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Tag: FPGI

  • FPGI’s film & TV awards to be held on 29 May

    FPGI’s film & TV awards to be held on 29 May

    MUMBAI: When it comes to Bollywood there is no shortage of award shows. Whether it is Star, Zee or Sony every Tom, Dick and Harry has gotten onto the bandwagon. The latest party to do so is the Film Producers Guild of India (FPGI). On the occasion of its 50th anniversary FPGI announced the Apsara Awards.

    What is unique though is that it will celebrate both film and television. There are eleven categories celebrating television including actor, actress, ensemble, drama series, comedy series, sports show, news anchor and the lifetime achievement award. Of course it was three years ago that Indian Television Dot Com took the initiative in honouring the people who toil in the television industry by hosting the Indian Telly Awards.

    Coming back to the Apsara Awards, the event will take place on 29 May at the Grand Hyatt. The nominations will be announced at a gala event on 5 May. The evening saw a large congregation of producers from the entertainment industry. The trophy was unveiled by the two senior most members of the guild, BR Chopra and Ramanand Sagar.

    The FPGI will be soliciting entries from the various parties from 5 April. There are four committees. UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvalla will be chairing the 12 member television jury. Twenty entries will be short listed. These will then be whittled down to five in each category. The winners will be voted by the cast of a ballot by all the members of the Guild (153) and not by a viewer’s choice poll. A total of 36 categories, including 24 from cinema and 12 from television (fiction and non-fiction both), will be honoured at the finale.

    Speaking on the occasion Screwvalla said that if Indian television had grown rapidly in the past decade it was because of the cross learnings that had taken place in the film industry over the past decade.

    FPGI president Amit Khanna said that the awards would carry greater weight and have more credibility as the categories would be voted upon by the 153 Guild members. In addition Price Waterhouse Coopers which audits the Academy Awards will also perform the same function for the Apsara Awards.

    Khanna said, “We felt that there was a dire need for experts from within the film and television industry to honour and recognise their peers. Every aspect of film and television making has to be understood thoroughly in order to determine brilliance. It is the people that work at making these products that are in the best position to do so.”

    Reliance is the sponsor of the event. Reliance Infocomm’s Kaushik Roy said that being associated with the entertainment industry had several advantages. “Firstly it is safer than a Sehwag. You never know when he might fail with the bat. It also allows us to conduct loyalty and reward programmes for our customers. We can have them meet the stars. When we roll out broadband and netway through our set top boxes the FPGI will have another mechanism to reach the film buff. Another innovation we could look at is the People’s Apsara Choice. Here fans could vote through their mobiles on whom they feel deserves to go home with the trophy.”

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com filmmaker Ashutosh Gowarikar said, “The more award shows the merrier. I don’t think that too many award shows reduces the merit of getting one. I also don’t think that the jury is ever right or wrong in picking the winners as all decisions are subjective in nature. To judge the credibility of a show it takes about five years. After that period you can assess the nominees over the years and who won.”

    Cinevistaas chairman Prem Kishen said that recognising animation in the television category was a step in the right direction. “Of course there is no greater feather in the cap than being recognised by people you work with and admire.”

    What nominees will be vying for is a 22 karat gold plated trophy which has been designed by Tanishq. Several things including the angle Apsara who was characterised by grace, movement and poise inspired the design. Also the Ajanta and Ellora caves formed the basis of inspiration for the etchings on the inside of the trophy.

    The awards are being managed by Hungama Events – a division of Hungama.com.

  • Ficci-FPGI seminar discusses freedom of trade in films

    Ficci-FPGI seminar discusses freedom of trade in films

    MUMBAI: The global entertainment industry generates $1.2 trillion revenue every year. However, the Indian industry – which contributes in a big way to the global market – generates only $5 billion revenue.

    Why is our industry constantly in crisis? Most importantly, how can it get more dynamic and become a part of the world platform?
     
     
    To seek answers to these questions among others, Ficci (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and FPGI (Film Producers Guild of India) together organised a seminar ‘Freedom to Trade in the Changing Business Environment’ as a part of their Frames 2004 Knowledge Series in Mumbai today.

    The seminar attempted to delineate the various rights of a film which can lead to multiple revenue streams in the industry. It also examined the role of associations in the industry.

    In his introductory speech, Ficci chairman Yash Chopra said, “While releasing a film, though the producer should have complete rights on revenue streams that can be generated from it, the associations concerned often put bindings on him.” Chopra termed these restrictions as being against the spirit of ‘free trade’.

    Another aspect highlighted during the discussions was the lack of planning in the film industry. The mentality of the distributors, producers and exhibitors pulling each other down – “the crab mentality” as Ficci’s co-chairman Kunal Dasgupta put it – has to change, if the entertainment industry has to rise, it was pointed out.

    While discussing the ‘Synergy between television and film industry’ Dasgupta envisaged a future where
    “movies won’t be restrained to cinema halls. Plasma TV is becoming as cheap as Rs 45,000. With that coming around, home viewing will be a different experience.” Dasgupta was of the view that free trade in the film industry is no more an option but is imperative. Releasing every film on pay per TV, DVD, Pay TV and cable should become legal, he maintained.

    Predicting a television and broadband revolution in the near future, Dasgupta opined, “Films should now be dealt with and marketed on television like other TV soaps or even consumer products.” Cross-media promotion is becoming a very important part of business, he said.

    Summing up, FPGI president Amit Khanna stressed on some issues that he said needed addressing on a war footing:

    * Geographical dispensation for industry

    * Freedom of trade: People contributing most to the kitty should lay down rules

    * Full fledge marketing initiative should be encouraged

    * Interaction between the serious players of the business should increase.

  • Apsara FPGI Awards finale on 29 May

    Apsara FPGI Awards finale on 29 May

    MUMBAI: The first Apsara Film Producers Guild Awards, FPGI, will announce its winners on Saturday, 29 May 2004.

    Auditors Pricewaterhouse Coopers, who have audited the prestigious Oscars for the past 68 years, has taken off to a good start by receiving responses from both the film and TV industry alike.

    The first round of short listing the entries is underway. The screenings of the entries will commence shortly and the nominations are slated to be announced on 6 May 2004 at a ceremony in Mumbai, confirms a press release.

    The Film Producers Guild of India has set up a separate Apsara Awards Desk. The 50-year old guild with over 160 members, constituting the powerful and influencing luminaries in its sector ensures credibility and transparency of the awards.

    Secretary general of the Guild Supran Sen says, “The seriousness and commitment of the Guild was expressed by the support given by the entire industry. It was a touching moment to see great film makers like Ramanand Sagar, B.R. Chopra, Subhash Ghai and even the younger generation like Karan and Rohan amongst them all.”

    The personalities constituting the selection committee for the Apsara FPGI Awards includes the director of the awards, Ramesh Sippy, the president of FPGI, Amit Khanna and the chairman of the jury across each of the 4 categories — Shekhar Kapur for the film awards, Govind Nihalani, for the technical awards, Ronnie Screwvala for the television awards and Yash Chopra, who along with Amit Khanna, would head the special award category.

    Film Producers Guild of India president Amit Khanna says, “It is indeed a distinguished honour for artists to be recognized by their own peers through awards that are credible, transparent, objective and completely unbiased, which has been the prime objective behind instituting the first Apsara Film Producers Guild Awards. We shall be leaving no stone unturned to ensure that through these awards we establish a standard that parallels the world’s best.”

    Guild member Subhas Ghai says, “Indian entertainment is scaling new heights. It’s time to honour talent and who better than industry stalwarts to do it. The Apsara will don an extremely prominent mantle in every winner’s life as this is an award that truly recognises achievement.”

    On the other hand, TV Awards Committee chairman and Guild member Ronnie Screwvala says, “Film and television together is the all encompassing future of the Indian entertainment industry. This first step in that direction is going to pave the way for enriching and motivating more quality products for the Indian viewers.”

    A special rule booklet has been published by the Guild outlining the format and the eligibility criteria. All films and television programmes released between 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 are eligible for the awards, says the release.

    The winners will be voted by the cast of a ballot by all the 160 members of the Guild and not by a viewers’ choice poll. Members including Aamir Khan, Shyam Benegal, Amitabh Bachchan, Ashutosh Gowarikar and Kamal Barjatiya, will be participating in the voting process.

    A total of 36 categories, including 23 from cinema and 13 from television, both fiction and non-fiction, will be honoured at the grand finale.