ITV

Tag: M&E sector

  • 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) aims to promote cinema business, says I&B minister

    53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) aims to promote cinema business, says I&B minister

    Mumbai: The 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is scheduled to be held from 20-28 November 2022 in Goa. A steering committee has been formed to conduct this year’s event. The steering committee is deliberating the roadmap for the event.

    Information & Broadcasting (I&B) minister Anurag Singh Thakur said that his vision for IFFI is to work closely with the film fraternity from Indian Cinema and use their expertise as well as understanding to take the 53rd IFFI to the next level. Also, he said that IFFI is a festival that aims to promote the business of cinema for the benefit of the film industry by providing collaborations and networking in order to boost the ‘creative economy’ of India. He added that the creative economy has the potential & talent to create new entrepreneurs in the media & entertainment (M&E) sector which will help transform India into a content and post production hub for the world.

    The function of the steering committee is to support the ministry to finalise the IFFI programming which includes various sections of IFFI programme, master classes, workshops and cultural components.

    The steering committee deliberated over various components of IFFI and discussed ways to enhance collaborations with international film makers, participation of regional cinema, giving a platform to young filmmakers as well as showcase new trends in cinema along with emerging technology that enhances the experience of cinema lovers. The steering committee will hold a number of meetings in the run up to IFFI and ideate on content curation and explore partnerships. 

    Simultaneously, the festival aims at providing a common platform for filmmakers from across the globe to showcase their talent and put forth the excellence of cinema from all over. Bringing together film cultures, the festival aims to allow the understanding of various social and cultural ethos and appreciation of world cinema. The festival is conducted jointly by the directorate of film festivals (under the ministry of information and broadcasting, government of India) and the state government of Goa.

    With an aim of providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excellence of film art, IFFI  celebrates cinematic works every year from India and around the world.

  • “Sports to be a key focus area,” says Punit Goenka as talks move ahead on Zeel-Sony merger

    “Sports to be a key focus area,” says Punit Goenka as talks move ahead on Zeel-Sony merger

    Mumbai: Sports will be a key focus area for the Zeel-Sony merged entity, said Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) MD and CEO Punit Goenka, as the two media companies move forward in building one of the largest entertainment networks in the country. The mega merger announced in September is currently underway.

    “Certainly the merged entity will focus on sports. Zee on a standalone basis will not. We have just finished our non-compete with Sony on the sports side. While we will reconsider sports on a standalone basis, right now, my focus is to look at it from a joint consolidated basis with Sony,” said Goenka, elaborating on the merger. “A lot has changed since we exited the sports business and we sold it to Sony right. So, it is coming full circle. The opportunity is great because the digital landscape has opened up a new opportunity for monetisation which did not exist five years ago. The sector itself will see a lot more happening going forward.”

    The Zeel MD said the TV broadcasting industry has witnessed intense competition since Zee’s inception three decades ago and any consolidation will benefit the overall M&E industry. However, he highlighted that the decision on any kind of bidding will be taken by the board of the new merged company.

    Goenka was addressing the Apos India summit organised by Media Partners Asia, which began virtually on Tuesday. In a conversation with Media Partners Asia executive partner and co-founder Vivek Couto, Goenka also spoke about the role of technology in content creation, broadcasting and streaming, the scope of SVOD business and strategy for TV in a new regulatory environment.

    The Zeel MD said the vision is to create a media powerhouse, but reiterated that the content company thus formed, will remain ‘Indian’ and the focus will be on Indian content, language and culture. Speaking about the synergies with Sony, he said, “The reason I chose Sony is because the two businesses are complementary with minimal overlap. Across linear and digital platforms and genres, we will encompass an entertainment suite that the whole family can watch.”

    According to Goenka, Zeel’s strategy of being SVOD-first will give it the leverage to fight going forward. Even though India has more advertising video on demand users there are 45-50 million paid subscribers that will grow to 200 million in the coming years, he said. The company’s streaming platform Zee5 has also recently announced a content slate of 17-18 originals in H2 2021.

    “The audience watching content on streaming platforms in India are clearly a mobile-first audience looking at the sheer numbers from mobile platforms,” he said. “These audiences are spending 148 minutes watching on SVOD platforms whereas on AVOD it is less than 30 minutes on average.”

    He added, “Before the pandemic people didn’t think 40-50 million people would pay for content but that is the case today. They are not paying a great deal but they are paying. The Zee DNA is to nurture the best minds in the creative ecosystem, be language first, build national scale and we will replicate that on the digital platform,” he said.

    On entering new language markets like Odisha, Bhojpuri and Punjab with their TV channels, Goenka said, “Nobody thought these markets were relevant. We thought even though it is not a big market we can build it into one.”

    Goenka said that data will have a critical role in creation of content in the future. “We have upgraded a technology and innovation centre in Bengaluru which will transform the company’s content offering. At Zee, we are embracing technology. We are a bit late compared to global players but will catch up quickly,” he added.

  • From ‘Red Tape’ to ‘Red Carpet’: Maharashtra govt’s vision for M&E sector

    From ‘Red Tape’ to ‘Red Carpet’: Maharashtra govt’s vision for M&E sector

    MUMBAI: The demand for single window clearance for the film sector is nothing new, but the good news now is that the newly appointed state government under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is looking into it, and seriously.

     

    Government of Maharashtra Tourism & Culture secretary Valsa Nair Singh told the gathering on the concluding day of FICCI Frames 2015, that the process for single window clearance has begun. “The problem is that no one is aware how many clearances are needed to be able to produce a movie in Maharashtra. While someone says 70, others say 60 or 50. It has been a month and I have been trying to collect all the data regarding clearances that are currently needed. I still don’t have a clear picture,” she informed.

     

    The government, after collecting the required data, will start analysing the clearances which are actually needed. “I am sure almost half of it would either be repetitive or redundant. We will then see how many of the clearances can be clubbed. We will also appoint a nodal officer, who would be handling everything, thus ensuring that the producer doesn’t have to go to each department,” informed Singh.

     

    Once the process is completed for films, the government will look at coming up with single window clearance even for live events. “What we have seen is that people are moving away from the state for live events and the reason they cite is the long process of approvals. So we have to make the system more conducive,” she added.

    The single window clearance has been set in motion, said Singh adding that the Chief Minister who had attended the Pune Film Festival had also suggested that the procedure will be in place before the next film festival.

    Considering that the film industry contributed almost Rs 50 billion to the GDP in 2013 and an employment of 7.75 lakhs in just one year, the Maharashtra government is looking at ensuring that more films are shot in the state. “We need to make the process simpler and provide the infrastructure,” she said.

     

    Singh raised concerns over the multiple authority clearance, which according to her leads to red tapism. “We want to move from red tape to red carpet, this is the intention of the Maharashtra government,” announced Singh.  

     

    In a meeting held on 25 March, the government has already taken the decision to start moving towards single window clearance and reduce the number of approvals.

    The Maharashtra government also wants to create awareness about the locations in the state, which can be used for shooting. “We would be doing it through a ready reckoner for locations. It will have the photographs, the connectivity, the location and the helpline numbers for the location. We will be compiling everything and uploading the same on the website,” she said.

     

    The government wants to move to the online regime, “but that will take time and so the single windowing process will start manually first as a pilot project and then move to online,” informed Singh. The nodal officer for the entire project will be the managing director of Film City located in Goregaon in Mumbai. “We are trying it on pilot basis from the next month and the announcement for the same will be made soon.”

    Singh also agreed that the industry needed to be incentivised. “The more movies that are shot here, the government stands to benefit and that will happen with incentives. We would like to take it up soon,” she said.

    This is a new beginning for the film industry. “The M&E has so far not got its due. We will look at it closely,” concluded Singh.