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Tag: Fox Star Studios

  • Yash Raj Films promotes Hemant Kundnani to sr general manager communications

    Yash Raj Films promotes Hemant Kundnani to sr general manager communications

    MUMBAI:  Hemant Kundnani has been promoted to senior general manager – communications at Yash Raj Films (YRF), one of India’s most prestigious film production companies. The promotion comes after three years of service at the Hindi cinema  powerhouse, where he previously held the position of general manager – communications.

    Kundnani brings industry experience to his elevated role, having previously served as head of marketing at Pooja Entertainment from March 2020 to August 2021. During his tenure there, he oversaw marketing for Bellbottom, notably one of the first film projects globally to complete production during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Before joining Pooja Entertainment, Kundnani spent nearly six years at The Walt Disney Co in increasingly senior positions. He served as senior manager for digital strategy, analytics and alliances at Fox Star Studios (a Disney subsidiary) from December 2016 to March 2020, where he focused on understanding cinema audiences and building data analytics capabilities to optimise marketing expenditure.

    His Disney career began in the interactive division, where as manager of products, marketing and alliances, he spearheaded a global strategic alliance with the International Cricket Council to develop the official game of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The game achieved the number one position in sports app rankings across India, UK and Australia, garnering one million downloads within three days of release.

    Kundnani’s entertainment industry credentials also include a three-year stint at UTV, where he worked as senior associate marketing for UTV Stars movie channels. During this period, he contributed to the Walk of the Stars  project, described as “a tribute to the big stars of Hindi cinema” and the first attraction of its kind in India.

  • Fox Star Studios rebrands to Star Studios

    Fox Star Studios rebrands to Star Studios

    Mumbai: India’s leading movie studios Fox Star Studios has rebranded to Star Studios, introducing a new visual identity. With this brand refresh, Star Studios will present universal story themes with iconic characters and new-age cinematic spectacles backed by cutting-edge technology, for theatrical releases as well as direct-to-digital

    Associating with the most prominent creative minds, talent and new-age storytellers, Star Studios will continue to bring genre-agnostic stories to global audiences starting with “Brahmastra Part One: Shiva”, “Babli Bouncer”, “Gulmohar” , remake of “Hridayam” and many more in the pipeline.

    The studio has also given blockbuster movies such as “M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story”, “Sanju”, “Neerja“, “Chhichhore” and many more

    Speaking of this rebranding, Disney Star head of studios Bikram Duggal said, “With Star Studios, we aim to harbour the best creative minds and bring unique stories to audiences with an expanding entertainment palate. We are creating a diverse range of stories across genres from grand visual spectacles to family dramas and everything in between. We are delighted to create a collaborative studio environment at Star Studios that helps create cinematic experiences across theatrical and direct-to-digital films. We have already announced a few of these films, and in weeks and months we will be announcing many more films.”

  • Entropy onboards former Fox Star exec Nidhi Bubna as COO

    Entropy onboards former Fox Star exec Nidhi Bubna as COO

    Mumbai: Nidhi Bubna, who is known to have driven end to end film marketing, strategy and media for blockbuster Bollywood films at Fox Star Studios will be joining the entertainment digital marketing agency, Entropy as a chief operating officer (COO), effective September. Founded by Prabhat Choudhary, Entropy manages the digital accounts of the country’s major celebrities.

    Bubna comes with a diverse experience in the field of media and entertainment of over 10 years. She has worked on several blockbuster films at Fox Star Studios like “Sanju”, “Housefull 4”, “Mission Mangal”, “Chhapaak”, “Baaghi 2”, among others.

    Previously, Bubna was associated with Star India, as part of Hotstar and later worked on Star network channels.

  • Vijay Singh quits Fox Star Studios India

    Vijay Singh quits Fox Star Studios India

    MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios chief executive officer Vijay Singh has resigned after his decade-long stint at the studio, which is going through the final phases of completing its acquisition by The Walt Disney Co.

    Though he has stepped down, he will be continuing at Fox Star Studios India for the next two or three months, helping Bikram Duggal, executive director and head – studio entertainment at The Walt Disney Company, take charge.

    Joining Fox Star Studios India in 2007, Singh went on to set up the Indian market, including the foray into Hindi films. Prior to Fox Star, he worked with The Tetley Group – Tata Global Beverages and Sony Music Entertainment India.

    According to media reports, Singh will join a foreign media technology brand which is eager to enter the Indian market.

  • Fox Star Studios collaborates with Likee to promote upcoming movie Chhichhore

    Fox Star Studios collaborates with Likee to promote upcoming movie Chhichhore

    MUMBAI: Likee, the pioneering global short video creation platform from Singapore based BIGO Technology has collaborated with Fox Star Studios to promote upcoming multi starrer movie Chhichhore featuring Shraddha Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Varun Sharma and more. The movie is set to be released on September 6, 2019, the rom-com film essentially captures the lifestyle and friendships of today's youth. To expand its reach among a large set of young Indians Fox Star Studios will run #Chhichhore on Likee where users will get to meet the lead actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor.

    A highly interactive platform such as Likee allows Fox Star Studios to connect with young Indians to promote Chhichhore movie in an engaging manner, inspiring creativity among the youth in today's era of visual communications. Through this collaboration, Fox Star Studios aims to create a unique bond between the Chhichhore movie, its actors and the youth. The #Chhichhore campaign cements Likee’s position as a trusted platform for brands to build interactive promotions that enable top of mind recall among target audience and improve brands’ impact. The platform intends to enter into more brand collaborations and create regular meaningful campaigns for its users.

    Likee is simple to use short video creating & sharing app launched in 2017 in India and provides the most extensive and innovative tools to users to create dynamic and engaging videos. The platform has experienced massive growth in India and has emerged as a significant platform for youth to express themselves, showcase their talent and connect with like-minded users. Likee's growing popularity is also drawing the focus of many brands and celebrities in India to promote themselves among millennial in the most effective way.

    In India, Likee is available in different Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi. Recently, Likee has also won the Guinness World Record for creating the 'Largest online video album of people waving a flag in India' during its 'No matter where I am, #IAMINDIAN' campaign. The campaign saw more than 1 lac Indians participating to celebrate India's 73rd Independence Day. During the campaign, Indians created more than 2.5 lakh videos which garnered more than 225.3 million views. India's international sports sensation Ms. Hima Das also participated in the campaign.

  • Cinema content producers still discovering audience taste

    Cinema content producers still discovering audience taste

    MUMBAI: The Indian movie industry is one of the richest in the world and its content has been gaining patrons worldwide. But producers still believe that the industry doesn’t have the pulse of audience preference.

    The point was raised at the third edition of Indiantelevision.com’s ‘The Content Hub’ during a panel discussion on how new Hindi film producers are making their mark and what business models they are drawing up. The panel included Essel Vision (Zee Studios) CEO Shariq Patel, Viacom18 Studios chief operating officer Ajit Andhare, Alliance Media and Entertainment owner Sunil Doshi and Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh. Moderating the panel was film reviewer at Film Companion Suchitra Tyagi.

    Singh said that though we do not have an absolute understanding, we are better informed than we were few years ago. "Let me just give you some facts. Theatrical in India was going single digit till last year, where it actually has its most record breaking year and the business has grown by 14 per cent. Correspondingly, even if you look at Hollywood, last year they have had their biggest theatrical year," he said.

    However, Patel was of the view that the reason behind this is the constantly emerging trends. He shared that it is not possible to foresee or sight the changes in what the audience deems popular.

    Reflecting similar thoughts was Andhare who said, “Trends and cinema are two terms which are not friends with each other, because the moment you try to say this is trend you will falter. You can safely say that yes content has to be taken more seriously, just the package film which used to a success few years ago may not work.”

    He further added, “Also from a purely film business point of view, if you see a movie goer base, it is actually divided in three major markets, Hindi is just one, and the other two big bases are down south. So if you really want to address the entire consumer base for cinema in this country, you have to address all these three and from that stand point regional becomes extremely relevant.”

    There is a great opportunity to be a content producer today. "There is a huge opportunity in OTT and I can tell you that in films there is equally large opportunity. What has happened in Hollywood over the last 10 years, because the contribution from outside America started going up. 10 years back international content contributed 30 per cent and today it contributes 70 per cent. That is the reason why studios are working on franchise films or the few films which have the ability to actually travel across the globe,” Singh concluded.

  • Cosmos-Maya Wins coveted Filmy Cricket League

    Cosmos-Maya Wins coveted Filmy Cricket League

    MUMBAI: Cosmos-Maya, the market leader in original Indian animation content creation in kids’ space, recently won the Filmy Cricket League, held in Mumbai.

    The Filmy Cricket League (FCL), in its 7th edition, saw the participation of major media houses like Disney, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Fox Star Studios, among others.

    A conscientious company that earnestly believes in encouraging team spirit and unity, Cosmos-Maya has undertaken numerous team building activities for this purpose. One of these attempts included having a Cricket team in place for participation in sporting events like the Filmy Cricket League. Cosmos-Maya has been a regular at the event ever since its inception. However, this year, it exceeded everyone’s expectations by comprehensively winning every match it played in the tournament.

    Commenting on this victory, Anish Mehta, CEO, Cosmos Maya, said, “It has been our endeavor to provide our employees with the perfect blend of work and play. Whether it was the selection trials or the tournament itself, the response from Cosmos-Mayaites was phenomenal. Our efforts to inculcate a sense of team spirit through sporting activities, have proven to be successful.”

    The 7th edition of Filmy Cricket League was held on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of December, 2018.

  • Publicis Entertainment opens in India with ‘Sanju’ campaign

    Publicis Entertainment opens in India with ‘Sanju’ campaign

    MUMBAI: Motion picture production and distribution giant Fox Star Studios has brought Publicis Entertainment on board as its digital and social media marketing partner. Publicis Entertainment is the recently unveiled entertainment marketing and branded entertainment arm of Publicis Communications.

    Speaking about the association with Publicis Entertainment and Indigo Consulting, a spokesperson from Fox Star Studios said: “At Fox Star Studios we were looking for a partner that could best bring out the magic of Sanju’s story digitally. Publicis Entertainment and Indigo Consulting were the partners that understood this the best, and we worked closely with them on the film.”

    Commenting on the tie-up with Fox Star Studios for the promotion of Sanju , Publicis Entertainment executive director Pranay Anthwal said, “It is a pleasure to work with a marketing team like Fox Star Studios. Sanju is the first of many special films we will be working on for them. We worked closely with Indigo Consulting for this project, starting with putting together a specialist team comprising India’s finest social creative and digital marketing minds”

    “The project team ensured that we not only were on top of the social piece but also indexed most of our product and effort to the holy grail ticket sales. We look forward to a fruitful association with Fox Star Studios,” he added.

    Indigo Consulting CEO Rajesh Ghatge added, “The digital platform allows a dialogue; it facilitates conversations and participation. A movie experience now is no longer limited to the show in the theatre – it extends before, during and after screenings. The experience allows deep discovery of the characters, stars, the subject and also artistes who have made it happen. We are excited to have partnered Fox Star in driving the digital mandate of Sanju. We got an opportunity to strategically and creatively drive its narrative and engagement on digital with the use of data led insights, nimble content and interesting platforms.”

    As a part of the association Publicis Entertainment, along with Indigo Consulting, launched an integrated digital campaign to promote Bollywood blockbuster film Sanju. The movie is a biopic of actor Sanjay Dutt.

  • Copyright owners call for competitive pricing over TRAI regulation

    Copyright owners call for competitive pricing over TRAI regulation

    NEW DELHI: The Film and Television Producers Guild of India has expressed its voice against any mandated tariff as far as television channels are concerned.

    In a reaction to the recent Draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable Services) (Eighth) (Addressable Systems) Tariff Order 2016 drawn up by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Guild President Siddharth Roy Kapoor said: “As India continues to develop its thriving creative industry, a transparent, market-based environment free from mandated tariffs, is essential to build investor confidence and to foster the creation of quality content benefiting India’s consumers and its economy.”

    Guild secretary-general Kulmeet Makkar said: “We believe that price controls should only be considered when the market lacks competition which harms consumers or where there is clear systemic market failure. It would be advantageous to abolish any restrictions on price and thereby encourage FDI investments in India– as is the case in countries such as Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea, where the retail and wholesale rates are not subject to restrictions. A more economically efficient model would be to allow the market to determine prices while encouraging investment in quality content.”

    Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh said, “Since the availability of content is not an issue in the context of the Indian market, restricting numbers/genres/mix tantamount to predetermination and therefore, pre-empts creativity. There can never be an exhaustive list of genres for governments to determine any mix and TRAI’s intervention will have cataclysmic effect on the creative community as a whole as TRAI effectively has price capped creativity.”

    “Under the Copyright Act 1957, a content owner has the freedom to monetize copyright works and enter into contracts to monetize content in a manner he deems fit. However the price restrictions imposed by TRAI interferes with this basic freedom. It risks stifling creativity and may force smaller companies out of the market – resulting in less choice for consumers,” according to Motion Picture Distributors Association (India) Pvt. Ltd MD Uday Singh.

    Sectoral regulations have seriously impeded the growth of the film sector. Despite active participation by global studios and broadcasters, investments in the sector have trickled down in the past few years. Indian studios and independent producers are also facing similar challenges. An open market environment can best guarantee that the film sector will not be distorted to the detriment of consumers, creators and providers, the Guild said in its reaction.

    The Guild says that the Tariff Order is likely to take effect from 1 April 2017. It says that the current draft order prescribes maximum retail price caps for pay channels, by genre, Rs 10 (USD 0.15) for movie channels (a-la-carte), excluding taxes] and further caps channels into seven genres.

  • Copyright owners call for competitive pricing over TRAI regulation

    Copyright owners call for competitive pricing over TRAI regulation

    NEW DELHI: The Film and Television Producers Guild of India has expressed its voice against any mandated tariff as far as television channels are concerned.

    In a reaction to the recent Draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable Services) (Eighth) (Addressable Systems) Tariff Order 2016 drawn up by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Guild President Siddharth Roy Kapoor said: “As India continues to develop its thriving creative industry, a transparent, market-based environment free from mandated tariffs, is essential to build investor confidence and to foster the creation of quality content benefiting India’s consumers and its economy.”

    Guild secretary-general Kulmeet Makkar said: “We believe that price controls should only be considered when the market lacks competition which harms consumers or where there is clear systemic market failure. It would be advantageous to abolish any restrictions on price and thereby encourage FDI investments in India– as is the case in countries such as Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea, where the retail and wholesale rates are not subject to restrictions. A more economically efficient model would be to allow the market to determine prices while encouraging investment in quality content.”

    Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh said, “Since the availability of content is not an issue in the context of the Indian market, restricting numbers/genres/mix tantamount to predetermination and therefore, pre-empts creativity. There can never be an exhaustive list of genres for governments to determine any mix and TRAI’s intervention will have cataclysmic effect on the creative community as a whole as TRAI effectively has price capped creativity.”

    “Under the Copyright Act 1957, a content owner has the freedom to monetize copyright works and enter into contracts to monetize content in a manner he deems fit. However the price restrictions imposed by TRAI interferes with this basic freedom. It risks stifling creativity and may force smaller companies out of the market – resulting in less choice for consumers,” according to Motion Picture Distributors Association (India) Pvt. Ltd MD Uday Singh.

    Sectoral regulations have seriously impeded the growth of the film sector. Despite active participation by global studios and broadcasters, investments in the sector have trickled down in the past few years. Indian studios and independent producers are also facing similar challenges. An open market environment can best guarantee that the film sector will not be distorted to the detriment of consumers, creators and providers, the Guild said in its reaction.

    The Guild says that the Tariff Order is likely to take effect from 1 April 2017. It says that the current draft order prescribes maximum retail price caps for pay channels, by genre, Rs 10 (USD 0.15) for movie channels (a-la-carte), excluding taxes] and further caps channels into seven genres.