ITV

Category: Production House

  • Disney India confirms ending Hindi film production

    Disney India confirms ending Hindi film production

    MUMBAI: Reams and reams of newsprint and countless words have been written over the past week, about the exit of Disney India from the motion picture business and the departure of its managing director Siddharth Roy Kapur. The company refrained from reacting to any of the news reports.

    But it has now decided to issue an official statement confirming that it is indeed bringing down the curtains on its bold Hindi production initiative which it once considered as a crown jewel when it acquired UTV from Ronnie Screwvala four years ago.

    “We periodically review and realign our business priorities in response to evolving market dynamics. Given the challenges with the current economic model for investing in the local film industry, we intend to shift the focus of our film strategy to driving our Hollywood movie slate in India. These movies have enjoyed considerable success, including The Jungle Book, which is the highest-grossing Hollywood movie of all time in India. We remain optimistic about the incredible potential of the Indian market and will continue to invest in growing the Disney brand in India with our movies, television networks, consumer and interactive products, and live experiences,” reads the official statement from the company, which is to be attributed to ‘Disney spokesperson.’

    While Disney India has reserved all comments about Sid hanging up his boots, there is clear indication that he is quitting as a headhunt has commenced to find a replacement for him. .

    To many industry observers the decision to bring up the closing scene to its Hindi film production story, is not a sudden move but is a very calculated step that seeks to have it focusing on nurturing the revenue generating businesses rather than doing the balancing act at the local box office.

    While some may point that it is the dud performance of Mohenjo Daro at the box office that served as the catalyst behind this decision, it is the overall market dynamics that doesn’t favour profitability in the movie making business, is Disney India’s belief.

    The Hindi box office has been declining in the last few years whereas Hollywood has grown by almost 50 per cent this year. Out of the 250 plus Hindi movies that release every year and within the top 20, less than half the films make profits for the investing studio. Considering the cost of each film, it is very hard to get that money back and make moolah with the limited screens that the country has, shared a veteran in the movie distribution business. Even if a movie does make money, a lion’s share of that profit goes to the stars.

    Since Walt Disney is in the business of making money, staying in the Hindi film market doesn’t make sense for it.

    “Few of the projects that they have greenlit didn’t make practical sense honestly. Filmmakers and studios need to draw realistic budgets if they are to stay in business. A movie like Mohenjo Daro that required a heavy budget due to its historic storyline didn’t seem like a sensible investment from a business standpoint. Not to mention instead of a solo release, it hit the screens with another project and therefore the number of screens it was exposed to were less,” opined Mumbai-based film distributor Rajesh Thadani.

    To be fair to Disney India, Thadani shared that several other studios including Balaji and 20th Century Fox have had their fair share of mistakes and calls this development at Disney India a cue for the film industry to do a reality check for a more realistic approach to making films. “It won’t impact the film making in the industry but it definitely has given the corporate world food for thought,” he shared.

    While the studio will not sign any new production deals in the Indian film market, it will release the promised magnum opuses with due diligence — Dangal in December 2016 and Jagga Jasoos in April 2017.

  • TV producer Colosceum’s new drive

    TV producer Colosceum’s new drive

    MUMBAI: Lalit Sharma has one ambition that keeps him up all night, it’s the drive to take his production house Colosceum Media into new vistas. The smiling soft-spoken bearded CEO whose charge has built up its reputation as a top notch producer of non-fiction and reality shows would like to balance out its portfolio by diversifying increasingly into TV dramas and series for Hindi GECs, shows for international TV channels, and digital content.

    For the first, he has a challenge – albeit not un-surmountable – on his hands. For a large part programmers in Hindi GECs are a cautious bunch – they put producers in defined boxes and are loathe to give opportunities to untried and untested producers, even though they have experience in other genres. “Oh! He is into non-fiction; he does not have the requisite fiction production experience,” is oft heard in programming circles in channels.

    The production house has found a way out of this Catch22 situation. Over the years, it has partnered with fiction producers or creators by pumping in funds and looking after the production aspects of each show. For example for its latest endeavor, Dehleez, which came to a close in June 2016, Sharma found a willing listener in Star Content Studios boss Gaurav Banerji who allowed him to partner and co-produce it with Farhan Salaruddin’s Fortune Productions for Star Plus. A romantic courtroom drama it ran for 104 episodes at 10:30 pm, and pulled in consistent ratings for the channel.

    But Lalit wants more of fiction. “We were heartened by the success of Dahleez and would like to produce more shows in the fiction genre. We have a few concepts for which we are currently in conversation with a couple of Hindi GECs,” he says.

    The Rs 45.55 crore (year ended 31 March 2015) turnover TV production studio has made its reputation as the producer of flagship shows such as MTV Roadies, Splitsvilla and Masterchef which are almost iconic. But unknown to many it has almost been churning out ad films, documentaries, regional content and even mythological shows.

    Its ride into television started way back in 2007 when founder Ajit Andhare armed with little but a dream to get into production drew up a business plan and approached TV18 promoter Raghav Bahl and got him to provide him with seed capital. Ajit had little TV production experience. A 10 year veteran of marketing behemoth Hindustan Lever, he had risen up the ranks to become regional brand activation director APAC for its parent Unilever. Through the years, he had worked on brands like Sunsilk Clear, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lux, among many others.

    While at Hindustan Lever, he had creatively brainstormed and conceptualized a concept that would end up on television as a TV show Wheel Smart Srimati on Doordarshan.

    Ajit utilized the seed capital Raghav provided him for his project well. He roped in in Rajiv Lakshman (yes, he of Roadies fame and the other half of the twin brothers) as chief creative officer. He then brought in Lalit, (who had close to nine years experience and was working in Star India as AVP operations) as his COO.

    “Even though Colosceum was funded by Network 18, we were adamant on not making it a network production house, which turned out to be the biggest challenge,” shares Rajiv who has since parted ways from Colosceum, and today runs another outfit with his brother Raghu.

    Team in place, Ajit and Rajiv decided to approach Hindustan Lever with a pitch to produce Wheel Smart Srimati. The well-established Miditech and Endemol Colosceum were also in the running, but finally Levers decided to opt for Colosceum. The production house went on to make a success of it.

    But even then its big challenge was to get a show on private satellite TV. “The break came when we made Splitsvilla for MTV, the first romance reality show,” expresses Sharma.

    And then there was no looking back. Within seven months of inception, Colosceum had five shows on air Wheel Smart Srimati and Duniya on DD, Jai Sri Krishna and Bandhan Saat Janmon Ka (on Colors), and of course Splitsvilla. For its fiction, mythologicals and drama forays, Colosceum partnered with other creative boutiques such as Moti and Meenakshi Sagar, and Shakuntalam Telefilms – a tack it follows to this day.

    But the next big break at the company came when it was commissioned by Star to produce a top global format franchise – Masterchef India for Star Plus. Over the years, other shows followed on which it was a co-producer such as Jamunia and Meera on NDTV Imagine, Shakuntala on Star One, now Like Ok, and Bani Ishq Da Kalma on Colors.

    It was in 2013 when Ajit decided to head out and venture into film making under the banner of Viacom18 Motion Pictures. By then, most of the shareholding was in the hands of private equity funds.

    And the mantle to run the shop fell on Lalit. Rajiv also moved on to his joint venture with twin brother Raghu Ram. “I love experimenting with my career, Colosceum had attained stability and it was time to move on,” says Rajiv.

    Lalit brought in Jayesh Gokulgandhi as CFO, Girish Balan as VP-productions & operations and Kaveri Mehrotra as creative head. Today, a core team of 28 employees is responsible for the 200-250 hours of non-fiction content that it churns out. while the crew is hired according to the projects. The company’s rolls swell depending on the number of projects it has on the floors. For each non- fiction production, it recruits between 200-300 crew and for fiction between 60-100. For shows like Roadies which it has been producing since Season 8, it has partners and line producers nationally and internationally who are available for it on call.

    According to Lalit, the company has an appetite to produce three non-fiction, two or three regional fiction, two to three niche content and three to four fiction shows in the Hindi GEC space annually.

    “We work like a family, the entire team has dedication and passion at its core.” shares Lalit. ”Our co-productions are like collaborations where we come together to create the and produce the show. We have different revenue share models with our co-production partners,” explains Lalit.

    The Colosceum team has got plaudits from all and sundry. Its shows have won awards. But more than that is the praise that its broadcast partners shower on it. Says MTV India creative and content director Deborah Polycarp: “They produce Splitsvilla and Roadies for MTV from season 8 and have proved to be a passionate team. Colosceum puts in determined efforts behind every show that they produce. Evidence of that is the fact that Splitsvilla is amongst the top rated shows.”

    Lalit, on his part, is looking forward to the next season of Roadies which is slated to come on air in January next year.

    And taking Colosceum into the digital content space. Says Lalit: “We are pulling up our sleeves to create some path breaking content online, with the same impact as our shows on television.”

    Adds Kaveri: “We create youth content for any space, be it digital or broadcasting keeping their environment in mind. It has be out of the box and something which will have a creative hook.”

    Additionally, what’s exciting the team is a project, which is being drawn up on for an international broadcaster. “We can’t talk about it right now,” says Lalit. “But it will be a show that will take Colosceum to the next level.”

  • TV producer Colosceum’s new drive

    TV producer Colosceum’s new drive

    MUMBAI: Lalit Sharma has one ambition that keeps him up all night, it’s the drive to take his production house Colosceum Media into new vistas. The smiling soft-spoken bearded CEO whose charge has built up its reputation as a top notch producer of non-fiction and reality shows would like to balance out its portfolio by diversifying increasingly into TV dramas and series for Hindi GECs, shows for international TV channels, and digital content.

    For the first, he has a challenge – albeit not un-surmountable – on his hands. For a large part programmers in Hindi GECs are a cautious bunch – they put producers in defined boxes and are loathe to give opportunities to untried and untested producers, even though they have experience in other genres. “Oh! He is into non-fiction; he does not have the requisite fiction production experience,” is oft heard in programming circles in channels.

    The production house has found a way out of this Catch22 situation. Over the years, it has partnered with fiction producers or creators by pumping in funds and looking after the production aspects of each show. For example for its latest endeavor, Dehleez, which came to a close in June 2016, Sharma found a willing listener in Star Content Studios boss Gaurav Banerji who allowed him to partner and co-produce it with Farhan Salaruddin’s Fortune Productions for Star Plus. A romantic courtroom drama it ran for 104 episodes at 10:30 pm, and pulled in consistent ratings for the channel.

    But Lalit wants more of fiction. “We were heartened by the success of Dahleez and would like to produce more shows in the fiction genre. We have a few concepts for which we are currently in conversation with a couple of Hindi GECs,” he says.

    The Rs 45.55 crore (year ended 31 March 2015) turnover TV production studio has made its reputation as the producer of flagship shows such as MTV Roadies, Splitsvilla and Masterchef which are almost iconic. But unknown to many it has almost been churning out ad films, documentaries, regional content and even mythological shows.

    Its ride into television started way back in 2007 when founder Ajit Andhare armed with little but a dream to get into production drew up a business plan and approached TV18 promoter Raghav Bahl and got him to provide him with seed capital. Ajit had little TV production experience. A 10 year veteran of marketing behemoth Hindustan Lever, he had risen up the ranks to become regional brand activation director APAC for its parent Unilever. Through the years, he had worked on brands like Sunsilk Clear, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lux, among many others.

    While at Hindustan Lever, he had creatively brainstormed and conceptualized a concept that would end up on television as a TV show Wheel Smart Srimati on Doordarshan.

    Ajit utilized the seed capital Raghav provided him for his project well. He roped in in Rajiv Lakshman (yes, he of Roadies fame and the other half of the twin brothers) as chief creative officer. He then brought in Lalit, (who had close to nine years experience and was working in Star India as AVP operations) as his COO.

    “Even though Colosceum was funded by Network 18, we were adamant on not making it a network production house, which turned out to be the biggest challenge,” shares Rajiv who has since parted ways from Colosceum, and today runs another outfit with his brother Raghu.

    Team in place, Ajit and Rajiv decided to approach Hindustan Lever with a pitch to produce Wheel Smart Srimati. The well-established Miditech and Endemol Colosceum were also in the running, but finally Levers decided to opt for Colosceum. The production house went on to make a success of it.

    But even then its big challenge was to get a show on private satellite TV. “The break came when we made Splitsvilla for MTV, the first romance reality show,” expresses Sharma.

    And then there was no looking back. Within seven months of inception, Colosceum had five shows on air Wheel Smart Srimati and Duniya on DD, Jai Sri Krishna and Bandhan Saat Janmon Ka (on Colors), and of course Splitsvilla. For its fiction, mythologicals and drama forays, Colosceum partnered with other creative boutiques such as Moti and Meenakshi Sagar, and Shakuntalam Telefilms – a tack it follows to this day.

    But the next big break at the company came when it was commissioned by Star to produce a top global format franchise – Masterchef India for Star Plus. Over the years, other shows followed on which it was a co-producer such as Jamunia and Meera on NDTV Imagine, Shakuntala on Star One, now Like Ok, and Bani Ishq Da Kalma on Colors.

    It was in 2013 when Ajit decided to head out and venture into film making under the banner of Viacom18 Motion Pictures. By then, most of the shareholding was in the hands of private equity funds.

    And the mantle to run the shop fell on Lalit. Rajiv also moved on to his joint venture with twin brother Raghu Ram. “I love experimenting with my career, Colosceum had attained stability and it was time to move on,” says Rajiv.

    Lalit brought in Jayesh Gokulgandhi as CFO, Girish Balan as VP-productions & operations and Kaveri Mehrotra as creative head. Today, a core team of 28 employees is responsible for the 200-250 hours of non-fiction content that it churns out. while the crew is hired according to the projects. The company’s rolls swell depending on the number of projects it has on the floors. For each non- fiction production, it recruits between 200-300 crew and for fiction between 60-100. For shows like Roadies which it has been producing since Season 8, it has partners and line producers nationally and internationally who are available for it on call.

    According to Lalit, the company has an appetite to produce three non-fiction, two or three regional fiction, two to three niche content and three to four fiction shows in the Hindi GEC space annually.

    “We work like a family, the entire team has dedication and passion at its core.” shares Lalit. ”Our co-productions are like collaborations where we come together to create the and produce the show. We have different revenue share models with our co-production partners,” explains Lalit.

    The Colosceum team has got plaudits from all and sundry. Its shows have won awards. But more than that is the praise that its broadcast partners shower on it. Says MTV India creative and content director Deborah Polycarp: “They produce Splitsvilla and Roadies for MTV from season 8 and have proved to be a passionate team. Colosceum puts in determined efforts behind every show that they produce. Evidence of that is the fact that Splitsvilla is amongst the top rated shows.”

    Lalit, on his part, is looking forward to the next season of Roadies which is slated to come on air in January next year.

    And taking Colosceum into the digital content space. Says Lalit: “We are pulling up our sleeves to create some path breaking content online, with the same impact as our shows on television.”

    Adds Kaveri: “We create youth content for any space, be it digital or broadcasting keeping their environment in mind. It has be out of the box and something which will have a creative hook.”

    Additionally, what’s exciting the team is a project, which is being drawn up on for an international broadcaster. “We can’t talk about it right now,” says Lalit. “But it will be a show that will take Colosceum to the next level.”

  • Thought Pot Media forays into video production with Thought Pot Studios

    Thought Pot Media forays into video production with Thought Pot Studios

    MUMBAI: Thought Pot Media, listed amongst the leading digital agencies in the country, has announced its foray into video production under the banner Thought Pot Studios with the launch of their first brand film. This vertical will focus on creating innovative and high impact video content encompassing short films, web series, TVCs amongst others. Founded by Abhijeet Chandan and Pooja Jain in 2013, Thought Pot Media’s impressive clientele includes some of the biggest name across industries like Dharma Productions, Hindustan Pencils, Unibic Cookies, Playstation India, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Truecaller among many others. After setting a benchmark in the digital media marketing landscape, with the launch of Thought Pot Studios, Thought Pot Media promises to do the same in the video production domain as well.

    Speaking about the launch of Thought Pot Studios, Pooja Jain, Co-founder & Business Head, Thought Pot Media said, “After completing four years of exploring and experimenting with the digital medium to create engaging storylines with the consumers, we are now looking at delving into another aspect of storytelling with Thought Pot Studios. This brand film is just a start, we are looking forward to creating innovative and disruptive content in the coming future.”

    Thought Pot Studios will launch with its first brand film on Daughter’s Day with Nobel Hygiene, a leading healthcare brand.

  • Thought Pot Media forays into video production with Thought Pot Studios

    Thought Pot Media forays into video production with Thought Pot Studios

    MUMBAI: Thought Pot Media, listed amongst the leading digital agencies in the country, has announced its foray into video production under the banner Thought Pot Studios with the launch of their first brand film. This vertical will focus on creating innovative and high impact video content encompassing short films, web series, TVCs amongst others. Founded by Abhijeet Chandan and Pooja Jain in 2013, Thought Pot Media’s impressive clientele includes some of the biggest name across industries like Dharma Productions, Hindustan Pencils, Unibic Cookies, Playstation India, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Truecaller among many others. After setting a benchmark in the digital media marketing landscape, with the launch of Thought Pot Studios, Thought Pot Media promises to do the same in the video production domain as well.

    Speaking about the launch of Thought Pot Studios, Pooja Jain, Co-founder & Business Head, Thought Pot Media said, “After completing four years of exploring and experimenting with the digital medium to create engaging storylines with the consumers, we are now looking at delving into another aspect of storytelling with Thought Pot Studios. This brand film is just a start, we are looking forward to creating innovative and disruptive content in the coming future.”

    Thought Pot Studios will launch with its first brand film on Daughter’s Day with Nobel Hygiene, a leading healthcare brand.

  • Sony Pictures Networks India to foray into TV production

    Sony Pictures Networks India to foray into TV production

    MUMBAI: Last month, in an interview to deadline.com, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) presidents of programming and production Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht had stated that India could be the top notch production studio’s destination following the success it had achieved in China producing television.

    Speaking to the website about growth for SPT, Amburg had said: “…Where does growth come from and where does profitability come from? I think it comes from being a smart, thoughtful, global company. And more importantly, are there still growth markets internationally? I would say a hundred percent yes. China is a very interesting market, I think a lot of people have been examining that. We’re already producing a hit series there, Mad About You, we have two or three other projects that are in the mix right now. We had a dynamic conversation today about India. We have a huge networks footprint there.”

    The network he was referring to is of course Sony Picture Networks (SPN) India, which is headed by CEO NP Singh. SPN India, has a motion picture division in India which is headed by Sneha Rajani, and which produced the successful Amitabh Bacchan-starrer Piku last year. This apart, Sony Pictures Entertainment Films has been releasing international films from its parent stable in the country.

    And today confirmation came in from SPN India that it was indeed foraying into TV production. “SPN has decided to produce fiction shows in-house for our network. While we are starting with one show, we will scale up as we go forward,” said a company spokesperson in an email response to a query from Indiantelevision.com.

    No further details were forthcoming on who would be heading the production initiative, at the time of writing.

    SPT in has an envious slate of shows to its credit: The BlackList, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Night Shift, Days of our Lives, The NightShift, BloodLine, Drop Dead Diva, The Art of More, Rules of Engagement, Dr Ken, Preacher…

    This is not the first instance that a broadcast network is getting into TV production. The Zee Network has its Essel Vision, which has been involved in many of its marquee properties. Then Star India had taken a 25.99 per cent stake in Balaji Telefilms April 2004, only to exit it on 5 August 2015 at a price of Rs 108 crore.

  • Sony Pictures Networks India to foray into TV production

    Sony Pictures Networks India to foray into TV production

    MUMBAI: Last month, in an interview to deadline.com, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) presidents of programming and production Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht had stated that India could be the top notch production studio’s destination following the success it had achieved in China producing television.

    Speaking to the website about growth for SPT, Amburg had said: “…Where does growth come from and where does profitability come from? I think it comes from being a smart, thoughtful, global company. And more importantly, are there still growth markets internationally? I would say a hundred percent yes. China is a very interesting market, I think a lot of people have been examining that. We’re already producing a hit series there, Mad About You, we have two or three other projects that are in the mix right now. We had a dynamic conversation today about India. We have a huge networks footprint there.”

    The network he was referring to is of course Sony Picture Networks (SPN) India, which is headed by CEO NP Singh. SPN India, has a motion picture division in India which is headed by Sneha Rajani, and which produced the successful Amitabh Bacchan-starrer Piku last year. This apart, Sony Pictures Entertainment Films has been releasing international films from its parent stable in the country.

    And today confirmation came in from SPN India that it was indeed foraying into TV production. “SPN has decided to produce fiction shows in-house for our network. While we are starting with one show, we will scale up as we go forward,” said a company spokesperson in an email response to a query from Indiantelevision.com.

    No further details were forthcoming on who would be heading the production initiative, at the time of writing.

    SPT in has an envious slate of shows to its credit: The BlackList, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Night Shift, Days of our Lives, The NightShift, BloodLine, Drop Dead Diva, The Art of More, Rules of Engagement, Dr Ken, Preacher…

    This is not the first instance that a broadcast network is getting into TV production. The Zee Network has its Essel Vision, which has been involved in many of its marquee properties. Then Star India had taken a 25.99 per cent stake in Balaji Telefilms April 2004, only to exit it on 5 August 2015 at a price of Rs 108 crore.

  • Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.

    A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.

    As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.

    Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.

    He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.

    Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”

    Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”

  • Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.

    A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.

    As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.

    Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.

    He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.

    Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”

    Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”

  • Q1-17: UFO Moviez ad revenue up 9.5 percent

    Q1-17: UFO Moviez ad revenue up 9.5 percent

    BENGALURU: Indian digital cinema distribution network and in-cinema advertising platform, UFO Moviez Limited (UFO) reported a 9.5 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in advertising revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2016 (Q1-17, current quarter). The company reported advertising revenue of Rs 39.7 crore in Q1-17 as compared to Rs 36.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (Q1-16). Average advertisement minutes sold per show per screen increased to 3.97 (Q1-16 – 3.81) minutes during Q1-17.

    Theatrical and In-Cinema advertisement (consolidated excluding new businesses) revenues grew by 3.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 133.2 crore (Q1-16 – Rs 129 crore). Consolidated revenues improved by 3.1 percent y-o-y in Q1-17 to Rs 134.6 crore (Q1-16 – Rs 130.6 crore).

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by UFO Moviez

    Total Expense in Q1-17 increased 9.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 98.2 crore from Rs 90.0 crore in Q1-16. Ad revenue share (expense) in Q1-17 increased 5.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 12.08 crore from Rs 11.47 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Visual Print sharing expense in Q1-17 increased 19.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 19.44 crore from Rs 16.23 crore in Q1-16.

    The company’s expense towards purchase of digital cinema equipment and lamps in the current quarter declined 13.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 13.77 crore as compared to Rs 15.96 crore in Q1-16.

    EBIDTA in the current quarter declined 10.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 36.4 crore from Rs 40.6 crore in Q1-16. Profit after tax (PAT) in Q1-17 declined 30.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 9 crore from Rs 12.8 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. PAT, profit from associates and minority interest in Q1-17 declined 25.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 9.8 crore from Rs 13.3 crore in Q1-16.

    Company speak

    “In the first quarter of fiscal 2017, UFO’s consolidated revenues stood at Rs1,346 million. Advertisement revenues grew by 9.5 percent over the higher base of last year, and our annual guidance of 30 percent growth remains unchanged,” said UFO Moviez joint managing director Kapil Agarwal. “Profitability was negatively impacted due to planned losses in Caravan Talkies. Efforts to improve Caravan revenues have further intensified, which we believe should lead to cash breakeven in H2FY17.”

    “We continue to make progress towards achieving our strategic objectives,” said UFO Movies founder and managing director Sanjay Gaikwad. “Our hyperlocal advertising initiative – UFO Framez has been well received by direct sales associates and advertisers and has started yielding results. To sustain the current direction, we continue to appoint dynamic and self-motivated direct sales associates across our advertisement network. Recently, we also announced the merger between UFO and its wholly owned subsidiaries, which on completion would result in significant synergies, cost saving and operating efficiencies.”

    Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.