The recent few years in the annals of Indian production and post production industry were embellished by path breaking developments. 2007 is proving to be yet another remarkable year as India continues to gain recognition in the global arena.

If there is one aspect of production industry, which epitomizes the changing complexion, it is the spree of deals signed for original content and distribution of movies.

In September 2007, Hollywood studio Sony Pictures Entertainment and Eros International, an integrated media and entertainment company in the Indian entertainment arena, decided to coinvest and jointly develop, produce and acquire multiple movies for the new Hindi fi lm slate under a non-exclusive agreement. Sony Pictures is expected to distribute some of the titles in the US and Eros will use its established infrastructure to distribute the movies in other international territories. The two companies will work jointly in India.

In August, Warner Bros. Pictures unveiled Made in China, its first Hindi production working with India's Ramesh Sippy Productions, with worldwide distribution to be handled by the former.

Prior to this, Viacom Inc. and India's TV18 Group (now called Network18) created a new 50:50 joint venture operation in India, Viacom-18, which includes TV, film and digital media content across numerous brands to build India’s leading multi-platform entertainment company. "India is one of Viacom’s priority markets for expansion internationally," said Philippe Dauman, president and CEO of Viacom.

Equally bullish about India, Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures noted, "This deal (with Eros) continues Sony Pictures dedication to the region as we embrace and support local talent and invest in movies made specifically for audiences in India and the Indian diaspora. As a global company, we are committed to international cinema in India and around the world - we want to satisfy the demand in local markets for high quality original stories told in their original languages."

Pursuing expansion in a big way, Eros announced early September that Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. Has underwritten a US$100 million five-year acquisition financing facility to support the company’s strategy of consolidating the fragmented Indian entertainment content sector.

Eros recently shared that Om Shanti Om, one of the most highly anticipated blockbusters featuring Shah Rukh Khan, produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, is slated for released on 9 November 2007 to reach an unprecedented 2000 plus screens worldwide.

As for Viacom18, the TV18 Group will contribute its Motion Pictures division operation to the joint venture which produces, acquires and distributes Hindi-language movies.

Another major integrated media and entertainment company UTV has also expanded its production slate. In March this year, UTV Motion Pictures and 20th Century Fox signed a strategic tie-up for the co-production of acclaimed director M Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Budgeted at US$57 million, the partners will co produce the fi lm for a simultaneous worldwide release in June or July 2008, and share global revenues in all media in perpetuity, equally.

Significantly, UTV is the only Indian company to have forged partnerships with three of the top fi ve media majors - Fox, Sony and Disney in little less than a year. Apart from international deals, UTV is also focusing on multiple movie deals with established directors in India. In March, it sealed a deal with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions (ROMP) for the production of four movies with a total outlay of US$68 million.

Other than increased corporatization of the Hindi movie industry, productions have also evolved.

The deal between UTV and ROMP sees Paanch Kaurav (5-K) being cowritten by Hollywood scriptwriter Syd Field along with Rakeysh Mehra, who along with Rensil D'silva, have already penned the first installment of the trilogy. This marks the first time that an Indian film is co-written by a Hollywood scriptwriter to possibly pave the way for a new creative approach in the Indian film industry, with films being made for movie 'audiences' with a universal appeal, rather than a specific country or region. The trilogy is expected to have a special focus on ancillary revenues that include retail, merchandizing, console and mobile gaming tapping on UTV's strengths in gaming and animation.

On the TV production front, India continues to see new players entering the fray, resulting in greater demand for fresh concepts and programming. In 2007, a spate of new channels in the Hindi general entertainment genre was announced including those from Zee, Sahara, NDTV and UTV.

As part of the agreement between Viacom and TV18, Viacom-18 will launch a new Hindi-language general entertainment cable and satellite channel in India within 2008 to offer original, locally produced programming as well as acquisitions. The joint venture will also launch a further suite of niche channels in the future from the MTV Networks portfolio, as well as new brands. Digital media content across all of the TV brands will be developed and distributed to Indian consumers. Viacom-18 will also syndicate MTVN programming and newly produced content.

The early part of the year was marked by the launch of Fox TV Studios India, which introduced a number of shows for India's top Hindi entertainment channel Star Plus.

Star India, producer of over 3,500 hours of fresh programming yearly, delivered one of the biggest TV productions in the year in the form of the third version of Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. The show featuring Hindi movie star Shah Rukh Khan, helped the broadcaster gain clear leadership in the 9-10 pm weekday primetime band, it further ensured the Cricket World Cup, which took place from March - April 2007, did not reduce its revenues.

Among other initiatives, Star Group and Balaji Telefi lms Ltd. formed a joint venture to create a TV network of regional language general entertainment channels initially targeted at the fast growing South India market. 51% owned by Star and 49% by Balaji, the joint venture is headquartered in Chennai, with a Telugu channel planned for roll out by the last quarter of 2007, and channels in Kannada, Malayalam and other key regional languages to debut within the next two to three years.

International format owners and producers have gradually strengthened their presence as Endemol India, which had exclusively developed reality show for kids titled Rin Mera Star Super Star for Unilever in India, the first of its kind 'advertiser sponsored' format for TV on Star Plus, revealed its plans to introduce fi ctional shows by the end of 2007.

Miditech, associated with broadcasters including Sony Entertainment Television (SET), Zee TV, Cartoon Network, and National Geographic Channel, plans to upgrade all its studios to offer HD by end-2007. Among its shows planned for this year include Extreme Makeover India, a 13- part reality series based on the format owned by the ABC network in the US for SET and Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian adaptation of the children's show Sesame Street, for Turner.

In the post production arena, studios are gradually expanding their facilities not only in India but also actively pursuing work from mature markets.

Mumbai-based Prime Focus Ltd invested some US$3.4 million in a new 11,000 sq. feet facility to add to its three existing facilities in Mumbai which focus on TV, commercials and movies. Housing 150 animation and visual effects artists, this facility is aimed at growing the company's business in the advertising and movie segments. In addition, the company opened a studio in Chennai, investing US$2.92 million in a 5000 sq. feet, 55 artist setup to target the southern India market.

Namit Malhotra, Managing Director, Prime Focus said, "The industry is still at a nascent stage with increased demand from international and local markets expected to increase significantly. In order to meet this growing demand we are ramping up our delivery capabilities in India (like with the new facility in Mumbai). Additionally with the acquisitions of VTR and Clear in UK recently, Prime Focus is well positioned to take on outsourcing of VFX, animation and post production projects coming in from both the US and UK markets. These initiatives are aimed at creating a seamless delivery model to service the global marketplace."

Expanding out of India, Prime Focus has charted out a mix of inorganic and organic growth plans for key markets across the US, Europe and the Middle East, and has made a US$26 million initial public offer (IPO) last year.

Rhythm & Hues Studios also introduced a new production facility in Hyderabad and will add to the 200 staff it currently employs at its Mumbai-based operations. The company's portfolio currently includes work for New Line Cinema's Golden Compass and Fox's Alvin & the Chipmunks.

Overall, India's post production industry is projected to double its size to US$227 million before 2008. The contribution of international outsourced work and mainstream movies has also been estimated to grow to US$91 million by the end of this year.

The animation sector, akin to motion pictures, saw major deals clinched by local production companies.

The Walt Disney Studios is partnering with Mumbai-based Yash Raj Films (YRF) Studios for a series of original and exclusive computer-animated feature movies as equal partners contributing creative, technical and financial support to the venture. The deal marks both companies' first movie co-production in India.

The first film to be co-produced in this alliance, featuring state-of-the-art computer animation done entirely in India, is Roadside Romeo. Written and directed by Jugal Hansraj, and produced by Aditya Chopra, the collaborative effort is slated for release in 2008.

Elsewhere, UTV pledged to invest some US$33 million in the development of animation movies over the next three years, with the company's 2009 motion picture slate to include at least three animation titles.

According to National Association of Software & Service Companies (NASSCOM), the Indian animation industry recorded revenues of US$354 million in 2006, a 24 percent growth over the previous year. The sector is also forecasted to attain revenues of US$869 million by 2010, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% over the 2006-2010 period. It highlighted that India has the potential to grow its animation industry to US$1 billion by 2010 but cites the looming demand-supply gap in employable human resources to restrict that growth.

As for the Indian gaming segment which hit the US$48 million in 2006, the Association expects it to exceed US$424 million by 2010, at a CAGR of 72% over the 5-year period.

Finally, with over 112 million TV households including 68 million cable and satellite ones and over 200 million phones including both wireless and fixed-lines, India continues to evoke bullish sentiments in the broadcasting and mobile entertainment sectors. And with a buoyant mood in the economy, and GDP growing at the rate of 8-9%, India's future definitely looks promising.

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