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Tag: Disney

  • Lean Disney to focus on core strengths

    Lean Disney to focus on core strengths

    MUMBAI: World’s biggest media and entertainment group with over US$22 billion in annual revenue The Walt Disney Company is prepared to restructure its India operations under the recently-appointed managing director Mahesh Samat, who rejoined in October.

    Disney has lately been working towards a lean structure, aligned more to the international organisational set-up. The India operations will be focusing on consumer products business and Hollywood films — its main strengths.

    After sustaining major losses, Disney has planned to temporarily drop its Hindi film production business that includes interactives, media networks, licensing and merchandising.

    Disney India head of revenue – media networks Nikhil Gandhi and head of interactive Sameer Ganapathy have resigned already. Also, Disney India may reportedly trim its workforce by 35-40 per cent in a couple of months.

    It was earlier reported that Disney India may be closing down game development at Indiagames. Ganapathy, who had replaced Indiagames co-founder Vishal Gondal after Indiagames was acquired by Disney, lead the interactive business which included development and delivery of multiplatform games and digital products including apps for multi-brands under The Walt Disney Company – Indiagames, Disney, Marvel, UTV, and Disney Pixar.

  • Bring in festive fun on 25 Dec with animated movies

    Bring in festive fun on 25 Dec with animated movies

    MUMBAI: The warmth of Christmas is best enjoyed with the entire family, and Star Movies will celebrate this special day with some of the best animated Disney titles as part of the Jingle All Day festival.

    Star Movies has a stellar showcase of titles that include a heart-warming father-son tale of Finding Nemo, an all-time classic The Lion King, the fantastic tale of Brave, an extraordinary celebration of friendship Toy Story 3 and a magical journey of emotions – Inside Out. These movies together boast of seven Oscar® wins and 9 Oscar® nominations.

    Our Christmas delight doesn’t end here, the festivities continue with the premiere of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip on 25 December at 9 pm.

    Huddle together starting 11 am on 25 December and tune-in to Star Movies and soak in the Christmas spirit.

  • Bring in festive fun on 25 Dec with animated movies

    Bring in festive fun on 25 Dec with animated movies

    MUMBAI: The warmth of Christmas is best enjoyed with the entire family, and Star Movies will celebrate this special day with some of the best animated Disney titles as part of the Jingle All Day festival.

    Star Movies has a stellar showcase of titles that include a heart-warming father-son tale of Finding Nemo, an all-time classic The Lion King, the fantastic tale of Brave, an extraordinary celebration of friendship Toy Story 3 and a magical journey of emotions – Inside Out. These movies together boast of seven Oscar® wins and 9 Oscar® nominations.

    Our Christmas delight doesn’t end here, the festivities continue with the premiere of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip on 25 December at 9 pm.

    Huddle together starting 11 am on 25 December and tune-in to Star Movies and soak in the Christmas spirit.

  • ‘Astra Force’ screening held; to premiere on Disney today

    ‘Astra Force’ screening held; to premiere on Disney today

    MUMBAI: A special screening of the much-awaited superhero animated series – “Astra Force” with legendary icon, Amitabh Bachchan was hosted at Sunny Super Studio, Juhu, which was attended by celebrity artistes such as Faisal Khan, Sadhil Kapoor, Arush Rana & Ashnoor Kaur.

    The kids were thrilled to watch Bachchan’s new avatar and expressed their immense excitement at the premier. A shout out to all superhero lovers as a must watch series. ‘Astra Force’ will premiere on Disney Channel on 28 November (Monday) at 3.30pm.

    A funny and fast-paced, action-adventure series, filled with laughs and thrills, “Astra Force” tells the story of a mythical hero from a distant world, who was stranded on Earth millions of years ago, after an epic space battle. When 8-year old brother and sister twins accidentally awaken the mythical superhero from his long hibernation, they must teach him about the modern world and join Astra to save the universe from a new wave of giant monsters and intergalactic threats. Together they will fight for Truth, for Justice and for Ice cream!

    Astra Force features the voice of Bachchan as the powerful new superhero, “Astra” in his first animated kids television series. The 52 part, series will be aired every week from Monday to Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

    The new Indian superhero was created by Bachchan and Graphic India co-founder and CEO Sharad Devarajan, who are producing the series in partnership with Disney Channel.

    Graphic India is a character entertainment company focused on creating leading characters, comics and stories through mobile and digital platforms. Led by Devarajan, Graphic India is owned by the U.S. comic book Company, Liquid Comics, Start Media LLC and CA Media LP, the Asian investment arm of The Chernin Group, LLC (TCG). Disney Channel is a 24-hour children’s television network that taps into the entertainment needs of 4-14 year olds with storytelling.

  • ‘Astra Force’ screening held; to premiere on Disney today

    ‘Astra Force’ screening held; to premiere on Disney today

    MUMBAI: A special screening of the much-awaited superhero animated series – “Astra Force” with legendary icon, Amitabh Bachchan was hosted at Sunny Super Studio, Juhu, which was attended by celebrity artistes such as Faisal Khan, Sadhil Kapoor, Arush Rana & Ashnoor Kaur.

    The kids were thrilled to watch Bachchan’s new avatar and expressed their immense excitement at the premier. A shout out to all superhero lovers as a must watch series. ‘Astra Force’ will premiere on Disney Channel on 28 November (Monday) at 3.30pm.

    A funny and fast-paced, action-adventure series, filled with laughs and thrills, “Astra Force” tells the story of a mythical hero from a distant world, who was stranded on Earth millions of years ago, after an epic space battle. When 8-year old brother and sister twins accidentally awaken the mythical superhero from his long hibernation, they must teach him about the modern world and join Astra to save the universe from a new wave of giant monsters and intergalactic threats. Together they will fight for Truth, for Justice and for Ice cream!

    Astra Force features the voice of Bachchan as the powerful new superhero, “Astra” in his first animated kids television series. The 52 part, series will be aired every week from Monday to Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

    The new Indian superhero was created by Bachchan and Graphic India co-founder and CEO Sharad Devarajan, who are producing the series in partnership with Disney Channel.

    Graphic India is a character entertainment company focused on creating leading characters, comics and stories through mobile and digital platforms. Led by Devarajan, Graphic India is owned by the U.S. comic book Company, Liquid Comics, Start Media LLC and CA Media LP, the Asian investment arm of The Chernin Group, LLC (TCG). Disney Channel is a 24-hour children’s television network that taps into the entertainment needs of 4-14 year olds with storytelling.

  • Despite a poor fourth quarter, Disney FY-16 numbers up

    Despite a poor fourth quarter, Disney FY-16 numbers up

    BENGALURU: The Walt Disney Company Inc (Disney) reported 6 percent higher revenue for the year ended October 1, 2016 (FY-16, current year) as compared to the previous year ended October 3, 2015 (FY-15). Operating income in the current year increased 7.1 percent as compared to the previous year. Revenue for FY-16 and FY-15 were $55,632 million and $52,465 million respectively, while operating incomes were $15,721 million and $14,681 million respectively.

    However, for the quarter ended October 1, 2016 (Q4-16, current quarter) Disney’s revenue declined 2.7 percent in Q4-16 to $13,142 million vis-à-vis $13,512 reported for Q4-15. Operating income declined 10.1 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) in the current quarter to $3,176 million from $3,534 million in the previous year. The fall in revenues was noticeable across three of four of Disney’s divisions, viz., Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, and, Consumer Products &Interactive Media (Consumer Products). Only the Studio Entertainment Division reported a slight increase in revenue, while operating income declined across all the four in Q4-16 versus Q4-15.

    “We’re very pleased with our performance for the year, delivering the highest revenue, net incomeand earnings per share in Disney’s history,” said Disney chairman and chief executive officer Robert A. Iger. “Fiscal 2016 was our sixth consecutive year of record results, highlighted bythe opening of Shanghai Disney Resort, the phenomenally successful return of Star Wars, and our Studio’srecord-breaking $7.5 billion in total box office. We remain confident that Disney will continue to deliverstrong growth over the long-term as we further strengthen our brands and franchises, our technologicalcapabilities, and our international presence.”

    Please refer to Fig A below for Disney’s performance for the current quarter and the year

    Please refer to Fig B below for segment numbers.

  • Despite a poor fourth quarter, Disney FY-16 numbers up

    Despite a poor fourth quarter, Disney FY-16 numbers up

    BENGALURU: The Walt Disney Company Inc (Disney) reported 6 percent higher revenue for the year ended October 1, 2016 (FY-16, current year) as compared to the previous year ended October 3, 2015 (FY-15). Operating income in the current year increased 7.1 percent as compared to the previous year. Revenue for FY-16 and FY-15 were $55,632 million and $52,465 million respectively, while operating incomes were $15,721 million and $14,681 million respectively.

    However, for the quarter ended October 1, 2016 (Q4-16, current quarter) Disney’s revenue declined 2.7 percent in Q4-16 to $13,142 million vis-à-vis $13,512 reported for Q4-15. Operating income declined 10.1 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) in the current quarter to $3,176 million from $3,534 million in the previous year. The fall in revenues was noticeable across three of four of Disney’s divisions, viz., Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, and, Consumer Products &Interactive Media (Consumer Products). Only the Studio Entertainment Division reported a slight increase in revenue, while operating income declined across all the four in Q4-16 versus Q4-15.

    “We’re very pleased with our performance for the year, delivering the highest revenue, net incomeand earnings per share in Disney’s history,” said Disney chairman and chief executive officer Robert A. Iger. “Fiscal 2016 was our sixth consecutive year of record results, highlighted bythe opening of Shanghai Disney Resort, the phenomenally successful return of Star Wars, and our Studio’srecord-breaking $7.5 billion in total box office. We remain confident that Disney will continue to deliverstrong growth over the long-term as we further strengthen our brands and franchises, our technologicalcapabilities, and our international presence.”

    Please refer to Fig A below for Disney’s performance for the current quarter and the year

    Please refer to Fig B below for segment numbers.

  • Disney brings Graphic’s ‘Astra Force’ on Big B’s birthday

    Disney brings Graphic’s ‘Astra Force’ on Big B’s birthday

    MUMBAI: Graphic India and Disney Channel India will reveal the first look of its superhero series Astra Force on the occasion of Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday – 11th October as a special surprise for the millions of megastar’s fans around the world.

    In the month of August last year, Graphic and Disney announced the production of the animated series -“Astra Force.” with legendary icon, Bachchan. A funny and fast-paced, action-adventure series, filled with laughs and thrills, “Astra Force” tells the story of a mythical hero from a distant world, who was stranded on th earth millions of years ago after an epic space battle.

    When 8-year old brother and sister twins accidentally awaken the mythical superhero from his long hibernation, they must teach him about our modern world and join Astra to save the universe from a new wave of giant monsters and intergalactic threats.

    “At the heart of everything we do at Disney is tell great stories and we tell them in a manner that our audiences that can relate with. We have been building on our local animation slate on Disney Channel; offering content and content that kids have come to love and now with Astra Force, we are extremely happy to have partnered with Sharad and Mr. Bachchan to bring in another interesting facet to storytelling in this space, said Disney India VP – content and communications, media networks, Vijay Subramaniam.

    “Amitabh Bachchan is a real life superhero to millions, including myself, so it’s no surprise that he is the perfect person to become immortalized in this new animated avatar,” added Graphic’s Co-Founder & CEO Sharad Devarajan. “The opportunity to collaborate with Bachchan on ‘Astra Force’ is made that much stronger by partnering with Disney, a company whose creativity and storytelling I have admired all my life.”

    Disney Channel India has been entertaining kids and families through a range of locally relevant stories spread across high-quality animation series and “Astra Force” will be the perfect complement to the line-up of existing shows.

    Devarajan is the producer on “Astra Force” along with Graphic India SVP-Creative Jeevan J. Kang who is overseeing visual development character design and art for the project.

    Graphic’s previous animated superhero, Chakra The Invincible, was created with Stan Lee (co-creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man and The Avengers) and received over 30 million views globally on Rovio’s ToonsTV platform available through the Angry Birds app.

    Graphic India is a character entertainment company focused on creating leading characters, comics and stories through mobile and digital platforms. Founded by media entrepreneurs Devarajan, Gotham Chopra and Suresh Seetharaman, it is owned by the U.S. comic book company, Liquid Comics and CA Media LP, the Asian investment arm of The Chernin Group, LLC (TCG).

  • Disney brings Graphic’s ‘Astra Force’ on Big B’s birthday

    Disney brings Graphic’s ‘Astra Force’ on Big B’s birthday

    MUMBAI: Graphic India and Disney Channel India will reveal the first look of its superhero series Astra Force on the occasion of Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday – 11th October as a special surprise for the millions of megastar’s fans around the world.

    In the month of August last year, Graphic and Disney announced the production of the animated series -“Astra Force.” with legendary icon, Bachchan. A funny and fast-paced, action-adventure series, filled with laughs and thrills, “Astra Force” tells the story of a mythical hero from a distant world, who was stranded on th earth millions of years ago after an epic space battle.

    When 8-year old brother and sister twins accidentally awaken the mythical superhero from his long hibernation, they must teach him about our modern world and join Astra to save the universe from a new wave of giant monsters and intergalactic threats.

    “At the heart of everything we do at Disney is tell great stories and we tell them in a manner that our audiences that can relate with. We have been building on our local animation slate on Disney Channel; offering content and content that kids have come to love and now with Astra Force, we are extremely happy to have partnered with Sharad and Mr. Bachchan to bring in another interesting facet to storytelling in this space, said Disney India VP – content and communications, media networks, Vijay Subramaniam.

    “Amitabh Bachchan is a real life superhero to millions, including myself, so it’s no surprise that he is the perfect person to become immortalized in this new animated avatar,” added Graphic’s Co-Founder & CEO Sharad Devarajan. “The opportunity to collaborate with Bachchan on ‘Astra Force’ is made that much stronger by partnering with Disney, a company whose creativity and storytelling I have admired all my life.”

    Disney Channel India has been entertaining kids and families through a range of locally relevant stories spread across high-quality animation series and “Astra Force” will be the perfect complement to the line-up of existing shows.

    Devarajan is the producer on “Astra Force” along with Graphic India SVP-Creative Jeevan J. Kang who is overseeing visual development character design and art for the project.

    Graphic’s previous animated superhero, Chakra The Invincible, was created with Stan Lee (co-creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man and The Avengers) and received over 30 million views globally on Rovio’s ToonsTV platform available through the Angry Birds app.

    Graphic India is a character entertainment company focused on creating leading characters, comics and stories through mobile and digital platforms. Founded by media entrepreneurs Devarajan, Gotham Chopra and Suresh Seetharaman, it is owned by the U.S. comic book company, Liquid Comics and CA Media LP, the Asian investment arm of The Chernin Group, LLC (TCG).

  • Indo-Vietnamese venture brings Greymatter into filmmaking

    Indo-Vietnamese venture brings Greymatter into filmmaking

    NEW DELHI: Local content generated through creative storytelling. ‘Sut’ (meaning ‘shoot’ in Vietnamese) set to release in November 2016 is the first venture into film production by the content solutions company Greymatter Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

    Developed in collaboration with Vincent Ngo of the “Hancock” fame, the film is a coming-of-age story of two brothers set against the background of the sport, football. It has been directed by Vietmax, one of the most successful directors in Vietnam.

    Greymatter Founder and CEO Chandradev Bhagat said, “We have always been excited about films. ‘Sut’ is a project that came together quite magically. Having worked on and delivered projects across geographies, the idea was to bring together creative talent, international work flows and storytelling abilities from around the world to create strong local content. This marks the beginning of some of our exciting plans ahead”.

    Greymatter has been doing some pathbreaking work in both, sports and non-fiction content, including Premier Futsal League and Pro-Wrestling League in the live sports space. It has also developed the hit series ‘The Remix’. In the last year and a half, ‘The Remix’ has been sold in 15 countries. It has been nominated as the top 25 formats in the world at MIPTV – in fact making it the first Asian format to ever feature in the list.

    Greymatter is strategically focused on creating IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) properties and churning out creatively distinguished content. It is currently one of the few Indian companies to have sold original formats globally and is a recipient of multiple nominations and awards in India and the A-Pac region including the EMVIES, Spikes Asia and Asian Television Awards.

    The agency has worked with some of the biggest brands including Ten Sports, Sony Six, Star Sports, Disney, Viacom Colors and VH1 to name a few on the broadcast end and brands like Google, McDonalds, Tata and Idea in the branded content space.