ITV

Category: Production House

  • Zapr, PubMatic partner for integrated TV and digital media buying

    Zapr, PubMatic partner for integrated TV and digital media buying

    Mumbai: Media-tech startup Zapr has partnered with programmatic advertising company PubMatic.

    This partnership will enable media buyers to build integrated TV and digital plans by leveraging rich audience segments across all digital screens and channels including mobile, connected TV, and the open web – on PubMatic’s premium inventory.

    The direct integration, via PubMatic’s Audience Encore, allows buyers to activate data at the supply level, said the company in a statement.

    The integrated marketing solutions backed by India’s largest offline media consumption data can help brands and agencies achieve targeted engagement more efficiently, it added.

    Audience Encore is an audience data platform designed to improve how marketers and data owners transact by giving more control to the data owner and better ROI for the advertiser. Publishers with first-party data and data providers can simply upload their segments to Audience Encore, generate a deal ID for single, recurring, or customised use, and then transact programmatically alongside premium PubMatic inventory in private or open marketplaces.

    “There is significant adoption of programmatic advertising in the Indian market, where it has become an integral part of most brands’ digital plans,” said Zapr, senior vice president – revenue and ad operations, Bhavna Saincher. “This collaboration with PubMatic will expand the accessibility footprint of Zapr’s unique TV and behavioural segments for agency and brand partners.”

  • Producers Guild & Times Now settle civil suit over defamatory remarks

    Mumbai: The Producers Guild of India has announced that it has settled the civil suit filed against Times Now over alleged “irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks” against the film industry.

    According to a joint statement from the Guild and Times Now shared on social media, the channel has agreed to abide by provisions of the Programme Code under the Cable TV Networks Rules.

    Four film industry bodies and 34 producers had filed a plea in Delhi high court last year seeking to restrain Republic TV and Times Now from making allegedly defamatory remarks against the Hindi film industry and conducting media trials against its members on various issues following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

    The lawsuit by four Bollywood industry associations and thirty-four leading producers, including those owned by Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Ajay Devgan, Rohit Shetty, Anil Kapoor, Yash Raj Films and R S Entertainment, had sought that the channels be restrained from interfering with the right to privacy of persons associated with the industry. The associations included the Producers Guild of India, Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC), Screenwriters Association (SWA), and Cine and TV Artist’s Association (CINTAA).

     

     

    “The Plaintiffs and Times Now are pleased to confirm that they have settled the matter, and the application for settlement along with Consent Terms is pending for acceptance before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court. As per the Consent Terms agreed, Times Now reaffirms its commitment to abide by the Programme Code under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 and undertakes not to publish or air anything that is defamatory to the Plaintiffs (the Hindi film industry) on the Times Now channel,” the statement read, “With this matter settled, the Plaintiffs and the Times Group can look forward to building on their historically cordial relationship.”

  • Juggernaut Productions all set to begin work on its first international mini-series

    New Delhi: Taking a strategic step towards international partnerships, IN10 Media Network’s production arm, Juggernaut Productions has joined hands with the UK based Nucleus Media Rights, a fast-growing television production and distribution company, and creator Brendan Foley, for the international mini-series, Mark Twain in India.

    Juggernaut Productions will be the Indian development, production, and distribution partner for the project. “We are glad to partner with Nucleus Media as it illustrates our commitment towards creating global content,” said IN10 Media Network, VP-corporate strategy, and development, Mansi Darbar highlighting that the collaboration is a significant first step for IN10 Media’s Juggernaut Productions to bring forth its expertise to the international foray while developing and producing the content, locally. 

    The mini-series Mark Twain in India narrates the story of the author, Mark Twain’s life-saving and life-changing tour to India during a personal tragedy and ruin when all appeared lost. In a vast and remote subcontinent, he discovers his love for life through India’s history and humanity.

    Juggernaut Productions’ chief operating officer, Samar Khan who will work closely with Foley and Nucleus on the project said, “Creating content with inspiring concepts is what excites us, and we look forward to working together on the project. Mark Twain was a curious traveller and his stories have been a part of our growing up years. It will be exhilarating to exhibit India through his journey of the country that he undertook in what was a crucial juncture of world history.”

    Nucleus Media Rights, chief executive officer, Bruno Zarka sees this collaboration as “an exciting development as we broaden our international connections. IN10 Media Networks- Juggernaut Productions shares our vision of a highly commercial series with wonderful production values and an all-star cast. We are confident that they can help deliver a series that will appeal to mainstream audiences everywhere.”

    “It’s wonderful to work with such a well-known and well-loved character as Mark Twain, yet in such a little explored facet of his life. Bankrupt and miserable, Twain rediscovered his love of life and of writing, as he explored India from mud huts to palaces, on an epic speaking tour,” said creator Brenden Foley whose recent work includes Nordic Noir series Cold Courage forAMC+, Lionsgate, Viaplay and Britbox; The Man Who Died, currently in production in Finland for streamer ELISA; showrunner for crime series Body of Water for ZDFE, Nucleus,3zero2; Sherlock’s Daughter for Starlings, Mediawan and StoryFirst; and Ghostwalk for Blue Ant and Canada’s T+E channel.

    Nucleus will make further announcements shortly about finance and other partners for Mark Twain in India.

  • Maharashtra unlock begins; TV, film shoots resume with limited working hours

    New Delhi: After nearly two months of lockdown, Maharashtra is all set to begin easing its strict rules in stages, starting Monday. The film and television industry will also resume shooting, but work in limited hours, as regular shooting will be permitted only after Mumbai gets a grip on the second wave of Covid-19, said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday.

    As per the state government’s unlock plan, the film, TV shoots are allowed in Mumbai and Thane only for eight hours (till 5 pm) and that too, in a bio-bubble. According to producers, the timings aren’t feasible for the industry, as they require atleast 12 hours and requested the government for relaxation in shoot timings.

    “Permissions for regular film and TV shootings in Mumbai would be given if the city’s daily Covid-19 cases are brought under control,” Thackeray told the representatives of the film and TV industry during a virtual interaction on Sunday.

    One of the worst-affected states, Maharashtra has begun to show a slowdown in the number of new infections over the last week. On Sunday, the total number of daily infections came down to 12,557 which is the lowest in the last three months. The last time the state recorded Covid-19 cases less than 12,000 was on 9 March.

    “After the second wave of Covid-19, film and TV shootings were stopped in the state, but now the number of cases have started getting under control and the unlock process has also begun,” said Thackeray giving a glimmer of hope to the entertainment industry which has been struggling to get back on its feet for almost a year.

    The chief minister also sounded a note of caution and appealed to the industry to cooperate with the government in the unlock process and follow all the safety rules and take adequate precautions while shooting. ‘We should ensure that we do not get knocked down by the virus,’ he said.

    Ever since the restrictions were announced on 14 April, television producers and broadcasters in the state have been struggling to run daily shows and bring fresh content. The Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC) has also been beseeching the Shiv Sena-led government to allow shoots to continue under strict safety protocols.

    With no relief in the restrictions, producers shifted their production set up to other states to continue shooting for shows which are on air. Neighbouring Goa, Silvassa, and Daman became the hotspots for most of these TV shoots, along with Hyderabad, Surat, Rajasthan, and Delhi.

    Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), president B N Tiwari said the work will resume immediately in Mumbai and Thane, and producers who have been shooting outside the city will also return after wrapping up the schedule.

    Meanwhile, the IFTPC has also begun the process of vaccinating over 10,000 workers from the media and entertainment industry, starting 4 June.

    On Sunday, Maharashtra lost 233 lives to the deadly virus and crossed the grim milestone of as many as one lakh deaths due to Covid-19. The case fatality rate now stands at 1.72 per cent for the state, while it is 5.56 per cent in Mumbai.

    Terming the unlock decision as a ‘calculated risk’, the state CM urged people to take care of themselves. “Nothing is going to be eased immediately. Some criteria and levels have been fixed and the local administration will take decisions on whether to ease restrictions and further tighten them,” he said.

    According to the government, the overall process of easing the restrictions will extend across five phases based on the positivity rate and occupancy of beds with medical oxygen. Restaurants, shops selling non-essential items, and public places will reopen from Monday in Mumbai, but malls, theatres, and multiplexes will continue to remain shut. Private offices can function at 50 per cent capacity till 4 pm on working days. Local trains in Mumbai will carry only essential workers, while buses in the city will be allowed to ply full capacity.

    The virtual meeting on Sunday was attended by several prominent actors, anchors, and industry representatives including J D Majethia, Nitin Vaidya, Punit Goenka, Aadesh Bandekar, Prashant Damle, Bharat Jadhav, Subodh Bhave, Amol Kolhe, Amit Behl, Ajay Bhalvankar, Sangamon Shirke, Vijay Kenkre, Sharad Ponkshe, and Siddharth Roy Kapur.

  • One Life Studios partners with Sanjeev Kapoor’s Turmeric Vision

    Mumbai: One Life Studios, on Thursday, announced its partnership with master chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s food content company Turmeric Vision Pvt Ltd. Under the new arrangement, One Life Studios will distribute the chef’s channel FoodFood to audiences across the world. 

    The new partnership is expected to make the Indian food endeavour global. It will pique the interest of not just Indian audiences internationally but also large non-Indian populations across the globe. 

    Talking about the new association, One Life Studios head honcho Sidharth Kumar Tewary said, “With the pandemic and its impact on lives, the importance of food and the food business has changed completely. Many professionals having become home chefs/bakers and most homemakers focus immensely on giving their families nutritious meals to ensure good health and safety. In an environment like that, the need to focus on the global exchange of food-led content has become imperative and who better than the original master chef- Sanjeev Kapoor himself! He is a brand to reckon with and the content he and his company create has been followed, appreciated, and trusted by Indians for years.” 

    Turmeric Vision and FoodFood channel’s founder, Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor said, “The food content and interest has exploded last year and interest in the category has compounded over the months. At Sanjeev Kapoor Khana Khazana and FoodFood, we have been working towards the mission and goal of making relevant, trustworthy content that has appealed to audiences of all ages over the years. As the leading food publisher, our reach extends to digital and TV which reaches national and international markets creating engaged loyal consumers who enjoy our content regularly. We are happy to partner with One Life Studios who will distribute our content globally and make the reach of our content widespread.”

  • Producers Guild of India organizes mass vaccination campaign

    Producers Guild of India organizes mass vaccination campaign

    Mumbai: The Producers Guild of India (PGI), the association of Indian film, television, and digital content producers on Monday announced it will conduct a mass vaccination campaign to give coronavirus vaccines to guild members and associated production crews. 

    The Guild, in a press release, noted that members will be vaccinated across several days in a drive to commence on 1 June at Mehboob Studios, in suburban Bandra. The organizers said that mass vaccination is the single solution to curb the spread of the pandemic, and would also facilitate safer shooting, once production work resumes. 

    “An activity of such importance and magnitude cannot be carried out singlehandedly, and we are extremely grateful for the support we have received to make this possible. We are happy that we are able to provide this facility to our members, their employees, and the cast and crew of their (respective) productions as we work to get the industry back on its feet again in the weeks ahead,” said Producers Guild of India president Sidharth Roy Kapur. 

    Kapur also thanked production company Excel Entertainment for playing ”a pivotal role in securing the vaccine, as also Mehboob Productions, who very generously offered complimentary use of the spacious Mehboob Studios.”

    Due to the second wave of the Covid pandemic, the Maharashtra government has suspended all shooting activities, both indoor and outdoor. Currently, the shooting of a few films and television shows is being carried out outside the state. 

    Maharashtra, on Sunday, reported 18,600 fresh Covid cases, with the death toll due to Covid-related complications costing 402 human lives, pushing the total number of fatalities to 94,844. 

     

     

  • Sidelined by Bollywood, Marathi content will be redefined by Planet Marathi, says Akshay Bardapurkar

    Sidelined by Bollywood, Marathi content will be redefined by Planet Marathi, says Akshay Bardapurkar

    Thiruvananthapuram: The Marathi entertainment industry has often failed to get due recognition, despite producing quality content for years now, thanks to the overshadowing glitz and glamour of Bollywood, according to Planet Marathi’s founder Akshay Bardapurkar. 

    Planet Marathi was therefore launched in 2017 by Bardapurkar, as a nodal digital platform to not only connect Marathi speaking audiences across the world, but also redefine the reach and popularity of quality Marathi content. 

    Celebrating its fourth anniversary, and through the course of these years, Bardapurkar and his team have successfully emerged as one of the most noted production houses in the Marathi industry. In 2020, Amitabh Bachchan made his debut in Marathi filmdom with the movie, ‘AB Aani CD’ under the banner of Planet Marathi. The company has also launched an initiative named ‘Planet Talent’, with the aim of according due recognition to and highlighting supremely talented artistes from Maharashtra. 

    Talking about Bollywood under shadowing Marathi content, Bardapurkar said, “Marathi filmmakers are among the best, and globally renowned for their work. The Marathi industry was undermined due to several factors. The problem was that Marathi always lacked the branding and packaging, which the other regional players like in Tamil and Telugu, have never refrained from. They have created the stardom which is a requisite (component of industry). They branded their products very well. This is what we intend to do by creating varied content in Marathi. We are sure that we will be able to match up to Bollywood or even any other regional languages in the future.”

    Bardapurkar, in association with actor Pushkar Shrotri and music composer Aditya Oak, plans to launch an OTT platform exclusively dedicated to Marathi content. The OTT platform was originally scheduled to launch in May, but the second wave of the Corona virus of 2019 resulted in the launch of Planet Marathi OTT being postponed. Despite tight competition from mega players like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+Hotstar, Bardapurkar is quite confident about the Marathi OTT platform being able to affirm its position in the market through the strategic use of unique content for audiences.

    “Technology is at the highest level today. Language is not a barrier on OTT platforms. Films released on OTT are considered world movies, just like we watch Latin, Spanish, and Korean films. I believe Marathi films with English subtitles will attract global audiences. We have (a large pool) of talent, and it is necessary to market it wisely. However, we should make sure that the content is crisper,” added Bardapurkar. 

    An official announcement regarding the re-scheduled launch of the OTT platform is expected to be made in the near future.  

    Bardapurkar revealed that he does not visualize a target audience while creating content, and emphatically states that content offered by Planet Marathi will cater to the needs of people, irrespective of age demographics. 

    Apart from creating original movies, Planet Marathi also plans to launch many non-fiction shows, and games. According to Bardapurkar, Planet Marathi’s OTT platform will not just be an OTT platform uploaded with movies, but instead, it will be a super-platform offering non-fiction shows ranging from music contests to cookery shows. 

    Bardapurkar revealed that his company has successfully laid the foundation, over the past four years, for the future to witness a creative movement that will open up a world of high-quality Marathi content for global audiences. 

  • Peter Murrieta signs deal with Universal Television

    Peter Murrieta signs deal with Universal Television

    Popular American producer and writer Peter Murrieta has signed a first-look deal with Universal Television. According to a report published in Variety, Murrieta, will develop exclusive and original content for broadcast on cable, and streaming platforms.

    “We couldn’t be happier to be working with Peter in this new way. Besides being a hilarious writer and an all-around great guy, he has the amazing track record of championing and supporting fellow LatinX voices and talent. We look forward to all the great projects we get to collaborate with him on,” said Universal Television, executive vice president of comedy development Jim Donnelly. 

    Murrieta is best known for his work on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place, in which he served as head writer and executive producer in the first three seasons. He was previously an executive producer in Mr Iglesias, a comedy series on Netflix. Murrieta had also co-written the television movie Feliz Navidad which stars Mario Lopez and Paulina Chavez in the lead roles. 

    Murrieta is currently busy with the work of IMDB TV show Primo. He is also developing an animated project for Amazon and a feature film for DreamWorks Animation. 

  • Planet Marathi hires journalist Jayanti Waghdhare as AVP, Social Media

    Planet Marathi hires journalist Jayanti Waghdhare as AVP, Social Media

    Mumbai: Planet Marathi on Tuesday has appointed senior journalist Jayanti Waghdhare as its AVP, Social Media. Waghdhare has previously worked with Zee Media Corporation Limited. 

    “Having worked as an entertainment correspondent I have formed a deeper relationship with this industry. From television to films and from regional to Bollywood, I have endeavoured to bring the action from the industry to the spotlight. Now I move on to become the face behind the camera in propelling Planet Marathi OTT- World’s first Marathi OTT platform towards greater heights,” said Waghdhare.

    Planet Marathi CMD Akshay Bardapurkar said the position needed a fresh perspective and an in-depth understanding of how the media industry works, and an insightful content creator all bundled in one. “We want to keep a close connection with our audience and with Jayanti onboard, we will be able to forge these connections effectively,” he said.

  • As infections surge, West Bengal and Odisha suspend TV & film shoots

    As infections surge, West Bengal and Odisha suspend TV & film shoots

    Mumbai: Struggling to combat the devastating surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, West Bengal and Odisha on Monday decided to suspend the shooting of all television shows and films with immediate effect.

    The decision to suspend shooting comes as a part of stricter lockdown measures imposed in these states to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. West Bengal on Sunday reported the highest single-day Covid-19 toll with 147 deaths that pushed up the fatality count to 13,284.

    The Odisha government, in its new circular, ordered the suspension of both indoor and outdoor shooting activities. Earlier, shooting was permitted in Odisha subject to permission from the local authorities. 

    Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India President Swarup Biswas told PTI that the shooting of 36 serials, three web series, and one film will be suspended until 31 May due to the new restriction imposed by the government. 

    However, Biswas requested the authorities to permit shooting in West Bengal and assured that all Covid safety procedures will be followed while filming. Thousands of people working in the industry will become unemployed due to the new order, he beseeched. “Our request will be to the chief minister Mamata Banerjee to see if something can be done so that hundreds of people involved in this profession are not rendered unemployed. It will be better if they can carry on their work following all COVID safety procedures,” said Biswas. 

    Biswas also added that all actors and technicians will soon undergo Covid tests so that they can keep the shooting area coronavirus-free zone. 

    TV and film shooting also remains suspended in Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa which are also reeling under the second wave of Covid-19. On Saturday, RK Selvamani, the president of the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) said that the shooting of films and serials in Tamil Nadu will be suspended until 31 May. FEFSI made this decision after 26 members of a TV serial crew tested positive for Covid infection.