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Tag: films

  • Music channels and internet drive new film awareness amongst youth: Ormax

    Music channels and internet drive new film awareness amongst youth: Ormax

    MUMBAI: According to The Ormax Bollywood Audience Report 2013 (TOBAR 2013), a syndicated industry study conducted by media insights firm Ormax Media, internet and music channel promos emerge as the strongest source of new film awareness amongst the youth, while print takes the lead amongst 30+ audiences.

    These are just some of the various interesting findings of TOBAR 2013. The report is based on research conducted by Ormax Media over six months across 44 cities in India, covering a total sample size of over 5,000 respondents across two stages. The report covers various aspects of Bollywood audience understanding, such as their consumption level, viewing behaviour, genre preferences, ticket price, media consumption, etc.

    The report also reveals that hoardings (including kiosks and street posters) are a wasteful investment for film producers, with no impact on creating buzz or interest in new films.

    Speaking about this finding, Ormax Media insights head – films Gautam Jain said: “A large amount of a film’s marketing budget is spent on buying outdoor space through hoardings. In the study, we found that internet and print emerge as far stronger media options for a film’s marketing compared to hoardings, which rank a poor number 11 out of 15 communication sources measured; however point-of-consumption outdoor, such as theatre posters and standees, scored very well.”

    The study claims to help producers understand the role of various communication sources, including music channels, news channels, reality shows, print ads, print articles, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, FM radio, etc.

    Ormax Media have been pioneers in film insights in Bollywood, with their flagship products Ormax Cinematix (film tracking and opening box-office forecast) and Ormax Moviescope (film pre-test). The Ormax Bollywood Audience Report 2013 is also available for subscription to studios, brands and media agencies.

  • 18th ICFF gets over 100 films made by child directors for next edition

    18th ICFF gets over 100 films made by child directors for next edition

    NEW DELHI: A total of more than 845 entries have been received from over 70 countries for the 18th International Children’s Film Festival, India (ICFF), popularly known as ‘The Golden Elephant’, to be held in Hyderabad in November.

    The Festival, which is traditionally held every second year alternating with the Mumbai International Film Festival for short films, will also have films from twenty countries like Austria, Chile, Cuba, Lebanon, and Ghana that were not represented in the last edition in 2011. The Festival will as usual be held from 14 to 20 November.

    Chairman of the Children’s Film Society India Amole Gupte said, “We have received an overwhelming response this year and we aim to make the festival bigger and better than ever before. The number of entries for the section ‘Little Directors’ which will feature films made by children is over 100.”

    CFSI CEO and festival director Shravan Kumar added that there were many ‘firsts’ in this festival. “Some of the ICFF films have been sourced from Cannes Film Market, allowing us to pick a selection of the latest children’s films, awaiting their World/Asian Premiers. ICFF has received 26 films from south America, a region barely represented in the earlier editions. We have also received 255 animation films from around the world.”

    The Lalitha Kala Thoranam – built in 1986 for the International Film Festival of India – will be the venue for the inaugural and closing ceremony this year and the films will be screened at Prasad IMAX Multiplex and seven other theatres.

    This was decided in the first organising committee meeting held in Hyderabad recently attended among others by Andhra Pradesh chief secretary Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, Information and Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Bimal Julka, I&B Joint Secretary (Films) Raghuvendra Singh, and Dr. Shravan Kumar.

     The festival will present four competitive sections. The best film would bag the Golden Elephant trophy and Rs two lakh in cash and and the second best feature will bag the Golden Elephant Plaque with Rs one lakh in cash.

    The Festival will also focus on “Children with Special Needs” through its Open Forum, where filmmakers will interact with activists, educators and parents. Films representing children with special needs will also be screened.  

    A Master-Class Workshop on how to market Indian Children’s films internationally will be organised in collaboration with Cine-Kid, Amsterdam, the world’s most popular children’s film market.

    The festival will also be bringing the best of Czech children’s cinema in the Country Focus section, including animations created by world renowned Czech animators, in collaboration with Zlin Film Festival – the oldest children’s film festival in the world.  

    Kumar added, “We are sourcing international award winning films featured in the 20 most prestigious International children’s film festivals including Dutch nomination for the Academy Awards and other recent children’s films that have won or featured in Berlinale, Toronto, Cannes, etc.”

  • Films can help diminish boundary between India & Bangladesh: Hasanul Haque Inu

    Films can help diminish boundary between India & Bangladesh: Hasanul Haque Inu

    MUMBAI: Bilateral relations with India can be strengthened with joint production of films as the two countries share common language, heritage, culture and history, feels Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu.

    Inu was speaking to the press. "History can be created. Films can eliminate the boundary between India and Bangladesh," the minister told delegates of Bengali film industry present at Ficci‘s media and entertainment business conclave.

    Stating that Bengali cinema has a large overseas market, he welcomed joint productions with the film industry in Bengal.

  • I&B should be more active in promoting Indian films overseas: Parliamentary Committee

    I&B should be more active in promoting Indian films overseas: Parliamentary Committee

    NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Committee has expressed regret that no attempt has been made over the years to promote Indian cinema internationally and the presence of Indian cinema in international film festivals such as Cannes or Locarno Film Festival is ‘insignificant‘.

    After an analysis of documents provided by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Standing Committee on Information Technology has said the intervention of the Ministry in areas of promotion of films internationally through its schemes such as “Export Promotion Through Film Festivals” and “Participation in Film Markets in India and Abroad” has not been up to the desired level.

    The share of major markets for the Indian films worldwide has been declining over the years due to factors such as decline in quantum of film selection in leading international film festivals, commercial viability being the driver in Indian film sector and promotion of Indian cinema in a fragmented manner. The Committee notes that this has been brought out in two evaluation studies conducted under the aegis of the Ministry.

     

    It notes that India is the largest producer of films in the world, producing films in 26 languages. It produces more than 1000 films per year in different languages.

    The Committee observes that the Ministry has taken some initiatives in partnership with the Tourism Ministry with a view to providing a platform to Indian filmmakers to promote and carry out their business activities effectively. The Committee has recommended that during the Twelfth Plan, a concerted effort should be made to ensure that promotion of Indian cinema abroad is carried out in a more structured and vociferous manner.

    The Ministry admitted that in the past few decades, Indian cinema had not attained as much acclaim as it enjoyed up to the 1970s or even in the 1980s.

    On the initiatives taken to reverse the aforesaid trend of decline of Indian Films internationally, the Committee was told by the Ministry that during the later part of the 11th Plan, a concerted effort has been made by the Ministry to ensure that promotion of Indian cinema abroad is carried out in a more structured manner.

    With effect from 2011-12, Cinemas of India have been made a sub-brand of Incredible India and promotion across the world carried out accordingly, highlighting the unique multi-lingual diversity of the Indian film sector. In recent years, a Film Market (Film Bazaar) that is held alongside the International Film Festival of India has been developed and has grown to become a major platform for facilitating collaborations between the Indian and international film fraternity in the realms of production and distribution. Several projects presented in Film Bazaar for purposes of seeking potential co-producers across the world have fructified into actual deals, leading to a surge in co-productions.

    The Ministry said international co-productions not only facilitate inflow of finance for production of a film, but more importantly, also open markets for distribution of such films.

  • ‘Our aim is to become the currency tool for media research’ : Ormax Media co-founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor

    ‘Our aim is to become the currency tool for media research’ : Ormax Media co-founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor

    Ormax Media, the consumer knowledge and consulting firm for the media and entertainment industry, was launched jointly by Vispy Doctor, the managing director of Ormax Consultants, a specialist in qualitative research, and former Filmy business head Shailesh Kapoor in July 2008.

    The company has expanded across categories like television, radio, films, and media agencies. It has launched various tools, which can predict the future of a show or a film.

    The expansion plan includes doing research in the news and South Indian market. The aim is to establish Ormax Media as the currency tool for media research.

    In an interview with Indiatelevision.com‘s Gaurav Laghate, Kapoor sheds light on the research needs in the media and entertainment industry and Ormax Media‘s drive to plug the gaps.

    Excerpts:

    You have worked with companies like Sony, Zee, Zoom and Filmy in roles across marketing, content and business strategy. So what led to Ormax Media?
    The idea was always there, I wanted to start something of my own. And I wanted to set up something which combined the media and entertainment industry where I came from with the marketing and consumer understanding that was always my interest.

    The exciting part is that we are working on multiple categories – like GECs (general entertainment channels), niche channels, movies, radio and digital. So there is a wide variety that makes the learning experience far more dynamic than it would have been in a traditional media role.

    What the company has achieved in these two years?
    Since it has been a new company, the first year focus was on consolidation and the second year was really of growth and expansion into new categories, businesses and clients.

    We started with TV. It was for two reasons – a far more organised industry in the M&E sector and also because of size.

    In 2009 we started with GECs, then moved on to niche channels and radio. During this time, we also started creating specific products.

    How did you identify the need for the product offerings?
    As we met more and more people, we recognised that there were common needs across the category. For example, there was common need for tracking marketing campaigns for TV programmes. This resulted in a tool – Showbuzz.

    You said you are in expansion mode. What all categories are you looking at?
    Initially, we spent time on developing tools, products and methodology. Then our focus was clearly on categories where we had strength. Like Bollywood – so we launched Cinematix. We are planning to launch a structured product of test screening of Hindi movies soon.

    How has the film industry responded so far?
    We have already worked on 7-8 movies in the last six months. And I think for an industry which is still getting used to the idea of research, it‘s a pretty healthy number. Going forward, the film industry will continue to be the focus. First we were trying to get them on board and trying to make them understand the whole idea of research. And we were pleasantly surprised. Once they (film industry) were exposed to this; they were more than willing to receive research in a far more flexible manner.
     

    What are the challenges you have been facing for getting clients?
    The biggest challenge has been to meet more and more people and give them the flavour of what research can give them. And once they get the right flavour and do one project, they certainly understand the importance of it.

    Apart from films, what are the other areas you will be focusing on now?
    The areas which we are going to focus on now are specific categories – like South and news.

    What opportunities do you see in the southern regional market?
    South is a very big market for both TV and cinema industry. The fundamentals of TV and film research are not different. And we have teams in the four southern states.

    And what are your plans for the news industry?
    The news market is one that largely relies on Tam. But at the category level, there may not be any tools and products available. So we are looking at that option.

    News is also a big category in terms of revenue. It is a category where the advertiser buying is often based on decisions based not directly on the function of the ratings. Particularly English news channels where many different parameters come into play.

    All your tools basically try to asses and predict the future – cinematix or showbuzz?
    A lot of our work is going into putting tools and analytics in place. We are trying to create ways in which future prediction and future analysis can be made rather than just looking at the past and getting a sense of that.

    Research is not just looking at today and giving feedback at what people are liking or not liking. I think the more important area, where a lot of our energies are focused on, is to predict the future.

    So what all services you offer to clients?
    We have three kinds of products. Syndicated products are owned by us like Showbuzz, Cinematics, Characters India Love, RJ Files. We do them at our cost, irrespective of who is subscribing or not subscribing to it. This is data which is registered and trademarked to us. Whoever subscribes to it, gets it.

    These products are most cost effective for all as they are common to the industry. Multiple people are subscribing and paying for it . It cannot be affordable for someone wanting to do it alone.

    Second is commissioned research, which could be qualitative or quantitative research. These are need based research.

    We also do consulting work, which is specifically beyond consumer research and is more advisory in nature. But it is not our main area of work. We are primarily a consumer understanding firm.

    How much market share are you looking at acquiring in future?
    We hope to be controlling at least 75-80 per cent of the research market in a couple of years. That doesn‘t mean we are going to compete with already established systems such as Tam, Ram etc. We are going to complement the information available through them. So if Tam gives the viewership, we will add value by explaining the viewership understanding. We are more about adding value beyond the measurement systems.
    If some other similar company starts working on the same lines, what will be your plan of action?
    See, eventually, in a category like this, one becomes currency. We have seen that in case of Tam. The second player to come will have a disadvantage. It is difficult to say at this stage who will become currency, but my sense is that till the time other players will come, we will be established as the industry currency. We are moving in the right direction.

  • TV and film production companies have a bumpy FY’10

    Television content production companies have had a bumpy ride during the 12-month period ended March 2010 as broadcasters cut costs and restructured businesses to tide over the recession.The listed TV content companies – Balaji Telefilms, UTV Television, BAG Films and Media, Creative Eye and Sri Adhikari Bros – posted a combined revenue of Rs 3.36 billion, down 38.32 per cent from Rs 5.44 billion in the year ago period. Barring Sri Adhikari Bros, which has low revenues, each company’s turnover de-grew during the fiscal.

    Realisation per hour of programming fell dramatically and the content creators had to work on squeezed margins. The existence of too many content companies did not make the task any easier.

    The listed companies, in fact, swung into losses at an operational level. The combined loss stood at Rs 25.79 millon compared to operating profit of Rs 186.73 million in the year-ago period.

     
    Expenses were kept under tight control as projects fell, amounting to Rs 2.25 billion, or a drop of 37.48 per cent.

    (We have taken UTV’s content financials which include airtime sales as they don’t disclose them separately. Also, expenses and net profit are not available for UTV and BAG separately).

    The movie production houses also had a rough patch as it was caught in a row with multiplex operators, cluttered releases and high ratio of box office disasters.

     

    The combined revenues of the five listed companies – UTV Motion Pictures, Cinevistaas, Pritish Nandy Communications, Mukta Arts and Shree Ashtavinayak – dropped 20.48 per cent to Rs 13.78 billion (from Rs 17.33 billion).

     
    On an operational level, these companies, however, posted a profit of Rs 1.43 billion, up 2.6 per cent from the earlier year.
    Expenses fell by 24 per cent to Rs 8.13 billion, as against Rs 10.71 billion in the year-ago period.

    The content entertainment revenue pie, in fact, fell by 24.74 per cent in FY’10. Revenue of the listed film and television production companies stood at Rs 17.14 billion, down from Rs 22.77 billion a year ago.

     

  • ‘Convert pirate users into paying consumers & gaming industry will be worth Rs 3 billion’ : Vishal Gondal – Indiagames founder

    ‘Convert pirate users into paying consumers & gaming industry will be worth Rs 3 billion’ : Vishal Gondal – Indiagames founder

     Gaming firm Indiagames is on the move. It recently came back into the online gaming space with its Games on Demand concept. UTV also took a majority stake in the company. Indiantelevision.com's Ashwin Pinto caught up with Indiagames founder Vishal Gondal to find out how the company has evolved and the plans ahead.

    Excerpts:

    How has your business model evolved over the years?
    We started off as an online games company. We did free flash games where money came from advertising. However, we found that it was not scalable and limited. So we took a call to move out of online gaming and into the services business.

    Then we saw the opportunities in mobile gaming and so we became a developer and then a publisher of mobile games. Last year we returned to online gaming with a new strategy games on demand. We have a subscription based gaming service. Users can play unlimited games for a flat fee.

    Right now we are at a time when gaming is starting to take off in India. How do you see the gaming space faring vis-a-vis traditional entertainment like TV, films?
    Globally gaming is bigger than film. In the US, it is bigger than Hollywood. The same thing will happen in India eventually. In every mature market where it has spread it has done that – like Korea, China. India has a lot of young people who do not watch 'Saas Bahu soaps.

    They are not as much into current television, which is dominated by the housewives. I am not saying that this segment is bad. However going forward more people will get into interactive entertainment. Gaming is part of this, along with activities like Second Life. More and more people will take to the virtual world.

    What would you say is the main challenge gaming faces
    in India?
    The problem in India is not that people don't game. The problem is that people buy pirated games. Nobody was paying for legal games. Indiagames is trying to build an eco system where price points are such that the consumer does not want to pirate anymore.

    If we are able to convert the pirate users into paying consumers, that alone will make the gaming industry worth Rs 3 billion.
    'We are about to launch a Godzilla game; we are about to release a cricket Twenty20 game'

    What kind of price points are you looking at?
    To give you an example; for the games on demand service we offer unlimited games for Rs 200. Today when you pay Rs 150 for cable TV, do you want to buy pirated tapes of TV content? Our logic is the same. When consumers can get all games for Rs 200 why would you buy pirated games for Rs 100?

    Who are your partners for games on demand?
    We have partnered with pretty much all the major gaming publishers in the world for content. So we have distribution deals with firms like Popcap, Atari, Activision, Codemaster Playfirst. We also have a tie up with MTNL, Sify, among other platforms. We also work with Qualcomm, Microsoft to make sure that our games are cutting edge.

    UTV recently bought a majority stake in Indiagames.
    What synergies do you see here?
    UTV is an integrated entertainment firm. If you see what Ronnie is doing, he is building a business that encompasses the entire gamut of entertainment from TV, to films, to online entertainment. So the UTV deal allows us to be a part of the bigger picture. Bindass is UTV's effort tap into the youth. The youth want gaming and so we will work with Bindass to see how we can integrate gaming with their offerings.

    UTV also has a stake in Ignition, which is a console game publisher. Between Ignition and us we have capabilities across all platforms. We will be looking at how we can exploit IP into the console space and vice versa. UTV will also create IP in the form of movies and TV shows. So we can adapt some of these into games, which we then market.

    Are we going to see more tie ups like this as traditional entertainment firms seek to broaden their horizons?
    The Indian film and media industry are getting more professional. They are also converging a lot. Previously, the film industry was a different silo, the broadcasting sector was a different silo the net industry was a different silo.

    However Fox buying MySpace triggered off a chain of events where media firms want to have their share of the pie in every segment to boost customer interaction. So if customers are increasing their time spent on the internet, mobile then for traditional media firms who are in TV or print it is a natural progression for them to look at exploiting the other screens too.

    You will see more corporate deals. Traditional media firms realise that it is difficult to build a new media business from scratch. It is better to buy such businesses from market leaders in their respective fields. Adobe and Cisco also have a stake in Indiagames.

    What targets have been set by Indiagames in terms of market share?
    It is too early to talk about revenue targets. On the market share front on the mobile side we enjoy upwards of 50-60 per cent share. On the online front we are the only firm to offer games on demand service. The other players are trying to sell MMOPGs which is a niche segment. It is early to say if there is competition online as the market is new.

    What have been some of your biggest properties so far
    and what have you learnt from their success?
    We have worked on properties like Bruce Lee, Jurassic Park, Rush Hour 3. In India, we also distribute content from the likes of Electronic Arts, Fifa, Batman, Transformers.

    It is important to work on the right kind of property. You cannot take any movie or any story or any character and convert it into a game. The brand has to lend itself to gaming. In the past games have come out of family drama. However cricket, action, sports games work better than love stories.

    Which are your five big markets globally and how many
    partners do you have?
    We have 150 partners globally, Our key markets are the US, Australia, Japan, Europe and India. We have offices in London, Los Angeles, Beijing, Mumbai. These are the core hubs where we do business from. We recently set up an office in Madrid, Spain to cover Southern Europe.
    What would you say is the main difference between
    developing games for the internet and for the mobile?
    The screen size is the first major difference. Attention spans differ. For the mobile you design a game for someone on the move. His time with a game is limited. He/she also has limited access to 10 different keys. Online people tend to spend more time on a game. The control is wider.
     
    When you work with a firm like NBC how much of a
    collaborative process is it?
    It is very collaborative. We have to work with the production team, share creative ideas with them. We have to get approval for game concepts. We work together to exploit the complete commercial value of the property.
     
    Could you shed light on the relationship between gaming and social networking?
    Gaming was the first social network. If you look at xBox Live you see gamers wanting to connect with other gamers. This is how social networking was born. After that social networking was adapted to other common interests. We have had social networking since the first multi player games came up.
     
    Where does Indiagames get creative ideas for new games from?
    We have a team that brainstorms on creative ideas. We have to see whether properties are relevant in different markets. You do not want to have a situation where a property is only well known in one market. So we have to do research to find out whether people in the US, Australia, Europe, India know about the property. If it is less or more in one country then what is the extent? Our business is about taking calculated bets.
     
    From a client viewpoint what does Indiagames bring to the table vis-a-vis the competition?
    People know that India is good for technical execution. India has been looked at as an outsourcing base. We have changed this perception. We were the first firm to start licensing games from India. Nobody in the world thought that Indian firms could go the publishing route. Our first success was Spiderman which we worked on with Marvel. We proved that we could not only produce quality stuff in India but that we could market the same globally.
     
    Going forward are you looking to sign long term deals with entertainment conglomerates like NBC Universal for games or will it still be on a project to project basis?
    It is better to work on a project to project basis as all projects that they do may not be relevant for us and vice versa. I don't know if this will change in the future but as of now we work on a case by case basis.
     
    What are the major projects Indiagames is now working on?
    We are about to launch a Godzilla game. We are about to release a cricket Twenty20 game.
     
    Do you think that game developers in India have an advantage in terms of being able to learn from the experience of mature markets like Korea?
    There is always an advantage in being able to learn from different markets. At the same time each market has its own nuances and challenges. It is important not to just blindly follow what a country like Korea is doing as there are cultural issues and local intelligence.

    Indian preferences for games tend to lean more towards the West than the East. Indians play games like Counter Strike, Fifa, need For Speed. China and Korea on the other hand have a lot of massive multiplayer online gaming.
    How important is organising on ground events for you?
    Very! We have been doing the Cybergame championships for sometime now. We are working with the CII and the government to see if T-Sports and gaming can be recognised professionally as a sport. It should be given equal status as any other sport. We have the Indian national champions who will be going to Seattle to compete in the Cybergame Championships. We also organised an India versus Pakistan event where Kapil Dev was the chief guest. They played various games like Counter Strike.
     
    Finally where do you see Indiagames five years from now?
    Right now we are leading in the mobile space. Five years from now I see Indiagames leading in all gaming spaces.

  • Digitalisation of films can help end piracy, save foreign exchange
     

    NEW DELHI: Digitalization of cinema is vital in controlling the distribution and exhibition of cinema in digital format and safeguarding intellectual property since the Indian film industry faces almost 40 per cent revenue pilferage due to piracy, according to a Planning Commission study.

    The sub-group on ‘Going Digital’ set up by the Planning Commission and headed by Rajeeva Ratna Shah, member secretary in the Planning Commission and a former CEO of Prasar Bharati,, said in its report that going digital would be incomplete if the entertainment (film) sector is not covered. Furthermore, safeguarding the intellectual property rights of the industry would encourage filmmaker to a great extent. The digital cinema system is already a reality in the country and would revolutionize the exhibition of films all over India.

    Issues of piracy plague software industry the world over. In terms of money, the industry loses approximately Rs 20 billion on account of piracy directly, on which the government neither earns Entertainment Tax nor Income Tax. digital cinema would help curb piracy in a proactive manner as it will make the pirates business unviable by providing an early and widespread release of films across the country and thus nipping piracy in the bud. Furthermore, as there is no physical movement of the film, creation of pirated copies/versions of the film is ruled out.
     

    The sub-group said the early availability of films combined with high quality images and scheduling flexibility ensure increased box office collections. Early migrants to the digital cinema system have witnessed around 100 per cent increase in revenue collections by way of increased box office collections and thus increased collection of Entertainment Tax and Income Tax.

    It said film prints are made from film stock imported from companies like Kodak, Agfa etc. Going by an average of 800 films, 200 prints each at a cost of Rs.50,000 per print entails an expense of Rs 8 billion. As the prints cannot be recycled, it is a waste of money once it completes its life. However, digital cinema does not use any prints, hence minimizing wastage and at the same time saving the country precious foreign exchange.

    With the advent of Digital Cinema, niche cinema and regional language films will be able to generate revenues, thus making the local film industry in the states more commercially viable. This will provide employment to local artistes and technicians and other film industry related infrastructural suppliers.
     

    Analogue prints are made from polyester and are destroyed by burning which is a huge biohazard. Digital prints are digital files and can be simply erased from the server’s memory. The Power consumption of a digital projection system is far more economical as compared to the power consumption of an optical projection system. The annual power savings if digital cinema is implemented in around 200 theatres across the country works out to 87,48,000 KVA.

    The print quality does not deteriorate with repeated use irrespective of the number of screenings. Small town cinemas plagued by piracy and failure of films coupled with availability of only old films have become economically unviable. However digital cinema will bring the small town cinemas at par to the cinema halls in the big cities as the films can be simultaneously released across the country. The advent of digital cinema has seen proliferation of new and compact cinema houses in small towns and cities.

    But the Sub-group said the government should provide incentives for production as well as exhibition of films in the digital format in its own interest as the loss of revenue due to piracy is considerable. Production of cinema in digital format could be on lower tax regime and theatres that have installed digital cinema exhibition facilities can be subjected to lower entertainment tax.

    Furthermore, there is need to amend the Cinematograph Act 1952 to incorporate digital cinema. digital rights management/IPR protection is of paramount importance in view of piracy. Many content owners would be apprehensive in sharing their content as piracy is a major issue. Hence, adequate laws to protect the rights of the content owners need to be put in place so that they feel safe to share their content over digital platforms.

    As small and medium players would find it difficult to digitize their respective libraries in the light of huge conversion cost, content aggregators could be encouraged and a suitable regulatory/policy regime worked out to make this happen in a hassle free manner.

  • Ficci seeks widespread benefits, exemptions for digital cinema

    NEW DELHI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has demanded various benefits for the digital cinema industry, including tax holiday under Income Tax, exemption from MAT and DDT, 100 per cent depreciation benefit, sales tax exemption and customs benefits.

    Topping the list of demands is a 10-year income tax holiday, just as is done in the case of various types of infrastructure development, including creation of trunking, broadband network and tax holidays multiplexes.

    The Ficci document has also strongly stressed the definite need for removal of service tax in the case of this “fledgling industry”,
     

    It has shown that at various stages, from conversion of analogue images to digital and the time of being actual screening, the players – operators, distributors, rentals for service providers, etc. pay several times.

    “All the services described in the business model above attract a levy of service tax at 12% plus 2% education cess thereon, albeit under different service categories. It is submitted that for an industry in its infancy, a cost of 12.24% of its revenues will have a significant adverse affect on its prospects, if not serve to destroy it altogether,” Ficci has emphasised.

    The document spelling out Ficci’s budgetary wishlist says that digital cinema has tremendous benefits, not the least of which is less burden on the environment, which is the ground on which it has demanded 100 depreciation benefit for the sector.

    The document argues that analogue prints are made from polyester films and are destroyed by burning, which is a huge bio-hazard. Digital prints are mere digital files and can be simply erased from our server’s memory. Hence, film waste removal is taxing on the environment, because polyester films cannot be recycled.
     

    Ficci has suggested the development of digital cinema infrastructure that would benefit the industry hugely.

    It argues that this will increase box office collections, generate rural employment and curb piracy, as well create savings in foreign exchange and minimize wastage in print.

    “In India”, the document argues, “software piracy has assumed gigantic proportions. Ficci studies estimate that the Indian film industry loses almost 42 per cent revenue due to piracy.

    “In absolute terms this amounts to approximately Rs 2,000 crore on account of piracy. This is money on which the government earns neither Entertainment Tax nor Income Tax.

    “An early and widespread release of movies, enabled by digital cinema will act as an effective deterrent to piracy,” it says.

    Ficci also says that early migrants to the digital cinema system have reported more than 100 per cent increase in revenue collections by way of increased box office collections due to early screening of movies.

    “Needless to mention, this has also translated into enhanced collections of Entertainment and Income Tax,” stressed the document.

    Digital cinema makes niche cinema and regional language films more commercially viable. This will, in turn, generate employment for local artists and technicians and other regional film industry related infrastructural suppliers, holds Ficci.

    It has stressed that digital cinema infrastructure equipment, particularly the digital projector and digital movie compressor, which attract the peak rate of custom duty, be given exemption.

    “Since these items are not manufactured in India and are a very heavy cost burden to the provider these should be treated at par with hi-tech and information technology sector items with customs duty being reduced to nil,” suggests Ficci.

    Ficci has also recommended that the state governments give lease tax exemption to the new industry.

    Considering the way digital cinema infrastructure is poised to revolutionise the films and visual arts exhibition in the country, with multi-fold advantages to all the constituents of the society, (viz. the content owner, the theatre owner, the tax administration, and the general public as the ultimate consumer), it certainly deserves a whole hearted support from the Government of India, Ficci feels.

    “And as elucidated above, a strong Digital Cinema Infrastructure would, in the long run, pay back more than what it is requesting for now.”
  • Ficci gears up for Frames convention

    Ficci gears up for Frames convention

    MUMBAI: Frames, the convention for the business of Indian entertainment organised by Ficci, will take place from 26 – 28 March in Mumbai.

    Business delegation from over 20 countries is expected for the event which is in its eight year. This year Italy is a partner country.

    The television track kicks off with a plenary session – Regulatory Framework for Entertainment Industry on the opening day.

    There has been a regular debate among various stakeholders on regulation. How much of regulation should be there? Should the content regulation be consistent across all delivery mediums such as TV, radio, films and print? Should there be a price regulation? Or the industry should be left to market forces to evolve on its own?

    With the boom of news channels, there will be a session on Changing face of News. In order to survive, news channels along with newsworthiness should have something different. Along with managing editorial content, the gatekeepers are also acting as brand managers.

    Viewers wanting a global perspective of television can attend Fresh TV around the World. This special session, now a regular item at the television trade events in Cannes, France Mip TV and Mipcom, presents the world’s freshest and most popular TV shows of the season, specially edited for Frames participants.

    This includes clips from the world’s most successful, innovative and most talked about TV shows. Based on the monthly The Wit Fresh TV Report which spots new shows launched in more than 30 markets worldwide, the presentation also covers the most creative trends in different programming genres.

    With Cas and DTH already introduced, Frames will have a Plenary Session on The Last Mile: Battle of reaching consumers. The challenge of retaining existing consumers is going to be tough. Are existing distributors well equipped to take up this challenge?

    Another plenary session examines the importance of content. Innovative marketing and promotional campaigns can be of little hope unless it is fuelled with winning content. Irrespective of platform, the key to success is high quality content. Can anybody afford to disagree?

    There will also be a focus on the Asian TV Market in a session. Asia has common cultural values thereby having huge potential of sharing content with countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, and Singapore. How the trade of content can be further strengthened among these countries?

    The Film Track kicks off with the crucial topic of marketing and distribution. This has always been an integral part of the business plan for film producers. The success of a film no longer depends on just the content, storyline and the starcast, but also on how well the film is marketed. The successes of Krissh, Don and Dhoom 2 in India scenario are prime example.

    The session will discuss the new methods employed to get to the target audience especially in international markets. Another session looks at digital cinema. From Celluloid to digital …Indian multiplexes and stand alone theatres are adopting the digital technology. Earlier business models were driving the technological applications. The scenario is just the opposite now, it’s the technology driving the business of Indian Cinema. The digital technology is changing the way the movies are being watched…. What lies in the future?

    Another session examines whether remakes and sequels revisits the past or is it the result of intellectual bankruptcy. Indian films now have a lot of sequels and remixes. Sequels of Munnabhai, Krissh, Hera Pheri, Dhoom and remakes like Don and Umrao Jaan and their success has added a new dimension to the Indian film industry. Some see it as a case of intellectual bankruptcy. In the era of commercialisation does storytelling hold a chance?

    What makes popular cinema tick? Is there a magic formula for success at box office? Increasingly the taste and sensibilities of the Indian audiences are changing. This is reflected in the different genres of movies making box office history this year. Films like Dhoom 2, Krishh, Rang De Basanti and Munnabhai have generated mass hysteria. There is a radical change in the scripts, treatment and presentation. The changing trends of Hindi films will be looked at in a session.