M. Night Shills Airbender at the Upfronts
Variety has an article on the The Last Airbender presentation at the Upfronts: Nick tubthumps 'The Last Airbender'.
Pic, based on the Nick cartoon and starring "Slumdog Millionaire" thesp Dev Patel and "Twilight" actor Jackson Rathbone, initially attracted Shyamalan because of connections to Hindu mythology. Shyamalan spoke highly of the pic's lead, Noah Ringer, who was cast through an open call. "He's homeschooled and he plays a monk in the movie."
The New York Times did a write up, too: A Pair of Cable Upfront Pitches Suggests a Better Mood on Madison Avenue
M. Night Shyamalan, who is writing, directing and producing “The Last Airbender” for the new Nickelodeon Movies banner, offered chatty, folksy remarks to the audience of agency and advertiser executives at the Nickelodeon presentation in Midtown Manhattan.
Well, as folksy as a high-profile Hollywood director can be. At one point, he told the audience how he was turned on to “The Last Airbender,” based on a Nickelodeon series, when he and his daughter watched the DVDs of the first season in “the theater in our house.”
EDIT: OMG. New York Daily News Reports: Testing soap-y waters: Nickelodeon to use 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' to try out telenovelas
This article has one significant throw-away line.
"Expanding the brand" happens this summer with the theatrical release of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender," the first in a three-film, live-action franchise based on Nickelodeon's animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Nickelodeon has "Avatar" creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko developing a new series, too, [Nickelodeon President Cyma] Zarghami said.
Pic, based on the Nick cartoon and starring "Slumdog Millionaire" thesp Dev Patel and "Twilight" actor Jackson Rathbone, initially attracted Shyamalan because of connections to Hindu mythology. Shyamalan spoke highly of the pic's lead, Noah Ringer, who was cast through an open call. "He's homeschooled and he plays a monk in the movie."
The New York Times did a write up, too: A Pair of Cable Upfront Pitches Suggests a Better Mood on Madison Avenue
M. Night Shyamalan, who is writing, directing and producing “The Last Airbender” for the new Nickelodeon Movies banner, offered chatty, folksy remarks to the audience of agency and advertiser executives at the Nickelodeon presentation in Midtown Manhattan.
Well, as folksy as a high-profile Hollywood director can be. At one point, he told the audience how he was turned on to “The Last Airbender,” based on a Nickelodeon series, when he and his daughter watched the DVDs of the first season in “the theater in our house.”
EDIT: OMG. New York Daily News Reports: Testing soap-y waters: Nickelodeon to use 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' to try out telenovelas
This article has one significant throw-away line.
"Expanding the brand" happens this summer with the theatrical release of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender," the first in a three-film, live-action franchise based on Nickelodeon's animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Nickelodeon has "Avatar" creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko developing a new series, too, [Nickelodeon President Cyma] Zarghami said.