ITV

Tag: raise

  • B.A.G. to raise up to Rs 600 million, eyes films, mobile content & animation

    MUMBAI: B.A.G Films is planning to raise up to Rs 600 million to meet its funding requirements in the arena of television programming, feature films, mobile content, animation and the newly launched media school.
     
     

    The Delhi-based production house is considering a mix of debt and equity options. Says B.A.G Films managing director Anurradha Prasad, “We are looking at partial debt and equity to raise this amount. We are ramping up our primary and secondary businesses with increasing television programming hours and also foraying into the mobile content. Animation is also an area we are looking at making serious inroads into. On the films front, we have already started work and are currently working on three movies.”

    The company, at its annual general meeting on 13 September, authorised the board to approve borrowing and raising up up to Rs 600 million. Prasad points out that while the enablement was up to Rs 600 million, the amount that would be raised was not yet frozen upon.

    The production house is currently working on three feature films. The first is titled Bend in the River and is directed by Saurabh Narang. The second venture is a Punjabi film directed by Gurbhir Grewal while the third, which is in Hindi and yet to be titled, is being directed by Tanuja Chandra.

    While production for the three has already commenced, these films will be ready for release in mid-2006. All the three films fall in the mid-budget range, costing between Rs 30-50 million.

    Prasad adds that Rs 120 to 200 million of the money raised would be allocated towards film production business. B.A.G. Films is also launching a four-year integrated post graduate (PG) course (which includes graduation + PG) as a new offering in their newly set up media school. The plan is to ramp up the campus which is located in Greater Noida, Delhi.

    On the animation front, which B.A.G. Films is seriously looking at, the details in terms of seating capacity of studio and hardware infrastructure are still being ironed out.

    Television programming hours, which is B.A.G. Film’s primary revenue stream, will also be getting into the overdrive mode, with new media like mobile content being a focussed area.

    Prasad states that the time line for these ventures to unfold would be two years.
     
     

    B.A.G. Films has been seeing a steady rise in its revenue year on year. While in 2003-04 the production house recorded a turnover of Rs 182.70 million, 2004-05 saw a 100 per cent growth with the company clocking revenue worth Rs 370 million. The first quarter of this year has recorded a net sales of Rs 135.08 million. Prasad estimates the turnover for 2005-06 to also grow by 100 per cent, fueled by the increase in television programming hours and the income generated from the media school.

  • Disney theme park: Hong Kong opposition raise queries

    MUMBAI: Disney has not yet opened its theme park in Hong Kong but already that country’s legislators have started asking awkward questions. Hong Kong Disneyland is due to open on 12 September 2005.
     

    The lawmakers are questioning the Hong Kong government’s decision to give Hong Kong Disneyland a 20-year option to buy an adjacent site for expansion. Their stance is that other theme parks ought to be given a chance to get the land. The commissioner for Tourism Eva Cheng said that the government would like to hold talks with Disneyland soon about exercising the option.

    Last year Financial Secretary Henry Tang had said that the government approached three other US theme park companies about coming to Hong Kong — Six Flags, Universal and Warner Bros. Disney is understadably nervous. After all it might never have agreed to open its park on Lantau Island if it had known that there was the chance that a competitor might set up shop next door. Disney’s first-bid rights on the site last until 2019, and can be extended longer if the park draws in more then 8 million people.

    Opposition lawmaker Sin Chung-kai was quoted in media reports saying, “From Hong Kong’s standpoint, it doesn’t necessarily have to be Disneyland. Other than Disneyland there are many other theme parks popular in the world”
     
     

    The 125-hectare (310-acre) Hong Kong Disneyland is a joint venture between Disney and the Hong Kong government. However local taxpayers are footing most of its US$3.5 billion (euro2.6 million) price tag. Critics have therefore questioned whether Hong Kong got a good deal.

    The government will test the park and its transportation infrastructure ahead of the scheduled opening by inviting tour operators and Hong Kong residents to visit.
     

  • K Sera Sera plans public offer, to raise approx Rs 500-600 million

    MUMBAI: K Sera Sera is planning a public offer to raise Rs 500-600 million in the first quarter of 2005-06. This will be to fund the company’s movie and television businesses.
     

    A further $2-3 million will be raised through issue of preference shares, according to a source. The company’s total fund requirement is Rs 700-750 million.
     
     

    K Sera Sera plans to come out with the public offer by June. “The company is looking at a fresh public offering. The size of the issue will be in the range of Rs 500-600 million,” the source says.

    When contacted, K Sera Sera managing director Parag Sanghvi declined to comment. “The board is meeting on Friday to discuss the fund raising programme of the company. We can’t comment on anything till then,” he said.

    The board is expected to make an announcement on the public offer, the source said. The issue is likely to be through the book building process. The price band is yet to be decided, he added.

    A major chunk of the issue proceeds will be towards movies. Part of the proceeds will also be used for expansion in the television production arena, the source said.

    K Sera Sera is primarily into movie production, but has also floated a subsidiary company for its television content venture. Twenty Twenty Television (TTT) is producing Kashish, a daily prime time show which will air from 18 April. The company also expects to have six shows on various channels including a reality programme for Sony this year.

  • US based Motion Picture and TV Fund event raise $4 million

    MUMBAI: US based The Motion Picture And Television Fund (MPTF) which works towards bettering the living conditions of workers within America’s film and television industry held a Night Before benefit event in Beverly Hills.

    The event which raised $ 4 million has been called the Night Before because it took place the night before the Oscars were held. In India the Oscars aired on Star Movies on 28 February.
     

    Top names in the entertainment industry joined representatives of the sponsoring companies for the event. The event which is in its third year had Variety, Hewlett-Packard and Ford sponsoring the do.

    The MPTF also welcomed first-time sponsors Target, JP Morgan Chase and America Online, who added to the fun and excitement for all the guests on hand. Celebrity attendees included Oscar winner Jamie Foxx Ray, Oscar nominees Leonardo DiCaprio The Aviator and Don Cheadle Hotel Rwanda as well as Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher
     
     

    Variety arranged for celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and his crew to have a demonstration kitchen in the midst of the party. The inimitable culinary wizard served up delectable dishes for the partygoers to sample and took the opportunity to pass on a few trade secrets during the course of the evening.

    Variety also arranged for departing guests to have something to commemorate the evening, while giving them a lasting reminder of the reason for the benefit. Getting into their cars, attendees found a copy of the book Behind the Silver Screen: Stories From Residents of the Motion Picture & Television Fund Retirement Community, . This features photographs of some of the residents-then and now-and chronicles their widely varied careers and contributions to the entertainment industry.

    HP meanwhile provided guests with its version of the Apple iPod. Additionally, guests were able to choose from one of several “tattoos” to personalise and dress up their iPods, which were designed for the occasion by the likes of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson and Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette.

    JP Morgan Chase hosted a sweepstake. One guest received a ticket for a courtside box for six people at the Women’s Final of the US Open Tennis Championships, scheduled to take place in September in New York.