ITV

Category: Fiction

  • TV producers on restarting offices with safety measures

    TV producers on restarting offices with safety measures

    MUMBAI: On 8 June the Maharashtra government allowed all private offices to operate with up to 10 per cent of full staff strength or ten people (whichever is higher). Production houses are still waiting for permission from Film City and district collectors to start production in Mumbai and Thane. In the meantime, certain producers have restarted their offices, while others are waiting for things to get normal.

    Famous Studio MD Anant Roongta who resumed office on 8 June thanked his team for their constant effort. The company is currently working with less than ten people. However, it has introduced a shift system to manage the workflow. There are no more than five people per floor. The studio has five facilities and across the entire facility, 35 to 40 people are working.

    Apart from that, the office space is sanitised on a regular basis. It is mandatory to wear surgical gloves while working on any equipment to stop the mitigating virus. Social distancing is followed by providing separate rooms to each employee. As far as visual reality is concerned people are working in the extreme ends of the room. Most employees are also given separate stations to maintain the social distancing norm. For travelling, employees are using private vehicles or sharing a car with no more than two people.

    Creative Eye has also re-started its office. Its managing director Dheeraj Kumar says, “We are functioning as per the permission granted by the government. We have already started working on a project that was supposed to happen before the lockdown. We have booked the set, paid advances and realigned 15 scripts.”

    In the last few days Kumar has shifted his focus to operational issues. As a service provider Kumar highlights that the company works on a project basis. If needed, it has close to 100 people on the set. For now, the permanent staff consists of 50 employees and only those who are close by are coming to the office in their private vehicles. People who live far off are still working from home.

    The teams required in the office are the ideation and creation teams. They include CEOs, CFOs, head of departments, general managers, operational team, studio manager, executive secretary, administrative manager, housekeeping staff and kitchen staff. Apart from that, editors are permanently also living in the office.

    Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege makes it clear that it will not be starting its office any time soon. Employees will be working from home for the next six months at least and even after that work will resume in a shift system.  

    He adds, “The key change will be the number of people coming on the set and how they behave. What can be done to maintain social distancing, and other necessary guidelines.”

    On a similar note, Hats Off Productions founder J D Majethia is also not planning to restart his office. Firstly, he wants to ensure that everything is in place in terms of SOPs and safety and then he will think of restarting. Until then all the employees will continue working from home.

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  • Shooting in Mumbai, Thane likely to start by 23 June: IFTPC’s Nitin Vaidya

    Shooting in Mumbai, Thane likely to start by 23 June: IFTPC’s Nitin Vaidya

    MUMBAI: It will soon be lights, camera, action in the television industry. With permisisons being granted slowly, filmmakers and broadcasters will have to obtain permission from the police and district authorities before they can start shooting. Maraṭhi film and TV producer Nitin Vaidya, who is also a member of Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC), told indiantelevision.com that it is trying to seek permission from Film City to begin shooting in Mumbai and Thane from 23 or 25 June.

    He adds, “We producers, among ourselves, have decided a common date to start shooting between 23 to 25 June. We must put things in place like insurance and mediclaim for all cast, crew members and people on set. We are looking at bulk insurance deals from the IFTPC. Once that is done, we can start shooting. All the decisions have been conveyed to broadcasters also. We are hoping that all the permissions will be granted for Mumbai and Thane.”

    Marathi actor, TV host and Shiv Sena leader Aadesh Bandekar highlights that producers are waiting permission from Film City to begin shooting in Mumbai.  But district collectors in Thane, Sangli and Satara have already given permission to resume shooting.

    Vaidya also mentions that in other parts of Maharashtra permission has been given. But shooting has not yet started.  In the meantime, producers are prepping up for the post-pandemic return, in terms of fumigation, sanitisation, several other SOP measures and guidelines that need to be complied with.

    According to Vaidya, the association has requested broadcasters to telecast after 13 July 2020. So, producers can go ahead with immediate bank of episodes. As this is a new normal, Vaidya finds that it will be difficult to analyse what will happen on the set after shooting resumes.

    Earlier this month Maharashtra government allowed shoots across the state to resume. A list of SOPs and other guidelines too were issued, which also includes shooting only in non-containment zones. Producers will have to apply to managing director of the Maharashtra film, theatre, cultural development corporation, the Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari in Goregaon, Mumbai and district collectors outside Mumbai for resuming shootings.  

  • We are a young old production house: Ram Madhvani

    We are a young old production house: Ram Madhvani

    MUMBAI: Ram Madhvani is a devoted Ad-man, but he is also known for creating fiction that gets into the nitty-gritties of a character. Ad-man turned filmmaker Madhvani is all set to make his mark as a producer and director of feature films, web series, short films with his recently launched production house, Ram Madhvani Films.

    Madhvani directed his first feature film Let’s Talk in 2002. The National Award winning movie Neerja came 14 years later. However, Madhvani didn’t lose hope, he kept trying. Sometimes projects would be announced, like fantasy Talisman with Amitabh Bachchan but did not make it to the silver screen. For the uninitiated, his web series Aarya, was initially meant to be a movie, but due to unknown reasons the movie was shelved one month before the shooting. That was seven years ago. Now, Aarya starring Sushmita Sen and Chandrachur Singh will be out on Disney+ Hotstar on 19 June. The show is based on the Dutch drama series Penoza by Pieter Bart Korthuis.

    In a special interaction with indiantelevision.com Madhvani spoke at length about his newly launched production house, setting up the entire structure, challenges faced due to Covid2019 and much more.

    Madhvani says, “It’s a natural extension of Equinox Films. Equinox will do ads in which we have six directors and four producers. Ram Madhvani Films will produce and create longer content. Both are owned by my wife Amita Madhvani and me. I will very much continue to make ads. I’m passionate about it.”

    According to Madhvani the biggest drive for becoming a producer is that it gives you control over your work.

    Speaking about how long it took to set up the entire structure he adds, “We actually already had it with Equinox. We are a production house. Producing runs in our blood. This was just a new company.”

    When the entire film and television fraternity is grappling with the current situation, Madvani mentions that he managed to finish shooting Aarya before lockdown. However editing, sound, VFX etc were added during lockdown.

    Madhvani also thanked his entire team who worked hard from home with full safety while embracing technology.

    As the Maharashtra government has given permission to resume production work with certain guidelines, Madhvani feels that safety and protocols are of utmost importance.

    Madhvani is in no hurry to release shows, erring on the side of precaution. However, he is working on a couple of scripts, but it will take time.

    “Creative people live in hope. And so my hope is that soon, this will pass and we can go back to our ‘normal’ lives,” he says.

    Equinox currently consists of Ram Madhvani, Amita Madhvani, Manoj Shroff, Rhea Prabhu and Annum Waris  as producers, Nitin Parmar, Deb Medhekar, Sandeep Modi, Priyanka Ghose, Tanvi Gandhi and Madvani as directors while Raja Ved is the CFO. The company has an in-house production designer Anna Ipe.

    Apart from this Madhvani has just started Equinox VR, a new virtual reality company where the team wants to make content for the VR world. The producer on Equinox VR is Khvafar Vakharia. These people  will also be part of the Ram Madhvani Films team when needed. He adds, “These are our in-house producers and directors that we have known and been together for years. It’s a strong dedicated hard-working team. We also work with a regular team of people who make up the rest of our extended team.”

    Madhvani highlights that the most important aspect while setting up a new production company is to continue the reputation that they have built so far.

    A pandemic is a difficult time and one must adapt fast to the post Covid2019 budgets. He said, “We are hungry for work and we partner with clients and agencies to understand everyone’s marketing and financial problems. Everyone is there to help and understand each other. We call ourselves the youngest oldest production house.”

    He concludes, “There’s only one challenge you always face when shooting and that is … time. My epitaph will read 'I wish I had more time.'”

  • Production houses plan for return after lockdown

    Production houses plan for return after lockdown

    MUMBAI: As lockdown restrictions ease across the country and state governments start handing out approvals to resume shooting, production houses are gearing up to get back on track with requisite precautions and safety measures. Tasks like an SOP plan will be on top of the priority list and this means added costs for production houses.

    IFTPC chairman TV wing and Hats Off Production founder J D Majethia is optimistic that Maharashtra will start shooting in June itself. Anticipating that the pandemic will run longer he has bought a temperature check kiosk, sanitisation stand and other necessary equipment rather than rent them. He also mentioned that insurance policies will become a necessity that will cover workers, technicians and artists for the SarsCov2 virus. 

    “On ground, our focus is crew safety and thereafter following the right protocols. We are preparing to implement SOPs on ground. We want to ensure that the number of people is less. Our focus is not just on what the government has advised but we also want to keep things under control from a safety perspective,” says Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege. However, he says that their shows will commence production only by August.

    Even though Endemol is waiting for shoots to resume here, other regional areas have commenced where permissions have been granted such as Tamil Nadu. Going forward, the company will work in a shift system, so that at any given time required crew members are present. Maintaining distance and required people on the set will be the big change. He, too, added that employee health insurance will be imperative.

    Currently, Rege is working on only new shows. “We are trying to figure out ways where we don’t compromise on our script and yet deliver good content,” he says.

    Famous Studio MD Anant Roongta, who is ecstatic about re-starting his work, thanked his team members for their constant support. Famous Studio re-started studio work from 8 June. During lockdown, his 50 employees were able to work on pending projects remotely because of its previous efforts in upgrading technology. Even artists came up with techniques to work from home.

    While mentioning hygiene and sanitisation measures Roongta says, “We have seven action areas, for all the employees and clients who are coming in our studio. We have a self-declaration form that is mandatory to fill before entering the studios. It is a list of 20 to 30 questions which includes their travel history, any possible symptoms, if they live in a containment area and much more.”

    Once people fill the form, they go to the sanitisation stand outside the office. Post that, their temperature is checked and it is mandatory to wear a mask. The studio is sanitised and disinfected every morning. Surgical gloves are provided to people who are working on equipment. As people are working on separate wings and rooms, social distancing is also taken care of. Everyone has to enter and exit from one point to avoid overlapping.

    The staff follows a dedicated SOP which included appointing housekeeping for deep cleaning before opening up the office. On the insurance front, he says “Most of the people we work with are consultants and not employees, so they are individually responsible for their own insurance policies.”

    Creative Eye Limited MD Dheeraj Kumar says that they too resumed work from 8 June. He adds, “I am waiting for broadcasters to give us the green signal to start fresh projects as well as pending ones. But even if we want to shoot, we will need a minimum of 25 days time in our hand to do all the preparation which was lost in three months.”

    Their precautionary measures include thermal infra-red guns at the entrance to check the temperature and will be written in a physical register. Whoever enters the premises will have to provide their contact details and home address. After entering the building, people must sanitise their hands with a stand that’s operated by the feet. He is also providing tailor-made in-house masks and gloves. In the past ten days, the entire Creative Eye building and office has been sanitised thrice. About 100 Creative Eye employees have also been covered under an insurance policy.

  • Telangana govt permits film, TV shootings

    Telangana govt permits film, TV shootings

    MUMBAI: After Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, the Telangana government has given the much awaited nod to resume film and TV shooting as well as post-production work all over the state. This move comes after nearly three months of lockdown due to the pandemic.

    Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao signed the file, allowing filmmakers, producers and television programme producers to resume their work.

    The chief minister, in an official statement, said that production and shooting can be started with limited numbers of staff while strictly adhering to the guidelines issued by the government. He also allowed post-production works to resume with the same guideline.

    However, the state government has not allowed the re-opening of cinema theatres and multiplexes, as per the guidelines issued by the centre. The government has also advised filmmakers to follow all the necessary guidelines and conditions to stop the mitigation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

    Several prominent film personalities from the south have met the chief minister recently and requested him to allow production work in the state. Cinematography Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, government chief secretary Somesh Kumar, among other film personalities have prepared the draft guidelines.

  • Can’t insist producers to use only their members: Competition Commission to FWICE

    Can’t insist producers to use only their members: Competition Commission to FWICE

    MUMBAI: In a landmark judgement, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has told the All India Film Employees Confederation and Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) that they cannot insist producers to take only their members to work with them.

    On 31 October 2017, the CCI passed cease and desist orders against certain national and regional trade associations of film artists and producers for engaging in practices of controlling/limiting the supply of services and market sharing. Such acts have been held to be in contravention of sections 3(3)(b) and 3(3)(c) read with Section 3(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 (Competition Act).

    The  final order by the CCI was passed on an information filed by Bollywood producer and director Vipul Shah who alleged that specific provisions of the MoU dated 1 October 2010 (MoU) signed between FWICE and producer associations i.e.  IMPPA, FTPGI, and IFTPC relating to various matters including member-to-member working, fixation of wages, etc., are anti-competitive in nature.

    Thereafter, on 8 August 2019 an application under Section 42 of the Act alleging noncompliance of the aforesaid order by other parties was received by the Commission from Contiloe Pictures Private Ltd (CPPL).

    On 12 March 2020, the matter was listed for hearing between FWICE and CPPL. Upon hearing the counsels of CPPL and FWICE, the commission observed that the contents of the directives issued by FWICE to its member affiliates/producers were in the nature of direction to its members not to engage the non-members and were in violation of the order of the Commission dated 31 October 2017.

    Later, FWICE submitted that they would withdraw their letters dated 29 March 2018 and 26 November 2018 issued to its affiliates and also the letter dated 30 November 2018 issued to CPPL, without any conditions. The association also tendered unconditional apology for disobeying the directions of the Commission.

    The Commission directed FWICE to issue communication to its affiliates," all production houses/ producers including CPPL regarding withdrawal of the said letters and file a copy thereof with the Commission within a period of 10 days. Further, FWICE was also directed to file an affidavit along with status/ compliance report within ten days to the Commission."

    However, the commission later observed that none of the parties have filed any evidence. Therefore, the commission has directed all the parties involved in the matter to file an affidavit along with status/compliance report through e-mail at secy(cci.gov.in, latest by 15 July 2020 without fail.  The secretary is directed to inform FWICE and CPPL, accordingly.

  • Will TV producers look at IP ownership in the post-Covid2019 world?

    Will TV producers look at IP ownership in the post-Covid2019 world?

    MUMBAI: When a nationwide lockdown was imposed to stem the tide of Covid2019, all film and TV shoots were suspended. Finally, the Maharashtra government gave a green signal for the resumption of film and television shootings in non-containment zones.

    As things are slowly getting back to normalcy it has become important for every production house to hold its intellectual property.

    This was the unanimous view of a virtual round table conference organised by Indiantelevision.com to discuss the challenges faced by TV producers. 

    The panel, moderated by indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, had Swastik Productions & One Life Studios producer & managing director Rahul Kumar Tewary, SOL Productions founder and managing director Fazila Allana, Contiloe Pictures founder and CEO Abhimanyu Singh, Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege, Fremantle India Television Productions managing director Aradhana Bhola, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer and Neela Films owner Asit Kumarr Modi, and ANM Global managing partner Nidhish Mehrotra.

    With the whole pandemic situation, some television producers also have the fear of being kicked out of shows. This scenario has put a big question mark on broadcasters who own the intellectual property rights for most TV shows.

    Swastik Productions & One Life Studios producer & managing director Rahul Kumar Tewary says, “Currently broadcasters have been very supportive, but mostly it is discussion rather than action that has happened from broadcasters’ end. However, I am very hopeful that they will come forward and help. Ultimately, they are the owners of the IP.”

    He adds that this lockdown will create opportunities for producers who have trust in their content and IP. This situation will give producers some time to create different business models and IPs. Apart from this, there will be huge financial calculations also.

    Adding to Tewary’s point, Contiloe Pictures founder-CEO Abhimanyu Singh said, “It has been a long discussion among all producers. This is a time where the production community can work along with broadcasters with some co-investment in place to create IPs.”

    Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer and Neela Films owner Asit Kumarr Modi thinks it is very important for all producers to own their IPs. With the help of IPs producers can also sustain their business and become a long-time player.

    He adds, “If I don’t own an intellectual property then I am merely a production coordinator and not a producer. Post Covid2019 it will be interesting to see who owns IP. Repeat telecasts are seeing a huge consumption on digital media. IP has its own value, who will own what percentage that producers and broadcasters will have to mutually decide.”

    SOL Productions founder-MD Fazila Allana said: “Despite having our own IP there are certain formats which are created indigenously for the movie market which is not owned by them.”

    She adds that it is a continued struggle. It is more than ever now that the platforms and the channels do not want to give up IPs. Because even they have realised that in this situation, they need a bank to play and they don’t want to pay for it again.

    “The struggle is going to be tougher as everybody is now realising that there is a huge financial problem, so they are alright with producers sharing the cost and therefore own half IP. So, co-investing and co-owning could be a solution for this mid path. I don’t think the broadcasters or OTT players will give 100 per cent IP,” she further explains.

    Adding to what Fazilla Allana said, Fremantle India Television Productions MD Aradhana Bhola believes that OTT players have now realised that there is no boundary to create content. They can do dubbing and subtitling; and consumers are willing to see those contents.

    As we all know that a large part of Indian television comprises reality TV shows like Indian Idol, Bigg Boss, Dance Plus, etc.   While some producers are of the opinion that owning IP will incur them huge costs and financial burden, others think that it could be the way going forward.
     

  • Industry needs to handhold to come out of this crisis

    Industry needs to handhold to come out of this crisis

    MUMBAI: The film and television producers are gearing up to restart shooting in the wake of guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government and the easing of lockdown restrictions. Film and TV post-production activities in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana have also resumed, albeit with restrictions.

    Indiantelevision.com reached out to leading TV producers to understand their plans in the days ahead.

    Shakuntalam Telefilms founder Shyamashis Bhattacharya said, “People are eager to work; getting them on set is difficult but getting them to work is easy. We have new challenges before us like sanitisation and social distancing, but we will strictly adhere to all the norms.”

    But how production houses with lower budgets will work with added costs of sanitisation and other procedures? According to him, Hindi GECs would be able to sustain and work as soon as the government gives permission. Budget constraints, however, will pose challenges to regional channels. In that case, they might take more time than others to think of suitable measures. He said that broadcasters and production houses are already in talks to find out if there can be deduction in production budgets.

    Producers already have plans to start fiction shows with a lesser number of crew. Non-fiction shows, however, will be on hold as they require larger crews. According to him, broadcasters are also under pressure as there haven’t been any advertising revenues for many months.

    Optimystix Entertainment founder-MD Vipul D Shah suggests, as a measure of social distancing, that editing rooms will require redesigning. A separate space will be allotted to editors with one in one room. Most preferably, they will be asked to work from home.

    Makeup artists and hairdressers are constantly required to be with actors. But, to maintain social distancing, actors will now have to work without makeup artists at least for a few months. However, all these measures are still on paper; one has to wait till shooting starts to test the efficacy of their implementation.

    Indiantelevision.com reached out to Vaishnave Media Works Ltd MD-chairman Kutty Padmini to understand how things have progressed in the Tamil industry.

    She said, “Full-fledged shooting has not yet started in the Tamil industry as not more than 15 to 20 people can work together at a time. So, we have requested the Tamil Nadu government to grant permission for 40 people.” She adds that 30 people can be present inside the set and 10 outside; they will include drivers, generator operators and the rest.

    She said that the pending post-production works like dubbing, CJI, and VFX have started.

    According to Padmini, the Tamil Nadu government decided to resume shooting with 20 people after someone suggested that in Hollywood the shoot is happening with just 22 members. She says that this scenario is not relevant to India.

    “Resuming shoot with minimum people is possible for me as I do my own scripts and everything else, but it might not be possible for other people. It is not quite difficult also. Today, the technology is so advanced that we do not need so many lights or technicians like in the black-and-white era.”

    Padmini made it clear that she is planning to resume shooting only after 15 June. Currently, she is busy creating content for her YouTube channel.

    On creating a bank of certain episodes, Padmini says that now broadcasters allow the creation of banks of only five episodes. Story narrations might change in accordance with other factors like change in TRPs. And then there are many other factors like availability of actors, who come from Karnataka and Kerala.

    During the pandemic, a lot of production houses had to lay off employees, but the situation has been different for Padmini as she preferred to hire people based on projects.

    Padmini is utilising this lockdown period to create scripts which are doable with lesser crew. She is currently working with MSN, Amazon Prime, Dangal and Aha Media in Hyderabad.

    Creative Eye founder Dheeraj Kumar is positive that soon Maharashtra will also start post-production works like other states. Kumar’s 20-year-old show Shree Ganesh will make a comeback on Star Plus. The show will premiere on 2 June and air from Monday to Sunday at 6:30 pm.

    “The show is going to start but I have to do some additions, promos, and post production works. So, I am giving whatever technological help that is required through constant communication with editors and technicians. Basically, my problems are very immediate. The bigger challenge is we cannot start our post-production works until and unless we follow all the guidelines imposed by Maharashtra government,” he added.

    Kumar has his own studio, pro-cut machines, tools, equipment for mixing and sound. Apart from this, he regularly sanitises his studio building. He is bringing in place sanitise tunnels to effectively disinfect offices and equipment. In order to maintain social distancing norms Kumar has enough rooms that could be allotted to the technical staff.

    Kumar is also going to implement an odd-even formula in terms of staff to begin shooting. He believes broadcasters and producers will have to support each other in these troubled times.

    “Going forward we will have to think very carefully with regard to logistics and finances. Necessity is the mother of invention. We will have to learn to work with less crew and a tight budget. Industry needs to do the handholding to come out of this crisis,” he concludes. 

  • Distressed studios ready to give concessions to producers

    Distressed studios ready to give concessions to producers

    MUMBAI: Huge financial losses, unbearable maintenance costs, the fear of impending rain ruining the sets… Studio owners in the country have been living with all these woes and challenges after the lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of Covid2019. 

    Ever since the lockdown, studio owners, bereft of any revenue during the last two months, have been bearing the operation costs such as for maintenance, workers’ salary, loan interest, etc.

    Says Future Studio promoter Archana Shourie, “If Rs 100 was the revenue we earn in a month, which is zero now due to the crisis, the expenses of Rs 40 continue to exist as we have been paying all our workers 100 per cent salary from the company’s account, which will take us six months to come to normal.”

    Shows such as Guddan – Tumse Na Ho Payega, Dil Ye Ziddi Hai, and many other projects of Balaji Telefilms are shot at Future Studio. Shourie says, “Once the shooting starts, I don’t think there would be any issues going forward. We are waiting to see how the government will help us restart.”

    The financial crisis in the television and ad industry is so huge it has almost created a panic-like situation, says Shourie. “I don’t believe lockdown is really going to be a solution to stop the spread of Covid2019, because people have gone into a major depression.”

    Future Studio has taken all necessary precautions such as sanitisation of cabin, sanitizer stands across the premises. It has also arranged a doctor and nurse along with an ambulance.

    Lambodar Studio owner Chandan Thakare, who has been burdened with debts, has been facing harassment from people from whom he had borrowed loans for business. Says Thakare, “Currently, we are facing huge financial losses. Rains are approaching in a couple of weeks and would need to prepare ourselves, but all of our six workers have left for their hometown and will be back after everything normalises.” 

    Thakare is one of the partners of Lambodar Studio in Malvani, where Marathi shows called Ek Hoti Rajkanya and episodes of Crime Patrol's were shot, but they remain paralysed due to the current crisis. Thakare has studio sets of a police station and two chawls and one bungalow at different locations. His studio business, a joint venture with four studios and production sets, has been facing financial crisis.

    He fears that rain may flood the studio and that the sets will be ruined. “We don’t have labourers to cover it with tarpaulin,” he says.

    With almost zero revenues, he has been incurring an operational costs of at least Rs 7.5 lakh per month. On average, Thakare used to earn revenue of not less than Rs 17-18 lakh per month, of which profit used to be Rs 4 lakh. Plus, he had to pay the interest from the profit.

    It’s speculated that around mid-June shootings are likely to resume, says Thakare. “The shooting of only daily soaps will resume at a single location, whose storyline and cast change every episode, like for example Crime Patrol.” Thakare dreams of giving a better livelihood to at least 500 employees’ families working with or under him.

    Artisan Studio owner RS Garg Shree Ganesha says: “This crisis has made everyone learn something out of it. We may take time to come back to normalcy with proper hygiene and social distancing.” He has been facing a monthly revenue loss of at least Rs 10 lakh and maintenance cost of Rs 2-2.5 lakh.

    Garg, who jointly owns two-three studios on the outskirts of Mumbai, has been seeking at least half of the decided payment from producers, but ready to come to a middle ground through mutual understanding. He expects industry to bounce back soon and shall have a meeting with producers soon, once everything opens up. Artisan Studio doesn’t have many labours; it has a manager, an electrician and a few security guards and has been paying fully for the last two months.

    Despite the woes, some studio owners are extending whatever help they can to the needy in these times of crisis. 

    While all other studio owners are worried about the top-line decline, Mother Nature Studio owner Vishal Kandhari has completely turned one of the studio properties into an NGO. He along with his 14-15 employees, who are volunteering for this noble cause, has been distributing food packets to the people living on the streets, who have been suffering most due to this lockdown.

    Kandhari, like other studio owners, is facing a financial crisis but this has not stopped him from feeding at least 3000-4000 people in the Andheri-Borivali belt almost every day now. He started this initiative through an NGO called Punyakarma Foundation. His initiative has received multiple donations, including from his colleagues, and has been appreciated and supported by Bollywood celebrities such as Tiger Shroff, Imtiaz Ali, Ashish Vidyarthi, and Pallavi Joshi.

    Kandhari says, “The lockdown cannot be extended for a longer period. We have to come out of this and need to have an alternative solution. We need to use our intelligence as the virus is here to stay and don’t see it fading out soon.” He expects producers to take extra precautions before resuming shooting and make proper arrangements for the crew.

    Kandhari owns three studios each in Mud-island, Naigaon and Malad link road. He has 50-60 employees, of which 45 of them have returned to their hometowns. So far, all workers are being paid full, but going forward the studio has to re-think about their wages. Like Thakare, Kandhari is also worried about the rains approaching in a few weeks. He is also worried about leakage and water-clogging ruining the studios.  

    Thanks to their good relations with producers, studio owners have received all the payments at least till 15 March. They may have to forgo the last two months’ rent. In order to restart the business, studio owners are ready to help their fellow industry mates, especially producers, in whichever way possible, to help them stand back on their feet once a green signal for shooting comes from the government.

    Studio owners believe that it’s time to help each other and emerge stronger from this situation. Towards this goal, they are ready for renegotiation of contracts with the producers if required. They are also willing to give a concession of at least 10-15 per cent to help producers resume the stalled shooting. 

  • Help each other to bring the industry back on its feet: TV producers

    Help each other to bring the industry back on its feet: TV producers

    MUMBAI: The television producers believe that helping each other to revive the business, as and when the state government allows production to resume, will help the industry get back on its feet. This was the unanimous view of a virtual round table conference organised by indiantelevision.com to discuss the challenges faced by TV producers.  

    The panel, moderated by indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, had Swastik Productions & One Life Studios producer & managing director Rahul Kumar Tewary, SOL Productions founder and managing director Fazila Allana, Contiloe Pictures founder and CEO Abhimanyu Singh, Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege, Fremantle India Television Productions managing director Aradhana Bhola, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer Asit Kumarr Modi of Neela Films, and ANM Global managing partner Nidhish Mehrotra.

    It was a two-hour-long animated and insightful discussion that touched upon the issues which are afflicting the production community during this pandemic. Towards the end, there saw a question-and-answer session between the moderator and panellists.

    The majority of panellists agreed that the lockdown has prompted them to think about the future, watch enormous content. And the further extension of the lockdown is adding to their financial stress. The country has been under shutdown for over two months now, the total cases across the nation surpassing the one-lakh mark with around 4000 deaths due to the Covid2019.

    SOL Productions founder and managing director Fazila Allana says that the lockdown has been interesting so far, it gave the producers a time to plan for the future. They are in a wait-and-watch mode.

    Contrary to the Allana’s view, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer Asit Kumarr Modi says: “We were expecting 10-15 days of lockdown, but the situation is getting grimmer with the extension. There is no positivity remaining and I don't have a happy mindset after two months of lockdown.”

    The producers expressed the view that they somehow tried to stretch the fresh content on TV until March, but with the beginning of April every other broadcasting network started showing re-runs of archives and are doing the same even today, except with some error-and-trial work from home shows.

    Many producers had predicted lockdown, shut their offices and stopped shooting before prime minister Narendra Modi announced the official lockdown on 24 March.

    Expressing his concern that prolonged lockdown is taking a toll on businesses, Swastik Productions & One Life Studios producer & MD Rahul Kumar Tewary says: “We can’t be in lockdown forever and the nation's economy needs to be revived. We need to have ways, initiatives, and measures as an alternative to start businesses. It's an evolution and a new way to do business. We need to evolve.”

    Sharing Tewary’s view, Fremantle India Television Productions managing director Aradhana Bhola says: “The lives of the people are important but we need to revive business and try different ways to find the solution. I think this is the time to reset, and need to find ways to do it collectively.” She doesn’t believe that the producers will have a typical set of doing a production from home; rather it will have a hybrid studio setup of producing content remotely.

    And in these testing times, to guide the panellists on the legal front, ANM Global managing partner Nidhish Mehrotra says that nobody had thought of adding pandemic as force majeure clause in the contract globally. He adds that if insurance talks about the pandemic in your contract then you're covered, but if it doesn't mention it, then you are not eligible for the same.

    With over-the-top media having taken the centre stage amid the pandemic, Modi says, “The audience’s behaviour will drastically change after post-Covid2019 situation. And, I am positive that producers will come with more creative shows. We need to create shows which make viewers happy. Both fiction and non-fiction will have their own challenges.”

    Listing out the challenges post-lifting of the lockdown, Contiloe Pictures founder and CEO Abhimanyu Singh explains: “All the stakeholders will have to understand each other’s problem. It has to be a healthy discussion, which helps us find a solution. We will face multiple challenges once the lockdown is lifted, and the budget cut is going to be a collective problem.”

    He adds, “Our biggest challenge as a producer is to ensure the continuity of the shoot. Once you have started the shoot, don’t stop it”. Singh is of the same view of Modi that the viewing patterns of television audiences may change. According to him, AVoD will co-exist with television and SVoD is here to stay as many OTT platforms have proved their mettle.

    The Maharashtra government has listened to the television fraternity’s concerns. Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege, who was one of the producers who attended the virtual meeting with the chief minister in this regard, said: “The state government has formed teams to do surveys at shooting locations and will also come up with final SOPs.” Rege hopes that by the first week of June the government should come out with a concrete plan and shooting would resume soon.

    The other challenges that were discussed by the producers were pay cuts and shooting locations. According to Rege, there is no specific regulatory body to monitor pay cuts; it’s an individual decision. Similarly, Modi highlights the fact that television producers don’t have a proper shooting infrastructure in India, and “it should be our next focus once the pandemic ends.”

    During this lockdown period, with no work to do, television producers are using their free time to either binge-watch some good content and/or planning the future course of actions or trying to find an alternative way to deal with this situation once the lockdown ends.