bear-style checked suit. No one will forget you in a hurry. Even if that's for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't me either before you suggest such a thing. Probably American.
In the month or so before MIP you start making appointments with your regulars (oo er) as well as wading through the tons of e-mails from distributors who've accessed the buyer database. The latter is supposed to help them target their mail shots. It's getting better but I still don't remember ticking the "animated Russian pornography" box on the list of programming I was looking for.
On the flight try and avoid eye contact with strangers less you get pitched at... though I did manager to get pitched whilst waiting to collect my case at Nice airport. Got to admire that I guess...
Then it works like speed dating. You have a calendar that's a series of 30min meetings back to back - maybe with a lunch or a break for lunch - between 9ish and 7pm (there are team breakfasts most days too at 8.30am). This is all fine if, like my colleague Phil, you plan your diary so you don't have to run around - a day of meetings in the Riviera Hall, then a day down in the Bunker (it's much worse than it sounds). Of course you can do it like me, which means starting out with these good intentions then losing track or just forgetting and finding yourself running all over the place between meetings. And if you don;'t build in at least a free slot you can find, thanks to people overrunning, that you have about 10mins to actually talk about programming. If it's the first time you're meeting a distributor there's a few minutes small talk, a coffee or water (depending on whether you look like you're about to fall asleep or collapse), some talk about the channel (this time around about our relaunch plans) and then you get onto the catalogue. If you're not meeting them on stand but in the buyer's lounge then it's true speed dating territory as people furtively cruise the room looking at everyone's badges to find who they're supposed to meet. One guy last year attached a photo to the e-mail request - forward thinking if a little odd at first.
Comfy trainers are one thing. Dried fruit and/or snack bars and water help too. A large bag even more so. Delegates get a bag when they register. Strangely they've never quite mastered the idea that carrying a bright red or orange bag around that screams "tourist!!" isn't what everyone wants. My local charity shop gets two a year - though demand in Holloway is probably even more limited. Anyway, the reason for the large (preferably expandable) bag is for the flyers and DVDs. They add up. This year I was snowed under after my first meeting (old school producer who doesn't do websites but prefers programming info in hardcopy form). Got a break when a meeting got rearranged and had half an hour to leg it back to the apartment and in a Black Hawk Down style remove anything and everything surplus to requirements - a rainforest of catalogues, tons of DVDs etc etc
So, highlights...
Team dinner on Sunday was fun - most of the Sky people had arrived (granted not everyone's luggage had but...). Downside, my quitting smoking lasted about 3/4 hour when willpower went and I bummed one off Ian Lewis who runs movies. Shameful but God hates a quitter.
Brit Films - was introduced to Nick from Britfilms by Ian from Eureka! (UK's best DVD label who release the "Masters of Cinema" titles). Britfilms have a shortfilm competition which we might be able to collaborate on. And Nick asked if I'd be interested in being a judge next time.
Dinner with Sandrine from Euroarts - one of our regular suppliers of classical/opera programming. We alternate who buys dinner and this market it was Sandrine who took Phil and I out for dinner.
This was followed by the Beat Club launch party - Andrew and Will from Eagle Rock got Phil and I in (technically we were gatecrashing but my invite arrived on the Monday I got back into the office). Mungo Jerry (ask your parents) playing live in a tiny bar followed by some appropriate tracks from the likes of the Stones, Hendrix etc. Try to get a late/early drink at 2.15 but tonight, for some reason, the bar at the Grand is shut. Given the prices they may have run out of room to put all the cash from the bar...
Drink with John Wyver from Illuminations - he wanted to see the England game so we're in the Irish bar next door to the Irish bar where the previous night's Beat Club party was held. Then a change of shirt (no time for shower so it's a "spray aftershave in the air and walk through it" moment) then off to the Eagle Rock team dinner. A great crowd - welcoming, entertaining and fun. Tonight the Grand has deigned to stay open so a few late drinks (Wednesday is my last full day as I fly out tomorrow after one last meeting), say au revoir to the Eagle crew and back to the apartment where, a 2.45am, the key snaps in the lock. Wonderful. I've had this apartment on 5 occasions now and the key has got steadily more bent. Tonight's the night it breaks. The concierge speaks no English, my French is somewhat basic but dangling the remains of the key in the air with a plaintive "monsieur" is more than enough. There was a worrying "non" and a shrug as he tried to open the door but with a screwdriver he got me in. Thank you sir! Obviously I still need to be able to get back in tomorrow so a quick rummage through the kitchen drawers and I finally settle on the knife that will trip the lock (where most of the key remains).
Been a bit of rush today - and 4 hours later sitting in the cafe waiting for the team I wish I'd checked the crackberry the previous night. That way I might have seen the message "Team breakfast cancelled. So don't turn up!". Oh well 4 hours sleep is plenty. If I was half my age and not hungover.
Final meeting a breeze. One result of the solo team breakfast was that I was 2nd in queue to Fed-Ex the catalogues, DVDs etc back to the office. Slight moment of paranoia as I walked up to the MIP security and realised I had a small vegetable knife in my bag (the key to my apartment).
Time for a dash to the shops to buy Jake (my son) a car and some clothes. Quick trip to FNAC (French Borders) - blu rays and DVDs horribly overpriced. Though wish I'd brought "MR73" from the director of the excellent "36" as it's not out here for yonks if at all.
Jump on case, go to the lettings office to show them the key - "oh, it's finally broken" one of the women in the office says. Hmm.
Cab to the airport where I meet a woman outside struggling to find her lighter. I give her mine and tell her to keep it. She makes a joke about another person quitting after the market and hope it lasts this time. Of course it will I reassure her.
Waiting to drop my case I bump into Andrew from Eagle who's on the earlier flight. "Fancy a quick fag?" he asks. Ignore the sound of willpower crashing down and join him outside. Luckily my lighter recipient isn't there.
Am seated next to a former colleague from Sky, Kate, who now works for five. She settles down with an heroic dose of crap mags while I kick back and enjoy the majesty and splendour of "The Inglorious Bastards". Wish I'd known about the nude scene though. Kind of embarrassing sitting next to someone you know while the obligatory B-movie skinny dipping is taking place...
Get home around 7 Jake waiting for his present (I shouldn't' have tipped him off). He loves the car but loves the box more. It's a cliche but true - we still have the box from our TV which, armed with a Stanley Knife and Duct Tape, I turned into a racing car for him about a year ago.
Relaunch pending so have two continuity scripts to check as soon as the paper's been ripped off the box/car.
Some excellent programmes out there at MIPCOM - hopefully you'll get to see some of them in the next few months
For a channel our size these are important markets as it's where a lot of our cool content comes from. The excellent doc "Who's Afraid of Michel Gondry?" for example. Found at MIPTV in April. "Queen Rock Montreal"? April again.
We buy content from all over the world so twice a year we actually get to meet, in the flesh, the distributors and producers. You get a good working relationship and everything's cool - distributors will come to you with new programming and that saves time - and shoe leather. Imagine a giant trade fair held across multiple floors with thousands of TV types from all over the globe running around trying to look more important than anyone else. Want to stand out from the crowd? Wear a ridiculous Rupert Bear-style checked suit. No one will forget you in a hurry. Even if that's for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't me either before you suggest such a thing. Probably American.
In the month or so before MIP you start making appointments with your regulars (oo er) as well as wading through the tons of e-mails from distributors who've accessed the buyer database. The latter is supposed to help them target their mail shots. It's getting better but I still don't remember ticking the "animated Russian pornography" box on the list of programming I was looking for.
On the flight try and avoid eye contact with strangers less you get pitched at... though I did manager to get pitched whilst waiting to collect my case at Nice airport. Got to admire that I guess...
Then it works like speed dating. You have a calendar that's a series of 30min meetings back to back - maybe with a lunch or a break for lunch - between 9ish and 7pm (there are team breakfasts most days too at 8.30am). This is all fine if, like my colleague Phil, you plan your diary so you don't have to run around - a day of meetings in the Riviera Hall, then a day down in the Bunker (it's much worse than it sounds). Of course you can do it like me, which means starting out with these good intentions then losing track or just forgetting and finding yourself running all over the place between meetings. And if you don;'t build in at least a free slot you can find, thanks to people overrunning, that you have about 10mins to actually talk about programming. If it's the first time you're meeting a distributor there's a few minutes small talk, a coffee or water (depending on whether you look like you're about to fall asleep or collapse), some talk about the channel (this time around about our relaunch plans) and then you get onto the catalogue. If you're not meeting them on stand but in the buyer's lounge then it's true speed dating territory as people furtively cruise the room looking at everyone's badges to find who they're supposed to meet. One guy last year attached a photo to the e-mail request - forward thinking if a little odd at first.
Comfy trainers are one thing. Dried fruit and/or snack bars and water help too. A large bag even more so. Delegates get a bag when they register. Strangely they've never quite mastered the idea that carrying a bright red or orange bag around that screams "tourist!!" isn't what everyone wants. My local charity shop gets two a year - though demand in Holloway is probably even more limited. Anyway, the reason for the large (preferably expandable) bag is for the flyers and DVDs. They add up. This year I was snowed under after my first meeting (old school producer who doesn't do websites but prefers programming info in hardcopy form). Got a break when a meeting got rearranged and had half an hour to leg it back to the apartment and in a Black Hawk Down style remove anything and everything surplus to requirements - a rainforest of catalogues, tons of DVDs etc etc
So, highlights...
Team dinner on Sunday was fun - most of the Sky people had arrived (granted not everyone's luggage had but...). Downside, my quitting smoking lasted about 3/4 hour when willpower went and I bummed one off Ian Lewis who runs movies. Shameful but God hates a quitter.
Brit Films - was introduced to Nick from Britfilms by Ian from Eureka! (UK's best DVD label who release the "Masters of Cinema" titles). Britfilms have a shortfilm competition which we might be able to collaborate on. And Nick asked if I'd be interested in being a judge next time.
Dinner with Sandrine from Euroarts - one of our regular suppliers of classical/opera programming. We alternate who buys dinner and this market it was Sandrine who took Phil and I out for dinner.
This was followed by the Beat Club launch party - Andrew and Will from Eagle Rock got Phil and I in (technically we were gatecrashing but my invite arrived on the Monday I got back into the office). Mungo Jerry (ask your parents) playing live in a tiny bar followed by some appropriate tracks from the likes of the Stones, Hendrix etc. Try to get a late/early drink at 2.15 but tonight, for some reason, the bar at the Grand is shut. Given the prices they may have run out of room to put all the cash from the bar...
Drink with John Wyver from Illuminations - he wanted to see the England game so we're in the Irish bar next door to the Irish bar where the previous night's Beat Club party was held. Then a change of shirt (no time for shower so it's a "spray aftershave in the air and walk through it" moment) then off to the Eagle Rock team dinner. A great crowd - welcoming, entertaining and fun. Tonight the Grand has deigned to stay open so a few late drinks (Wednesday is my last full day as I fly out tomorrow after one last meeting), say au revoir to the Eagle crew and back to the apartment where, a 2.45am, the key snaps in the lock. Wonderful. I've had this apartment on 5 occasions now and the key has got steadily more bent. Tonight's the night it breaks. The concierge speaks no English, my French is somewhat basic but dangling the remains of the key in the air with a plaintive "monsieur" is more than enough. There was a worrying "non" and a shrug as he tried to open the door but with a screwdriver he got me in. Thank you sir! Obviously I still need to be able to get back in tomorrow so a quick rummage through the kitchen drawers and I finally settle on the knife that will trip the lock (where most of the key remains).
Been a bit of rush today - and 4 hours later sitting in the cafe waiting for the team I wish I'd checked the crackberry the previous night. That way I might have seen the message "Team breakfast cancelled. So don't turn up!". Oh well 4 hours sleep is plenty. If I was half my age and not hungover.
Final meeting a breeze. One result of the solo team breakfast was that I was 2nd in queue to Fed-Ex the catalogues, DVDs etc back to the office. Slight moment of paranoia as I walked up to the MIP security and realised I had a small vegetable knife in my bag (the key to my apartment).
Time for a dash to the shops to buy Jake (my son) a car and some clothes. Quick trip to FNAC (French Borders) - blu rays and DVDs horribly overpriced. Though wish I'd brought "MR73" from the director of the excellent "36" as it's not out here for yonks if at all.
Jump on case, go to the lettings office to show them the key - "oh, it's finally broken" one of the women in the office says. Hmm.
Cab to the airport where I meet a woman outside struggling to find her lighter. I give her mine and tell her to keep it. She makes a joke about another person quitting after the market and hope it lasts this time. Of course it will I reassure her.
Waiting to drop my case I bump into Andrew from Eagle who's on the earlier flight. "Fancy a quick fag?" he asks. Ignore the sound of willpower crashing down and join him outside. Luckily my lighter recipient isn't there.
Am seated next to a former colleague from Sky, Kate, who now works for five. She settles down with an heroic dose of crap mags while I kick back and enjoy the majesty and splendour of "The Inglorious Bastards". Wish I'd known about the nude scene though. Kind of embarrassing sitting next to someone you know while the obligatory B-movie skinny dipping is taking place...
Get home around 7 Jake waiting for his present (I shouldn't' have tipped him off). He loves the car but loves the box more. It's a cliche but true - we still have the box from our TV which, armed with a Stanley Knife and Duct Tape, I turned into a racing car for him about a year ago.
Relaunch pending so have two continuity scripts to check as soon as the paper's been ripped off the box/car.
Some excellent programmes out there at MIPCOM - hopefully you'll get to see some of them in the next few months
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Think you know a bit about Italy?
Try our fun video quiz & then challenge your friends! skyarts.co.uk/suggs
Launching on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts HD on Oct 21st (7pm), this brand new exclusive series follows Madness frontman Suggs as he journeys through Italy in a Mini for his very own Italian Job, stopping off at various points of cultural interest along the way...possibly not the kind of Italian holiday features that Judith Chalmers ever focused on but then that's why we love Suggs...
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