ITV

Tag: Fox Searchlight Pictures

  • Hitchcock to premiere at AFI fest

    Hitchcock to premiere at AFI fest

    MUMBAI: The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that the film ‘Hitchcock‘, starring Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock and Helen Mirren as his wife and Alma Reville, Scarlett Johansson as actress Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as actress Vera Miles and James D‘Arcy as actor Anthony Perkins ‘Psycho‘ will have its World Premiere on 1 November , as the Opening Night Gala of this year‘s fest presented by Audi.

    The film is directed by Sacha Gervasi and also stars Toni Collette, Danny Huston and Michael Stuhlbarg.

    Fox Searchlight Pictures will release the film in November. The film a love story about one of the most influential filmmakers of the last century, Alfred Hitchcock, and his wife and partner, Alma Reville, takes place during the making of the director‘s seminal 1960 movie, ‘Psycho‘.

    AFI president, CEO Bob Gazzale said, "AFI‘s history with Alfred Hitchcock is a proud one, from a Master Seminar at the AFI Conservatory in 1970 to his receiving the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979. We are honored to celebrate his lasting legacy with the World Premiere of Hitchcock – a bloody valentine to his creative genius and the inspired woman at his side."

    AFI Fest director Jacqueline Lyanga said, "Alfred Hitchcock‘s signature style has made him one of the most influential directors in the world. This film pulls back the curtain and takes us behind-the-scenes of his lifelong collaboration with his wife Alma during the making of his 1960 masterpiece ‘Psycho‘ – it‘s the perfect film to welcome our audience of movie-lovers with on opening night."

    Alfred Hitchcock was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979. Four of his movies rank among the greatest films of all time on AFI‘s 100 Years…100 Movies list: Vertigo (#9), Psycho (#14), Rear Window (#48) and North By Northwest (#55). In addition, ‘Psycho‘ was ranked number one on AFI‘s list of most heart pounding American films and, in a serendipitous turn, the Norman Bates character portrayed by Anthony Perkins in ‘Psycho‘ was ranked number two on AFI‘s Top Villains list – just behind Anthony Hopkins‘ Hannibal Lecter in ‘The Silence Of The Lambs‘.

  • Screwvala’s target for UTV: Rs 5 billion turnover by 2008

    Screwvala’s target for UTV: Rs 5 billion turnover by 2008

    MUMBAI: Hardly has the ink dried on the landmark deal he stitched with Walt Disney, and UTV’s founder-promoter Ronnie Screwvala is already looking to the future. The Indian media pioneer is bullish on turning his company into a Rs 5 billion company by 2008.

    This will mean a jump in turnover of Rs 3 billion, but Screwvala believes high growth will come, particularly from movies and animation. Besides, he is eyeing acquisitions in gaming and expects air time sales to zoom. Incremental growth from TV content business is also expected.

    On the movie front, Screwvala is close to announcing three international co-production movie deals. While global major Fox will be involved in one venture, Ronnie says the other two will also be with major studios. In an earlier project, UTV has partnered with Fox Searchlight Pictures and Entertainment Farm to produce the $9.6 million Mira Nair-directed film The Namesake.

    “They are three mainline movies and will have a big star cast. Unlike The Namesake where we have three co-producers, these will be two-way partnerships,” Screwvala says. When queried, he rules out the involvement of Disney in any of these projects.
    Screwvala aims to have an annual pipeline of 12 movies, one or two international co-productions and possibly an animation film. Already lined up are three movies with Rakeysh Mehra. “We are making Ashutosh Gawarikar’s next movie and three films with other directors. We have also tied up with Vishal Bhardwaj,” he says.

    The film business will be production-led. “We do not have an aggressive distribution agenda at the moment. We may acquire just one or two movies for distribution. But we will be distributing all the movies that we produce,” Screwvala says.

    Gaming is a new area UTV is planning to enter as an extension of its businesses in animation, post production and special effects. “We are eyeing acquisitions of domestic and overseas gaming companies. There is a model for international companies to look at India as an outsourcing model and an Indian story for going overseas. We are spending a lot of time evaluating the gaming business,” he says.

    UTV has made investments in setting up the animation infrastructure and is having a pipeline across the value chain. “We have a good order book in outsourcing and are involved in originating content as well,” says Screwvala.

    The big script with Disney will also begin with both companies in process of identifying areas where they can work together. “We are looking at animation, movies, TV and gaming. On the movie front, we are exploring possibilities of co-producing with them for Hindi films as well as going mainline with English. Home videos is another area we are looking at to expand our Indian movies overseas through their strong retail network,” says Screwvala.

    UTV will be cash rich by Rs 2.36 billion between the sale of Hungama, fresh equity to UTV and Screwvala’s warrants. “We can leverage the company with a 1:1 debt-equity ratio and have a Rs 5 billion war chest. In media, that offers lots of opportunities,” Screwvala says, clearly relishing the challenges ahead.