Latest news with #ShootingStars
Broadcast Pro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Animotion Media Group debuts animated series ‘Shooting Stars' at Annecy
With 26 x 11' episodes planned, the series has global reach and transmedia potential. Animotion Media Group debuted its newest animated series, Shooting Stars, at the Annecy Animation Festival (MIFA). The UAE-based studio, known for its focus on family-friendly content, promises an explosive mix of action, comedy, and empowerment with this girl-centered series that aims to resonate with girls aged 8 to 12. Shooting Stars follows the lives of five spirited high school girls — Netty, Cath, Eva, Mia and Naomi — who bond over their shared love for football. While they dominate on the field, their everyday teenage struggles remain real and relatable. Their world takes an extraordinary turn when a meteor crash lands on their football field, granting them mysterious superpowers. What begins as regular team practice quickly morphs into high-stakes battles against strange monsters, as the girls juggle their new dual lives as both athletes and unlikely superheroes. The series dives deep into themes of identity, self-confidence, and resilience, showing the challenges and triumphs of growing up in a world that often underestimates girls. With humor, heart, and high-octane adventure, the show explores how each girl's unique power reflects her personality — from Eva's unbreakable strength to Cath's lightning-quick instincts, and Netty's razor-sharp intellect. These differences become their greatest strength as they learn that real power lies in diversity and unity. Julia Nikolaeva, General Manager at Animotion and the producer behind the project, said: 'Shooting Stars is about more than superpowers and soccer goals — it's about strength, resilience, and identity. We wanted to make a show that feels real for today's Gen Alpha — a world where girls can be everything: athletes, dreamers, leaders, heroes. With Shooting Stars, we're holding a mirror up to girls and saying: 'You can be powerful just as you are.' With 26 episodes of 11 minutes each, Shooting Stars is designed with international audiences in mind. Packed with humor, fast-paced storytelling, dazzling transformations, and powerful match sequences, the series stands as a fresh take on inclusive entertainment. It also boasts strong transmedia potential, ensuring its reach goes far beyond the small screen. Following in the footsteps of Animotion's globally successful titles like The Fixies, Tina & Tony, BabyRiki, and Finnick, this latest venture is poised to break boundaries — both in storytelling and in representation. Shooting Stars is not just about scoring goals; it's about defying expectations, breaking stereotypes, and creating a new playbook for what girls in animation can be.
The Irish Sun
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Coronation Street and Emmerdale boss QUITS after 30 years as ITV soaps set for huge shake-up after cash crisis
CORONATION Street and Emmerdale boss John Whiston has quit ITV after nearly 30 years. The channel veteran has overseen epic live episodes and helped shape storylines that have pulled in millions of viewers. 2 A Corrie and Emmerdale chief has stepped down at ITV 2 John's influence is all over the cobbles Credit: X In a statement, Whiston said: 'I've always said I've got the best job in TV. I used to say it privately in case ITV stopped paying me. "It has been nothing short of an honour, as well as a blast, to work on the Soaps this last decade or so. We've had joy, we've had fun and we've had seasons in the Sun. "We've also had misery and mayhem. We've had motorway crashes, tram crashes and floods. We've had stories which have squeezed your heart till tears came out of your eyes. "And we've covered pretty much anything and everything that people have to face in their own lives and we've done that with care and humanity. READ MORE ON CORRIE "And all that is down to the 600 or so people - the writers, crew, cast and editorial – who have kept the show on air and at an incredible quality day in day out. And it's them who have made my job ridiculously easy. Just don't tell ITV." Replacing him will be Iain MacLeod as Creative Director and Matt Cleary as Chief Operating Officer. John continued: "With fantastic stories in place for the move to five episodes a week next January, and a never-before-seen mega mash-up between the two shows, the future for our ITV Soaps is set fair. "So it's the right time to leave and for me just to say thank you… to colleagues, to ITV and to our loyal, appreciative audience.' Most read in Soaps Tributes for the highly-respected TV man came from the very top of the station. Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, Media and Entertainment said: "John has been a stalwart of ITV, the North, and the soaps for a very long time. His fingerprints are all over Coronation Street and Emmerdale and they are all the better for it. Corrie character quits Weatherifled as he makes major decision after shock accusation "Every twist and turn of the plotlines have had input from John and he will be sorely missed by all that have worked with him. ITV and I have been very fortunate to work with such a wonderful man. We wish him well in the next episode of his life.' Whiston began his career at the BBC and earlier in his career helped BBC2 rival BBC1 for viewing figures after introducing theme nights. He also launched hugely successful shows like Vic & Bob's Shooting Stars and Lee & Herring's Fist of Fun. A move to Manchester saw him commission and produce iconic shows that are still much-loved to this day. Among them was Red Dwarf, The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family. He switched to rival ITV in 1999 as Director of Programmes at Yorkshire TV, immediately making an impact on the likes of Emmerdale, Heartbeat and A Touch of Frost. His stellar eye for a good drama showed no sign of abating with At Home with the Braithwaites, Fat Friends and Lost For Words among his successes. Whiston followed this by taking over ITV's drama stable including programmes like Poirot, Marple, Prime Suspect, Vera, Lewis, the Oscar-winning feature film, The Queen and Coronation Street. He was promoted to Director of ITV Productions in 2005, a role he held for five years before finishing as Managing Director of Continuing Drama and Head of ITV in the North.
Scottish Sun
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Coronation Street and Emmerdale boss QUITS after 30 years as ITV soaps set for huge shake-up after cash crisis
CORONATION Street and Emmerdale boss John Whiston has quit ITV after nearly 30 years. The channel veteran has overseen epic live episodes and helped shape storylines that have pulled in millions of viewers. 2 A Corrie and Emmerdale chief has stepped down at ITV 2 John's influence is all over the cobbles Credit: X In a statement, Whiston said: 'I've always said I've got the best job in TV. I used to say it privately in case ITV stopped paying me. "It has been nothing short of an honour, as well as a blast, to work on the Soaps this last decade or so. We've had joy, we've had fun and we've had seasons in the Sun. "We've also had misery and mayhem. We've had motorway crashes, tram crashes and floods. We've had stories which have squeezed your heart till tears came out of your eyes. "And we've covered pretty much anything and everything that people have to face in their own lives and we've done that with care and humanity. "And all that is down to the 600 or so people - the writers, crew, cast and editorial – who have kept the show on air and at an incredible quality day in day out. And it's them who have made my job ridiculously easy. Just don't tell ITV." Replacing him will be Iain MacLeod as Creative Director and Matt Cleary as Chief Operating Officer. John continued: "With fantastic stories in place for the move to five episodes a week next January, and a never-before-seen mega mash-up between the two shows, the future for our ITV Soaps is set fair. "So it's the right time to leave and for me just to say thank you… to colleagues, to ITV and to our loyal, appreciative audience.' Tributes for the highly-respected TV man came from the very top of the station. Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, Media and Entertainment said: "John has been a stalwart of ITV, the North, and the soaps for a very long time. His fingerprints are all over Coronation Street and Emmerdale and they are all the better for it. Corrie character quits Weatherifled as he makes major decision after shock accusation "Every twist and turn of the plotlines have had input from John and he will be sorely missed by all that have worked with him. ITV and I have been very fortunate to work with such a wonderful man. We wish him well in the next episode of his life.' Whiston began his career at the BBC and earlier in his career helped BBC2 rival BBC1 for viewing figures after introducing theme nights. He also launched hugely successful shows like Vic & Bob's Shooting Stars and Lee & Herring's Fist of Fun. A move to Manchester saw him commission and produce iconic shows that are still much-loved to this day. Among them was Red Dwarf, The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family. He switched to rival ITV in 1999 as Director of Programmes at Yorkshire TV, immediately making an impact on the likes of Emmerdale, Heartbeat and A Touch of Frost. His stellar eye for a good drama showed no sign of abating with At Home with the Braithwaites, Fat Friends and Lost For Words among his successes. Whiston followed this by taking over ITV's drama stable including programmes like Poirot, Marple, Prime Suspect, Vera, Lewis, the Oscar-winning feature film, The Queen and Coronation Street. He was promoted to Director of ITV Productions in 2005, a role he held for five years before finishing as Managing Director of Continuing Drama and Head of ITV in the North.
Hindustan Times
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Fan violence casts shadow over Nigerian football league
Minutes after the final whistle, Vincent Temitope, a forward with Nigerian football club Plateau United, was bleeding after suffering a horrific cut to his neck. Temitope was attacked after he had scored in the 3-2 loss away to Nasarawa United last month in the Nigeria Professional Football League . His club blamed the attack in central Nigeria on supporters of the home team, with director Yaksat Maklek saying some fans attacked him "inflicting a cut on his neck region, causing sustained bleeding". Such instances of violence are frequent in a league in which the home teams often deploy means to win at all costs. A week before Temitope was attacked, players of Lagos-based Ikorodu City were rescued from a stadium in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan after earning a 1-1 draw against the home team, Shooting Stars. Match officials reportedly had to disguise themselves as policemen to evade violent fans as they tried to leave the stadium. Only a month before, Shooting Stars's goalkeeping coach John Dosu was punched by an official of a visiting team. "Desperation for victory, desperation for points, particularly for teams that want to finish amongst the top three, or teams that want to avoid a drop, is usually at the foundation of crowd violence," Toyin Ibitoye, a former spokesman for Nigeria's national football squad, the Super Eagles, told AFP. Fan violence at stadiums also festers because some clubs tacitly support the perpetrators, Ibitoye said. The result is a toxic match-day atmosphere, where fans often feel entitled to attack players and officials if results don't go their way. Players and match officials are not the only ones at risk. The police had to fire tear gas to disperse hundreds of angry fans who stormed the pitch and went on the rampage after Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. But analyst Emeka Nwani suggests that the "violence and hooliganism" are not as rampant as portrayed. Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football, told journalists in Ghana last month of his "very deep and steadfast" commitment to eliminating violence in African football stadiums. "To have a single fan injured at the stadium is something that we do not want to experience under any circumstance," Motsepe said in response to a question about a recent wave of incidents across the continent. - Unscrupulous referees - The integrity of the Nigerian league is also threatened by dubious officiating, which officials are struggling to crack down on. As the current season nears its climax on May 18, league organisers are also scrambling to tackle the age-old problem of questionable officiating. Some fans accuse referees of bias or being compromised, especially in high-stakes fixtures. In a strongly-worded memo two weeks ago, the Nigerian Football Federation told referees across all tiers to be fair or face the consequences. It warned that referees found guilty of malpractice could face a 10-year ban and even be handed over to the police for "further investigation and prosecution." For many club officials, the warning was long overdue. "That's how you curb the 'mago mago' we always see at this point in the league," an official with one of the local clubs told AFP, using local slang for foul play or manipulation. - 'Cosmetic sanctions' - Despite fines and stadium bans occasionally handed down by the NPFL's board, the sanctions are often seen as merely cosmetic. Clubs are rarely held accountable beyond token punishments, and banned fans often return to stadiums undeterred. The league fined Nasarawa United six million naira after the attack on Plateau United's Temitope and ordered the club to play its remaining home games in a neighbouring state till the end of the season. Analysts believe that to counter the violence, the clubs and offending fans should face much tougher punishment. "The best sanction for me, apart from banning the fans... or banishing the club from their base, is to also deduct points," Nwani told AFP. Better officiating standards and enhanced stadium security and fan engagement could also help deter the violence, said Ibitoye, who called for "more surveillance cameras" to identify perpetrators. tba/sn/gj
CAF
10-05-2025
- Sport
- CAF
Morocco wary of fearless Sierra Leone in U20 AFCON quarter-final clash
Published: Saturday, 10 May 2025 Group stage leaders Morocco will face tournament debutants Sierra Leone in the quarter-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2025 on Monday in Cairo, in what promises to be a compelling battle between pedigree and momentum. The North African giants cruised through the group stage unbeaten, finishing top of Group B with seven points. Coach Mohamed Ouahbi's men began their campaign with a thrilling 3-2 win over Kenya, held Nigeria to a goalless draw, and ended with an impressive 3-1 victory over Tunisia. Despite injury setbacks to key players like defender Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal and forward Yassir Zabiri, the Atlas Cubs have shown depth and maturity. Zabiri, who managed two goals before picking up a knock, could be crucial if passed fit. Morocco are aiming to return to the final for the first time since 2005 and look like one of the most balanced sides in the tournament. However, their opponents, Sierra Leone, have quickly become the story of the tournament. In their maiden U20 AFCON appearance, the Shooting Stars have already turned heads. After a narrow opening loss to South Africa (4-1), they shocked hosts Egypt with a stunning 4-1 win and advanced following a draw against Zambia. The standout performer has been Momoh Kamara, the tournament's top scorer so far with four goals. His powerful runs and clinical finishing have been central to Sierra Leone's historic run, and Morocco will need to find a way to contain him. Coach Osman Kamara's side may lack tournament experience, but they make up for it with energy, belief, and fearless attacking intent. Their tactical flexibility and fast transitions have caused problems for every team they've faced. The two sides have never met at this level before, but Morocco will know better than to underestimate a team that thrashed the host nation and has nothing to lose. The pressure will be on the Atlas Cubs to deliver, while Sierra Leone can continue to ride their wave of belief. Kick-off is at 15:00 GMT at the Cairo International Stadium. The winner will face either Ghana or Egypt in the semi-finals.
