Category: Ficci Frames

MUMBAI: Public apathy towards city based sports is the key challenge the BCCI‘s upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), which kicks off on 18 April, will confront.

This point came through loud and clear during a session on Sports and Entertainment on the final day of Ficci Frames 2008.

BCCI VP Lalit Modi, who gave the keynote, said, “When Brett Lee who plays for Mohali takes Sachin‘s wicket will the Mohali cricket fans cheer against Sachin and cheer for their team? That is a key issue facing us.

“Our initial aim will be to get fans into stadiums. The ultimate aim is for the rivalry between Delhi and Mumbai to match what exists between Liverpool and Manchester United. Of course this will not happen overnight. The creation of fan clubs will take time. It will not happen in the first year.”

Another challenge, he concedes, is getting women and children to watch the IPL instead of the regular Saas Bahu soaps. IPL is in direct competition because it is in prime time.

Ten Sports senior VP programming and production Peter Hutton is pleased about the fact that finally cricket is being scheduled during primetime and during weekends. This he says should have been done some time ago. Sport after all is paid for by television.

He notes that ICL has been faring better than international cricket matches not featuring India. This shows the power of the Twenty20 format.

Another challenge that the IPL faces lies in creating the kind of emotional connect that the national Indian cricket team has.

Former cricketer Ajay Jadeja notes that Indians do not love sport. “We love the national Indian cricket team. That is why a South Africa versus Australia match which is high in quality gets low ratings compared with an India versus Bangladesh encounter which might be low in quality. There is an emotional attachment. It also exists for the Olympics and so when Rathod wins an Olympic medla we are ecstatic. If he does well in the World Champiopnships nobody is watching,” adds Jadeja.

He also points out that cricket has the obstacle in that some players do not play for clubs with the same fervour as they do for their national teams. For instance Ganguly did not bond well with Lancashire. Team culture is not a priority in many cases.

“In soccer you have players giving their all for their clubs. In fact some of them play their best for their clubs as opposed to their national sides. The club culture is embedded in that sport. For cricket it is often the opposite. Above all people watching the IPL need to believe that what they are seeing is real and not some reality show,” says Jadeja.

Modi agrees that cricket has to be competitive and serious. There needs to be a hunger to win. Rivalries need to be real; Shah Rukh Khan might drive people into the stadiums but if the cricket is not a compelling experience how many people will stick around?

While IPL is trying to replicate the success of the English Premier League (EPL) one of the reasons why the EPL does well is that England is a small country. PwC‘s Thompson notes that this allows fans can travel with their teams.

Teams playing away matches get support. Will India be able to replicate this given its geography? Also big cities in the UK have different teams like Manchester United and Manchester City. This gives the local sports culture a huge boost. He spoke about a 60 city model for local sport. He also says that the reason the EPL gets so much money is the exclusivity of pay TV. In India this does not exist.

Still it is important not to get pessimistic from the outset. The IPL has gotten new partners Hutton notes. Setanta will air cricket for the first time courtesy IPL. ” In Dubai there is a lot of interest about what is happening here. This is a far cry from the days when the BCCI had to pay someone to produce domestic cricket. I think that different loyalties can be created over time.”

Modi further notes that the IPL marks the first that a sports league on this scale has been built from the ground up adds Modi. With EPL for instance clubs already existed and it was a question of putting their rights into one body. Asked as to why there was cap on the players purse during the auction he explains that the aim was to provide a level playing field. “This cap though is only for the first year. From the second year players can be traded. Keep in mind though the fact that corporates will not be tolerant of poor performances by players. They are not being picked by selectors.”

He also had words of encouragement for other sports. He notes that as the economy grows there are more choices becoming available besides Bollywood and soaps. “You now have international sports events where international players like Rafeal Nadal, the Williams sisters playing here. The FI Grand Prix which takes place in Delhi in 2014 will be a landmark event.”

And what can other sports learn from the IPL? Sports editor Ayaz Memon notes that it is key that other sports shake off the sluggishness of sports bodies. State apathy needs to be replaced with the drive of private enterprise which is what is being seen in the IPL. Jadeja further lamented the fact that India has a sports minister who has no interest in this genre.

MUMBAI: The celebrated terminology ‘multi revenue generator‘ synergises with the new phase of film exhibition that is the multiplex era as well. Volumes have been written about the shift from single screen to multiplexes.

However, the new side of this subject is the umpteen number of avenues through which money is flowing in and “Multiplexes: Multi revenue streams” was another heated discussion on the last day of Ficci Frames 08‘.

Dimple Cine Advertising MD Kamal Karamchandani, Pyramid Saimira MD P.S Saminathan, Inox Leisure Ltd COO Alok Tandon, Chivach Media CEO Soumo Ganguly and Fun Multiplex CEO Ajay Mehra engaged in an series of topics related to multiplexes.

True to the session‘s topic, multiplexes have really proved to be a medium for innumerable advertising and promotional opportunities.

The audience doesn‘t step in alone to enjoy the film but also varied other things available at the multiplex.

Karamchandani points out the different promotional strategies one enjoys at the theatre. Starting from kiosks, stickers behind seats, film and other standees, product displays to leaflet distribution, he believes all this really works for a multiplex.

An interesting example of Reliance Energy came up in the discussion.

While screening a film, the theatre witnessed a blackout for a few minutes and then the screen showed up ‘Reliance Energy.‘ This, Karamchandani felt, was a great promotional activity.

Multiplexes are now smartly using the spaces for off-screen advertising as well.

They stress on the fact that these spaces are priced exorbitantly and should be used to their fullest.

However, Saminathan emphasises on the importance of differentiation in content which is literally missing.

He believes it is more of time differentiation than content, and adds, “There has to be non transparency of funds and taxes.” He also says that it is difficult to judge what works for which theatre.

“A theatre which has poor infrastructure may generate more revenues than the one which is a high quality one,” he states.

“Where do small films go?” was the question thrown by Ganguly.

Recently, he said, 28 out of 30 shows in a multiplex were showing Jodha Akbhar.

In the same breath he says that multiplex is certainly a boon as well, as it would have been extremely difficult to compete with mammoths like Om Shanti Om and Jodha Akbar, if one had to survive on small screens.

MUMBAI: Scriptwriters Rex Weiner, member of WGA (USA), Vinay Shukla, Jaideep Sahni, Anjum Rajabali and Rensil D‘Silva today spoke on the ills that plague the art and craft of scriptwriting and sought to find measures that need to be taken to ramp up this very important industry. MD National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Nina Lath Gupta moderated the session.

The session began with Weiner saying that today writing was all about big budgets. He stressed that as against earlier writers just told a story and did not have to worry about budgets.

So what makes a good script good and a bad script bad, he asked.

“The best scripts are about human behaviour intimately observed. You need audiences to ask what‘s next? The more specific a character becomes ironically the more universal he becomes,” Weiner says.

But it was Vinay Shukla of Godmother fame who gave an interesting overview of what today‘s audiences want.

He cited the examples of the recent hit films like Mithya, Khosla ka Ghosla, Chak De and Metro and analysed why the offbeat films had worked.

Shukla pointed out that Chak De had no obligatory songs, no heroine and no romantic scenes and went on to say that today it is the youth that is the target audience, unlike yesterday when films were made keeping housewives in mind.

Now housewives have been lost to the Ekta Kapoors of today he commented.

Shukla advised writers to shed their inhibitions at a time when values are changing, saying that it‘s not the boldness of a subject but the treatment that makes a good film.

Linear narrative is no longer the rule of the thumb (a la Metro) he said.

He analysed why a film like Halla Bol had flopped though it had raised pertinent social concerns. Shukla said that it is not that social concerns do not stir audiences but the contrived melodrama let down audiences.

Outlining a few factors that scriptwriters should bear in mind Shukla said a script should be short, subtle, not over dramatic and western.

“Dil Chahta Hai brought in casualness and Chak De solidified this. Characters in our films are only black or white and that‘s why most of our films look the same. Three dimensional characters are the need of the day and if the subject is city based then the need is to be western,” Shukla averred.

Anjum Rajabali stressed that there was a historical reason why there was a dearth of successful scriptwriters in our country and held that this was because there is a lack of training.

“In the old times writers did not go to any school of writing but they learned all about it by observation. But now some amount of learning is important which is not happening,” he said.

Rajabali added that the attitude towards writing functions has to change.

Drawing a parallel with the pharma industry he said that there was a huge fund for R&D and there is no sword dangling on the head of a scientist as he labours over research.

Rajabali pointed out that the pharmas invest in thousands of scientists and only five succeed. So why can‘t the film industry too do the same he asked.

A writer should be made a stakeholder in the film making business, as this will make good business sense, he said.

Rang de Basanti‘s successful script writer Rensil D‘Silva did not agree that we lacked good writers.

He felt that India does have a good pool of writers but we are not looking at them. He believes that if one taps the advertising world which he thinks has great writing talent and get even 10 per cent to work this will be a huge number.

According to Rensil the only problem why one does get good writers is because people do not pay well. Unlike in Hollywood people here do not want to invest in scripts. He wondered that if Manoj “Night” Shyamalan got $5 million for his script in the USA, what would he get had he written the script in “Pondicherry”?

The best note of hope came from Jaideep Sahni, who said that as the film making business had grown in the last few years by leaps and bounds it has also affected the writing side.

Sahni who has penned the famed “Chak de” and has also written and co-produced Khosla ka Ghosla said that he disagreed that writers were now writing for only multiplex audiences.

He stressed the fact that Chak de had nothing in the story that was ‘multiplex‘. In fact everything was rural, even some of the actors.

Sahni said yes the writers wanted money but they cannot be bought. They should be made partners.

He requested filmmakers and corporate houses not to invest in writers but to invest in the process of writing.

He believed that as the investment takes place there will be an army of writers to service the industry. Writers need to be paid for R&D and this will help give birth to quality writers.

MUMBAI: From pasteless posters, energy-saving bulbs, digital billboards to the fast-improving audience measurement techniques, the out-of-home (OOH) industry is poised to be the most vibrant industry in the next decade.

Speakers at the session entitled “It‘s Drive Time for OOH” were unanimous with regard to the potential of OOH. They also agreed that the category‘s continued strength owes to the explosive technological advancement, digital outdoor media proliferation and fragmentation of other mass media.

In his presentation, OOH veteran and UK‘s Outdoor Advertising Industry Advisor Dennis Sullivan defined OOH as the most powerful mode of communication. “It‘s the most creative medium because since it doesn‘t target a specific audience – in fact, it targets everyone – it can easily evoke emotions, and make you smile and sometimes cry.”

Sullivan also mentioned that globally OOH has $35 billion share in advertising, and added that some of the principal factors driving the growth of OOH are as follows: change in lifestyle; ownership consolidation (car has become the new lounge for families, and TV audience has declined); investment; audience measurement, etc.

“60 per cent of the world will live in cities by 2030 and this augurs well for the OOH industry since OOH is definitely an out-and-out urban medium of communication,” said Sullivan.

To give an Indian dimension to the forum agenda, Future Media CEO Partho Dasgupta discussed the changing face of the Indian consumer. “The Indian consumer is changing in his/her attitude to the market. For example, the number of financially independent women is increasing, and in tune with urbanization, we have now a credit society from the traditional savings society.”

“The media is also rising, and this is exemplified by the fact that almost very month a new channel is launching. Moreover, the growth of modern trade is influencing the Indian consumer, and this has led to the proliferation of screens in particular and OOH in general,” explained Dasgupta.

Lehman Brothers SVP David Dorfman, who is also a successful OOH practitioner, touched on the digital media in the OOH advertising industry. According to Dorfman, “Digital technology is impacting ‘outdoor.‘ And since outdoor is local, people are more receptive when it comes to OOH advertising.”

To explain the power of OOH, Dorfman said that it offers ‘face-to-face‘ impact (airport advertising, mall displays, transit and kiosks, etc.) and maintained that digital advertising will change the way people perceive outdoor advertising.

MUMBAI: Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday announced that his station would offer free commercial time FCT worth $ 1 million to combat the menace of piracy in the music industry by creating awareness among listeners.

Panday made the announcement during the session on music, on the last day of Ficci Frames 2008.

Said Panday, “The radio industry is a partner of the music industry, not its antagonist. We are a part of the agony of declining sales and piracy that the music industry is going through. We wish to join hands to combat these tribulations and help the music industry.”

Radio Mirchi is the first radio station to have proposed such a move and Panday is of the opinion that the radio fraternity will support Mirchi in this initiative.

“As of now, it is only we who are proposing it but I am sure that the radio industry as well as the Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI) will look forward to something on similar lines and be keen in joining hands with us”, states Panday. The music and radio industries have locked horns over the issue of music royalties payable by radio stations to the music industry, with no amicable solution to the issue in sight yet.

Contradicting the notion that the radio industry depends heavily on the music industry, he affirms, “The argument that the radio industry is surviving because of music industry is bizarre. I would rather say we are the ones who help build music sales by popularising them on our platform.

About the ongoing tussle over music royalties, Panday says, “They compare the royalties paid by the radio industry with mobile or satellite radio but I would say radio is still a booming industry and needs time to flourish. The other mediums are making profits and therefore it is feasible for them to pay the royalties of 20 per cent as demanded by Phonographic Performances Limited (PPL).

‘Also, it is possible for the television industry to pay 20 per cent royalty but if we look at radio, the structure is different and we are surviving on minimal margins. Hence we will continue fighting for nominal royalties and want to bring them down to two or three per cent. Also, we propose that an independent body must be set up to evaluate the merits and demerits of both the parties and decide the royalties.”

Currently, the AROI has set up a sub committee to look into the issue.