Adweek Ranks Top 10 Commercials of 2011 (Video)

From candy bars and cats to zombies and cars, 2011 has been an eclectic year for advertising.our editor recommendsNBC Special to Feature Worlds Best Commercials (Video)DirecTV Defends Football Commercials Against 'Deceptive' Comcast LawsuitJustin Bieber, Jimmy Fallon Make Parody Perfume Commercial (Video) VIDEOS: Best Super Bowl Commercials 2011 Adweek released a list of their top 10 commercial spots (aired worldwide) for the past year, and the rankings include car companies Chrysler, Volkswagen and Nissan, as well as Snickers, British dairy company Cravendale, the trailer for Scotlan'd zombie video game "Dead Island" and Google Chrome. Watch Adweek's list of 2011's best commercials below. VIDEO: NBC Special to Feature World's Best Commercials 10. Snickers "Focus Group" The candy company's spot features two sharks discussing which human they ate tasted better. They're pick? The one who recently ate Snickers' new Peanut Butter Squared Bar. 9. Nissan Leaf "Gas Powered Everything' To promote their new electric car, Nissan envisioned a world where everything that was electric (think hair dryers, computers, coffee makers) ran on gas. 8. Cravendale "Cats with Thumbs" The British dairy company gave cats the one thing they're lacking to be able to get their own milk: opposable thumbs. The spot shows the furry pets banding together to steal milk from a breakfast-eating human. 7. Deep Silver "Dead Island Trailer" The spot for zombie video game "Dead Island" runs in reverse chronological order, first showing a young, dead girl, before taking viewers back in time through her zombie attack. 6. Canal+ "The Bear" This commercial for France's Canal+ movie channel follows a directorial bear mockumentary style as he explains his love for cinema. However, in the end, it's revealed that he's actually a taxidermied bear who watches the movie channel nightly. 5. TalkTalk "Homes Within Homes" The UK company's broadband and phone service are promoted via dollhouse inhabitants who are yearning to connect with one another, set to the emotional musical track, "Unchained Melody." 4. Google Chrome "Dear Sophie" The internet company promoted its Chrome browser with this spot showing a new dad recording his daughter Sophie's life for her to later read/watch/view and listen via Google's new email, imaging and video tools. 3. Chrysler "Born of Fire" In an attempt to resurrect both the brand and its hometown, Detroit, the car company set their ad to Eminem's defiant "Lose Yourself" and featured a voiceover delivering words of strength. The spot won the 2011 Emmy for best commercial. 2. Chipotle "Back to the Start" Willie Nelson helped the fast-food company deliver its environmentally-conscious message by communicating its organic and locally-grown ingredient philosophy through a cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist" played over an animated farming operation. 1. Volkswagen "The Force" The German car company took home Adweek's top honors with their Star Wars-themed commercial (which originally aired during Super Bowl XLV). In the video, a child dressed as Darth Vader attempts (and fails) to bend things in his home using The Force, until his Dad activates their Passat via a remote starter, making his son believe he's done it with Jedi mind tricks. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Super Bowl's Most Iconic Commercials Related Topics Super Bowl

Kenya's animators toon up with tech tools

'Tinga Tinga Tales'NAIROBI -- As Kenyan tech companies push for their vision of a "silicon savannah" in this East African nation, local animators say their industry is set to ride the high-tech wave toward becoming an animation powerhouse.Buoyed by the success of "Tinga Tinga Tales," a toon for the BBC's children's web CBeebies co-produced by the U.K.'s Tiger Aspect Prods. and the Nairobi-based Homeboyz Animation, Kenyan animators are hopeful that their country will emerge as the next big market for outsourcing.Allan Mwaniki, director and lead animator at Homeboyz, says that the scale of "Tinga Tinga Tales," which involved nearly 50 animators in Nairobi, was proof that the Kenyan industry could effectively handle a large-scale production. "We've shown the world we can do it," he says.Kenya's animation industry began to blossom with a series of U.N.-sponsored training programs from 2004-2006, which brought Kenyan animators together with artists from around the world.Dubbed Africa Animated!, the initiative was created to enhance the ability of African animators to compete with the Western imports, which dominate children's programming on African TV stations.The workshops gave Kenyan artists an important platform to show their work on a global stage, eventually leading to the "Tinga Tinga" collaboration.The series was a watershed moment for local animators."Before 'Tinga Tinga,' every artist used to work in their own small corner," says former "Tinga" animator Pete Mute. "The artists that came(from "Tinga") and the experience they carried out of that project -- most of them have gone on to set up their own outfits," he says.Animators still face limited opportunities in the Kenyan market. Kwame Nyong'o, creator of the well-regarded animated short "The Legend of the Ngong Hills," says the Darwinian nature of the local industry forces artists to be avid promoters of their own work."You have to create the opportunities for yourself," he says.The arrival of a broadband fiber-optic cable in East Africa last year has many animators anticipating more "Tinga"-style collaborations.Growing demand for local content from Kenyan broadcasters, as well as increased government support, has also led to optimism over the future of the domestic market. Homeboyz is working on pilots for two series it hopes to air in 2012.As the market evolves, some animators are already looking ahead to where the industry is going.Mute launched an animation company called the African Sci-Fi Factory two years ago, with the hopes of "starting a conversation with film producers and TV producers and figuring how animation fits into their businesses." The industry, he says, is just beginning to realize the potential that animation offers.Mute has begun work on a short that combines animation and live actors.In spite of his efforts, he says there are still financial and technological hurdles preventing his vision from being fully realized."You wish it could grow faster, but it takes patience," he says. "It's still early days." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

GSN Acquires Off-Network Rights To ABCs Dancing With The Stars

UPDATED: Game Show Network has acquired the exclusive off-network rights to ABCs hit reality series Dancing With The Stars from Disney-ABC Domestic Television. GSN has picked up seasons 4 through the current 13, which wraps tonight on ABC, and will begin airing them in January 2012. (For those who wonder why the first 3 seasons of the show are not part of the agreement, they were not available over rights issues.) The deal, one of the first major moves for GSN’s newly appointed EVP programming Amy Introcaso-Davis, also includes the upcoming 14th season. Many of the most popular shows on television todayincluding Dancing With The Starsare essentially game shows at their core, said Introcaso-Davis, who started at GSN 3.5 weeks ago. GSN is all about the potent combination of games, competition, entertainment and fun, and we know that Dancing With The Stars is a show our female audience already loves. This is the second off-network acquisition for GSN in the past month following the pickup of the entire Fox run of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? That doesn’t signal a trend as GSN’s slate will continue to be a combination of originals and acquired series, according to Introcaso-Davis. Part of her mandate is “defining what the word game is,” she said, “looking at (any) shows that have gaming elements, elements of risk and reward.”

New York Film Critics Circle Awards Shifted Back One Day to Accommodate 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'

Oh, those wacky NY Film Critics Circle members. Back in October, the group caused a small online ruckus when they announced that their annual awards would happen two weeks earlier than usual, thus allowing the NYFCC to become the first critics group to award 2011's best and brightest. (The thought process being that the first group in the marketplace helps guide the Oscar conversation.) Now, the NYFCC is shifting its award announcements again, though this time in service of actually seeing all the movies. Well, almost all of them. In a press release, group president John Anderson announced that the awards will shift back one day, from Nov. 28 to Nov. 29, in order to allow voters to see "all eligible films." About that. The Los Angeles Times reports that the change was made to accommodate 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,' which Sony is screening on Nov. 28. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the same courtesy wasn't extended for 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.' The studio won't make the Stephen Daldry Oscar hopeful available until Dec. 2, and the NYFCC will not wait until then to vote. 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly' close will not only miss the NYFCC awards, but also the National Board of Review. Those awards -- normally the first of the season before the NYFCC switcheroo -- happen on Dec. 1. Follow the NY Film Critics Circle online at @NYFCC2011. Check back to Moviefone for more on the awards next week. [via LAT/24 Frames, Press Release] [Photo: Sony] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Frears to helm 'Bengali Detective'

FrearsBrit helmer Stephen Frears and scribe D.V. DeVincentis, who formerly teamed on "High Fidelity" and "Lay the widely used,In . are likely to interact once again, since the duo are likely to correspondingly direct and write Fox Searchlight's British-language feature adaptation of documentary "The Bengali Detective."Philip Cox directed the first. Native Voice Films' docu adopted wise private agent Rajesh Ji while he explores Calcutta's criminal underworld while pursuing his dream to bop on Indian TV. Film needed a review of modern India using the eyes from the unlikely hero.Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free banner will produce. Fox Searchlight professionals Zola Mashariki and Richard Gold will oversee development for your studio.Frears, which has Oscar nominations for pointing "The EntireInch and "The Grifters," last directed the Gemma Arterton starrer "Tamara Drewe."DeVincentis, who co-written and came out inside the 1997 comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank" with John Cusack, recently modified Bob Powers' novel "You are an unhappy Excuse for just about any Hero" for producer Mark Gordon.Frears is repped by ICM, while UTA and Management 360 repetition DeVincentis. Contact Rob Sneider at rob.sneider@variety.com

Google gaga for slice of music biz

Google product manager Paul Joyce talks within the launch in the Google Music service in La on Tuesday. Mounting a belated challenge to Apple's dominance in the digital music retail market through iTunes, search giant Google revealed its full music service, named Google Music, inside a press conference in La on Wednesday. Google launched a music cloud-storage service in invitation-only beta in May and contains now opened up up that service around all U.S. people clients can store around 20,000 tunes inside their personal cloud "locker" totally free. More particularly, the business introduced it might begin selling music through its Android Market, wonderful music purchases added immediately for the cloud as well as on all connected Web and mobile items. "Other cloud music services think spent to listen to music you've. We don't,In . mentioned Jamie Rosenberg, Google's director of digital content for Android, in the not-so-veiled search at Apple, whose similar Match service charges a $25 annual fee. Label groups getting involved in Google's retail option include Universal Group, The brand new the new sony Music Entertainment and EMI, additionally to large indie groups for instance Merlin, the Orchard and Beggars Group. Google has yet to attain an agreement with Warner Group, whose content will not be immediately available. "We anticipate adding new partners simply because they choose to come onboard," mentioned Zahava Levine, Google's director of content partners. Google's retail site, as proven, is not particularly different then Apple's, with tracks different on price from 69 to $1.29. Site will give you numerous exclusive tracks in the type of the Moving Gems, Coldplay and Busta Rhymes (who was simply sitting inside the audience within the conference), additionally to daily free gifts. Professionals suggested an opportunity to share bought music with pals round the company's Google+ social media platform. Upon buying a track or album within the Android Market, an individual can send a streaming copy through the use of Google+ or entering individual emails, and visitors can give consideration to full recommended tracks and albums once through totally free. T-Mobile clients may also get a range of adding Google Music purchases for his or her monthly phone bill. Decision concerning distinction involves Google Music's convenience to artists who self-release music. While iTunes takes a middleman (whether it is accurate documentation label or possibly an electronic distributor for instance TuneCore) to place music available on the market, Google enables bands to upload music directly available, additionally to find out and alter their unique prices. While Google just like a company certainly gets the heft to challenge Apple, unseating iTunes will nevertheless be described as a tall order. ITunes has received roughly 10 years to find out itself since the world's greatest music store, as well as the distinctions that Google has attracted ought to be seen as slight improvements to have an established model. The possible lack of WMG content (that have a 20% business this season) could also hurt, especially as that distribution are broadly on iTunes and Amazon . com . com and through on-demand streaming services. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

CBS Orders More 'Gifted Man' Episodes

CBS has chosen for 3 more episodes ofA Gifted Guy.our editor recommendsCBS Announces Premiere for Make the most of Schneider Comedy, 'Undercover Boss' Return DateTV Ratings: 'Fringe' Opens Season Lower, 'A Gifted Man' Has OK DebutA Gifted Guy: TV Evaluate The Friday evening rookie, which starsPatrick Wilsonin his first series television role in the spiritual-tinged medical drama, is really a modest artist within the finish-of-week 8 p.m slot. PHOTOS: CBS' Year Tv Shows: 'Person of curiosity,' 'A Gifted Guy' and far much more far this season, the series has averaged 8.4 million audiences together with single.2 rating inside the coveted 18 to 49 demo, which causes it to be consistently most likely probably the most-seen type in timeslot and many doubling its nearest competitor. No decision has been created in what will fill its place when its 16 episode season run is completed. (CBS introduced mid-season premiere dates due to its Make the most of Schneider comedy and Undercover Boss earlier Monday.) The network had already granted full season orders towards the other newcomer options, 2 Broke Women, Person of curiosity and Memorable. The fifth, How to be a Gentleman, was quickly canceled. Related Subjects CBS A Gifted Guy

Showtime Employs Stephen Espinoza As New Sports Boss

Stephen Espinoza, most lately someone at entertainment lawyer Ziffren Brittenham, continues to be drawn on as EVP and Gm of Showtime Sports and Event Programming, the network introduced today. He'll be responsible during the day-to-day activities from the group and it is pay-per-view unit controlling associations with marketers, talent and providers and also the acquisition and certification of programming. The move may be the final one out of a game title of musical chairs that started when longtime Cinemax Sports chief Ross Greenburg left after 33 years in the premium funnel. He was changed recently by Showtime’s sports mind, Ken Hershman, departing the vacancy at Showtime that Espinoza has filled. (Greenburg arrived a week ago in a producer at NBC Sports Group.) While at Ziffren Brittenham, Espinoza repped numerous A-list film and TV clients, Younger crowd handled boxers Mike Tyson and Oscar P La Hoya and was lead counsel for P La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, making him an ideal fit for Showtime’s boxing-heavy sports programming which includes Strikeforce mma and Within The National football league. Younger crowd repped Gina Carano, the MMA standout that's now starring in Steven Soderbergh’s fight drama Haywire.

New Coriolanus Poster

Take advantage of Fiennes can get bloodiedWow - which we thought Take advantage of Fiennes looked frightening in Harry Potter. Now, within the directorial debut and new starring role of Coriolanus, too as with this exclusive new Uk quad, he's bathing in blood stream and much more frightening than in the past. And additionally, he's introduced his mother.Uk Quad PosterThe film, every Shakespeare scholar knows, concerns the titular Roman general as well as the results of his storming victory over Rome's enemy, Aufidius (Gerard Butler). His military prowess sees him offered Rome's finest political honours and advised by his mother (Vanessa Redgrave) to think about them - but his contempt for anybody lands him in serious trouble, and Aufidius and pals continue being hiding roughly the border... Coriolanus hits UKcinemas around the month of the month of january 20. Prepare for one of the Bard's bloodier tales.

Survivor Host Shaun Probst to Debut Talk Show in Fall 2012

Shaun Probst He's mastered the tribal council, but could Shaun Probst rule daytime? The longtime Survivor host will formally debut his new daytime talk show, Shaun Probst, in nov 2012, CBS Television Distribution introduced Thursday. Shaun Probst ink daytime cope with CBS The syndicated show was already offered in additional than 55 percent of the nation for next fall. Located and executive-created by Probst, the self-entitled show covers from associations and family dynamics to newsmakers. "I am intrigued with individuals,Inch Probst stated. "And That I love adventure. I can not wait to create both of these mobile phone industry's together in daytime, and also the added bonus is I recieve to carry on with Survivor in prime time." Social TV: How Survivor's Shaun Probst bridged the space between CBS and it is audience Additionally to hosting 23 seasons of Survivor, Probst has cut his teeth on talk shows like a frequent substitute host on Accept Regis and Kelly. "Stations with excitement accepted our and Jeff's vision for re-creating the classic talk show," CBS Television Distribution's leader, John Nogawski stated inside a statement. "Shaun developed his listening and storytelling abilities around the prime-time hit Survivor, and the hosting appeal was cemented on Accept Regis and Kelly and Ray King Live. Shaun has got the elements being an immediate resource to stations and supply a powerful lead directly into their newscasts." Probst, 49, has won four Emmys for outstanding reality host for his focus on Survivor, and that he may be the only champion for the reason that category because it began in 2008. Are you going to watch Shaun Probst's talk show?