Reuters to Distribute Next Media Animation’s News Direct 3-D Animated Videos
LONDON, July 12th, 2012 – Today Reuters, the world’s largest multimedia news provider, announces the launch of an exclusive partnership with Next Media Animation. Beginning the week of July 16th, Reuters will offer its clients approximately 20 animated news stories a week, produced by Next Media Animation’s News Direct service, helping to reconstruct the story behind the main news events of the week and complementing the award-winning video, picture and text content produced by Reuters.
The innovative and engaging News Direct animated videos offer visual chronologies of major events that take place away from cameras, such as the sinking of the Costa Concordia in January 2012. The animations also provide clear illustration of news that is highly technical, such as the Elgin North Sea gas leak, and help explain stories that are conceptual in nature, such as the future of high speed travel. Accompanied by audio narration and natural sound, the 30-60 second stories will now be available through Reuters powerful distribution network.
Next Media Animation has gained widespread acclaim for its short and quirky animated videos, many of which have gone viral and have received millions of views. The News Direct service exemplifies the company’s ability to also animate the news stories of the day. From the moment a top story breaks, the Next Media animation team begins its end-to-end process, working from concept to production and making videos available to customers in a matter of hours. Reuters will partner exclusively with Next Media to distribute its 3-D animated news videos in all global markets, with the exception of Japan and Taiwan.
“Our partnership with Next Media Animation has allowed us to a create and shape a video solution that enables broadcast and online publishers to illustrate every angle of a story, adding depth to our reporting when video from the scene is not available,” commented Owen Wyatt, Head of Video, Reuters. “This service will enable our customers to streamline their workflows, add colour to in-house graphics and access compelling and timely animations to support their programming.”
Jimmy Lai, Founder, Next Media Animation says: “We are truly excited to partner with Reuters in offering our news animations on the powerful and innovative Reuters distribution network. Our goal is to complement the world class content offered by Reuters in delivering leading edge solutions to newsrooms around the world.”
