Category: Production House

Lionsgate invests in game developer Telltale Games

MUMBAI: As part of the continued diversification of its content business and recent entry into the game space, Lionsgate has made a significant investment in leading game developer and publisher Telltale Games.

As part of its investment, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer will also join the Telltale Board of Directors.

The investment will continue the extension of Lionsgate’s film and television brands into the game space and will bring Lionsgate’s expertise in creating and marketing premium content to Telltale’s unique narrative-driven, storytelling approach to gaming. The collaboration will also enable the two companies to explore opportunities to co-develop existing and original IP into episodic games and television.

Telltale has emerged as an industry leader in narrative-driven episodic games with the blockbuster hit The Walking Dead, which has sold 8.5 million copies and topped sales charts on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam, as well as the hit Game of Thrones, based on the smash television series, The Wolf Among Us, the episodic interactive graphic adventure video game based on Bill Willingham’s Fables comic book, and Tales from the Borderlands, Telltale’s adaptation of the acclaimed PC, Mac and console video game title from Gearbox Software and 2K Games.

“Telltale is one of the premier storytellers in the gaming world today. Their leadership in narrative-driven episodic games, together with our investment and the potential opportunities created by our premium content expertise, will continue to strengthen their ability to offer exciting new avenues of storytelling to their next generation audiences across a broad range of platforms,” said Feltheimer.

“Lionsgate is one of the most innovative, entrepreneurial and impressive content companies in the world today. I’m delighted to welcome an experienced executive like Jon, a leader who shares our unique vision, to our Board. Lionsgate has a great track record in developing and marketing feature films as well as platform-defining premium scripted television. This partnership will accelerate Telltale’s ability to create not only original games, but episodic television series based on our game properties – an area at the cutting edge of industry growth,” added Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner.

“Our partnership with Kevin Bruner and his team at Telltale continues to accelerate our momentum in the game space. The convergence between premium filmed entertainment brands and original game properties is a natural direction in which to continue diversifying our content business, and Telltale is the perfect partner with whom to explore this dynamic area of growth,” said Lionsgate president of interactive ventures & games Peter Levin.

February 25, 2015
21st Century Fox denies talks for tie-up with Discovery Communications

NEW DELHI: 21st Century Fox has denied as “categorically untrue” that senior executives from 21st Century Fox and Discovery Communications had met to discuss a tie-up that could create a $100 billion movie, entertainment and sports giant.

The story had appeared in the Australian Financial Review.

Rupert Murdoch of Fox and John Malone, a major shareholder in Discovery (and a director) and chairman and CEO of Discovery Holdings, have a long history in media, sometimes fighting one another and other times co-operating.

Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald on 23 February reminded readers that News Corp-backed Foxtel is already working on a 50/50 deal with Discovery to buy Australia’s Ten Network.

A few months ago billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a shareholder in News Corp/21st Century Fox, following the ending of 21st Century’s bid for Time-Warner had said, “Combining both companies would have been a dream proposal because the amount of content the combined company would have had would have been tremendous.”

“Knowing Mr Murdoch, I think the idea is still in his mind. But I think the time is not right now because the management of Time Warner are against it, and the shareholders of Fox were also not for it,” he had told CNN in September.

February 25, 2015
Prime Focus company Double Negative bags VFX Oscar for ‘Interstellar’

MUMBAI: VFX house Double Negative, which is a part of Prime Focus Media Services bagged the Academy Award for visual effects for their spectacular work on Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

The award was presented to one of the founding members of Double Negative and VFX supervisors Paul Franklin and Andrew Lockley, SFX Supervisor Ian Hunter and New Deal Studios’ VFX supervisor Scott Fisher at the 87th Annual Academy Awards held on 22 February at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.

This is the second Oscar for Double Negative and Franklin, having previously won for Nolan’s Inception. Interstellar beat other nominees that included Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men: Days of Future Past. A week ago Double Negative had also won the BAFTA for Special Visual Effects for the same film.

Prime Focus founder, executive chairman and global CEO Namit Malhotra said, “This is an incredibly proud moment for all of us at Prime Focus and Double Negative. I want to congratulate, Alex (Hope), Matt (Holben), Paul (Franklin) and the entire team of Double Negative for bringing home this exceptional honor. I have always been a great admirer of Mr. Nolan’s films and hence it is really heartening for me to see our work on Interstellar being recognized as the world’s best. On this joyous occasion I want to reaffirm our commitment to help Double Negative continue on its path of creative excellence that is second to none.”

February 24, 2015
Warner Bros leads $24 million investment into Machinima online video network

MUMBAI: Warner Bros Entertainment has upped its investment in Machinima, leading a $24 million round of financing for the online video network.

Machinima, the first global Many2Many programming service is focused on fandom and gamer culture.

Other previous investors in Machinima, including Redpoint Ventures, MK Capital, Coffin Capital alongside Machinima chairman Allen DeBevoise.

The investment builds on a year-long transformation at Machinima, during which monthly viewership is up over 70 per cent and US unique viewers have tripled. Overall, Machinima boasts a massive audience of more than 430 million subscribers worldwide, 170 million monthly unique viewers and 3.7 billion monthly video views.

“In 2014, Machinima regained our leadership position in the global digital video marketplace by focusing on our Talent Network and transforming our brand into one that is reflective of our content, our audience and our community of creators. This additional funding will enable Machinima to accelerate our growth through increased investments in content and technology that better serves our audiences, advertisers, creators and distributors,” said Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein.

“Under Chad’s leadership, Machinima continues to grow as a key entertainment destination for millennials. With its enormous fan base, Machinima is an important exhibition partner, providing content creators, including Warner Bros., multiple platforms for distributing and monetizing digital content and programming brands,” said Warner Bros. Television Group president, business and strategy Craig Hunegs.

Warner Bros.’ participation in this funding continues the longstanding relationship between the two companies, which has resulted in live-action web series including two seasons of “Mortal Kombat: Legacy.” Later this year, Machinima will release “Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles,” an animated limited series from DC Comics and Blue Ribbon Content, and executive produced by Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett.

In 2014, the company revamped its executive team first with the hiring of former Ovation TV COO Chad Gutstein as CEO. Throughout the year, Gutstein unveiled key appointments to all areas of Machinima’s business, including most recently chief content officer Daniel Tibbets.

The new team capped off 2014 by executing a comprehensive brand repositioning of the company. Placing a renewed focus on Machinima’s vast and gifted talent network, and original programming capabilities, the rebrand featured a new tagline “Heroes Rise” along with a completely revamped talent program, which was supported by the launch of Console, a state-of-the-art technology platform. Additionally, the Machinima.com website was overhauled into a valuable resource for creators and advertisers and the Machinima Legion viewer panel was unveiled.

With more than 30 million monthly unique viewers, Machinima currently ranks ninth in total US audience for Online Video Entertainment Properties and fourth for US males 18-49. The company is making a concerted effort to supplement its explosive YouTube presence with additional distribution platforms. Recently, Machinima announced distribution partnerships with Samsung and Vessel.

February 21, 2015
Q2-2015: Prime Focus revenue up 43.3 percent, loss widens by Rs 36 crore

BENGALURU: Prime Focus Limited (PFL) reported 48.3 per cent growth in Income from Operations (TIO) in the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q2-2015, current quarter) to Rs 316.67 crore from Rs 222.33 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter (quarter ended 31 December 2013, or Q3-2014) but was 10.7 per cent lower than the Rs 356.96 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q1-2015 (q-o-q).

Notes:

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

(2) The company had filed results for a fifteen month period ended 30 June 2014, hence y-o-y comparison is being done between Q2-2015 and Q3-2014 and q-o-q comparison is between Q2-2015 and Q1-2015 (quarter ended 30 September 2014).

The company’s loss widened by Rs 36.17 crore in Q2-2015 as compared to the profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 10.33 crore (4.6 per cent of TIO) and a loss of Rs 22.01 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.The company says that loss for the quarter widened primarily due to non-cash tax charges, adverse FX fluctuation, residual exceptional integration expenses and finance charges.

PFL, in its earnings release for the previous quarter (Q1-2015), had said that loss for Q1-2015 had risen to Rs 22.02 crore because margins had been impacted primarily due to seasonal effects and due to significant duplication of costs in the creative services business in the first quarter post-merger. The company had initiated a global Integration process at its London, Vancouver and Indian facilities across both these entities. Consequently, the effects of the first phase of one time integration costs were also reflected in the financials claimed PFL. In its current quarter earnings release, PFL says Global integration of DNeg and PFW was proceeding as expected, with major integration expenses already incurred.

PFL’s simple EBIDTA excluding other income and based on the numbers submitted by it to the stock exchanges at Rs 35.48 crore was 20.9 per cent less than the EBIDTA of Rs 48.88 crore in the year ago quarter, but was a whopping 67.4 per cent more than the Rs 21.19 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

Click here to read the full report

February 17, 2015
Q3-2015: Eros International q-o-q PAT, revenues more than double

BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla led Indian motion picture production and distribution company Eros International Media Limited (Eros) reported more than double (up 2.18 times) PAT at Rs 109.34 crore (22.3 per cent of net Total Income from Operations or TIO or revenue) versus the Rs 50.14 crore (20.9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015 and 18.9 per cent more than the Rs 91.99 crore (21.3 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014. In 9M-2015, PAT grew 23.4 per cent to Rs 195.32 crore (20.1 per cent of TIO) from Rs 158.30 crore (19.3 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

The company has also reported more than double q-o-q TIO (up 2.05 times) in Q3-2015 at Rs 490.73 crore as compared to the Rs 239.90 crore in the preceding quarter and 13.4 per cent more than the Rs 43.268 crore in Q3-2014. Revenue (TIO) for 9M-2015 grew by 18.5 per cent to Rs 972.12 crore from Rs 820.05 crore in 9M-2014.

Eros released 42 films – 28 Hindi and 14 Tamil/Telugu regional films in 9M-2015 as compared to the 41 films (15 Hindi, 25 Tamil/Telugu and one other regional language film) in 9M-2014. Eros says that five of the films were high budget, seven were medium budget and 30 were low budget films in 9M-2015 as against two high budget, 18 medium budget and 21 low budget films in the corresponding nine month period of the last financial year.

The company informs that of the 12 films released in Q3-2015, three films were high budget while nine were medium and low budget films versus the two high budget films and 13 medium and low budget films in the corresponding year ago quarter.

Let us look at the other numbers reported by Eros for Q3-2015 and 9M-2015

Eros Total Expenditure (TE) in Q3-2015 at Rs 354.34 crore (70.4 per cent of TIO) was also more than double (up 2.05 times) the Rs 168.19 crore (70.1 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter and 15.7 per cent more than the Rs 298.40 crore (69 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014. TE in 9M-2015 at Rs 696.77 crore (71.7 per cent of TIO) was 16.6 per cent more than the Rs 597/64 crore (72.9 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

The company’s finance cost in Q3-2015 at Rs 9.74 crore (two per cent of TIO) was 10.8 per cent lower than the Q2-2015 finance cost of Rs 10.92 crore (4.6 per cent of TIO) but was 31.8 per cent more than Rs 7.39 crore (1.7 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014. For 9M-2015, finance cost at Rs 30.03 crore (3.1 per cent of TIO) was 65 per cent more than the Rs 18.20 crore (2.2 per cent of TIO) in 9M-2014.

Eros managing director Sunil Lulla said, “We are pleased to report robust results, which reflect the success of our strategy to invest in high quality film content and monetize it across existing and emerging revenue streams. In line with our core de-risking approach, we also registered strong pre-sales from our high profile Hindi and Tamil films such as Lingaa, Action Jackson and Kaththi. Our content pipeline has seen some impressive signings and we are excited to announce our entry into the Malayalam market enhancing our regional breadth.”

“ErosNow, our online service showcasing movies, music, music videos and television shows, is developing as a robust offering that carries tremendous potential. Along with improving internet connectivity and forecast of smartphones user base in India expanding to over 650 million (65 crore) in the next four years, we expect the demand for on-the-go entertainment to grow exponentially. We strongly believe ErosNow is well positioned to capitalize on the growing online consumption opportunity in India,” added Lulla.

February 13, 2015
Amazon Studios partners with Krofft Brothers

MUMBAI: Amazon Studios has signed a development deal with iconic television producers Sid and Marty Krofft to develop a reimagined pilot of classic ‘70s children live action series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.

“Sid and Marty are geniuses and we are honoured to be working with them to bring to the world a return of what we believe is TV’s most fabulous and funniest sea creature ever,” said Amazon Studios vice president Roy Price.

“Sid found Sigmund swimming in the ocean as seaweed. Boy, are we lucky to re-create Sigmund and the Sea Monsters with Roy Price and Tara Sorensen at Amazon Studios,” said Marty Krofft.

Many of the most colorful and fondly remembered children’s series of the 1970s and 1980s sprang from the imaginations of Sid and Marty Krofft. Their groundbreaking, live-action fantasy shows were mainstays of the Saturday morning airwaves, which had previously been the exclusive domain of cartoons. The Kroffts made their television debut in 1969 with NBC’s H.R. Pufnstuf, which centered on the magical adventures of a boy named Jimmy, a talking flute and a six-foot dragon.

The series, which introduced the brothers’ innovative mix of live-action and puppetry, was made into a Universal Pictures feature in 1970. The show continues to be broadcast around the world. Pufnstuf was quickly followed by The Bugaloos on NBC (1970) and Lidsville on ABC (1971). Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and Land Of The Lost premiered on NBC in 1974 and in 1975, respectively.

Later kids shows included Far Out Space Nuts, Lost Saucer and The Krofft Supershow, which included installments of Wonderbug, Big Foot & Wildboy, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Dr. Shrinker and Kaptain Kool and the Kongs. Their slate of children’s series gained notoriety with Pufnstuf ranking among TV Guide’s top cult shows ever for two years and Land of the Lost’s success in syndication leading to a remake of the series in 1991.

February 13, 2015
TISS & Whistling Woods International team up to offer graduate degrees

MUMBAI: In their endeavour to ensure proliferation of film and media education, Whistling Woods International (WWI) has partnered with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

The coming together of the academic pedagogy of TISS and the practical rigour of WWI’s education promises to form a partnership to ensure that the best film and media education is offered to students.

Talking about the association, WWI founder and chairman Subhash Ghai said, “A lot of thought and meticulous planning has gone into finalizing the curriculum, faculty and the practical nature of the education at WWI. It is regularly updated keeping international standards in mind. Associating with TISS, an institution of high academic pedagogy, is a step in the same direction; to enhance the quality of programs offered at WWI.”

TISS director Parasuraman added, “Filmmaking, communication and media studies are as much a part of society as any other field. Over the years, TISS has always delivered progressive education in all the social sciences. We have closely observed WWI, interacted with the management team of WWI and observed that they demonstrate the same degree of quality consciousness as TISS.We at TISS felt it appropriate to partner with WWI to offer degree programs in filmmaking, communication and media studies.”

The various degree programs offered under the WWI – TISS association are as follows:

B.A. in Filmmaking with specialisation – Acting

B.A. in Filmmaking with specialisation – Screenwriting

B.Sc. / B.A. Filmmaking with specialisation – Cinematography

B.Sc. / B.A. Filmmaking with specialisation – Direction

B.Sc. / B.A. Filmmaking with specialisation – Editing

B.Sc. / B.A. Filmmaking with specialisation – Producing

B.Sc. / B.A. Filmmaking with specialisation – Sound Recording and Design

B.Sc. / B.A. Filmmaking with specialisation – Visual Effects for Motion Pictures

B.Sc. in The Art & Technique of Animation

B.B.A / B.A. in Media and Communication Studies

B.A. in Fashion Design

Admissions for these courses commenced in January 2015 and classes will commence in July 2015.

February 12, 2015
FremantleMedia buys 25 per cent stake in Corona TV

MUMBAI: FremantleMedia (FM), has taken over 25 per cent stake in Corona TV, the newly-created TV production company from renowned filmmaking duo Richard Johns and Rupert Jermyn. The deal, which gives FremantleMedia a first look option on all Corona TV output, furthers FremantleMedia’s ambition to build its scripted pipeline with projects that will have an epic and cinematic feel and attract international co-production funding.

The deal was brokered by FM’s director of global drama, Sarah Doole, who will take a seat on the board of the new company.

Doole said, “Richard and Rupert have together over twenty five years’ experience in producing successful feature films. Because of this, they look at scripted projects in a completely different way from most production companies, bringing a big screen presence to the small screen. We’ve looked at their production slate and they have some exciting ideas which are ripe for international co-production funding. Having them as part of the FremantleMedia family gives us some brilliant projects for our scripted pipeline, while our existing infrastructure will help bring their epic ideas to fruition. I can’t wait to get started.”

In a joint statement Johns and Jermyn said, “We’re absolutely delighted to have made this deal with the dynamic team at FremantleMedia. As film-makers we have always created big stories for the world rather than one particular market. This move gives Corona Television the strategic financing, distribution and marketing firepower most drama producers can only dream of, allowing us to tell stories for TV on a truly global scale.”

FremantleMedia already has a relationship with Johns and Jermyn, having previously worked on the development of Birds of Prey, a TV adaption of the first three novels of Wilbur Smith’s Courtney series, penned by Layer Cake scriptwriter JJ Connolly. The new company has a number of exciting new projects in the pipeline, with internationally renowned writers and producers already attached, with announcements planned in due course.

Corona TV is a sister company of Corona Pictures, which was founded by Johns and Jermyn in London in 2009. The company develops, produces and markets feature films and television programmes to every country in the world, including the major established markets and key emerging markets such as China.

In recent years Corona Pictures produced and released the multiple award-winning darkly comic hitman road movie The Liability starring Tim Roth, Jack O’Connell, Talulah Riley, Kierston Wareing and Peter Mullan from writer John Wrathall and director Craig Viveiros. Prior to that, the company made Robert Heath’s psychological thriller Truth or Dare. Both films found strong distribution market appetite and are now on release in over 24 international territories. The company is now building rapidly from this production base.

February 12, 2015
Q3-2015: Higher depreciation, finance cost pares SAB profit; EBIDTA up

BENGALURU: Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Limited (SAB TV) reported less than one fifth (down 1/5.7 times) PAT in Q3-2015 at Rs 0.54 crore (2.4 per cent of Total income from Operations or TIO) as compared to the Rs 3.1 crore (16.2 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter, and one fifth of the PAT of Rs 2.73 crore in Q2-2015.

The company’s depreciation expense in Q3-2015 was 58.9 per cent higher y-o-y at Rs 3.70 crore versus Rs 2.33 crore and 66.8 per cent more than the Rs 22.21 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

SAB TV’s interest/finance costs have more than trebled (up 3.28 times) in Q3-2015 at Rs 2.42 crore (10.5 per cent of TIO) versus the Rs 0.8 crore (4.8 per cent of TIO) in the corresponding year ago quarter and more than double (up 2.29 times) the Rs 1.06 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore

SAB’s simple EBIDTA without other income calculated using the data furnished by the company to the bourses in Q3-2015 at Rs 6.65 crore (28.8 per cent of TIO) was 9.2 per cent higher y-o-y versus the Rs 6.09 crore (31.8 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and 10.9 per cent more than the Rs 6 crore (27.2 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015

Let us look at the other numbers reported by SAB TV for Q1-2015

SAB reported 20 per cent higher TIO at Rs 23.10 crore in Q4-2015 as compared to the Rs 19;13 crore in Q3-2014 and 5 perceent more than the Rs 22.01 crore in Q2-2015.

SAB’s total expenditure was up 31.1 per cent at Rs 20.16 crore (87.2 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2015 as compared to the Rs 15.37 crore (80.4 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and was 10.5 per cent more than the Rs 18.24 crore (82.9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015.

The company’s production/direct expense (prodn exp) is a major part of the expenditure. In Q3-2015, SAB TV’s production expense at Rs 14.34 crore (62.1 per cent of TIO), which was 3.7 per cent more than the Rs 11.60 crore (60.6 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and was 1.9 per cent more than the Rs 14.07 crore (63.9 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

Click here to read the unaudited results

February 12, 2015