Tag: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Prime Video & Sony Pictures Television launch Sony Pictures – Stream

Mumbai: Prime Video has entered a distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Television (SPT), a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), to launch Sony Pictures – Stream on Prime Video Channels. Curated for Indian customers, Sony Pictures – Stream offers a vast and exciting repertoire of entertainment including SPE’s outstanding international selection of iconic, blockbuster movies, timeless classics and highly popular TV shows available on Prime Video Channels. Prime members can purchase an annual add-on subscription to Sony Pictures – Stream at a special introductory price of ₹399 per year.

With an add-on subscription to Sony Pictures – Stream on Prime Video Channels, Prime members can enjoy an extensive slate of multi-genre content offerings including action-packed blockbusters, heart-warming dramas, rib-tickling comedies, suspenseful thrillers, evergreen classics, and much more. Some of the movies include Charlie’s Angels, Men in Black, Peter Rabbit, Ghostbusters, Jerry Maguire, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Taxi Driver, A Few Good Men, Legends of the Fall, Spotlight, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Terminator, Groundhog Day, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Step Mom, Book of Eli, Seven Pounds, Legend of Zorro, Anaconda and Evil Dead, among others. TV aficionados will find timeless classics such as I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Mad About You, and Diff’rent Strokes and recent hit shows including A Very English Scandal and Loudermilk.

“We are delighted to launch Sony Pictures – Stream, a new Prime Video Channel curated specifically for our customers in India. The collaboration allows Sony Pictures Entertainment to make their vast and beloved library available in India at a single destination, reaching customers across the length and breadth of the country via Prime Video Channels,” said Prime Video Channels, India head Vivek Srivastava. “Within a short span of time, Prime Video Channels has offered the perfect launchpad for several international streaming services and studios, helping them reach an incredibly wide audience across India. In sync with our philosophy of super-serving our customers with choice, access and convenience, we have worked towards offering a wide variety of content, making it all available at a single destination – Prime Video. We are sure that with its vast and diverse library Sony Pictures – Stream will offer something for everyone, delighting Prime members with their favourite movies and series.”

“We’re thrilled to work with Prime Video to super-serve Indian audiences with content from SPE’s extensive library of award-winning films and critically acclaimed television series while simultaneously offering a bespoke experience that is easily accessible to viewers across the region. Additionally, in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Columbia Pictures, a part of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Pictures – Stream spotlights the studio’s history and incredible film legacy by offering customers an incredible array of films from the studio’s beloved vault spanning the decades.” said Sony Pictures Television VP – South Asia Sonika Bhasin.

Prime members in India can subscribe to Sony Pictures – Stream through Prime Video Channels at an introductory price of ₹399 per year.

Prime Video Channels benefits for Prime members include:

● No hassle login & billing: Customers do not have to juggle between multiple usernames, passwords and billing due dates. With Prime Video Channels, all premium content subscriptions are managed within a single destination – Prime Video apps and website.

● More time watching, less time deciding: Customers don’t have to spend time toggling between their favourite services to discover what’s new and popular. With Prime Video Channels they can browse in one place, search across all their premium subscription and get personalized recommendations. All of this without ever having to leave the Prime Video app or website.

● Enjoy your favourite features, no matter which service: Customers can enjoy IMDb’s X-Ray feature and a single consolidated watch list and download library for offline viewing. Subscribers can also manage data consumption and much more across all their premium channel subscriptions.

● More choice: With Prime Video Channels, Prime members can access thousands of additional titles across 22 OTT channels, including Sony Pictures – Stream.

February 19, 2024
Zee-Sony merger gets nod from stock exchanges

Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel) on Friday received approval from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for its proposed merger with Culver Max Entertainment (formerly Sony Pictures Networks India).

“The approval from the stock exchanges marks a firm and positive step in the overall merger approval process,” said the company statement. The approvals permit the Zee to proceed with the next steps in the overall merger process.

The composite scheme of arrangement remains subject to applicable regulatory and other approvals.

The Zee-Sony merged entity will be one of the largest media and entertainment players in India with close to $2 billion in revenue. Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka will serve as the managing director and chief executive officer of the merged entity over the next five years.

After the closing, Sony Pictures Entertainment, which owns Culver Max Entertainment, will indirectly hold a majority of 50.86 per cent of the combined company, the promoters of Zeel will hold 3.99 per cent, and the remaining Zeel shareholders will hold a 45.15 per cent stake.

It has been seven months since the two companies announced their intention to merge by signing definitive agreements.

July 29, 2022
SPE appoints Shony Panjikaran & Lada Guruden Singh to lead distribution and production biz in India

Mumbai: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) appoints Shony Panjikaran and Lada Guruden Singh to take over the reins of its distribution and production business in India.

Lada Guruden Singh has been named general manager and head of Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP), India. He will be overseeing SPIP India’s local film development and production slate as well as its expansion in regional cinema. Lada will report to SPIP co-heads Michael Rifkin and Shebnem Askin.

Shony Panjikaran has been named general manager and head of Sony Pictures Releasing International, India. He will manage Sony Pictures’ theatrical releasing business across the Hollywood and local cinematic slate in India, including all distribution, sales, and marketing efforts. Shony will report to Sony Pictures Entertainment senior vice president distribution Asia Adam Herr.

In addition to its impressive Hollywood line-up of upcoming feature films, Sony Pictures is further committing to investment in Indian theatrical projects, and it has expanded its footprint in regional cinema including Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam projects.

Shony Panjikaran said, “Sony Pictures is a global force that creates imaginative and engaging content for audiences across the world. It is an absolute privilege to oversee SPE’s theatrical business in India and bring an incredible slate of Hollywood and Indian cinema to Indian audiences. For both Lada and I, it will be hugely rewarding to lead Sony Pictures Entertainment, India into a new era. Today, the film market in India is virtually borderless, and I am looking forward to pioneering new initiatives and partnerships in this dynamic distribution space and to satisfy the demand for brilliant global and local stories in India.”

Lada Guruden Singh said, “As India leads the world in entertainment, creating content in volume and quality that ranks right at the top, we are excited to give it our all to become one of the top players in the country. From tentpole hits to clutter break-through content, from stories unfolding at the margins to the celebration of Indian mythology; we want to push the boundaries and synergies with leading talent as well as with fresh new voices. Shony and I are committed to making this dream come true, breaking all language barriers, and turning Sony Pictures Entertainment, India into the most sought-after creative studio in India!”

Lada has been with Sony Pictures group since 2014 in multiple capacities across public relations, marketing, and creative development. He has worked on titles like “Piku”, “PadMan”, “102 Not Out”, “Looop Lapeta” and has led the studio’s expansion in Malayalam and Telugu with “9” and the recent blockbuster “Major”. India’s youngest biographer at the age of 22, Lada is a published author and a poet with three books to his credit. He is a former journalist and has worked with India Today as an anchor. He has also worked at Fox Star Studios and Disney India previously. Most recently, Lada has been instrumental in snagging the rights to “Shaktimaan”, a superhero trilogy currently in the works at SPIP.

Shony Panjikaran has spearheaded Sony Pictures Entertainment India’s marketing initiatives over the past four years helping to launch enormously successful releases including “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, “Spiderman: Far From Home”, “Jumanji-The Next Level”, “Venom” and “Major”. Prior to this tenure at Sony Pictures, Panjikaran spent ten years at Fox Star Studios where he led their marketing efforts in a variety of roles; his work included films such as “Avatar”, “Life of Pi”, “Deadpool”, “Sanju”, “Baaghi 2”, Atlee’s “Raja Rani” amongst others.

“Lada and Shony’s elevations underscore the film studio’s commitment to continue creating theatre-worthy tentpole films in India with a slew of big-ticket announcements set to come out in the coming weeks, as well as building on the track record of success with beloved Hollywood movies,” said the company statement.

July 28, 2022
TCH 2022: Experts discuss the secret sauce of OTT storytelling to keep the audience engaged

Mumbai: The craft is constantly changing in OTT space. Every few months, the rules keep changing. The business players are still looking for the secret sauce. They are still trying to figure out and grapple with what kind of content works. How are the tastes of the audience changing? It’s highly dynamic, and to decipher this unique situation, on the sixth edition of Indiantelevision.com’s ‘The Content Hub Summit 2022,’ held in Mumbai, the media and entertainment industry experts shared their insights on the topic, “The legion of OTT content creators: Storytelling has never been on such an exciting journey.”

The session had the presence of Pratilipi Studios business head Ambesh Tiwari, Sony Pictures Entertainment head – StudioNext Indranil Chakraborty, Roy Kapur Films head-originals Jinesh Shah, ZEE5 chief content officer, Hindi Originals Nimisha Pandey, Warner Bros Discovery head of original content – South Asia Sai Abishek and Juggernaut Productions (OTT) chief executive officer Samar Khan.

The panel was moderated by Bodhitree Multimedia managing director Mautik Tolia.

The summit was presented by Viacom18, and co-powered by Applause Entertainment & IN10 Media Network. Aaj Tak Connected Stream was the association partner. Industry partners were Fremantle India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, One Take Media, Pratilipi, Pocket FM and The Viral Fever. The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) was our community partner.

The discussion began with an awareness of these experts’ attempts to break into the mainstream content market. Is it through design that has been attempted to build a specialisation, or any secret sauce, or is it just an accident?

Khan noted that it was by design; “There is no secret sauce. The sauce is essentially that you really have to work hard and you have to go out there and find new stories because everybody will agree to the fact that it’s becoming difficult to find new stories because so many shows are being made, so you have to go out there and find people and say, “Give me something that is going to be a little different from what is already there, so it’s just the search for new stories that keeps me going.”

When asked for the insights and secrets of some interesting products coming out like the Swami Nithyananda Show (My Daughter Joined a Cult) and Secrets Of Sinauli, the experts said that we’re maturing in the non-fiction space.

Speaking in this context, Abishek commented that viewers are generally looking at consuming good content but also focusing on the storytelling to make it slightly more cinematic than people are used to generally consuming. “We’re attempting to marry entertainment, which has previously been considered niche, and documentary, which has, unfortunately, not been the most popular genre. Oh, it’s boring or it’s too niche or things like that!”

Continuing the conversation, Pandey expressed her thoughts when asked if there are any unique elements in a show that she looks for as the secret sauce. What are the essential ingredients required to commission a show?

She mentioned there is no secret sauce available but the four main recipes that must be followed in order to stand out from the crowd are, first and foremost, a realistic real-world setting. Second, a fascinating story without any shortcuts. Third, a real character with different shades, and finally, a strong passion to create the show.

Discussing ahead with Shah, Tolia highlighted the different formats of story-telling and its dynamics. He asked Shah, What are the lessons learned and challenges encountered during the transition to the long-form format (web-series) from the movie format?

The process started from an organic place, so the challenge was different from the television writers & film writers. As an OTT writer, we took some training sessions from experienced writers, show runners, and creators from across the world to help put a process together. It is the alignment of all the cooks (writers, show runners, and creators) that helped us in making this sauce, said Shah.

Watch the complete session on the link below:

July 19, 2022
Ukraine crisis: Disney and Sony suspend operations in Russia

Mumbai: Media companies Disney and Sony Pictures Entertainment have decided to suspend all business operations in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Disney will cease all business including content and product licensing, Disney Cruise Line activities, National Geographic magazine and tours, local content productions, and linear channels, according to a report by Reuters.

Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra shot an email to his staff that the boycott of Russia includes stopping its anime streaming service Crunchyroll as well as home entertainment releases and future TV distribution deals in the country, as per a report by ANI.

Two weeks ago, Sony had also pulled its planned future films in Russia, including the high-profile Marvel film – “Morbius.” Disney has also halted the release of theatrical films in the country.

Other Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros has also stopped business operations following the actions of Russia.

March 14, 2022
Sony Pix strengthens lineup in partnership with SPE, Warner Bros & NBC Universal

Mumbai: Sony Pix has partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment along with continued support of Warner Brothers and NBC Universal to announce their upcoming programming lineup. This includes titles like “Shazam,” “Spiderman,” “Lord of the Rings,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Resident Evil,” and “Insidious.”

The channel’s constant innovation in terms of content has garnered a great response from the viewers,” said the statement. In 2021, the channel introduced properties such as ‘Pix Triple treat,’ ‘Mega Pixathon,’ ‘Twice is Nice,’ and a slew of Indian television premieres to woo audiences. The channel is planning to introduce a new property titled ‘Love Stories on Pix’ that will help viewers enjoy romantic films in the comfort of their homes.

Sony Pix has secured top rank in terms of viewership both SD and HD platforms in its category and is also the leader in the primetime slot of 1900-2400 hours according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) data (Source: Barc, TG – 15-40 AB, Market – 10L+, Period – Wk 51’21 – Wk 2’22)

“In our constant endeavor to bring the best to our viewers, this year we will see movies from Hollywood’s best studios like Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and NBC Universal on Sony PIX,” said Sony Pictures Networks’ chief marketing officer and business head – English cluster and Sony Aath Tushar Shah. “We are delighted to partner with these studios once again and look forward to yet another fulfilling year ahead.”

February 1, 2022
Sony Pictures Entertainment & Google create an India-first ‘Trailer to Ticketing’ full funnel campaign for ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’

MUMBAI: For a long time, the film industry has produced and marketed films based on gut and the same instinct and some basic media reports have been used to reach out to the movie going audiences. But Sony Pictures Entertainment Films India partnered with Google, their agency Sokrati and movie ticketing portals to go beyond gut, and used a comprehensive data analytics based approach to execute a India first ‘Trailer to Ticket’ model. Through this, the entire journey of the movie going audience was mapped right from the time, the person viewed the trailer to the final purchase of the ticket.

“ We, at Sony Pictures Entertainment India have always believed in the power of a data analytics driven approach. Hence we were looking at optimizing the full funnel, from the “Trailer to Ticketing”, especially for our Tent-Pole films. The Google team have been our biggest partners, helping us map the right ‘intent based’ audiences for our campaigns, from awareness to conversion. This not only delivered great engagement for our content, but also delivered spectacular returns on every dollar spent ” Shony Panjikaran, Director & Head of Marketing, SPE Films India.

Google India has now created a special case-study on this campaign (report attached).

Performance marketing today is blending people expertise with the latest technology to invest every penny righteously into marketing efforts. Spider-Man: Far From Home has proved that data and technology coupled with marketing experts avoid spends’ loss and catalysts unprecedented returns on spends. Through the digital campaign about 5 Lakh tickets were sold, and the film went on to become the most successful Spider-Man sequel in India, and in fact Sony Pictures Entertainment’s biggest film till date.

“ The ambition is to transform from a traditional entertainment company to a data-driven, audience-first company. Today, we’re making smarter decisions about the kind of creatives to be used, the right people to target, exactly where to target them and in the process significantly bringing down the marketing costs. Very soon, data analytics will help us with the kind of movies we need to make, understanding the ever changing tastes of the people we are making movies for, and the experiences we need to deliver.” Shony Panjikaran, Director & Head of Marketing, SPE Films India.

September 23, 2019
Twitter appoints Rahul Pushkarna as head of content partnership, APAC

MUMBAI: Rahul Pushkarna has been appointed as head of content partnership, APAC at Twitter. He confirmed his appointment through Twitter.

Before this, Pushkarna worked with Sony Pictures Entertainment as director, sales development, Asia. Pushkarna was also the head, digital distribution and licensing, India and Southeast Asia at 21st Century Fox before Sony.

Previously, he has also worked with Microsoft, NBC Universal Media and HSBC.

November 13, 2018
Contiloe Pictures’ ‘Vighnaharta Ganesha’, india’s first ever motion capture technology show completes one year

MUMBAI: Extensively winning hearts of audiences across the country, bringing alive the incredible story of the deity Ganesha, today marks a special day for Contiloe Pictures’ Vighnaharta Ganesha. Achieving a true milestone, the show, airing on Sony Pictures Entertainment, completes one year of being telecast and marks a landmark completion of 262 episodes today!

‘Vighnaharta Ganesha’ showcases the journey of the deity Ganesha and presents a magical visual extravaganza with impeccable production design, costumes and ingenious audio-visual experience through Motion Capture technology. This technology helps replace the age old depiction of Lord Ganesha with an inert mask and bring alive the detailed life-like movements and facial expressions to the fore giving the viewers a delightful visual treat.

Commenting on this success, Abhimanyu Singh, the Founder and CEO of Contiloe Pictures said, “We have always used technology to tell stories in a bigger and better manner. Using motion capture technology on a daily basis has been one of the greatest challenge and I am grateful to my team on planning and executing this huge task. Needless to say that the creative team at Contiloe Pictures has taken great pain in researching and telling us some fantastic untold stories about Lord Ganesha. I thank the audience for the love and appreciation they have shown to our show.”

This magnum opus show Vighnaharta Ganesha is supported by a stellar star-cast that includes Akanksha Puri as Parvati, Malkhan Singh as Shiv, Basant Bhatt as Kartikeya and Anand Garodia as Narada Muni. This show reiterates the producer’s strength in telling some great historical and mythological stories to a new-age audience. Contiloe Pictures uses Motion Capture Technology in each episode, they have been the first production house in the world to use this technology on a daily basis, for 262 episodes straight within a year.

“Our focus on identifying the future of Indian Television and understanding the need of bringing better technology has worked for us” adds Abhimanyu.

August 22, 2018
Shishir Gupta elevated as head content acquisition sports at SPNI

MUMBAI: It’s that time of the year when executives in media get their promotions. And it’s time for Shishir Gupta to celebrate as well. Gupta has been has been elevated as head of content acquisition and licencing – sports at Sony Pictures Networks India. Gupta was hitherto AVP content acquisition and syndication – sports at the company

Prior to that he was Ten Sports as a content acquisition and syndication lead when it was acquired from Zee Entertainment Enterprises by Sony Pictures Networks India. Since then Sony Pictures has been digesting the acquisition and placing executives from Ten Sports in key positions in the Sony network in India. The sports business for SPNI is headed by Rajesh Kaul.

Gutpa has over 13 years of extensive experience in varied roles in broadcast media and sports. With an in-depth knowledge of sports broadcasting, his expertise lies in content acquisition and syndication, strategic partnerships, business planning and forecasting and contracts.

He started his carrier with Zee Sports as an executive- content acquisition and then moved onto Essel Sports as part of the team that was setting up the India Cricket League. He then moved back to Ten Sports rising up the ranks until the acquisition by SPNI.

He holds a Masters in Commerce degree from Mumbai University and later pursued an MBA in marketing.

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