Fiction

Distressed studios ready to give concessions to producers

Published

6 years ago

June 2, 2020

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.

Up Next

We are in the race to build a niche product, not to increase user numbers: Aditya Pittie

Don't Miss

Producers in Maharashtra gearing up to resume shooting

Click to comment

Fiction

GUEST COLUMN: How content leaders decide what gets greenlit

Published

3 weeks ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: As audiences spread across TV, OTT, and short-form platforms, deciding what gets greenlit has become more strategic than ever. Content leaders now weigh clarity of concept, platform fit, pacing, and distinctiveness to ensure a story connects with the right audience in the right format.

In this piece, Dhruv R Jain content head TV at Rose Audio Visuals, explains how greenlighting decisions are shaped by concept strength, platform behaviour, and the need for unique storytelling. Drawing from his experience at Rose Audio Visuals, he outlines how these factors influence which ideas move from pitch to production.

In recent times the Indian entertainment landscape has changed in many ways leading us to also modify our process in deciding what should be greenlit in terms of content. As the options for audiences to view content change from the traditional TV space to OTT and even social media the stories that are told on different platforms also differ. Multiple factors play a part in deciding not just the story told but also the way they will be told.

Firstly the primary filter in the process is the clarity of concept. Whenever content leaders approach a story they tend to simplify it in terms of it being written and told through the screen. The crew involved in making the story should have an inside out idea of all the factors of the story for it to resonate and be understood by the audiences. We dissect the story into the smallest components to spread it through the writing and format the story in a way that would build intrigue giving it hooks, drops points and defined execution. A concept that is executed properly with details will be understood and appreciated by the audience irrespective of its genre.

The content that is being chosen to be greenlit also highly depends on the platform it is being made for. Different mediums like TV channels, Ott platforms and short format apps etc have different sections of audiences that look for a specific kind of story to watch depending on multiple factors again. So while choosing a story for them one needs to study their audience, the structure that works for the platform, the pacing in which the story will be understood and the kinds of story that would fit the platform. While TV is a medium which is highly expository in its telling with slower pacing, on the other hand Ott platforms give us a space to tell a story with the approach of less is more with faster pacing of the story itself. This becomes an important factor in choosing stories and their way of telling.

Another factor that plays an important role is the distinctiveness of a concept. A concept with a unique approach, set up and characters bring freshness. At Rose we have always attempted to tell stories that stand out with our most recent Itti Si Khushi by setting up the show in a unique location like Kotachiwadi, a historic unique set up in the south of Mumbai that has not been shown on TV before we gave the already iconic Shameless an interesting Indian twist. At the same time the show in itself follows an unique storyline that brought something different to the medium of TV. So telling a different and unique story that stands out always brings in curious audiences which we sustain then with strong characters, hooks and plot points.

In addition to these factors many others become prominent in deciding what gets greenlit. It is on the content leaders to find the right time and space for the concept that they believe will be received well by the audiences. One needs to be a multitasker to understand, organise and execute a project properly.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.

Fiction

Series Mania Forum names Korea as first country of honour for 2026

Published

3 weeks ago

February 4, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

PARIS & LILLE, FRANCE: Series Mania Forum has named the Republic of Korea as its first-ever Country of Honour, marking a major milestone for the European television industry gathering set to run alongside the Series Mania Festival in Lille in March 2026.

The announcement was made by Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, underscoring Korea’s rising influence in global content creation and distribution.

As part of the initiative, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) will bring a delegation of eight leading companies to the forum, including Channel A Corporation, CJ ENM, EO Content Group, KBS Media, MBC, SLL Joongang, Studio S and Whynot Media. The programme will feature dedicated sessions spotlighting upcoming Korean projects, high-level conference panels, networking events and industry showcases.

The move is backed by France’s CNC following a memorandum of understanding signed with Kocca at Series Mania 2024, aimed at strengthening co-production, investment and cultural exchange between the two countries.

The honour coincides with the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Korea and follows last year’s Broadcast Worldwide event in Seoul, which highlighted France as its guest country.

Korea’s content market was valued at $43.169 billion in 2024, up 5.7 per cent from the previous year, ranking eighth globally. Demand for Korean series in France has surged, with Netflix reporting viewing time up more than 200 per cent year on year.

Herszberg said the initiative reflects Korea’s recognised excellence in film and television, while Kocca France general director Moonju Kim, said the partnership would deepen cooperation across production and investment.

Fiction

Here’s how much Disney is paying its new CEO

Published

3 weeks ago

February 4, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Disney has finally named its next ruler and slapped a glossy price tag on the throne.

Josh D’Amaro, heir to Bob Iger, steps into the chief executive role on a base salary of $2.5m, before the real money kicks in. His annual bonus target is set at a punchy 250 per cent of salary, with long-term stock awards worth $26.2m a year. Add a one-off incentive grant of $9.7m to mark the promotion and D’Amaro’s opening package lands at about $38m.

Dana Walden, the other front-runner, does not leave empty-handed. Elevated to president and chief creative officer under a contract running to March 2030, she will earn a $3.75m base salary, with a performance bonus targeted at 200 per cent. Annual stock awards are valued at $15.75m, topped by a one-time incentive of $5.26m. All told, her first-year take comes to roughly $24m.

The board’s decision ends a two-year succession drama that has hovered over Disney’s share price and morale. D’Amaro, previously in charge of parks and consumer products, gets the top job. Walden, until now co-chair of Disney Entertainment, is handed a newly minted creative super-role, reporting directly to him.

Both appointments take effect on March 18, at Disney’s annual meeting. Iger slides into the background as senior adviser and board member, before bowing out for good in December.

The message from Burbank is unmistakable. Continuity, creativity and a very expensive handover. In the House of Mouse, the magic still pays.