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  • Indias Economic Confidence Uncomfortably Uncertain: Ipsos Study

    Indias Economic Confidence Uncomfortably Uncertain: Ipsos Study

    MUMBAI: India’s economic confidence recovered marginally but it remains uncomfortably uncertain as food inflation remains sky high and economic growth dwindling, according to a report by global research firm Ipsos.

     

    According to the “Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World” survey, India’s economic confidence increased by only 1 points to 54 percent in the month of September compared to the month of August 2013, however its rating further got pulled down to eighth most economically confident country in the world, as sentiments in G8 and other developed countries improve.

     

    Thirty four percent Indian Citizen believe a further decline of 2 points. However, what is alarming is generally optimist Indians have turned pessimist, with only 40 per cent people expecting that the economy in their local area will be stronger in next six months, a drop of further 3 points.

     

    Mick Gordon, CEO, Ipsos in India said, “India’s sizable current-account deficit compared to its economic output, nearly double-digit inflation in consumer prices and dwindling economic growth is making India’s economic sentiments uncomfortably uncertain.”

     

    “Perhaps the crucial general election next year is limiting governments’ ability to make politically unappetizing economic decisions to implement drastic reforms to revive economic growth and to boost the weakening rupee,” added Gordon.

     

    The online Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World survey was conducted in August 2013 among 18,503 people in 25 countries.

     

    After a stagnant June/July, the average global economic assessment of national economies surveyed in 25 countries takes a turn for the better this month as 39% of global citizen’s rate their national economies to be ‘good.’ This shift largely reflects the inclusion of Norway in the global aggregate. Without Norway, the average is 37%, up one point from last sounding.

     

    Source: Ipsos
    A substantial margin continues to exist at the top of the global ratings between global leader Norway (97%), and runners-up Saudi Arabia (82%), Sweden (70%), Germany (67%), Canada (66%), China (63%), Australia (56%) and India (54%). Only a handful of those in Spain (5%) rate their national economies as ‘good’, followed by Italy (8%), France (9%), and Hungary (11%)

     

    Countries with the greatest improvements in this wave: Indonesia (53%, 11pts), South Africa (25%, 5pts), Poland (23%, 3pts), South Korea (20%, 3pts), France (9%, 3pts) and Italy (8%, 3pts).

     

    A strong majority of Brazilians (64%) continue to indicate they predict their local economies will be stronger in the next six months. A gap persists in between Brazilian ratings and the rest of the highest-ranking countries: Saudi Arabia (51%), Argentina (41%), India (40%), Indonesia (37%) and China (35%).

  • Blaupunkt is the sound that drives Ayushmann Khurrana

    Blaupunkt is the sound that drives Ayushmann Khurrana

    Ayushmann Khurrana, the multi-faceted actor, singer, composer has been roped in as the brand ambassador for Blaupunkt India, the Germany based leading car infotainment brand.

    The brand that epitomises quality, contemporary style, innovation and superior sound, was looking for a face in India that would personify these core values.

    Taking this association a step further, Blaupunkt is the official sound partner of Ayushmann’s new soft rock love ballad single “O Heeriye!’ in which he is seen using Blaupunkt’s recently launched premium headphones – Style.

    “My association with Blaupunkt goes back a long way, my first music system was a Blaupunkt and to now partner with the brand, is an honour. Music is an integral part of my life and Blaupunkt’s premium sound takes the music experience to a very different level – be it in the car or at home. For me, quality and innovation play an equally important role, which is reflected in every product of the Blaupunkt range,” said Ayushmann Khurrana.

    Commenting on the same, Blaupunkt India marketing head Preeti Bakshi said, “AYK and Blaupunkt are both recognised for great music, innovation, and cool style. We are very excited to partner with Ayushmann and together we will further accelerate the connect of Blaupunkt products with Indian youth and young at heart.”

  • Timex launches new range of IQ watches

    Timex launches new range of IQ watches

    MUMBAI : Timex, the leading watch manufacturer in the US has introduced its latest range of revolutionary Intelligent Quartz (IQ) watches. Known for its sophistication and charm Timex designs watches for every occasion. From the boardroom to the filed Timex has a watch for everyone. Timex has focused on quality, value and timeless style creating masterpieces along its way.Timex Group India Limited, one of India’s leading watch makers introduced the ‘Intelligent Quartz’ technology in India with its IQ timepieces.

     

    The unmatched success of the brand can be ascribed to its passion for delivering only the most exquisite pieces that are built from relentless hard work and the demand for excellence.   Known for creating technological marvels, Timex showcases the revolutionary IQ watches across the globe. This is a pioneering technology that allows watches to tell more than just time on a classic analog dial. An additional fourth center hand and independent sub-dials add advanced functionality and unique complications to each watch driven by the Intelligent Quartz technology. The result is accurate information and a sophisticated look at a value that only comes from Timex.

     

    Beneath the sophisticated exterior, Timex’s proprietary Intelligent Quartz Technology drives independent motors and digital sensors to give you the world’s smartest analog watch.

     

    Timex Intelligent Quartz technology capitalizes on expertise across the globe. The technology was developed by Timex in Pforzheim, Germany. The iconic, sophisticated case designs were crafted by Timex in Milan, Italy.

     

    The watch major is known for creating masterpieces that appeal to a large audience across the globe. Keeping up to their conviction, Timex Group introduced the revolutionary Intelligent Quartz (IQ) watches. The IQ range has a variety of marvelous watches to offer. The IQ World Time, Fly-Back Chronograph Compass Movement, Perpetual Calendar Movement, Fly Back Chronograph Movement, Tide Temp Compass Movement, Compass Movement­, Altimeter Movement and IQ Depth Gauge to mention just a few.

  • Mumbai Film Mart gets bigger, better

    Mumbai Film Mart gets bigger, better

     Book your dates from 18-20 October. It is time for Mumbaikars to get ready for the third edition of the Mumbai Film Mart (MFM) to be held at Taj President.  The festival that facilitates Indian films to reach international audiences promises to be bigger and better than its previous avatars.

     

    The festival is expected to grow from its 1,200 meetings last year and 400 in its first edition. These meetings, between Indian producers and buyers and distributors from several international markets have been fruitful for both parties, with Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Hong Kong, Poland, Germany, France, Sweden and even South Korea bagging valuable deals.   

     

    Owing to its valuable contribution in facilitating the sale of Indian films among these countries, MFM has also garnered the support of top Indian production houses such as Yash Raj Films, Disney UTV, Eros International, Reliance Entertainment, AKFPL and Balaji Motion Pictures.

     

    That said MFM is also an active platform for independent filmmakers to showcase their work alongside big banner Bollywood films.

     

    Apart from the repeat participation from its earlier breakthrough markets, MFM has confirmed attendance of new buyers and broadcasters such as Astro (Malaysia), MBC (UAE), Shoreline Entertainment (USA), Happiness Distribution and Aanna Films (France), international film services providers such as 3D Alliance (France) and KFTV (UK) and key International exhibitors such as the VOX chain of cinemas operating across the Middle East.  

     

    MFM 2013 will continue to expand the scope of the business of cinema with a focus on new technologies such as 3D, new distribution models for independent films, Books2Screen to encourage film adaptations, India Project Room for pre-selection of work-in-progress films and Filmy Room an exclusive DVD viewing library.

    This year, MFM will grow its scope manifold by hosting pre-scheduled meetings, on-the-spot networking through speed dating, informal meetings during happy hours, themed round table meetings and greater visibility for select participants through SPOTS.

  • Pan Nalin’s Kumbh Mela film finds buyers in Europe

    Pan Nalin’s Kumbh Mela film finds buyers in Europe

    Eminent Indian-origin filmmaker Pan Nalin’s documentary Faith Connections has been sold to France and Switzerland ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

     

    SDD (Sophie Dulac Distribution) has acquired French rights to the India-French co-production, filmed at India’s Kumbh Mela, while the Swiss rights went to Filmcoopi. Advanced negotiations are also underway for sales to Canada, the US, Germany and India.

     

    The film is being sold by Raphael Berdugo’s Cite Films, which is also co-produced with Nalin and Gaurav Dhingra’s Jungle Book Entertainment. Berdugo, Dhingra, Nalin and Virginie Lacombe are credited as producers.

     

    Faith Connections follows the stories of holy men, policemen, pilgrims and a runaway child at India’s biggest religious festival, which is held once every 12 years and attracts around 100 million Hindu pilgrims.

     

    Nalin has previously directed feature documentary Ayurveda: Art of Being and narrative features Samsara and The Valley of Flowers.

     

    “We decided to co-produce and take on the sales of this film because we trust the talent of director Pan Nalin to tell us deeply moving human stories which can appeal to the world,” said Berdugo.

     

    “My experience of international sales when I was in charge of Roissy Films was that the common language of the world is emotion and people are eager to be moved while discovering other cultures.”

     

    “Ayurveda: Art of Being and Samsara were huge successes in Switzerland – both were based on the vast interest of our audience in spirituality and a quest of wellbeing of humanity. Pan Nalin’s new film follows these themes and we are sure that it will be successful too,” said Filmcoopi’s Felix Hachler.

     

    “A garland of magnificent images captured by Pan Nalin; truly exceptional characters with simple but astonishing stories; and an incredible happening which only occurs once in twelve years encouraged us to bring this extraordinary documentary to the French public,” said Dulac.

  • Viewster adds Red Bull Media House content

    Viewster adds Red Bull Media House content

    MUMBAI: The VOD service Viewster has added to its catalogue a slew of sports and culture content from Red Bull Media House, which will be available on demand for viewers in the UK, Benelux, Germany and the Nordics.

    The content package includes Red Bull Art of Motion, which showcases the disciplines of free running, parkour and martial arts; Red Bull Beat Battle, featuring epic dance battles in a range of styles; Red Bull Tops seasons one and two, highlighting the best of the best in a range of extreme athletics; and Red Bell Cliptomaniacs, a compilation of sports and action footage. Also part of the deal is Ryan Doyle Travel Story, a travel doc that features Ryan Doyle, a world champion in freestyle running.

    “Five years ago, when consumers wanted to be entertained, they switched on the TV. Today, they are turning to the web and on-demand video services,” said Viewster CEO Kai Henniges. “Smart brands like Red Bull with its media company Red Bull Media House have recognised this and are now looking at new distribution channels that will introduce their content to new audiences. By making content available on-demand, sports and music fans worldwide can watch this unique content whenever and however they choose. And with our ever-increasing library of film and TV content also available, it’s not surprising that we’re continuing to see month-on-month growth worldwide, as audiences discover new and interesting content.”

    “As the models for providing content continue to evolve, Red Bull Media House is committed to engaging audiences with high-quality programming on the platforms that are relevant to them,” added Red Bull Media House chief commercial officer Alexander Koppel. “Digital options are an integrated part of our delivery system, and we look forward to sharing compelling content with Viewster’s expansive audience.”

  • New pay-TV channel for US Sports arrives in Germany, Austria & Switzerland

    New pay-TV channel for US Sports arrives in Germany, Austria & Switzerland

    MUMBAI: Sport1 US, a new pay-TV channel dedicated to US sports, is launching in Germany, Austria and Switzerland today.

    The channel has secured carriage on the platforms of Kabel Deutschland, Sky Deutschland as well as Unitymedia and Kabel BW. Sport1 secured a comprehensive rights package from ESPN Sports Media to feed the channel. It also acquired broadcast rights from the NFL for additional live matches, building on a previous deal. Sport1 has also been awarded further pay-TV rights from the NBA, allowing it to air three live games per week.

    Constantin Medien CEO Bernhard Burgener commented: “With Sport1 US we are extending our digital portfolio under the multimedia umbrella brand Sport1 to include another pay-TV offering – alongside our already superbly established channel Sport1+. There are a great many fans of US sports in the German-speaking region, too, and we want to satisfy the demand in future with a broad range of premium US sports on Sport1 US.”

  • Two Indian co-productions being screened at Karlovy Vary Filmfest

    Two Indian co-productions being screened at Karlovy Vary Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Ritesh Batra‘s Lunchbox and Pete Travis‘ Dredd is being screened at the ongoing 48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

    Apart from this screening in the Festival that commenced on 28 June and will conclude on 6 July, Lunchbox is slated to visit at least another twenty international film festivals during this year.

    Dabba (Lunchbox), an India-France-Germany co-production is to be screened in the “Horizons” section that presents recent productions from major festivals.

    The film earlier screened at Cannes film festival in the International Critics‘ Week sidebar.

    This romantic film set in contemporary Mumbai is a story of lost lunchboxes that engineer a love affair between attractive Ila and ageing Saajan.

    Dredd by Pete Travis will have a Midnight Screening at the festival. The film is an UK-USA-India-South Africa co-production. The film revolves around two judges: the incorruptible Dredd and the comely rookie Cassandra Anderson who find themselves battling the arch villain Ma-Ma in an unrelenting slaughter-fest. Dredd is a 3D action movie.

    Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2013 opened with Michel Gondry‘s Mood Indigo starring Audrey Tatou and Romain Duris.

  • Actress Sakshi Tanwar starrer Bawra Mann to open 2nd Bangalore Shorts Film Festival

    Actress Sakshi Tanwar starrer Bawra Mann to open 2nd Bangalore Shorts Film Festival

    NEW DELHI: A total of 45 films will be screened in the Bangalore Shorts Film Festival to be held in the garden city on 22 June.

    The film Bawra Mann; directed by Mitu staring Sakshi Tanwar (of Bade Achhe Lagte Hain fame) which tells the story of women desire will open the day-long Festival organised by Miniboxoffice.

    This festival received a total of 187 films this year. The dilemma directed by Sushil Bhati shows the inner conflict of a person who is doing something but wants something else, while Sando Da directed by Abhirup Ghosh is about an aspiring detective, and Tales of the Road tell a road story in very exciting.

    The aim of the Festival is to popularise the work of young & experienced filmmakers from across the India and the world.

    Films from Spain, Germany, Brazil, Russia, US and from almost every region of India are being screened. The festival jury includes national award winning director Unni Vijayan and documentary filmmaker Amit Mitra.

    This is the second edition of this festival, which began last year to mark 100 years of Indian cinema and salute the contribution of the Kannada film industry towards the development of cinema in India.

    The festival provides a platform to aspiring and professional filmmakers for showcasing their talent with networking and marketing opportunities in film industry.

    The festival objective is to create a short films culture in India, promotion of upcoming filmmakers, developing sources of revenue generation for short films and to make short film making a commercial enterprise.

    This year, the festival will introduce more workshops and master classes. The Miniboxoffice HL meet will be the highlight for those filmmakers who want to venture into feature film production, conducted by Festival director Rambhul Singh

    BSFF-13 is organised by India‘s only independent film festival organising company Miniboxoffice. BSFF-13 provides networking and contact building opportunities to filmmakers. BSFF-13 gives marketing and distribution facility for filmmakers which no other festival in India is providing.

    Miniboxoffice has established festivals in Delhi, Noida, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bhopal and a few more festivals are coming up. All Miniboxoffice festivals have completed one or two editions.

  • ‘The Monuments Men’ commences production in Germany

    ‘The Monuments Men’ commences production in Germany

    MUMBAI: Columbia Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox have announced that ‘The Monuments Men‘, a Smokehouse production directed by and starring George Clooney, has started production in Berlin, Germany. The action-thriller is written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, based on the book by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter. Clooney and Heslov also produce the film through their Smokehouse Productions. It is their first production since winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for their work on ‘Argo‘.

    Barbara A. Hall is executive producer. ‘The Monuments Men‘ is a co-production with Germany‘s Siebente Babelsberg Film, a subsidiary of Studio Babelsberg AG. Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser and Henning Molfenter serve as co-producers. Sony Pictures will release the film domestically, with Twentieth Century Fox handling international territories.

    The film stars Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and John Goodman.

    Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, ‘The Monuments Men‘ focuses on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys – seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 – possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind‘s greatest achievements.

    Clooney‘s crew on ‘The Monuments Men‘ includes director of photography Phedon Papamichael, ASC, Oscar nominated production designer Jim Bissell, Academy Award winning editor Stephen Mirrione, A.C.E., costume designer Louise Frogley, and five-time Oscar nominated composer Alexandre Desplat.

    ‘The Monuments Men‘ films in Germany and the UK through the end of June. It is scheduled for release in the US on 18 December, 2013.