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Tag: Sony Picture

  • Sony Pictures’ Amy Pascal steps down

    Sony Pictures’ Amy Pascal steps down

    MUMBAI: After being targeted by hacking group called ‘Guardians of Peace’, linked closely to North Korea, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Amy Pascal has decided to step down after her emails and conversations were made public. She will be resigning as the co-chairwoman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairwoman of Sony Motion Picture Group.

     

    Seen as one of Hollywood’s top most female executives, she has been with the Group since 1996, when she was named as the president of the Columbia Pictures Unit, post her stint with Turner Pictures. Before joining Turner she was with Sony since 1988. Equating the company as her home, Pascal in a statement said, “I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures, and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home,”

     

    The embarrassing emails contained her leaked conversations that had her discussing with other executives to halt the release of the humour based film, The Interview. The film is based on the assassination of North Korea’s current leader Kim Jong-un. Not limited to just that, the emails shared in the cyberspace also saw her cracking racially insensitive jokes with producer Scott Rudin about the viewing habits of US President Barack Obama. They both joked that the President’s favourite movies were black themed cinema like Django Unchained and 12 Years A Slave.

     

    Pascal later apologised in a statement which read, “The content of my emails to Scott were insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am. Although this was a private communication that was stolen, I accept full responsibility for what I wrote and apologise to everyone who was offended.”

     

    Pascal who was worked with the studio for close to two decades, will now begin a production company that will see its launch in May 2015. The studio has decided to stand by her as it will fund her company for at least four years and will retain the distribution rights. Her successor is yet to be named.

  • Institutional finance on the up for Indian movies

    Institutional finance on the up for Indian movies

    MUMBAI: Institutional finance is beginning to flow in to fund Indian movies. IDBI, for instance, has sanctioned Rs 5.5 billion on a cumulative basis over the last five years. Exim Bank, similarly, has extended lending to over Rs 4 billion for film projects which have potential to earn foreign exchange.

    “Overseas earnings from films recently financed by us has touched Rs 1.15 billion. We are not only financing on the production, but also on the overseas distribution side. The industry has a lot of potential even in the animation business,” said Exim Bank chairman & managing director TC Venkat Subramaniam, while speaking at “India The Big Picture,” a seminar here today on the film entertainment industry organised by the CII.

    Exim Bank has a lending cap of Rs 250 million for a single film project. The film industry earns an estimated Rs 69 billion a year, contributing 26 per cent to the total revenue of the entertainment sector. This is just 1.7 per cent of the global market, said Subramaniam.

    Export revenues have jumped from Rs 2 billion in 1998 to Rs 4 billion in 2000 and further to Rs 11 billion in 2005, accounting for 16 per cent of the total earnings. “There is a healthy outlook as we increase earnings from the international market, strengthen animation outsourcing, provide institutional financing and extend government incentives,” he added.

    IDBI is also cautiously bullish on the industry. “We have funded 70 movies. We are not only providing rupee loans but also in dollars for borrowers to hedge foreign exchange risk. Besides, we are extending line of credit so that film producers can cover up not on one but a slate of movies,” said IDBI general manager Aloke Dasgupta.

    IDBI funds only projects which have a minimum budget of Rs 4 billion and have a debt-equity ratio of 1:1. “We are providing financial support only for film production. We don’t fund in the reail and distribution end of the business. But for supporting smaller movies, we are in dicussions with NFDC to ensure that money is put in the right place for such projects,” said Dasgupta.

    But are the southern films having access to institutional finance? South Indian Film Exporters association president and MD of Ananda Exports L Suresh said film financing had not trickled down to the southern region. “It is probably because most of the banks are headquartered in Mumbai. Besides, banks take a long time to sanction loans and we finish production within three months. Besides, banks insist on collateral securities,” he said.

    Speaking on the sidelines, Dasgpta, however, said IDBI had financed Tamil and Telugu movies.

    Speaking on the occasion, Sony Pictures India MD Uday Singh said financial rigour was essential as the movie business is not without risks and revenue leakages. Media is fragmented and there are market access issues in certain states. “We have done enough hard work and there is now a bottom-up realism. We are extending from our distibution business and getting into film production as well. We are starting with one but are in alks with other directors as well. Our mandate is to have a slate of at least 2-3 films in a year’s time,” he said.

    Emphasising on the importance of a theatrical success, he said the Hollywood studios are realising that fast growth would come from the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) markets.

    Ernst & Young partner and head of media practice Farokh Balsara said the home video segment accounted for just 4 per cent of filmed entertainment revenues while in the US it was as high as 50 per cent. This sement could see increased activity as ventures capitalists have started to invest into new models of home video.