Heres the press release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Nicole Goesseringer Muj, ngoesseringer@hotmail; 310-804-0964 Metan Development Group Partners With Legendary Hollywood Storytellers To Launch Metan Wen Zhi Ku, Opening Up New Opportunities For Western TV/Film Writers In Emerging Media Markets Top Screen Wordsmiths To Make Up Core Group Poised to Create Content for Transmedia Projects in China, India, Brazil and Russia/CIS Los Angeles, November 29, 2013 -- Metan Development Group (Metan) and a coalition of North America’s top TV and film writers, have joined forces to launch Metan Wen Zhi Ku, a joint venture linking Western writing talent with transmedia projects for the China market, the announcement was made today by Larry Namer, President/CEO, Metan and writers Art Eisenson and David Gittins. Eisenson and Gittins head up a collective of the most respected writers from TV and film, who have signed on as part of Metan Wen Zhi Ku’s talent roster, that includes Marilyn Anderson (“Murphy Brown” “The Jeffersons,” “Fame”), Michael Elias (“The Jerk,” “Head of the Class,” “All In The Family,” “The Bill Cosby Show”), Eric Estrin (“Cagney and Lacy,” “Miami Vice,” “Murder She Wrote”), Lynn Roth (“The Paper Chase,” “Nine To Five” series), Judith Parker (L.A. Law), Bob Shayne (“Magnum P.I.,” “Knight Rider,” “Hart to Hart,” “Welcome Back Kotter”) and Treva Silverman (“Mary Tyler Moore,” “The Monkeys,” “Room 222,” “Romancing the Stone,” plus many others who have worked on some of televisions most loved shows including Dallas, Dynasty, The Golden Girls, Hawaii 5-0, Happy Days, Charlies Angels, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Metan Wen Zhi Ku (which in English translates to “writing mastermind”) will have access to an unprecedented talent pool of over 2,000 writers, who in recent years were underutilized and faced age discrimination. They now will have a new opportunity to reinvent their careers, and be afforded the freedom to lend their expertise as storytellers for multi-platform projects in the developing China media market. “When Metan first met with Art and David, we immediately saw an amazing chance to not only celebrate some of the entertainment world’s most talented writers, but to provide them with new international opportunities,” comments Namer. “While China’s media business is developing at a rapid pace, core skills of storytelling are lacking. We believe that Metan Wen Zhi Ku will fill this void.” After the China market, the company plans to expand to other emerging media markets, including India, Brazil and Russia/CIS. In addition to writing, top U.S. writers will also be involved in mentoring and teaching foreign content creators in the art of storytelling. Jay Kenoff serves as legal counsel for the joint venture. Writers will be compensated on a per-project basis, with additional opportunities for profit sharing. “The opportunity for profit participation and transparent book-keeping are precedential, and make common business sense,” said Eisenson. “What writers do is structure emotional and cognitive experiences for other people. The fundamental premise of our collective is that humans have always used storytelling to make sense of life, and that writers skills and perceptions become more elementary as we gain life experience. This joint venture represents a merger of the energies of visionaries and the ethics of those who believe in doing well by doing good.” Metan Wen Zhi Ku’s first project is a romantic comedy Web series to be set in China, Europe and South America. Art Eisenson’s television writing includes the mini-series “Beggarman,” “Thief,” and episodes and staff assignments on “What Really Happened to the Class of ’65,” “Kojak,” “Eischied,” “The Gangster Chronicles,” “The Mississippi,” “Lucan,” “Shannon” and “High Mountain Rangers.” Founder of the American Film Institute Alumni Association and Armed and Literate, he chaired the Writers Guild of America, West’s Committee on Freedom of Expression and Censorship and the Ad-hoc Committee on MBA Compliance, as well as served on WGA’s Career Longevity, New Media, and Waiver Committees. He graduated from Columbia College in 1963, holds Masters of Arts degrees from Stanford University, and was a Screenwriting Fellow at the American Film Institute in 1973. David Gittins is the first Executive Director of the TV Writers Fund for the Future where he has been in position since 2012. He has written for British television, sold screenplays in the UK and Italy and has worked both in development and as an independent producer. Before he entered the industry, Gittins was an officer of Her Majestys Customs and Excise in Londons West End. Born in Liverpool, but an Irish citizen, he graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Manchester and holds an MFA from USCs School of Cinematic Arts. An entertainment industry veteran with over 40 years professional experience in cable television, live events and new media, Larry Namer is a founding partner of Metan and co-founder of E! Entertainment Television, a company now valued at over $3.5 billion USD, and the creator of several successful companies in the United States and overseas. Among those companies are Comspan Communications that pioneered Western forms of entertainment in the former Soviet Union and Steeplechase Media that served as the primary consultant to Microsoft’s MiTV for developing interactive TV applications. He also serves as Senior Advisor, Strategic Development to Eurocinema On Demand. He was nominated for several Emmy and Cable ACE awards and received the prestigious President’s Award from the National Cable Television Association. Launched in 2009, Metan Development Group LLC (Metan) is a venture created to develop and distribute entertainment content and media specifically for international markets. The company’s founders are entertainment industry veteran Martin Pompadur, E! Entertainment Television co-founder Larry Namer, Amerilink founder Jean Zhang, and Russian advertising industry veteran Oganes Sobolev. Metan first launched in early 2009, and since then has made incredible inroads in developing the media market in Asia. metanmedia ###
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 20:21:29 +0000
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