Production Company to Cover News of the Virtual World

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Traditional media may be shrinking, but there’s good news for information junkies who participate in virtual, or simulated, online communities: they now have their first official news outlets.


LivePlanet Inc. has created Virtual World Productions Inc., a company focused on developing media brands to serve the growing populations of virtual worlds.


Virtual World Productions’ first two media brands, Grid World News and Azeroth World News will report on issues relevant to the “Second Life” and “World of Warcraft” virtual communities, respectively, by gathering and reporting news within those worlds.


“The vision of Virtual World Productions is similar to what Rupert Murdoch, William Randolph Hearst or Ted Turner had for our own world in the last century,” said Keith Quinn, senior vice president of LivePlanet and co-creator of the concept. “We will report the goings on of the millions of inhabitants of these worlds, so that the entire community can be informed. We are recording history in these worlds, and now, when a proverbial tree falls in the forest, people will know it happened.”


The media organization will cover a broad range of daily news items from the virtual world including first person adventures of a reporter to fashion-forward trends in World of Warcraft. All coverage will reflect only the concepts, ideas and events depicted in the world of play. The media brands won’t offer how-to-play or game-focused commentary. Virtual World expects to unveil news services for other games in the coming months.


Santa Monica-based LivePlanet also creates and develops traditional media properties such as feature films and television, as well as entertainment properties that integrate traditional media and new media. Founded in 2000 by actors Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and others, the company has a three-year production deal with Walt Disney Co.



Cross Country

City Lights Television is expanding its Los Angeles operations by moving to a larger 2,680-square-foot office in Santa Monica and expanding its development team.


The company, a subsidiary of City Lights Media Group, has nine series on the air, including HGTV’s “Hammered,” seven television specials, six pilots and six digital deals, as well as more than 60 deals with a variety of networks including MTV, A & E; and Nickelodeon.


The company opened West Coast operations in 2004 after analyzing figures that showed 63 percent of unscripted development is based in Los Angeles. At that time, the New York upstart had only one out of 13 development deals contracted in Los Angeles, but executives decided a local office was integral for long term growth.


“In 2005 we decided we had to have a major presence in L.A. Now, less than two years later, we are seeing that decision pay off,” said Dave Noll, president of City Lights Television. “We are producing five projects out of the L.A. office and we expect that number to grow.”



Frigid Frog

Polar Frog Digital, an entertainment leader in digital content management and distribution, has joined Digital Entertainment Group. DEG, based in Los Angeles, is an industry-funded non-profit corporation that advocates and promotes consumer home video and audio segments of the home entertainment market. DEG’s membership base includes HBO Video, MGM Home Entertainment and other home media powerhouses.


Polar Frog’s current business is burn-on-demand retail kiosks and the company is expecting to roll out 100 new stations by the end of the year in various airports, travel centers and retail markets. The Arizona-based company currently has over 5,000 titles in its library.



Network Safari

Africa Channel LLC, the North Hollywood-based television network showcasing the diverse perspectives of Africa’s people, is going international. The network will be carried beginning late this month on Sky, the leading multi-channel television platform in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sky reaches 21 million viewers in 8.6 million households.


Africa Channel has been on the air for two years in the U.S. on cable systems in Ft. Worth; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Houston; Detroit and New Orleans.



Triple X Arrests

Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie’s DUI-related news reign isn’t over just yet.


Venom Digital Media is extending the celebutantes media run to the X-rated world, with the Chatsworth-based company’s first high-definition release, “Paris & Nicole Go to Jail” an adult satire of the two socialites’ trip to the big house. The adult video was shot entirely in high definition, a first for the company. The adult industry is being closely monitored in the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. “Paris & Nicole Go to Jail” will first be released on standard-definition DVD and later in high definition for video on demand, with the format not yet selected.



Staff reporter Anne Riley-Katz can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 225, or at

[email protected]

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