Nickelodeon Star And Actor Taylor Gray (Who Plays 'Bucket' In The Nickelodeon Show "Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures") Stars In New Basketball-Themed Movie "Thunderstruck"

From the Associated Press (AP) via The Lexington, KY Herald-Leader:

Kevin Durant goes from gold medal to red carpet

OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant is going from representing the red, white and blue to walking the red carpet.

Adding to a resume that already includes being a three-time NBA scoring champion and Olympic gold medalist, Durant was the star as his movie "Thunderstruck" premiered in Oklahoma City's Bricktown entertainment district Sunday night. It opens in other theaters Friday.

Durant strolled down a red carpet in a black T-shirt, grey vest, white jeans and black sneakers to answer questions about his acting skills instead of the deadly shooting ability that propelled the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals last season.

"Of course, people are going to look at it a little different because I'm a basketball player and I'm doing something different," Durant said. "A basketball player is what I do. It's not really just solely who I am. I like to do other things.

"It's all about conquering your fears. That's one thing I did with this, stepping in front of a camera and people yelling 'Action!' It's not the norm for me. I did something outside the box, and I'm glad it turned out pretty well."

Durant was getting his first chance to see the completed project, which was shot in Louisiana during the NBA lockout last year and then during the season in Oklahoma City in January.

It also features Nickelodeon star Taylor Gray, Brandon T. Jackson from "Big Momma's House" and Jim Belushi. Gray plays a Thunder fan whose lack of basketball ability is magically switched with Durant's All-Star skill set.

"I'm just blessed. I'm just blessed to be alive, first of all. Blessed to be here, to have this opportunity," Durant said.

"Not too many people can say they starred in a movie as a basketball player, with a lot of different things they're juggling, but I'm glad I did it."

The folks at Warner Bros. might not have been able to pick a better time to put out a movie starring Durant, exactly one week after he won Olympic gold as Team USA's leading scorer and a little over a month after he played against LeBron James' Miami Heat for the NBA title.

The family comedy follows in the footsteps of other movies with NBA superstars as the headliners, including "Space Jam" starring Michael Jordan and "Kazaam" with Shaquille O'Neal.

"When a guy goes over and hugs his mom after the game, that's a guy that people are going to like and that's what you need in a movie," director John Whitesell said. "You need a guy, a star, who people are going to want to relate to or are going to care about.

"You want people to care that Kevin can't shoot. If LeBron can't shoot, I don't care. I'm happy. But if Kevin can't shoot, I'm sad."

Whitesell said Durant might have been caught off guard by the days he had to be on set and in front of the camera for 12 hours, when his previous experience was with much briefer commercial shoots.

The first day, he had Durant bounce a ball in a gym and worked toward getting him comfortable in his own shoes - because he plays himself in the movie.

"I wanted to create an atmosphere for him that he felt comfortable and confident in, so that he could grow into it as we went, and I think that went really well," said Whitesell, who remembered his only other experience filming athletes coming on a cameo appearance by Patrick Ewing and Mark Jackson on the short-lived NBC show "Tattingers."

Gray said he played varsity basketball as a junior in high school, but then left to start shooting TV shows. He walks away with an unforgettable memory from playing one-on-one against Durant.

"It's like, to this day, my biggest accomplishment in basketball. He was really guarding me and had blocked like the last three shots and I was just running around throwing up hook shots and anything I could, and one fell in," said Gray, who hopes the film will help him land roles in future movies.

Durant has said he doesn't see himself doing any more feature-length movies because of the demands on his time. Whitesell put it this way: He doesn't think Durant will do another movie at least until he wins a championship.

"This is a guy who everybody wants a piece of him right now and he's got a lot on his plate. But I know from when we were there what he cares about. He cares about basketball," Whitesell said. "He wants to win a championship, he wants to do the best he can possibly do at that and he's just blossoming."

Already, Durant has accomplished one goal by winning gold in London alongside James, Kobe Bryant and other NBA stars. He said he didn't get much ribbing about being a movie star, although a couple of his Olympic teammates did ask about it.

He planned to send a text message to them all after getting to see the movie for the first time.

"Hopefully they'll take their kids to see it, and hopefully they enjoy it," Durant said. "Those guys, man, they're unbelievable. They support everything. Those guys are really good teammates. I was blessed that I got that opportunity to be around such great players but such humble guys as well."

A+E Networks Hires Former Viacom Executive Bakori Davis For EMEA Distribution Push

From Broadcast:

A+E hires Viacom exec for distribution push

A+E Networks has appointed a former Viacom executive to head up the distribution of its channels including Bio and History across the majority of EMEA.

Bakori Davis has joined the broadcaster in the newly created vice president of commercial operations role, having worked as Viacom’s vice president of content distribution for almost four years.

Prior to this role he worked for Viacom channels MTV and Nickelodeon in a variety of positions, having started his career at Discovery in 1996.

Based in London, Davis will manage channel distribution for Bio, Crime & Investigation, History and Military History across the UK, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Africa regions.

As well as taking responsibility for A+E’s UK ad sales, branded content and marketing deals, he will also oversee the exploitation of content rights via programme sales, DVD releases and digital distribution.

Davis, who reports into A+E UK’s managing director Tom Davidson, said he planned to target emerging markets.

“The business is expanding, having recently concluded a deal to extend the distribution of its channels in Central and Eastern Europe. I am looking forward to driving further growth and exploring new business opportunities in new markets,” he said.

Nickelodeon UK Announces Plans To Premiere The Brand New Episode Of "iCarly" Called "iToe Fat Cakes" On Monday 3rd September 2012

According to Nickelodeon UK's new "Brand new iCarly, starts 3rd September" promo/trailer (streaming video below with transcript), the first brand new episode of the hit Nickelodeon comedy show "iCarly" that Nickelodeon UK will premiere as part of an Epic month of premieres in September 2012 will be the brand new "iCarly" episode "iToe Fat Cakes", which Nick UK will premiere and show on Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK on Monday 3rd September 2012 (transmission (TX) time to be confirmed by Nick UK), as part of "September on Nickelodeon UK":

[Sam Puckett (Jennette McCurdy): It's like eating a fat angel!]

Sam's won a fat prize!

[Gibby (Noah Munck): I wouldn't mind [...]]

[Sam: May I?]

And when she gets her teeth into something, she won't give it up!

Brand new iCarly, coming the 3rd September, only on Nickelodeon!

Nick.co.uk/iCarly.

In the brand new episode of "iCarly" titled "iToe Fat Cakes", after Sam wins a golden ticket for a Canadian Fat Cake VIP Tour, Sam, Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress), Spencer Shay (Jerry Trainor), and Gibby go to the Fat Cake factory in Canada, but Sam's greed finally gets the better of her when she tries to smuggle over 100 Fat Cakes over the border, since Canadian Fat Cakes are illegal in the United States. Unfortunately, the police and the founder of the Fat Cakes find out and Sam gets in deep trouble. Meanwhile, Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove) gets her toe stuck in the faucet in the bathtub after imitating a scene she saw in "The Dick Van Dyke Show" episode "Never Bathe on Saturday". Can the iCarly gang get out of trouble? Find out in the brand new episode of "iCarly", "iToe Fat Cakes", Monday 3rd September 2012, only on Nickelodeon!

"iToe Fat Cakes" Guest Stars: Mary Scheer as Mrs. Benson, Tiffany Adams as Officer Kramer, and Eddie Perino as Lance

Look out for: In "iToe Fat Cakes", it is revealed that Sam and Gibby think that the first president of the United States is Abraham Franklin, a combination of Abraham Lincoln and Ben Franklin.

Plus, a clip from the "Peruvian Puff Pepper" episode of the Nickelodeon TV sitcom "Drake & Josh", also created by Dan Schneider, can also be seen in this episode here from the episode!

To celebrate Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon UK HD premiering the brand new "iCarly" episode called "iToe Fat Cakes" on Monday 3rd September 2012, below is a high quality (HQ) streaming video which features a sneak peek video clip from the brand new "iCarly" episode "iToe Fat Cakes" (video may include spoilers!):

8:00p.m. ET/PT iCarly “iToe Fat Cakes” from Jessica Wilson on Vimeo.

In the premiere of iCarly “iToe Fat Cakes” at 8:00p.m. ET/PT, an excited Carly is busy getting ready for a date, but she becomes trapped when her big toe gets stuck in the faucet. Meanwhile, the gang surprises food-obsessed Sam with a trip to the Fat Cakes factory in Canada. Their return home gets complicated when Sam tries to smuggle her favorite snacks over the border. Getting out of this situation will not be a piece of cake!

Nickelodeon UK Unveils Premiere Date For The Brand New Nickelodeon Comedy Series "Fred: The Show"

Nickelodeon UK and Ireland has announced and confirmed on their official "Fred: The Show" webpage on the official Nickelodeon UK and Ireland website, Nick.co.uk, that, after the special sneak peek preview Nick UK and Eire gave of the brand new Nickelodeon series "Fred: The Show" on Sunday 12th August 2012, Nickelodeon UK has scheduled to fully premiere and show the brand new Nickelodeon comedy series "Fred: The Show", which is based on the adventures of Fred Figglehorn, a character created and played by internet sensation Lucas Cruikshank, from Friday 7th September 2012 at 4:30pm (repeated at 5.30pm on Nick UK's plus one (+1) timeshift channel, Nick Replay UK), as part of "September on Nickelodeon UK"!:

Watch Fred: The Show
Friday 07 September at 4:30pm on Nick

Also, Tweeted (posted) by Nickelodeon UK and Ireland on their official Twitter profile page (@NickelodeonUK):

New Fred: The Show TOMORROW at 4.30pm!!!! we're so excited @LucasCruikshank :) #fredshow.

And:

FRED FANS! I am SO excited for Fred the Show in 15 mins! Its like the movies but its on EVERY WEEK! #fredshow.

Also:

Fred:the show is on now! Check it out! #fredtheshow :)

And:

#fredshow - this is seriously making me cry with laughter! Anyone else laughing with me? :)

Also, Tweeted by a Nickelodeon UK viewer and "Fred: The Show" fan and ReTweeted by Nickelodeon UK on their official Twitter feed (@NickelodeonUK):

RT watching #fredtheshow #fredtheshow #fredtheshow #fredtheshow #fredtheshow =

@NickelodeonUK: @NickelodeonUK: So pleased you like it!

Nickelodeon UK Announces Encore Screenings For The Second Episode Of "Camp Orange: The Lost Kingdom"

If you missed the premiere of second episode of series two of Nickelodeon's adventure reality show for best friends, "Camp Orange: The Lost Kingdom" or just want to relive the exciting action, don't fret, as Nickelodeon UK and Ireland have announced encore screenings for episode two of "Camp Orange: The Lost Kingdom"!

According to Nickelodeon UK's "What's On" schedule section on the official Nickelodeon UK and Ireland website, Nick.co.uk, Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK will be repeating the second episode of season two of "Camp Orange The Lost Kingdom" on:

Tuesday 21st August 2012 at 9.00am
Wednesday 22nd August 2012 at 4.30pm
Saturday 25th August 2012 at 9.30am

(all episodes repeated one hour later on Nick UK's plus one (+1) timeshift channel Nick Replay UK)

Extra tags: When is Camp Orange next on?, team Noisy Ninjas, team Crazy Einsteins, team Surf Turtles, team Moon Waffles, and Nickelodeon's Jamie and Anna