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Tag: Sanket Kulkarni

  • Box office in all languages as Ormax cinematix gets a pan India upgrade

    Box office in all languages as Ormax cinematix gets a pan India upgrade

    MUMBAI: What’s the buzz across Bharat? Ormax Media may now have the answer in eight languages. India’s go-to media insights firm Ormax Media has given its flagship film tracking tool a blockbuster twist. Ormax Cinematix, long trusted for tracking hindi film pre-release buzz, has just dropped its Pan India version now equipped to track and forecast theatrical releases across eight Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, and even Hollywood films dubbed for desi fans.

    The upgraded tool has been designed specifically for the multi-lingual film juggernauts that dominate India’s box office, think RRR, K.G.F., and Pushpa. These big-ticket releases no longer belong to just one region, and now, neither does Ormax Cinematix.

    The Pan India version offers a unified, real-time snapshot of campaign performance and box office projections for films that drop in up to five languages at once. Using weekly polls of 2,000 plus theatre-goers and tracking parameters like Buzz, Reach, and Appeal, it claims 75–85 per cent accuracy on first-day forecast numbers,  a stat that may soothe even the most jittery film marketer.

    Speaking about the launch of the pan India version Ormax Media head of business development (Theatrical) Sanket Kulkarni said, “With South Indian cinema seeing a significant surge in both scale and theatrical reach over the past few years, the need for a consolidated, data-driven tool that captures audience response across languages and markets has become critical. The Pan India version of Ormax Cinematix is a result of extensive research and data modelling, to ensure accurate language-wise forecasting of the first-day box office of films that release in upto five languages at the same time”.

    The tool, which operates on a subscription model, is aimed at helping producers, studios, distributors, and exhibitors decide how best to spread their marketing spends, scale their campaigns, and benchmark success all before a single ticket is sold.

    As storytelling becomes more pan-Indian, so does the science behind its success. With this rollout, Ormax is hoping to become the box office’s crystal ball no matter the language, region, or genre.

  • India’s theatre-going population surges 29 per cent in 2023, reaching 15.7 Crore, reveals new Ormax report

    India’s theatre-going population surges 29 per cent in 2023, reaching 15.7 Crore, reveals new Ormax report

    Mumbai: A new annual report from media analytics firm Ormax Media, titled Sizing The Cinema: 2024, sheds light on the growth of the Indian theatrical market. The report, based on research conducted in January 2024 among 8,500 Indian audiences across both urban and rural areas, reveals significant growth in the number of theatre-goers in India vis-à-vis the previous year.

    According to the report, India now has 157.4 Million or 15.7 Crore theatre-goers i.e., those who watched at least one film in a theatre in 2023. This not only marks a 29% increase compared to the previous year (12.2 crore) but also surpasses the pre-pandemic level (14.6 crore) by 8%.

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    These 15.7 Crore audience contributed to the 94.3 Crore footfalls at the domestic box office in 2023, which comes to an average of 6.0 films watched by a typical theatre-goer in India, across all languages put together.

    The report also provides demographic (age, gender), geographic and language-wise breakdown of the theatrical audience. Hindi-language cinema has seen the most significant growth, with its audience rising to 9.2 crore, a 58% increase over 2022. Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films have witnessed a minor drop in audience shares, while Malayalam cinema experienced a 19% increase in audience, rising from 1.0 crore in 2022 to 1.2 crore in 2023.

    Ormax media head: Business Development (Theatrical) Sanket Kulkarni emphasised the importance of such data for industry decision-making, “Market sizing and audience data are as crucial as box office numbers when it comes to strategic decision-making,” Kulkarni said. “With a history of more than 100 years and 12,000 Crore plus box office, the Indian film industry needs and deserves a study of this nature and stature. While it is well understood that the theatrical business has made a sound recovery post the pandemic, this report quantifies the recovery, at the level of markets, languages and demographics, leading to a deeper understanding of India’s theatre-going population.”

    The full report is available by subscription for film studios, production companies, investors, exhibitors, distributors, media agencies and other companies associated with the theatrical category in India.

  • 3 Idiots, Chennai Express & Hera Pheri hold maximum franchise potential in Hindi cinema: Ormax’s latest report

    3 Idiots, Chennai Express & Hera Pheri hold maximum franchise potential in Hindi cinema: Ormax’s latest report

    Mumbai: Media consulting firm Ormax Media today announced the launch of its new report titled ‘The Bollywood Franchise Report: 2023’. The report identifies Top 100 Hindi film franchises (current & potential), based on audience equity. The research is the result of a survey conducted amongst 3,000 regular Hindi film-goers across India, in Oct-Nov 2023.

    Films released between Jan 1990 to Sep 2023 were assessed in the report. Ormax Media released select findings, which reveal that 3 Idiots, Chennai Express, Hera Pheri, Jawan, and Drishyam are the top 5 franchises (current/ potential) based on audience equity. Notably, Shah Rukh Khan has four entries in the top 10 – Chennai Express (no. 2), Jawan (no. 4), Chak De! India (no. 8) and Pathaan (no. 10). Drishyam stands out as the only suspense thriller franchise amongst the top 10.

    Commenting on the significance of the report, Ormax Media business development (theatrical head)  Sanket Kulkarni said, “Franchise films have been a dominant force driving the growth and stability for Hollywood over the past two decades. The contribution of franchise films to the Hindi theatrical domestic box office has grown from a mere 17 per cent in 2019 to 45 per cent in 2023. As the theatrical landscape increasingly leans toward event-driven films, choosing the right film to expand or initiate the franchise can go a long way in creating a powerful theatrical product. This report will aid studios, producers & content creators take more informed and audience-centric decisions related to greenlighting, budgeting and marketing franchise-based projects in the Hindi film industry.”

    The detailed report, available upon subscription, has the list of top 100 franchises, and insights related to how franchise equity varies across various demographics, such as age, gender, markets, etc.

     

  • Ormax Media launches campaign testing tool Ormax Campaign Express

    Ormax Media launches campaign testing tool Ormax Campaign Express

    Mumbai: Media analytics firm Ormax Media announced the launch of Ormax Campaign Express, its campaign testing tool for across theatrical, streaming and television categories. While Ormax Media has been testing campaigns for films and shows for 15 years now, Ormax Campaign Express brings with it the capability to provide results within an express timeframe of just four days, hence providing a much-needed solution to the dynamic landscape of entertainment marketing, where campaigns are often finalized just days before launch, making conventional ad testing approaches infeasible.

    The tool forecasts key business metrics for each category, i.e., first-day box office for films, first-weekend viewership for OTT shows, and first-week viewership for television. Combined with asset-level likability and qualitative feedback on campaign elements, Ormax Campaign Express delivers holistic recommendations to maximise audience delivery for entertainment campaigns.

    Ormax Media head – business development (streaming, TV & brands) Keerat Grewal emphasised the significance of Ormax Campaign Express, stating: “Despite the acknowledged need for it, campaign testing is sparingly used in the Indian entertainment industry due to a critical constraint – insufficient time for testing. Ormax Campaign Express acknowledges this challenge by providing our business partners with results and action points within a timeframe of just four days.”

    Ormax Media head – business development (theatrical) Sanket Kulkarni highlighted the tool’s potential impact on theatrical releases, stating: “In times of content clutter, reduced attention spans and discerning audience behaviour, a good trailer is more important than ever before. The first reaction of the audience to the teaser or the trailer typically sets the level at which the film will open. All secondary assets can only have an incremental impact of not more than 10-15% at best. With Ormax Campaign Express, we can now deliver results of trailer testing, as well as evaluation of trailer options, in line with the industry’s requirement of quick decision-making.”

    Ormax Media head – content & campaign testing Mitesh Thakkar spoke about the company’s rich experience in campaign testing, stating: “With over a decade of experience in testing 100+ campaigns across domains, we have developed robust metrics and benchmarks to test campaigns of new films, OTT shows and TV shows. With Ormax Campaign Express, we hope to make this expertise available to those business partners who have not been able to use it earlier because of constraints of time.”

    Ormax Campaign Express is now available for use to all film studios, production houses, OTT platforms and TV channels.

     

  • Sanket Kulkarni joins Ormax Media as head – business development (theatrical)

    Sanket Kulkarni joins Ormax Media as head – business development (theatrical)

    Mumbai: Media insights firm Ormax Media has appointed Sanket Kulkarni as head – business development (theatrical). In this role, Kulkarni will be spearheading the company’s business development and account servicing initiatives for the Indian film industry. He and his team will work closely with leading film studios, production houses and marketing agencies in the areas of content, marketing, and business strategy.

    Ormax Media has been working actively with the Indian film industry for 15 years now, and has developed several tools that are used widely across the industry, such as Ormax Cinematix (campaign tracking), Ormax Moviescope (film testing), Ormax First Draft (script testing), Ormax Cine Sense (cinema audience profiling), Ormax Campaign Testing, etc. Ormax Media works closely with more than 35 business partners in the theatrical sector, including Disney, Sony Pictures, Viacom 18 Studios, Dharma Productions, Zee Studios, PVR, Yash Raj Films, etc.

    Kulkarni joins Ormax Media’s formidable and experienced leadership team, which is headed by founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor. Keerat Grewal heads Business Development for Streaming, TV & Brands domains. Amit Bhatia heads Audience Tracking, Mitesh Thakkar heads Content & Campaign Testing, and Khushroo Dumasia heads Operations & Technology.

    Kulkarni started his career at Ormax Media itself, in 2014, as a part of the Film Insights team. After spending four years in the organisation, he moved on to ZEE5, followed by Sony LIV, where he specialized in content strategy and viewership maximization, respectively. He brings with him a strong understanding of the Indian entertainment industry landscape, and will be leading Ormax Media’s efforts to collaborate with the Indian film industry in an exciting yet challenging phase that the industry currently finds itself in.

    Speaking about Kulkarni’s appointment, Ormax Media founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor said, “We are excited to have Sanket on board as a part of our leadership team. His varied experience across the Indian media industry, combined with his passion for cinema, will help us further strengthen our relationships in the Indian film industry”.

    Speaking about his new role, Kulkarni said, “Post the pandemic, the theatrical business in India has been in a constant state of flux, which has resulted in recalibration across the value chain. The evolving nature of the film business in India makes audience insights and analytics more relevant than ever before. Given its repository of data and audience understanding, Ormax Media is poised to play a crucial role in the growth of the Indian film business over the next decade. I am looking forward to collaborating with the best minds in the industry, in their pursuit to take more informed and audience-centric business decisions.”