Category: Movies

CII to look at the big picture at Intl film fest

MUMBAI: At the 36th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), CII will organise a conference – India – The Big Picture.

The event takes place in Goa at The Marriott, from 23-24 November 2005.

Through a series of keynotes, panel discussions and case studies, leading national and international speakers will present growth opportunities and strategies to overcome challenges facing the Indian film industry. The conference will provide an opportunity to network with the key executives from the leading organisations in the business and the conference would focus on the content and financing aspects of the film business with individual sessions on film marketing, communication, co-production and new technologies.

Mahindra and Mahindra MD Anand Mahindra will deliver a keynote on the role entertainment sector has to play in India’ globalisation effort. Bollywood star Aamir Khan will dwell on different film genres and what should be made. Actor and dierctor Kamal Hassan will talk about The power of cinema in South India. Director Nagesh Kukunoor will take the audience through the process of making a successful low budget film. Shekhar Kapur who directed the Oscar winner Elizabeth will offer a perspective of Indian cinema and examine whether there is a need for change.

It goes without saying that there will be Hollywood experts in attendance as well. Entertainment Business Group CEO John Lee talks about processes that happen in Hollywood before a film is given the greenlight. Film distributors looking to tap the overseas market would be interested in Capitol Films MD Sharon Harel explaining what West expects from Indian films.

CII points out that the Indian film industry urgently requires long-term growth strategies to address deficiencies in its value chain and set its processes right as it goes global. This high level industry conference is meant for all interested in the business of films – creative, financiers, investors, distributors, sales agents, technology providers.

The conference’s culmination will merge with the opening of the International Film Festival of India on 24 November 2005 following with the Film Bazaar from 25-29 November 2005, the exhibition arm of IFFI, supported by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

October 31, 2005
Multivision Multimedia to distribute 34 Hollywood films, plans foray into Hindi movies

MUMBAI: Multivision Multimedia India Ltd has acquired 34 Hollywood movies for an estimated $1 million to distribute in India.

The plan is to have a release every month, says Multivision India director Ajoy Guptaa who was earlier with Essel; Group’s E-City Entertainment and E-City Films as chief officer (reporting in to CEO Atul Goel). Already released is Monster In Law, starring Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez and Michael Vartan. On 25 November After the Sunset (Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek) will be released, followed by Hostage (23 December) and Crash (20 January).

The company also plans to dub some of these movies into Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. “We plan to dub around 8-10 movies from the current portfolio, mainly in the action genre,” says Guptaa.

Other movies in the line-up include 88 Minutes (Al Pacino), 16 Blocks (Bruce Willis, Mos Def), End Game (Cuba Gooding Jr, James Woods and Angei Horman) and other big ventures like Contract (John Travolta, James Ganddolfini, Salma Hayek) and Edison (Nicholas Cage).

With the major Hollywood studios having aligned with different companies for distribution in India, Multivision Multimedia aims to tap independent Hollywood producers.

“We plan to source good Hollywood movies across the genres for distribution in India. There isn’t just one Harry Potter or Spider-Man released every year. There is a large segment of independent producers to tap,” says Guptaa.

Is Multivision Multimedia ready to distribute Hindi movies as well? “We are definitely looking at that market,” says Guptaa. But aren’t prices too high? “Overseas prices for Hindi movies are particularly high and not so realistic,” he adds.

The company also plans to foray into Hindi movie production. “It is definitely on the cards but we haven’t decided when. It is a logical progression to our existing line of business activity,” says Guptaa.

October 25, 2005
India focus at Casbaa; Ekta Kapoor to deliver keynote

MUMBAI: India is going to be the toast on the second day of the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia’s (Casbaa) conference which commenced in Hong Kong on 25 October. India’s Soap Queen Ekta Kapoor is billed to be one of the two keynote speakers at the Casbaa’s India Forum which is to take place at the HK Academy of Performing Arts post-lunch on 26 October.

Kapoor, who took a flight to Hong Kong this evening along with Star India Network senior creative director Shailja Kejriwal, is expected to elaborate on what content works on television in India and why. She is also slated to speak about what makes Balaji and its soaps tick.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com Kapoor said: “The major reason for Balaji Telefilms’ success is the fact that our dailies and weeklies are about India – the real India. We take ethnic stories from middle class and mass India and we put them on air in a spruced up manner. We at Balaji understand the Indian ethos and we continuously strive to connect with our viewers. All the time – it is a religion with us to respond to our viewers feedback.”

The other keynote speaker who will follow through in the post-tea break session is HSBC Securities managing director, global sector head of media and entertainment Sandeep Pahwa.

Pahwa will be elaborating on the fact that India’s television market is burgeoning but there are impediments which may be hampering its growth. And also what is needed to build value in the media play on the Indian bourses.

The Casbaa India Forum, sponsored by Star, will deal with three major tracks covering television — kids TV entertainment, television software exports and direct to home television.

The first session is slated to expand on the Indian kids channel market, which has been brimming with activity these days, with the players looking to grab a larger share of kids’ eyeballs. The panel comprises of Walt Disney Television International (India) managing director Rajat Jain, Turner International (India) managing director Anshuman Misra and Nick VP & GM Hema Govindan.

The second session will focus on whether India’s rapidly growing TV production sector can make a mark globally – through format licensing or syndication or through distribution of whole channels to cater to the entertainment needs of the Indian and south Asian diaspora. And whether the traditional model of advertising-supported television content will continue to make sense in a rapidly evolving broadcast landscape. The high-profile panelists include Star India COO Sameer Nair and UTV chairman & CEO Ronnie Screwvala.

The Indian DTH market is waiting to explode and in this context, the final session on DTH acquires immense significance. Space TV CEO Vikram Kaushik, Discovery Networks India managing director Deepak Shourie and Siticable head Jagjit Singh Kohli and Hathway Cable managing director & CEO K Jayraman will be sharing their views on what is expected to be a new frontier for television in India.

The India forum will be hosted by ABC south Asia correspondent Geoff Thompson.

Trai advisor (B&CS) Rakesh Kacker is the sole Indian government representative who will be marking his presence in the morning session on regulation along with Hong Kong Industry and Technology bureau Commerce principal assistant secretary Eddie Cheung.

October 25, 2005
Sony Pictures brings back Robocop in new avatar

NEW DELHI: Hollywood flick Robocop, which broke all box-office records when it was first released in 1987, is now being brought back by Sony Pictures in a new avatar.

The success of the first version had launched a huge franchise which led to the production of two sequels, various television series, video games and comic books. Entertainment Weekly declared it the #14 Greatest Action Movie of All Time and it was on both Empire magazine’s “500 Greatest Movies of all Time” list and New York Times’ “Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made” list.

The new version directed by José Padilha (Elite Squad) being released in India on 14 February 2014 stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Jackie Earle Haley, Jay Baruchel, and Abbie Cornish.

In this re-envisioning of the classic movie, the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Their drones are winning American wars around the globe, and now they want to bring this technology to the home front.

Alex Murphy is a loving husband, father, and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit. After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilises their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex’s life. He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.

The first trailer of the new ROBOCOP can be viewed on http://youtu.be/vHAG6SkevsE

October 23, 2005
Warner Bros acquires Jo Nesbos novel Blood On Snow as Leo DiCaprios vehicle

MUMBAI: Warner Bros is near a deal for Blood On Snow, the first of a two novel series by The Snowman author Jo Nesbo. It will be developed as a potential star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio to be produced by him and Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Langley Park’s Kevin McCormick. Latter is producing an adaptation of Nesbo’s The Son at Warner Bros.

The book has been written under the pseudonym Tom Johansen, and it is about a hit man who is asked by his boss to kill the man’s wife. Trouble is, he falls in love with her and things get messy from there. The book was sent out to buyers Friday by Nesbo’s agent Sylvie Rabineau at RWSG. The Norwegian novelist will publish the novel next spring through Knopf, with the sequel, Blood On Snow 2: More Blood, to be published the following year.

A year after that, Nesbo will release The Kidnapping, which is kind of connected to all this in that the kidnap victim is Tom Johansen, as Nesbo’s pseudonym becomes a character in his own right. Nesbo and Niclas Salomonsson are exec producing the film.

October 21, 2005

Economic conditions of European TV companies improve but the branch as a whole remains in deficit

he European Audiovisual Observatory has just published the first volume of the 2005 edition of its Yearbook – Cinema, television, video and multimedia in Europe. This volume presents a detailed economic analysis of television companies throughout Europe.

After the 2001-2002 period, when huge losses were recorded, the overall situation of television companies in the 25 European Union member states improved in 2003 and 2004. TV company revenue rose by EUR 10 billion between 1999 and 2003, reaching EUR 64.5 billion in 2003, an average annual increase of 4.4 per cent.

The sector as a whole achieved a small but positive profit margin in 2003 (0.4 per cent compared to -5.7 per cent in 2001 and -3.7 per cent in 2002), although the net deficit remains considerable: EUR 2.4 billion compared to EUR 4.7 billion in 2001 and EUR 3.1 billion in 2002.

The European Audiovisual Observatory analysed the annual accounts and balance sheets of around 550 television companies for the years 1999-2003. There are not yet enough figures available for 2004 to carry out a similar analysis for that year, although all the indications are that the financial recovery of this sector continued.

Growth rates vary from country to country

The United Kingdom is by far the country with the largest TV company revenue: EUR 17.3 billion in 2003, compared to EUR 13.6 billion in Germany, EUR 10.5 billion in France and EUR 7.6 billion in Italy. This is due to the high level of funding of public service television, the advanced development of digital television and the number of channels available, but also to the fact that many pan-European broadcasting companies are based in Great Britain.

The yearly average growth of 4.4 per cent is fairly disappointing compared to the two-figure growth rates enjoyed by the sector in the 1980s and 1990s (it was still 10 per cent in 2000). The poorest growth figure was recorded in 2002 (0.4 per cent), although it rose to 3.2 per cent in 2003. Of the larger countries, only France achieved average growth higher than the European average (5.7 per cent), although the growth stimulated at the start of the decade by the increasing importance of thematic packages and channels is, in France as elsewhere, beginning to tail off. Germany suffered a 1.6 per cent drop in 2003, mainly due to a recession in the advertising market. The apparent slump in the British and Polish markets is actually due to the conversion of figures into euros. The revenue of British companies rose from GBP 10.8 billion in 2001 to GBP 12.2 billion in 2003. In the national currency, the Polish market remained quite stable at around PLN 4.1 billion between 2001 and 2003.

Table 1: Operating revenue of European Union television companies (1999-2003) – EUR thousand

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
United Kingdom	15 077 283	16 635 532	17 877 253	17 225 398	17 268 269
Germany	12 626 897	13 526 700	13 772 000	13 806 111	13 583 899
France	8 415 658	9 361 000	9 686 000	10 020 131	10 507 285
Italy	5 349 582	5 992 117	6 129 108	6 313 221	7 580 650
Spain	3 824 581	4 304 234	4 457 549	4 497 706	4 777 624
Netherlands /Luxemburg	1 768 489	1 880 000	2 016 000	2 092 274	2 075 105
Sweden	1 011 630	1 069 791	1 080 744	1 205 736	1 300 418
Belgium	968 771	1 076 217	1 097 110	1 185 208	1 273 124
Austria	857 349	944 499	928 860	930 151	979 398
Greece	760 209	881 833	866 933	909 475	898 941
Denmark	715 084	793 849	823 052	856 687	888 700
Poland	763 004	986 292	1 151 026	1 023 188	862 386
Finland	554 121	580 160	581 059	578 182	581 091
Portugal	401 237	428 320	426 625	389 518	415 780
Czech Republic	283 759	284 026	312 879	330 769	354 891
Ireland	250 973	263 646	278 846	313 778	348 468
Hungary	207 721	244 676	276 068	305 737	n.c.
Slovenia	126 492	135 149	144 373	141 181	134 890
Slovakia	68 668	69 436	78 474	74 396	78 035
Lithuania	21 169	23 657	28 107	30 208	32 134
Latvia	14 383	21 979	22 118	21 015	27 711
Estonia	15 944	16 011	15 828	22 852	26 734
Malta	8 812	9 078	8 729	8 179	7 908
Cyprus	n.c.	n.c.	n.c.	n.c.	n.c.
EUR 25	54 093 815	59 530 202	62 060 742	62 283 103	64 292 515
Source : European Audiovisual Observatory

Graph 1: Yearly average growth of television companies in the European Union (EUR 25 – 1999-2003) – In %.

Table 2: Operating revenue of the different categories of television company in the European Union (1999-2003) – EUR thousand

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Public broadcasters	25 188 375	26 068 185	27 171 695	27 357 839	27 440 565
Private advertising TV companies	17 272 044	19 479 894	19 001 825	18 220 058	18 292 527
Pay TV premium companies	3 156 856	3 343 030	3 641 581	3 698 639	3 332 345
TV packagers	5 153 822	6 724 909	7 646 472	8 221 956	10 274 679
Thematic channels	2 290 292	2 732 000	3 247 638	3 374 132	3 405 301
Home shopping companies	1 152 060	1 324 325	1 465 000	1 659 117	1 782 814
Total	54 213 449	59 672 343	62 174 211	62 531 741	64 528 231
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory

Table 3: Rate of growth of the different categories of television company in the European Union (EUR 25 – 1999-2003)

	2000/1999	2001/2000	2002/2001	2003/2002
Public broadcasters	3.5%	4.2%	0.7%	0.3%
Private advertising TV companies	12.8%	-2.5%	-4.1%	0.4%
Pay TV premium companies	5.9%	8.9%	1.6%	-9.9%
TV packagers	30.5%	13.7%	7.5%	25.0%
Thematic channels	19.3%	18.9%	3.9%	0.9%
Home shopping companies	15.0%	10.6%	13.3%	7.5%
Total	10.1%	4.2%	0.6%	3.2%
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory

A clear improvement in the financial situation as a whole, but very varied results according to country

On the whole, the financial situation of the television sector in the European Union improved markedly in 2003 and the first figures available for 2004 tend to confirm this pattern. There are three main reasons for this:

Following the general recession of the European economy in 2001, which was particularly evident in a drop in advertising investment, the economy began to grow again and advertising revenue increased in most countries (with the notable exception of Germany). Furthermore, digital television packagers (following the spectacular bankruptcies of ITV Digital in the United Kingdom and Quiero in Spain and the mergers between satellite platforms in Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland) are gradually reaching break-even point;

Operating costs have fallen, leading to a considerable improvement in operating margins, which rose from -3.8 per cent in 2001 to 0.5 per cent in 2003. The Observatory does not have sufficient information to analyse this reduction in operating costs in any detail. However, it can be assumed that the merger of digital platforms in several countries has reduced programme acquisition costs. Moreover, despite a few gaps, the Observatory has been able to analyse in detail permanent employment in European Union television companies: the total number of
employees rose from 189,800 in 1999 to 196,600 in 2003 (+3.6 per cent), reaching a peak of 198,400 in 2001 before dropping by 1,800 in the space of two following years;

The financial operations deficit was cut from EUR 1.4 billion in 1999 to EUR 120 million in 2003.

Table 4: Profit margins of national television systems in the European Union (1999-2003) – In %

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Denmark	-2.0	1.1	1.3	-0.8	10.4
France	3.2	5.9	6.7	5.7	5.4
Sweden	-4.4	-3.0	-9.2	-4.1	4.4
Estonia	-53	-31.1	-18.5	0.3	4.1
United Kingdom	1.3	-2.8	-7.9	-3.7	3.3
Germany	1.1	0.9	-3.0	2.4	2.2
Ireland	37.59	-5.38	-16.32	-7.39	0.30
Belgium	0.6	3.8	-0.1	-0.3	-1.7
Poland	-10.5	-18.1	-18.3	-42.3	-1.2
Austria	1.9	-2.4	-1.3	-5.1	-3.7
Netherlands	0.2	1.6	-7.2	-5.4	n.a.
Italy	-4.2	-7.2	-12.1	-10.6	-6.9
Greece	1.9	-0.5	-2.4	-5.2	-7.2
Finland	-7.9	-9.8	-29.3	-21.9	-11.3
Spain	-13.8	-16.2	-24.1	-23.6	-15.4
Portugal	-20.9	-30.0	-70.5	-57.6	-17.5
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory

Digital packagers lead the way

The digital television packagers category, with an average annual growth rate of 18.8 per cent, has contributed most to the growth of the market. This growth was particularly strong at the start of the period under consideration (30.5 per cent), fell away in 2002 (7.5 per cent) and increased again in 2003 (25 per cent). However, it is expected to drop again in 2004 (between 3 per cent and 4 per cent), now that the impact of the launch of Sky Italia has worn off.

According to available data on the results of four companies in 2004, this group of operators should nevertheless, for the first time, achieve a profit margin of around 6 per cent compared to -4.5 per cent in 2003. However, the development of a free multi-channel service via digital terrestrial television could curb the growth of digital pay-TV platforms in the coming years.

Table 5: Profit margins of the different categories of television company in the European Union (1999-2003) – In %

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Public broadcasters	-1.5	-2.7	-2.7	-4.6	-1.5
Private advertising TV companies	15.2	18.0	9.6	7.2	10.2
Pay TV premium companies	-0.1	-3.9	-2.6	-1.7	4.5
TV packagers	-45.4	-49.7	-49.5	-22.8	-9.6
Thematic channels	-6.1	-12.2	-19.7	-10.1	-10.8
Home shopping companies	0.1	-5.5	-8.4	-5.6	-0.9
Total	-0.5	-1.8	-5.7	-3.7	0.4
Source: European Audiovisual Observatory

October 6, 2005

Reel Pointer – predict TVRs for blockbusters on TV
TV Pulse 2005, the annual research initiative put together by the Joint Industry Body (JIB) and Tam Media, series continues with the paper – Reel Pointer – A Tool to predict ratings for Blockbuster movies on TV.

This paper was contributed by Lodestar Media – Winner of the Best Paper award at Emmies – 2004.
- Devdas acquired for Rs 12 crores, delivers only 3.7 TRPs
- Humraaz delivers 12.0 TRPs, surpassing Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham‘s 8.1 TRPs
The challenge was to bridge the information gap in the current TV programming scenario where blockbuster movies are among the biggest viewership/revenue genres but data to evaluate and price them does not exist. The aim was to predict TRPs of blockbuster films on TV and set buying benchmarks.

METHODOLOGY: REGRESSION MODELING

TRPs of past blockbuster movies modelled against factors that would help predict future performance.

Arriving at the factors:
- Box-office Collections – a quantifiable measure of viewer appeal and a sum of all the qualitative factors like star cast, music score, storyline and director that affect a film.
- Recency – the interval between the time the movie was released to the time it was shown on TV. It was calculated as the number of days from release to telecast date.
- Repeats – A movie that had been repeated too often was likely to lose its appeal hence assumed inversely related to TV rating.
- Promos – Directly responsive to viewership, the number of promos had to be taken into account.
- Channel of telecast – The cable operator plays a role in deciding whether a C&S home can receive a TV channel or not. Connectivity, in turn, affects a film‘s viewership.
- Daypart – TRP was affected by the daypart or time of telecast (early prime, prime, late prime…)
- Day – Weekends were associated with blockbusters. A film telecast on a Saturday night was likely to get more viewer interest than one shown on a Tuesday afternoon. However Zee scheduled its blockbusters on Thursdays to capitalise on weaker competitive programming.
- Opposite viewing – The impact of competitive programming also had to be taken into account. A blockbuster movie scheduled on a channel at prime time may lose more viewers to programmes on other channels than a non prime-time film.
September 17, 2005
Sony to release 2 Guns with Denzel Washington

NEW DELHI: The action film 2 Guns directed by Baltasar Kormákur and presented by Sony Pictures is being released in theatres this week.

The film stars Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, James Marsden, Fred Ward and Edward James Olmos.

Sony’s total releases for September will be four with One Direction: This is Us, Grown Ups 2, 2 Guns and Elysium releasing back-to-back. October will see the release of already critically acclaimed Captain Phllips (18 October) followed by Insidious Chapter2 (25 October) which is also currently reigning at the top position at the US box office with a record $41 mn opening.

2 Guns is an explosive action film that tracks two operatives from competing bureaus that are forced on the run together. But there is a big problem with their unique alliance: neither knows that the other is an undercover federal agent.

September 17, 2005
Zee Muzic to launch ‘Cinemascope’

MUMBAI: Zee Muzic is set to introduce yet another film based show – Cinemascope.

The show will hit the tube tonight (19 September). The weekly show will be on air at 8:30 pm. The show will be anchored by Roshni Chopra.

Currently, Chopra is hosting two shows for Ten Sports, apart from Cinemascope on Zee Muzic.

According to an official release, Cinemascope will feature aspects of film making besides showcasing releases and have star interviews, trailers and clippings from the film and behind the scene happenings.

Zee Muzic business head Irshwin Balvani says, “Zee Muzic is all geared up to provide exciting content to its viewers. This is only first of the many entertainment innovations which have been lined up.”

September 13, 2005
D-Cinema players Pyramid-Saimira & Kalasa in Rs 100 million deal

MUMBAI: Chennai-based Pyramid-Saimira Group has signed Rs 100 million deal with Kalasa Entertainment Media Private Limited (KEMPL) to install 70 theaters with digital cinema equipment. The installation will be made between September 2005 and July 2006.

The deal follows Pyramid-Saimira’s earlier announcement of taking on lease 1000 theaters for digitalisation. The company plans to finish the assignment in three years and primary deadline is to digitalise 150 theaters by September 2006. In April 2005, the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Taiwan-based Delta Electronics for design, development and sourcing of about 15,000 digital projectors at a cost of about Rs 1.5 billion.

KEMPL had recently set up its own GDC encoder in Chennai. This facility is mainly used for those producers who insist to encode their movies in Chennai itself. However, a major chunk of its films are encoded by the Mumbai-based Adlabs. Kalasa presently has a chain of 11 digital theatres in Tamil Nadu. The company uses digital servers, provider by GDC Technology.

Digital cinema (D-Cinema) is slowly gaining ground as well as investments in India. Anil Ambani’s Reliance Capital purchased a 70 per cent stake in Adlabs worth US$83 million this year. Meanwhile, private equity fund ICICI Venture invested Rs 380 million rupees ($8.7 million) in PVR Cinemas, and GW Capital put in about Rs 150 million in Shringar Cinemas Ltd. Mumbai-based Adlabs recently commenced operation at its front end-processing lab in Chennai in association with Vijaya Labs to expand its base in southern India.

“All these activities demonstrated credible corporate and institutional funding entering the entertainment industry heralding new opportunities presenting themselves in the coming years,” states KEMPL CEO Ramesh V Subramaniam.

September 8, 2005