FICCI
The media plays a pivotal role when it comes to the building of brands of other products and sectors, but when it comes its own branding, the story is different and the going is equally tough, if not more.
Though India has produced quite a few world class sportspersons, Indians have always been passionate about sports and sports is increasingly shaping new forms of entertainment content. One cannot also deny the fact that niche channels on sports are drawing more eyeballs than tear-jerker soaps.
The media plays a pivotal role when it comes to the building of brands of other products and sectors, but when it comes its own branding, the story is different and the going is equally tough, if not more.
The Indian media and entertainment industry, in particular the film entertainment sector, is evolving. There is no denying that. But growth today faces a two-way problem – roadblocks in growth and the problems that growth brings along. Producer-Director Shekhar Kapur, given his experience in India and evolved markets like the US, cautioned on these problems while Producer-Director Farhan Akhtar presented the Indian standpoint.
Piracy is a growing global epidemic and the proportion of the menace has reached such a critical point that the very existence of the global entertainment industry is at stake. This is the one point which all the speakers of a session on ‘Defending Intellectual Property: How Far Have We Succeeded?’ have subscribed to.
That piracy is a fast growing threat and menace is the one point that every stakeholder in the media and entertainment industry, cutting across the geographies
Though the domestic media and entertainment industry in well on a growth path, it faces a two-way problem--restrains in the very growth and the problems that growth brings along, feels noted industry people.
The participation of Italy, the partner country at the Frames 2007, was seen in the presence of Italian stars like Giancarlo Giannini, Anna Galiena and the Oscar winner Nicola Piovani, 40 stalls and a business delegation led by Italian Minister of Communications Paolo Gentiloni Silveri and Anica (Italian Film Producers Association) president Paolo Ferrari.
The session on regulatory issues facing the M&E industry had many speakers opening their minds freely.
Inaugurating Ficci-Frames 2007 in Mumbai on Monday, I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi outlined his vision for the M&E industry in a five-point agenda.
The importance of marketing a movie or getting the distribution right isn’t really a new found for the Indian movie industry. However, while only some players, largely the bigger banners, have understood the importance of these sectors, even between them, the success formulae is different and as yet, evolving.
The Australian trade commission is showcasing its country’s creative and technical expertise in film and entertainment at the ongoing Frames.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Italian Ministry of Communications have made it clear that the focus on the media and entertainment (M&E) industry is crucial to both the governments. Outlining the policy of the Indian government for the industry, I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi enumerated five key focus areas in 2007 and other initiatives which are in the pipeline, at the inaugural session of FICCI Frames 2007.
FICCI Frames has become an annual calendar event for media professionals. It is very important for an event like this to ensure it is able to increase its scale every year and attract participation from the best professionals in the industry.
In its eighth year, Frames, has once again put together some of the best E&M minds to discuss the way forward for the industry. In the last few years, Frames has been one platform where industry heavyweights and government officials have chosen to speak on some crucial industry trends and developments.
To say that it was a whirlwind three-day indepth observation of the Indian entertainment and media industry will be an understatement. The who's who of the Indian and international E&M honchos gathered for FICCI Frames 2006. In fact, so overwhelming was the reponse that registrations had to be stopped mid way as the convention hall was full to capacity.
FICCI, under the guidance of Yash Chopra, has played a key role in facilitating India-Pakistan relations – especially in the context of the film industries of the two countries. The valedictory session of FICCI Frames 2006 brought this back into focus. Yash Chopra and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Chairman, Jung Group of Companies, Pakistan, highlighted some of the developments that might well mark the beginning of a new phase in the blossoming relationship between the two sides.
The youth has become the most buzz-worthy segment in recent times, thus spake Pradeep Guha, CEO, Zee Telefilms. This target group (TG) came under the scanner when industry leaders from the creative and media marketing functions came together to look at different ways to tap this ‘aloof’ TG. An important pullout from the discussion was whether another section of the Indian populace – rural India - was being de-sensitised by this attention.
Karan Johar and Ashok Amritraj - they do the same thing for a living, but their experience couldn't be more different. Johar is India’s own whiz kid whose family sagas have become benchmarks for the Indian film industry. Amritraj, who has made his mark in Hollywood producing successful movies, has experienced a completely different taste of working in the highly organised and competitive US film industry.
There’s a problem with digitisation - once begun, it just doesn’t stop. And people can’t seem to stop talking about it either. The interesting aspect is that irrespective of who is doing the talking, media experts do find something new to throw light on – whether it is impact coming from measurement, need for digital content management, or a paradigm shift in traditional primetime to an anywhere – anytime scenario.
“This is the beginning of the end of television as we know it.” Zee Telefilms’ Chairperson, Subhash Chandra, chose these words to begin his keynote address on ‘Digital Entertainment Living’, on Thursday, March 23. The visionary brought a whole new meaning to the importance of the role of digitisation as he took on the television business - aspect by aspect – and established that nothing would be spared from the digital conquest.
Azim Premji, Chairman and Managing Director, Wipro on Wednesday said that ICE – IT, Communication and Entertainment – essentially pointed at convergence. "Even as I have seen much more of IT than Communication and even lesser of Entertainment, I definitely see a link between the three," he said.
FICCI Frames 2006 lived up to its expectations with the first day opening to a full house on Wednesday, March 22, 2006. In fact, so overwhelming was the response that registrations had to be stopped midway as the venue couldn't accommodate the vast number or people who had turned up. Nearly 1,500 national and international delegates, representing various bodies like trade units, government bodies, broadcasters, publications, and just about anyone who had anything to do with the entertainment and media space were there.
In the past year, television has grown in an unprecedented manner. The medium saw changes by way of new genres establishing themselves, more channels being launched, changes in distribution platforms and hike in ad rates across channels. One indication of where the sector is headed comes from STAR India’s decision to spin off two entities -- STAR Group and STAR Entertainment, in order to structure its growth.
In its seventh year, FICCI Frames has once again ensured that anything that promises to be an emerging trend in the Indian media business comes under the scanner and to do so, the Federation has put together one of the best mix of media minds. The FICCI ‘Frame’ of mind this year is ‘Where Business meets Entertainment’.
The multiplex's steady proliferation in the metropolis and simultaneous penetration into some smaller cities and towns testifies to its increasing popularity, coinciding with the rise of disposable incomes in the hands of the urban Indian family.
FICCI Frames 2005 has successfully culminated. Key industry leaders shared view points on various trends that they see emerging in the industry, whether it is the mobile phone changing the look of the media, or discerning consumers getting more involved in the content that they want to see.
Is content king, or is the medium the message? That was the bone of contention at the session on ‘Mobile Entertainment – Whenever, wherever’ on Day 3 of FRAMES 2005. Arun Gupta, COO, Mauj, said, “Mobile data contributes between 2-15 per cent in terms of ARPU contributions for different operators of the world. The mobile screen is emerging as the third most popular screen, after television and PC for entertainment options.”
The multiplex’s steady proliferation in the metropolis and simultaneous penetration into some smaller cities and towns testifies to its increasing popularity, coinciding with the rise of disposable incomes in the hands of the urban Indian family.
Speakers on Day 3 of FRAMES 2005 agreed that it may take at least five years for all Indian homes to start receiving content in the digital format, given the huge investment required to convert from the existing analog systems.
The FICCI Best Animated Frames Awards were given away on Tuesday. From just one international entry last year, the popularity of the awards seems to have risen immensely with more than 200 entries from 14 countries pouring in for this year's awards.
Increasingly, filmmakers have discovered that there is big money to be made outside India, as Bollywood is on its way towards becoming a global brand with the success of films like Monsoon Wedding and Bend it like Beckham in the international arena. The panel for the session on 'Bollywood goes global' included names such as Karan Johar, Rachel Dwyer (Reader in Indian Studies and Cinema Department of South Asia), Ramesh Sippy, Anupam Sharma (Producer/Director) and Govind Nihalani.
The second day of FICCI FRAMES 2005 emphasised the present status where laws are taking time to catch up with reality. Industry leaders deliberated on the fact that when a situation has arrived but a corresponding legislation hasn't, the need to look at the situation closely, is accentuated.
The dotcom boom gave entrepreneurs a taste of big money through venture capitalists. With this in the backdrop, different industries took advantage of venture capitalist funding. The private equities have been an obvious gainer through big investments.
With countries like India looking at non-US markets to expand their share of the digital content pie, Singapore could provide the ideal gateway with its positioning as the regional business hub for computer animation, according to speakers at the session on ‘Digital Content Management’.
The business model of co-production in animation is more relevant now than ever before. The new model comes in the wake of the increasing difficulty in finding funding for animation series as well as garnering advertising revenues to completely fund content. The speakers at the sessions on animation, titled 'Co-production: A win-win game', at FICCI FRAMES '05 agreed that co-production is the way forward.
'Branded entertainment' has been an age-old phenomenon in the entertainment industry though it may seem like an emerging concept, said Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO, GroupM. "While we have seen this in the 60's in the soap operas, in the film industry it has always existed as an organised business of supplying props although today we have only complicated the concept," said Srivastava in the 'Branded Entertainment' session at FICCI FRAMES.
If one had to use a phrase to define FICCI FRAMES –Day 1, it would be ‘A Day of answers’ and they were largely coming from the Information and Broadcast Minster, Jaipal Reddy. The questions came from the likes of Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee Telfilms and Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, Sony Entertainment.
<p align=justify>New forms of technology such as video games, broadband Internet access, high definition television and personal recorders are re-defining the viewing habits of people. These were the broad theme of the presentation on ‘New Media & Entertainment’.
<p align=justify>‘Branded entertainment’ has been an age-old phenomenon in the entertainment industry though it may seem like an emerging concept, said Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO, GroupM. “While we have seen this in the 60’s in the soap operas, in the film industry it has always existed as an organised business of supplying props although today we have only complicated the concept,” said Srivastava in the ‘Branded Entertainment’ session at FICCI FRAMES.
<p align=justify>The business model of co-production in animation is more relevant now than ever before. The new model comes in the wake of the increasing difficulty in finding funding for animation series as well as garnering advertising revenues to completely fund content. The speakers at the sessions on animation, titled ‘Co-production: A win-win game’, at FICCI FRAMES ’05 agreed that co-production is the way forward.
The biggest annual global convention in Asia spanning across all aspects of the media and entertainment industry, FRAMES, organised by FICCI, has got an international partner. As the first if is kind collaboration, Pakistan-based international broadcaster Geo Television, the flagship television channel of prestigious Jang Group of Companies, has joined hands with FRAMES 2005, starting from Monday in Mumbai.
The biggest annual global convention in Asia spanning across all aspects of the media and entertainment industry, FRAMES, organised by FICCI, is back. FRAMES 2005, which will focus on various areas like television, film, animation, new media, etc., is set to kick off in Mumbai on Monday.
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