Sleepydog CEO, Toby Moores will chair a panel discussion at this year’s Media Festival, on how IPTV will change the world.

Looking at YouView and beyond, and what it could mean for business, panel members will include:

• > Richard Halton, Chief Executive, YouView
• > Bismarck Lepe, Founder and President of Products, Ooyala

> Michael Barry, Director of Programming and Creative, BT Vision

The Media Festival is an industry conference and networking event which attracts hundreds of delegates from across music, TV, film, games, mobile, online and technology.

The festival is being held at The Palace Hotel, Manchester from Wed 17th – Fri 19th November 2010. For ticketing information and to register your attendance, please visit The Media Festival website.

Early risers in Australia were treated to a preview of Weird & Wonderful Hotels, when we featured on Channel 9′s morning show, Kerri-Anne.

The segment included clips from our visits to the Null Stern Hotel, Marqués de Riscal, The Tea Factory, Hostel Celica and Tongabezi Lodge.

For those of you not from Down Under, you can watch the clip from Kerri-Anne’s show here.

Weird & Wonderful Hotels is being broadcast throughout April and May on the Nat Geo Adventure channel.

National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has today announced the acquisition of Sleepydog’s first television series, Weird & Wonderful Hotels!

The series will air in April 2010 on NGCI’s Nat Geo Adventure channel, which is available in more than 40 countries around the world including: Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Israel, Africa and the Middle East.

Each episode showcases the world’s most unique and peculiar lodging experiences, and uncovers the inspiration behind these one-of-a-kind destinations. Accommodations range from the delightfully rustic to the outright bizarre!

“Weird and Wonderful Hotels is full of quirky charm as it offers an exclusive tour of the world’s most unusual spots to rest your head along with luxurious retreats and eco-friendly lodges. The series is a natural fit for the Nat Geo Adventure audience,” said Carlyn Staudt, Senior Vice President of Global Acquisitions for National Geographic Channel.

Be sure to take a look at our video preview for a first look at the show.

Season one of Weird & Wonderful Hotels is now complete, and we couldn’t wait to share this video preview with you!

Later this month, The Fremantle Corporation will be promoting the show at NATPE, an industry event which attracts TV execs from more than 70 countries worldwide.

We’ll be posting more details of where and when you’ll be able to watch the full series in the near future, so watch this space!

Sleepydog CEO, Toby Moores recently paid a visit to Windmill Lane Pictures, Ireland’s largest and longest established film and television post production house.

Take a look at their online archive and showreels to see some examples of the great work they’re doing, but it was Gary Shore‘s film, ‘The Cup of Tears‘ which really caught our eye.

This genre splicing fantasy combined Weiss Cam, slow motion footage, HD and high resolution Matte Painting to achieve the eventual look.

I’m sure you’ll agree, the results are stunning!

Sleepydog were Silver sponsors at today’s Social TV Forum.

You can see the conversation on the #STVF hashtag on Twitter.

AudioBoo’s on the day from @BenjaminEllis:

Angel Gambino, Chair

[dewplayer:http://audioboo.fm/boos/66469-social-tv-talking-with-angel-gambino.mp3]

Dan Cryan from Screen Digest

[dewplayer:http://audioboo.fm/boos/66472-dan-cryan-tv-and-social-media-where-s-the-money.mp3]

And from @RadioKate:

Rachael Antony of Lonely Planet

[dewplayer:http://audioboo.fm/boos/66503-rachael-antony-of-lonely-planet-tv-at-stvf.mp3]

Triona Campbell talks Sofia’s Diary

[dewplayer:http://audioboo.fm/boos/66520-triona-campbell-talks-sofia-s-diary-at-stvf.mp3]

Photos of the event are up on Flickr, thanks to Benjamin Ellis, under a creative commons license:

More to come on our thoughts and outtakes from the event.

Sleepydog’s television series, Slingers and Weird & Wonderful Hotels are set to feature at MIPCOM, the world’s biggest trade event in the entertainment industry.

MIPCOM is being held in Cannes and runs from October 5-9 2009. It’s here that broadcasters, distributors and production companies from all over the world, converge to buy and sell many of the shows we see on TV.

Our distributor, The Fremantle Corporation will be at booth R 35.14 in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. So if you’re attending, be sure to drop by to find out more about our shows.

For more information about MIPCOM and details of how you can attend, visit www.mipcom.com.

Sleepydog is the Silver Sponsor at this year’s Social TV Forum, a one day conference and exhibition which examines the impact of social media on the television industry.

The event takes place on 28th September 2009 at London’s Royal Institute of British Architects, and includes a top lineup of speakers from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, MTV, Sky News and Sleepydog’s own Toby Moores.

Topics covered during the event will include:

• Key trends driving social TV
• Social networks as a new entrant to the video market
• The impact and opportunity of social networks for the TV production community
• The challenges in developing and implementing social TV

For further information about the event and to register your attendance, please visit  www.social-tv.net.

Sleepydog’s Creative Director, Henry VIII Mark Hilton gets comfortable on the royal throne whilst paying a visit to the set of The Tudors.

Invited by Director, Ciaran Donnelly, Mark got to witness plenty of beheadings and bloodshed during his two days on set and was bowled over by the hospitality of the cast and crew.

Take a look at our photostream for more photos of Mark’s visit.

Sleepydog’s forthcoming television series, Slingers and Weird & Wonderful Hotels have been featured in the latest issue of Broadcast Magazine.

Aimed at UK TV industry insiders, the article looks at the various online and social networking techniques we use to generate interest in our TV projects.

To read the full article, please visit the Broadcast website.