tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:34:42 +0000BBCmidsummer nights dreamrex the runttax creditinternet videokidscreenangry kidslingboxonline subscriptionnewseric gillglobe theatre touring companylife's a treatChannel 4las vegascuban missile crisisoscarssecond lifeoli hyattDigital Venicemiles bulloughthe f wordrory sutherlandshaun the sheepstressed ericMIPCOMnick daviesseinfeldpulp fictiongumballsTV animationtalentdefinition of partnershipbritish interactive groupHD-DVDtoo big to failhay-on-wyepaymentismred carpetmoshi monsterswallace and gromitpib and pogcreature comfortschurnalismshaun th sheepfreemiumcreativity educationcredit crunchatomfilmsitunesjournalismprime ministerBlu-Raydavid lynchDownfallmediathirteen daysmedia fundinglords communications committeesion simonmidweek chartconent for freedr strangeloveThe Wordpresscontent for freecartoon digitalinternational licensing exporipshaunthesheepmanaging creativitydefinition of bullshitseat fillerserdalrip shaun the sheepanimationCharlie Parsonsgrange park operadavid camerondark side of the moonchildren's media conferencethe guardianruncible spoonspotify itunes musicapple tvguardianthe big shortiplayersocial networkget shortydeficitfacebook skype bing google+ twitter adwordsmulholland drivethings are not what they seemebookstax creditsaardman rightsflat earth newsofficial chartsocial media venn diagram t-shirtlicense fee settlementtcmctate movie projectBIGVenezia Digitaleasdfmovieanimation ukmipblogbebojellybeatstwitteranimation co-productionsemployee ownershipaardmanbraviaboris johnsonmusings of a middle aged minor media mogul, miles bulloughhttp://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)Blogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-2110495229034171497Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:32:00 +00002012-02-25T19:34:42.513ZCharlie Parsonsaardmananimationasdfmovietalent This post first appeared on mipblog I am very interested to see where the next big wave of creative talent is going to come from. Very interested. Where is the next Charlie Parsons (creator of Club X, The Word, Survivor (and therefore all of modern reality television)) going to emerge from? Or the next wave of animation talent such as graduated from the UK’s NFTS in the 80’s like Nick Park, http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2012/02/catching-next-wave.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-3562948911139244152Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:54:00 +00002011-11-21T22:36:59.324Zcreativity education This essay first appeared in Creative Blueprint's 'Creativity, Money, Love' From the point of view of our education system, creativity is a problem because it is chaotic. And systems abhor chaos. When we look around schools for our kids and see clean and tidy art departments adorned with carefully presented studies (or copies) of the works of ‘great artists’, we should be sceptical. In http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/11/sheep-conundrum.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-875259333271690721Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:31:00 +00002011-11-06T14:31:55.239Zrip shaun the sheepripshaunthesheepshaun the sheep Distraught Shaun The Sheep fans fearing the demise of their woolly hero can rest easy. Despite the hashtag #RIPShaunTheSheep trending globally on Twitter today (6th November 2011), Shaun is alive and well and not cancelled or dead or shuffled-off in any way In fact, Muslims are today celebrating Eid-al-Adha, a religious holiday commemorating the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/11/nooooooooo-rip-shaun-sheep.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-4397487796455930336Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:26:00 +00002011-11-04T20:33:33.443Ztax creditsTV animationanimation uk This post first appeared in Broadcast Magazine (subscription required) We’re a bit suspicious of ‘government support’ in the UK; it smacks of retreat – Dunkirk and all that. The Brits prefer a stiff upper lip, a ‘keep calm and carry on’ approach as our ocean liners slip beneath the frozen waters. There’s a time for the phlegmatic approach but there’s also a time to dress up as Bob The http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/11/animation-industry-needs-break.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-2486877640395354631Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:45:00 +00002011-10-31T21:45:12.081ZMIPCOMaardman rights (this piece originally appeared on the MIPCOM Blog on September 29th, 2011) So, Cannes again. I have a number of questions I need answers for this year - here they are:I had a very bad Jason Bourne moment this week. I knew that at MIP in April I had stayed somewhere that I haven’t stayed before but could I remember anything about where? No I couldn’t. Nada. A complete and utter blank - no http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/10/mipcom-identity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-7273745048829900883Mon, 29 Aug 2011 07:28:00 +00002011-08-29T08:31:39.528+01:00erdalruncible spoonemployee ownership I’m not reviewing every book I read on holiday but this one was interesting. Beyond the Corporation: Humanity Working by David Erdal is a passionately argued manifesto for employee owned businesses. It’s not a balanced or wide-ranging economic analysis, it’s more of a polemic, but it did make me think … But first a quick (and relevant to this topic) plug for my niece's restaurant in Bristol, http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/08/beyond-corporation-david-erdal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-5157565553667538796Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:48:00 +00002011-08-19T12:48:39.351+01:00journalismnick daviesflat earth newschurnalismnewsmediapressguardian Nick Davies, Flat Earth News, one of my holiday reads. Although it’s essential reading it is, to be honest, more of a battering than a read; a relentless and disheartening exposé of the woeful decline in journalistic standards across the world's media with particular reference to the British press. He starts with the Millennium Bug 'hoax'; the idea that the world was going to crash and burn athttp://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/08/nick-davies-flat-earth-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-7697154580251644335Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:12:00 +00002011-08-29T08:32:53.187+01:00aardmandavid camerontax creditsprime minister A somewhat surreal but interesting day yesterday (Thursday 28th July). On the Wednesday the call came through to Aardman that the ministerial visit that we had been expecting was being upgraded to a Prime Ministerial visit. It was all very hush hush but David Cameron was in town and wanted to pop into to see us. There probably aren’t many Tory voters in the Company and I know there to be a good http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/07/prime-minister-and-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-2319751848504987042Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:03:00 +00002011-08-29T08:34:35.264+01:00managing creativityBIGbritish interactive groupI have just given a talk on managing creativity at the British Interactive Group's annual event at @Bristol. People seemed to like some of the quotes that I used so here they are for future reference: 'Do not fear eccentric opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric' Bertrand Russell, philosopher, 1872 -1970 'Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/07/creativity-quotations.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-7615996808467379902Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:43:00 +00002011-08-29T08:35:21.291+01:00media fundinganimationmipblogThis post originally appeared on mipBLOG If there has been a worse time to be an animation producer in the UK, I would like to hear about it. The opportunities for non-kids animation are few and far between, perhaps one series a year across all broadcasters. The kids’ animation business in the UK is taking a hammering from our increasingly well-organised, increasingly creatively confident and http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/07/broadcasters-please-will-you-pay-more.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-5497678390281430166Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:11:00 +00002011-07-10T09:30:23.919+01:00children's media conferencetate movie projecttcmcrory sutherlandBack from three days at the The Children's Media Conference in Sheffield (#tcmc) which rarely fails to stimulate and always offers a relaxed atmosphere in which to talk to buyers, creatives or colleagues and to make new friends. I recommend it. [disclaimer … Aardman now sponsors the festival so we also go to check that our money is being well spent] A highlight for me this year was the closing http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-childrens-media-conference-diary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-1762888078330645371Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:52:00 +00002011-07-04T22:52:12.799+01:00spotify itunes musicI think Spotify could win the music war. They are due to launch in the US imminently and I think the music-loving youth of America will be thrilled with what they find. Here's why: 1) Spotify has hit on an interface and offering that facilitates the discovery of music new to a user. This is it's killer benefit for me. People can use it to sample music for free. We know that the most prolific http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/07/spotify-vs-rest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-8301605681951669494Sat, 02 Jul 2011 23:03:00 +00002011-07-04T22:53:17.593+01:00facebook skype bing google+ twitter adwordsSeth Godin is right - there is much to be said for writing down ones’ predictions. It's stimulating and frankly, it's a lot easier than writing well researched facts or carefully considered opinion. Time for some future gazing. Has Microsoft just just come up with a game-changing move for itself? Like many, I was amazed by the $8.5b that they paid for Skype. But suddenly it’s not looking so http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/07/faceskpebing-vs-googletwitad.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-7762156097836836966Mon, 02 May 2011 21:58:00 +00002011-05-03T20:39:40.651+01:00hay-on-wyeeric gillebooksStaying near Capel-y-Fin in the black Mountains this Easter my friend Keith (of antcreative, whose lovely photos follow) introduced me to the curiously fascinating world of typeface design. Ten of us were staying very near the home of the weird and eccentric Eric Gill; typeface designer, sculptor and priapic who set up home and a weird sort of spiritual cult in the Capel-y-Finn monastery in the http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/05/hay-on-wye-eric-gill-ebooks-and-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-7207760060803423450Mon, 11 Apr 2011 22:01:00 +00002011-04-17T23:45:42.479+01:00Yes - it's still me but I have changed the template to something that I hope is a little more stylish. I also wanted a template that was a fixed width. All I need to do now is write a lot more posts! Thanks for reading - I will write more ... promise . .http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/04/change-of-design.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-8308628144555124752Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:05:00 +00002011-04-17T23:46:56.924+01:00gumballsmoshi monsters p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 22.0px Arial; color: #1123a5} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; color: #2f2f2f} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px} p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial} p.p5 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px} p.p6 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0pxhttp://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/03/moshi-monsters-tearing-up-kids-media.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-660931440899690019Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:48:00 +00002011-02-28T12:56:30.593Zsocial networkkidscreenmoshi monsters p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px} span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #1123a5} An interesting week last week - I was in New York for the Kidscreen Conference which means I got to chinwag with friends and colleagues about http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2011/02/kidscreen-social-network-moshi-monsters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-8815830043193530447Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:35:00 +00002011-04-10T22:59:55.004+01:00too big to faildeficitlicense fee settlementcredit crunchthe big shortBBC I’m going to try and drag a post about the banks and the credit crunch round to the subject of this blog - the media - it’s a bit of stretch but bear with me. The BBC, the DCMS, the Film Council and a number of other bodies in our sector have just had a limb hacked off or been shot in head by the Coalition in the name of financial prudence. 490,000 people look like losing their jobs as a resulthttp://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2010/10/cuts-banks-grrrrrrrrr.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-4231369476341191522Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:18:00 +00002011-01-29T21:45:55.508ZCharlie ParsonsThe WordChannel 4 Back home after the party to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the first series of The Word  on Channel 4 and I have to reflect (without any particular originality) on what a landmark show that was both in TV terms but also in personal terms - everyone remembers it and it was the show that threw every production challenge at me that you care to name and dared me to ‘overcome’. Watching clips http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2010/10/word-it-was-twenty-years-ago-more-or.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-54188983391100172Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:33:00 +00002011-04-10T23:05:31.470+01:00animation co-productionsThis article first appeared in Production Base Apologies for the lurid headline but it’s an immutable law of media that if a title suggests sex it will get more attention. For example, by far the worst episode of Angry Kid (creatively speaking) that we ever made at Aardman carried the title ‘Sex Call’. It has consistently been the most popular episode amongst its largely male, teen fan-base. I http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2010/08/sado-masochism-in-industry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-5774925665690103950Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:33:00 +00002011-03-02T20:46:08.617ZtwitterAge: 52, Facebook Friends: 231, LinkedIn Connections: 105, Active Blogs: 2, Tweets in May: 1 I’m a young 52 and having the Digital Department in my ‘portfolio’ keeps me that way. I know my way round the web but lately I’ve caught the twenty-something Aardman digerati looking at me in that way my 13 year old does .... ‘I love you Dad but you’re SO out of touch’. I think it’s because I’m not http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2010/06/dad-at-digital-disco.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-6941982438170449213Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:18:00 +00002011-04-11T22:23:02.008+01:00boris johnsonSo, here's the video that we made for our sadly departed friend, Jim Campbell's track 'Is Fatboy Slim a DJ?'. The full story beind the track is on the www.borisborisboris.com website where there are links to places where you can buy the track and links to the Just Giving page where you can donate to Jim's chosen charity, the Macmillan Nurses who looked after him during his illness. It's a greathttp://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2010/06/boris-johnson-vs-2-anonymous-djs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-4516944409898023176Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:05:00 +00002010-03-18T20:12:25.114Zseat fillersred carpetoscarsSo here I am on the red carpet at the Oscars. I'm way in the background of the Sam Worthington interview with Ryan Seacrest.What I really like about this clip is that just after I start to talk to a colleague and point, like a loon, at something or other ... a gorgeous looking 'seat filler' is dispatched to stand in the shot and block me from view! Brilliant.http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-red-carpet-at-oscars.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-6191837771405974932Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:47:00 +00002009-11-23T09:38:15.160Zsion simonoli hyattTV animationtax creditAnd so to Westminster again to prostrate myself before politicians in the name of animation. After my trip to the House of Lords it was off to the DCMS this time to lend my voice to the outstanding campaign being waged by the indefatigable Oli Hyatt of Blue Zoo Productions to secure for our UK animation industry the type of support that governments give in just about every other country where http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-thick-of-it-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5350968036809940492.post-4171213493676216850Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:44:00 +00002009-07-19T22:47:40.146+01:00online subscriptionthe guardianfreemiumI'm a bit promiscuous with my newspaper consumption. I flit between The Times, The Independent and The Guardian and feel no loyalty to any of them. Sometimes I am positively slutty – I'll take one in a café or waiting room then buy another to have my evil way with at home.Usually they delight and annoy me in equal measure. I buy them based on how interested or annoyed I am by the front page. Is http://digitalmiles.blogspot.com/2009/07/sleeping-around-with-press.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Miles Bullough)0