Pickle September 2018 Toronto Edition

INDIA’S ONLY FILM BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD Visit India Stand No 18 Industry Office Hyatt Regency

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September 2018

TIFF 2018 INDIAN PICKS

Manto Nandita Das

Manmarzian Anurag Kashyap

Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota Vasan Bala

Bulbul Can Sing Rima Das

The Sweet Requiem Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam

RISHIKA LULLA SINGH Elevating Eros Now to new heights.

CEO of Eros International’s digital arm discusses growth of its OTT platform

Join the biggest names and the brightest minds.

Toronto International Film Festival September 6–16 Register now tiff.net/industry

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Discovery Co-production Screenings

INDIAN FILMS IN TIFF 2018 Five Indian film will be premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Besides these, two short films from India — Circle and Field – will be premiered. TIFF will also host the world premieres of three films with an India connect -- British director Michael Winterbottom’s The Wedding Guest, Australian Anthony Maras’s first feature Hotel Mumbai (Dev Patel) and French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Love’s Maya.

Manto Nandita Das Manto, Nandita Das’ second directorial outing, is an Indo-French co-production (Viacom18 Motion Pictures) that brings to the screen the final tumultuous years of the legendary Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto’s life and those of the countries -- India and Pakistan . The biopic earned critical acclaim in Cannes in May this year.

It stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Manto. The film is a mirror to our prejudices, fears, morality, says the director. Like Manto wrote, “My stories are a mirror to society. But if you don’t like what you see, then how is that my fault.”

Manmarzian Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyan, a romantic drama featuring Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu, will be accorded a Gala world premiere at TIFF. Manmarziyan, jointly produced by Eros International, Phantom Films and Aanand L Rai’s Colour Yellow Productions, is set in Amritsar and follows the story of this spirited girl Rumi... stuck between a complicated love triangle between Vicky (DJ) and Robbie - an NRI from London.

The Toronto International F with India’s multilingual cin as it is deep-rooted. TIFF ha celebrated works of all hue Nation’s diverse movie-mak The Sweet Requiem Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam In a follow-up to 2005’s Dreaming Lhasa, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam return with a story of a young Tibetan woman grappling with living in exile, revealing a side of the refugee crisis we rarely get to see.

Producer & Co-Director Ritu Sarin and Writer & Co-Director Tenzing Sonam have been making films for over thirty years. Their films are mostly documentaries but also include a number of video installations.

Bulbul Can Sing Rima Das Rima Das’s Bulbul Can Sing presents a visceral coming-of-age drama about a young girl living in rural India, fighting her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is. After winning hearts with the National Award winner feature, ‘Village Rockstars’, the writer-directorproducer, Rima Das will return to TIFF with this film. “It’s a huge honour to return to TIFF after Village Rockstars and start the journey of my next feature. It’s like homecoming for me,” says Das.

Film Festival’s engagement nema is as wide-ranging as over the years es from the South Asian king traditions Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota Vasan Bala Vasan Bala’s Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (produced by Ronnie Screwvala.) is a Bollywood-infused action film that tells the story of a young man – quite literally born with the ability to feel no pain – who strikes out on a quest to vanquish 100 foes. The film will be screened in the Midnight Madness section of the festival. Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is the second film from Bala, whose directorial debut was Peddlers.

CAMERON BAILEY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, TIFF

INDIA IS WORLD’S MOST FILM PASSIONATE COUNTRY

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very monsoon, for the last 13 years, Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has been coming to Mumbai to scout for talented Indian filmmakers to present their films at Toronto. Single handedly, he has managed to get over 50 Indian filmmakers to showcase their work in TIFF and global markets. Toronto, among all international film festivals, has picked maximum number of Indian films for screening.

“What I love about India is that, it is the world’s most film passionate country in the world. You can talk to anyone in this country and everyone has got an opinion about films. This is not the case anywhere in the world. This is the cultural norm. I love movies and I love to come to the country which loves movies the most,” says Cameron, who will be the new Co-Director of TIFF beginning October 1.

TIFF Director and CEO Piers Handling will step down after the 43rd edition of TIFF, while veteran Indie film producer Joana Vicente will join as Co-Director and run TIFF’s business operations.

TIFF Board Member Jennifer Tory said recently that “Joana and Cameron are the perfect duo to take TIFF into the future”.

Cameron scouts for films within the diversity of India itself.

Last year, one of the most successful films at TIFF was Village Rockstars by Rima Das, who is from North East India.

He is also much more flexible in embracing change than others in understanding the changing audience. “I think people will want to watch movies on whatever screens they want to. The real power of the movie is not in the size of the screen or sound system or anything like that. It is how they move you as an individual and as a group watching it together,” says Cameron. TIFF has picked Streaming giant Netflix’s eight films this year.

“I am very happy that Confederation of Indian Industry is brining a delegation to Toronto this year.

It is a great opportunity to meet people here. It is a place where Indian industry should be present every year,” says Cameron

Cameron Bailey, a passionate scout who has played a major role in showcasing maximum number of Indian films at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, will be its new Co-Director

INDIA @ TIFF

TIFF IN NUMBERS  A whopping number of 343 movies (255 features and 88 shorts) will be featured at Toronto International Film Festival, which is set to attract top cinema talents and their works from across the world.  Features that are World, International or North American Premieres are 138, 22 and 72 respectively, while the total submissions are international6846 and Canadian-1080.

Eighty three countries will be represented at the global event.  Among the films, 34 per cent are by women and 11 films are about musicians.  There will be 1,107.5 Feet of red carpet — more than twice the height of the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Three thousand enthusiastic festival volunteers will be there, while 3,100 pounds of popcorn kernel will be prepared at TIFF Bell Lightbox during the Festival.

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TIFF INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

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he 2018 TIFF Industry Conference (September 7-12) will inspire and incite discussions for creative and business entrepreneurship, while examining the role independent filmmakers play within an evolving and challenging media landscape. The Festival’s Industry Conference focuses on excellence in storytelling, cultivating artistic entrepreneurs, driving provocative and candid conversations, and pursuing equality and innovation with curatorial rigour.

“This is a pivotal moment in recognizing the unsung heroes in the industry,” said Kathleen Drumm, TIFF Industry Director. “Our conference programming will provide tools to address the imbalance of power, look to new trends, champion diversity, and identify how independent voices can be empowered and chart a sustainable career.”

Industry leaders and innovators are front and centre in TIFF Moguls. The series begins with a groundbreaking keynote on inclusion and diversity from Dr. Stacy L. Smith, author of the inclusion rider template and the Founder & Director of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a leading global think tank on diversity, gender, and inclusion.

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NATIONAL AGENCY STANDS September 4–15 Visit representatives from 40 countries at the TIFF Industry Centre, located inside the Hyatt Regency Hotel (370 King Street West).

Visit India Stand 18 managed by Confederation of Indian Industry

www.tiff.net/industry FOUNDATIONS — September 7 to 12 Glenn Gould Studio A practical stream designed for up-and-comers that explores all aspects of the business, from craft to distribution, and provides tangible tools for creative practitioners. Sessions will cover building diverse crews, excellence in production design, and creating visual language onscreen in post.

BREAKFAST AT TIFF  September 7 9 am to 10:30am — Ukraine Is Your Destination  September 7 10am to 11:30am — Doing Business with China  September 8 9 am to 10:30am — RDV Canada: Financing Opportunities for Indigenous Content  September 8 9:30am to 11am — Doing Business with Chile  September 9 8am to 12pm — CaribbeanTales  September 10 9am to 10:30am — Doing Business with India  September 10 10am to 11:30am — Doing Business with Germany  September 11 9am to 10:30am — Doing Business with Africa  September 11 9:30am to 11am — Doing Business with Brazil

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INDIA @ TIFF

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS The M&E industry is witnessing visible changes for ease of doing business -- singlewindow, transparent mechanism for receiving licensing and permissions -- for channels, film certification, satellite bandwidth and film shooting.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State (Independent charge) of the I&B Ministry

The global interest in India and in Indian films has grown manifold in recent times. Our films and actors are now crossing over from diaspora audiences to mainstream international markets. Our aim is to facilitate and make this transition smooth by creating an enabling environment for both our film fraternity and the international one.

CO-PRODUCING WITH INDIA THE NEW INDIA India has all ingredients to position itself as a digital hub for the global media and entertainment industry.

India’s macroeconomic outlook, talented work force and the Indian Government’s “Make in India”, “Skill India” and “Digital India” campaigns are clearly positive signals of the new transformation.

ADVANTAGE INIDA Ease of Doing business 100 per cent FDI in film Sector Massive Digitization Single Window for film shooting Innovation driven Technical expertise

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Active Bilateral Treatie • Bangladesh • Brazil • Canada • China • France • Germany • Israel • Korea • New Zealand • Poland • Spain • UK An

opportunity for filmmakers of different countries to come together and make films under bilateral co-production agreements It is now possible for filmmakers of different countries to come together and make films under bilateral co–production agreements. Co-productions under these agreements are more beneficial to filmmakers than a purely commercial partnership between two individuals or entities. New markets and audiences would be available for the product, especially if collaborations and partnerships are between nationals of different countries. Each agreement identifies the Competent Authority for the country concerned to whom applications are made for approval as co-production and other purposes. In India, it is the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

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EROS INTERNATIONAL AT TORONTO Eros has been a pioneer in taking Bollywood films worldwide, opening new markets and pushing the boundaries for consumption of Bollywood content.TIFF is one platform that will help us achieve this, says Pranab Kapadia, President Marketing, Eros International. He is part of the CII delegation at Toronto What is your focus at Toronto International Film Festival and Market 2018?

TIFF is fast becoming an important event in the annual film festival calendar to profile our films, meet with potential distributors and get an insight into the changing trends in world cinema. This year we are bringing our most awaited film – Manmarziyaan. It’s a unique combination of Anurag Kashyap, Aanand Rai & Eros International. A musical love story set in Punjab starring Vicky Kaushal, Tapsee Panuu and Abhishek Bachchan. With the ever growing Indian diaspora in Canada and around the world, we are hoping this film grosses big numbers at the Box Office with cross over appeal to the mainstream audiences worldwide. Music is a huge connect and this film has 14 blockbuster songs, making it one of the most engaging music albums of 2018.

What are the goals that you have set for yourself at Toronto?

Eros has been a pioneer in taking Bollywood films worldwide, opening new markets, pushing the boundaries for consumption of Bollywood content through various touch points and finally presenting our film narrative through strong story lines, emotional drama, music & dance to a mainstream audience around the globe. TIFF is one platform that will help us achieve this.

What are the plans for distribution of Manmarzian? Eros also has Tumbaad premiered at Venice?

Internationally we operate a two pronged strategy for our film releases – One - The traditional Asian diaspora who are extremely well informed and connected with all the news, release dates, announcements surrounding a film’s release. This would span approximately 40-60 countries across 300-600 screens. Two – The Non Traditional mainstream release where the film is either subtitled or dubbed to suit the taste of the local audiences. We jointly form a marketing & release strategy with the local distributor for an impactful and strategic release.

Both Venice & TIFF will help us achieve this by connecting with distributors & stake holders who share our passion.

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Media, Entertainment & Culture, when it reaches the shores of foreign land and consumed by the masses there, creates massive ‘soft power’ for any country. Bollywood has been silently working towards this… Its heartening to see the government playing a key role and pushing this.

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First Man Director: Damien Chazelle

TIFF 2018 FILMS VYING FOR HONOURS

All Set for

a Gala Show Best lineups from leading filmmakers, debut of a Netflix’s small screen film, women centric films, are all set to brighten up the screens at this edition of TIFF

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he Toronto International Film Festival 2018 takes off at a bright note with the best lineups – auteur and films that would be the centre of attraction at Oscars – Damien Chazelle’s First Man, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born.

On the heels of their six-time Academy Award-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost of one of the most dangerous missions in history.

Director Barry Jenkin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is an ambitious follow-up to Moonlight adapts James

ROMA Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Out of Blue Director: Carol Morley

Baldwin’s poignant novel about a woman fighting to free her falsely accused husband from prison before the birth of their child.

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut A Star is Born tells the story of a seasoned musician who discovers — and falls in love with — a struggling artist.

But, even as her career takes off, he fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.

For the first time, Toronto will begin with the debut of a Netflix’s small screen film Outlaw King by David Mackenzie for a big gala opener.

In total, TIFF will be screening streaming giant Netflix’s eight features, among them Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA and Paul Greengrass’s 22 July. While Roma is the new semi-autobiographical film from Academy Award-winning director Cuarón, Paul Greengrass’s film recounts the true story of the aftermath of Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack on July 22, 2011, when 77 people were killed in a far-right extremist bomb attack in Oslo.

TIFF will close with “Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy,” Justin Kelly’s true-life drama.

The fest will be screening the most anticipated films directed by Sam TaylorJohnson, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis,

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Destroyer Director: Karyn Kusama

TIFF has selected 46 breakout films from 50 international storytellers as part of its 2018 Discovery lineup, marking a record year for the programme. These promising new filmmakers present works that explore identity, complex portraits of women, and the youth as they struggle to navigate a fragile world Amma Asante and Hong Sang-soo, among others.

In tune with times, TIFF 2018 will also feature women centric films – Nicole Kidman in Destroyer, Patricia Clarkson in Out of Blue and Lady Gaga in A Star is Born.

The 43rd edition of the fest will also feature the Felix van Groeningen’s “Beau-

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Outlaw King Director: David Mackenzie

If Beale Street Could Talk Director: Barry Jenkins

A Star is Born Director: Bradley Cooper

tiful Boy”, Xavier Dolan’s “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan” and Steve McQueen’s star-studded thriller “Widows”.

TIFF’s lineup for the 2018 Masters programme, comprises 11 daring new films by acclaimed, established auteurs with remarkable bodies of work. With projects that reflect on history, focus on personal introspection, and take a critical look at society, this year’s programme proves that innovation in storytelling is not exclusive to newer generations of filmmakers.

Included in the 2018 Masters lineup are new works by three acclaimed European directors that unwaveringly address contemporary adversities: the debut of the single-installment version

of Italian maestro Paolo Sorrentino’s corrosive comedy, Loro, which stars Toni Servillo as infamous politician Silvio Berlusconi; legendary FrenchSwiss auteur Jean-Luc Godard’s The Image Book, winner of the inaugural 2018 Special Palme d’Or at Cannes; and German director Christian Petzold’s daring Transit, an adaptation of Anna Seghers’ World War II novel set in an era resembling the present day, which offers subtle and timely reflections on rootlessness and exile.

Chinese pioneer Jia Zhang-ke will introduce his largest production to date, Ash Is Purest White, a look at the rapid evolution of Chinese capitalist society explored through the romance between two mismatched people.

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ELEVATING EROS NOW TO NEW HEIGHTS

THE FUTURE IS NOW

Exceeding 113 million registered users and 10.1 million paying users worldwide across APP, WAP and Web, Eros Now has adopted a dual strategy of direct-toconsumer offerings and distributing through leading apps across telecom operators and OEMs that continues to drive its exponential growth. Eros Now’s dynamic CEO Rishika Lulla Singh shares her future growth strategy and gives a better insight into the rise of OTT segment in India

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ros International, which has been in the business for four decades, has the richest Indian content libraries (over 11,000 films), and is taking a deep dive into creating “Originals” for its Eros Digital Platform. Led by Rishika Lulla Singh, Eros Now has created a new digital ecosystem for content consumption in India.

“For over four decades Eros has been entertaining consumers with compelling content, both within India and abroad.

With Eros Now serving as a leading OTT film content player, we are well positioned to dominate the global entertainment market by meeting the needs of users worldwide that are hungry for fresh

EROS NOW REACH

‘Originals’ and regional content. There is also going to be a consistent and strategic focus on the technology layer of this OTT brand. Besides, we have a prolific inhouse technology team and we are also slated to launch a couple of industry first products in the next couple quarters,” says Rishika.

Eros Now is focused on bringing “all round entertainment” to consumers. As a part of this plan, one can expect to see the addition of new genres in Eros Now, like tie-ups to use existing famous characters; a broader focus on sports – similar to the company’s recent alliance with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2018 and other opportunities to fulfil

113mn REGISTERED USERS

Rishika Lulla Singh CEO, Eros Now

10.1mn

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PAYING USERS

PREMIERES IN 2018-19

EROS NOW ORIGINA  Side Hero with Rohan Sippy: Featuring Kunaal Roy Kapur as a fictionalised version of himself – the less successful younger brother of a hotshot Bollywood producer and star – this comedy-drama follows Kunaal trying to land a leading role in a bid to prove that his profession of acting is not just a ‘hobby.’ (Target release September 2018)  Smoke: An unflinching look at the politics within the drug mafia that resides in the intoxicant riddled underbelly of its tropical paradise, Goa. Smoke is led by an all-star cast including Jim Sarbh, Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Mandira Bedi and Tom Alter amongst others. (Target release October 2018)  Dashavatar with Anirudh Pathak: When mankind became corrupt and greedy, Lord Vishnu, the protector of the realms, incarnated to vanquish evil and save the

Led by Rishika Lulla Singh, Eros Now has created a new digital ecosystem for content consumption in India 30

world. Dashavatar tells this fascinating story of Vishnu’s reincarnations. (Target release December 2018/January 2019)  Ponniyin Selvan with Krish Jagarlamudi: A multi-seasonal, multi-lingual show based on the famous Tamil novel. Written in five volumes, Ponniyin Selvan narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman – later crowned as Rajaraja Chola I - one of the emperors of the Chola Dynasty, during the 10th and 11th centuries. (Target release March 2019)  Flesh with Siddharth Anand: An eightyear-old girl goes missing and her NRI parents are forced to seek the help of a suspended female cop in their search for her. An ex-human trafficker is blackmailed to join the search or else risk his sinful past catching with him. (Target release March 2019)

the ever-growing entertainment appetite of global consumers.

“The collaboration with RCB was a part of the company’s endeavour to build a truly digital video brand with Indian users and provide the best of entertainment the country has to offer. Our wide reach across leading worldwide brands, such as LG, Roku, Vodafone, Paytm, Gold’s Gym and many more have enabled us to reach this scale. We have existing partnership with brands across sectors like banks, lifestyle, FMCG etc,” Rishika adds.

India is seeing a surge in demand for broadband data, which is fuelling growth in the number of wireline broadband subscribers in India. Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telco, has more than two million broadband (DSL) customers today and is seeing a 5.5% year-onyear growth in its broadband customers.

The entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm into the segment with its Jio Giga Fiber technology is set to further reduce broadband rates across the country, fuelling competition and further growth in subscriber base.

Speaking on how Eros Now is working with various telecom players and cable distribution channels to get more subscribers, the Eros Now CEO says: “Our dual strategy of direct-to-consumer offerings and distributing Eros Now through leading apps across telecom operators and OEMs continues to drive our exponential growth. Whether it’s a Jio product, Airtel or Vodafone, we’ve got fairly exhaustive relationships with the telcos in terms of having the Eros Now app available. We do a lot of BTL marketing with them. There are a lot of insights in viewership patterns that we’ve learnt from the large pole of the telco customers.”

Earlier this year, Eros Now renewed its platform integration partnership worth $250 million with Reliance Jio to enable Jio users access Eros Now content on their phones. The content would include full length movies, thematic curated playlists and functions such as multi-language subtitles for movies, music

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ALS PROMISES A LOT  Mrityulok with Zeishan Qadri: A story that shows a mirror to the ruthless, selfish face of the society and how we all are culprits in a system that offers no incentive to “be good”. (Target release March 2019)  Bhumi with Pavan Kripilani: A survival thriller set in a dystopian version of Delhi which begs the question, how far is our reality from this supposedly fictional dystopia? (Target Release April 2019)  Crisis with Nikhil Advani and Gaurav Chawla: On his 50th birthday, Dr Gopichand Wadhwani – one of India’s top cardiologists – decides to follow his childhood dream and become a rapper.

Crisis is a story of two generations coming together to help each other get from life what they want. (Target Release May 2019)

 Sanyasi Raja with Prakash Jha: A fictional depiction of the infamous Bhawal case of West Bengal, in which a possible imposter claimed to be the prince of Bhawal, who was at that point presumed dead for over a decade. (Target release June 2019)  Kurukshetra: The tribals thought they were Gods. The army thought they were militants. What they turn out to be, are five children with ‘superpowers’ emerging from a genetic mutation. And with destinies that, almost uncannily, resemble the trajectory of the Mahabharata. (Target release TBD)  Blue Oak Academy: A teen-drama thriller that follows one young boy’s quest to exact revenge with the most prestigious academic institution of the nation. (Target release June 2019)

video playlists, regional language filters, video progression among other things.

Eros Now already has a strong hold on regional content. “With a population of over 1.3 billion, India has as many as 23 languages spoken across the country. In India and the Indian diaspora abroad, Indians have a huge appetite for entertainment and the demand for content in multiple languages is only growing,” says Rishika.

Hindi and regional films available on OTT platforms in India comprise 93% of the total division while only 7% are foreign language films. Out of the 93% of films, around 60% of films are in Hindi and the remaining portion comprises of films from various other regional languages.

“Eros Now has the largest market share of premium Indian OTT film content with over 70% of market share with digital rights to over 11,000 films, of which approximately 5,000 are owned in perpetuity.

Our most active customers on Eros Now

complete watching a film in two sessions and we are now the ‘most social OTT/entertainment brand in India’. Our library comprises content across 9 different languages. In fiscal 2018, the company’s slate of 24 films comprised 14 Hindi films, 1 Tamil/Telugu films and 9 regional films,” the Eros Now CE0 adds.

However, with the entry of global players like Amazon and Netflix who are willing to invest in localised content for India.

Eros Now has a tough task at hand.

Rishika believes that since Eros Now has been in the movie business for long, they have understood content consumption patterns and the pulse of the Indian consumer. “We’re able to take that learning and build a customer brand ourselves.

While nobody views it differently, we’re looking at technology to play a key role here. Our USP is film and entertainment and that is where we sit strongest in terms of our library volume. We have 11,000+ plus films on our platform which is about

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India is seeing a surge in demand for broadband data, which is fuelling growth in the number of wireline broadband subscribers 60% to 70% market share,” she says.

Besides relying on its vast library, Eros Now also has other plans in place. Recently, it was announced that Eros International would invest $50 million on creating original shows, with 10 originals going live 2018, starting from second quarter.

“We recently launched our first worldwide direct-to-digital original film, Meri Nimmo, in association with acclaimed director Aanand L Rai, to positive critical reception. From March 2017 to June 27, 2018, Eros Now had 33 exclusive digital premieres on the platform including Munna Michael, Mukkabaaz, Baar Baar Dekho, Sarkar 3, amongst others. We also launched a short film named Toffee which was directed by Tahira Kashyap and 25 August, directed by Gautam Parvi, starring Rajat Kapoor, Arjun Mathur, Sayani Gupta, Gauri Balaji,” informs Rishika.

Over the next year, Eros Now is planning to launch a slate of over 50 premieres planed for FY ‘19 over Eros Now which will comprise feature films, made-for-digital original films and original episodic programs, all of which will be available exclusively on Eros Now to its paying subscribers.

“Three original series – Flip, Smoke and Side Hero, will be launched at the end of September 2018. We have built an inhouse team of writers and are using advance technologies that offer a worldclass consumer experience, along with exclusive and compelling content. We plan to launch high quality and versatile content; all our originals are given treatment like of a film. Our cinematic DNA of producing content to scale will continue to reflect in our original web series as well. This is going to a very exciting year, wait and watch,” says Rishika.

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She believes that the millennial audience is drastically underserved, and more so the youth across Tier 2, 3 markets in the country which have limited to no exposure to qualitative entertainment that is relevant to them.

“On a side note our larger strategy is to stay at the top of the funnel with our peak programming and ensure we drive more reach and time spent. We will identify and develop that content consistency leading to a creating that viewer habit,” she says.

At a time when viewer attention span is diminishing and audiences are spoilt for choice, Eros Now makes it a point to analyse market trends regularly.

“We compile a lot of data, to test the potential of our content and how other shows are performing. Data is an intrinsic part of the decision making and we feed the meta (data) of our existing content and learn from viewership and time spent on our existing programming across our product. What we can do better, what our competitors have done well- we are constantly reviewing all of it. Our slate will release very soon, so that’s another process yet to begin,” the Eros Now CEO says.

Binge watching is highly beneficial to streaming platforms as it showcases significant affinity to the programming and highest time spent per user. But the challenge for OTT services is to deliver hit after hit to then deliver that kind of time spent.

“Eros Now is well positioned here with the large and popular movies being able to drive more organic viewer base to the platform than any other content type and our Originals and Originals Episodic Content being able to deliver that content consistency,” says Rishika.

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ADDING COLOUR TO CONTENT Great content is a result of skilled writing, direction and production. We believe in bringing stories that stay with our viewers for a longer time, says Ridhima Lulla, Chief Content Officer, Eros International writing, direction and production. We believe in bringing stories that stay with our viewers for a longer time.

Our content brings a dynamic blend of stories by some of the most celebrated writers as well as upcoming talent in the industry. Our recently announced joint-venture with veteran writer V Vijayendra Prasad is a step forward in collaborating with writers who are known for their stories and characters.

Under this JV, we will jointly develop scripts, greenlight projects, produce & distribute films and web-series across Hindi, Telugu and Tamil languages.

Ridhima Lulla, Chief Content Officer, Eros International As Chief Content Officer of Eros Group, how do you see the changing patterns of content consumption in India?

It is a great time for content currently in India. The ecosystem and the way we consume content is evolving. From 3-hour long films to 5-mins short snackable content, the co-existence of all formats is a reflection of the varied demands of the viewers. The platforms and genres have expanded as well as the audience base.

More and more people are joining the digital wave to experience entertainment at their convenience. We, at Eros, believe in catering to this ever-changing pulse and by bringing the best of content to as many people as possible.

We have various forms of content for consumption – theatres, TV, web-series, shorts for mobile, documentaries.

Eros has been working with writers in recent years. Elaborate?

Great content is a result of skilled

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pickle entertainment biz guide

Adaptation from best sellers are a current trend. Is Eros working on bringing books to screens?

Mythology, as a genre, is immensely popular in India. We have acquired the rights to adapt Indian author Ashwin Sanghi’s best-selling anthropological thriller ‘The Krishna Key’. We are looking at exploring theatrical as well as web originals with the written material, considering that there is a huge appetite for such content in both the formats.

How do you see the potential for Indian films in China?

The audience in China is extremely receptive of Indian film content. Even though there are limitations in the number of foreign films being released, lately Indian films have performed exceptionally well. Of course, content is the key when you want to familiarise international audience with Indian films. This is one of the reasons why our film Bajrangi Bhaijaan worked well with the audience in China as the story has a universal connect. Also, we are collaborating with Kabir Khan once again for a travel drama with the working title - The Zookeeper, this would be the first of many films releasing from our portfolio.

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INDIA’S TOP OT

Indian OTT players are heavily investing in programmes in Hindi and regional language a CAGR of 22.6 per cent, is poised to enter the some of the leading players in alphabetical or

ALT Balaji is a subscription based Video on demand platform which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Ltd. Launched on 16 April 2017, ALTBalaji is the Group’s foray into the digital entertainment to create original, premium, and tailor-made content especially for Indians across the globe. It is available across 32 different interfaces for its viewers.

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Amazon’s Prime Video is bullish on original Hindi shows, stand up comedies and a library of films in Bollywood and regional languages.

In recent times, Prime Video has broadened its film catalogue in Tamil and Telugu. It has rolled out a monthly subscription plan of Rs 129 for Prime Video access in India. The e-commerce retail giant has added prime music to its subscription service.

pickle entertainment biz guide

Eros Now is Eros International’s on-demand Bollywood and regional language entertainment network launched in August 2004. Eros Now has the largest market share of premium Indian OTT film content with over 70% of market share with digital rights to over 11,000 films, of which approximately 5,000 are owned in perpetuity. Over the next year, it is planning to launch a slate of over 50 premieres planed for 2018-19.

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The streaming platform, owned

by Twenty-First Century Fox’s Star India arm, launched on February 6, 2015 became highly popular in India with HBO’s hit show Game of Thrones and live streaming T20 IPL cricket matches.

Ads currently form part of major revenue, and Hotstar premium services are priced Rs 999 annually. It attracts 150 million monthly users.

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TT PLATFORMS

creating and distributing original es. India’s OTT video segment, growing at e top 10 largest markets by 2022. Here are rder

Global streaming giant Netflix plans to spend $8 billion on content worldwide in 2018. Netflix’s Sacred Games in India is already a game changer and now betting heavily on India’s growing OTT market. Its upcoming thriller Bard of Blood with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment is biggest buzz today. Netflix is offering free subscription with telcos to woo Indian streamers.

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SonyLIV is the first premium Video on demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) providing multi-screen engagement for users on all devices. Launched in January 2013, it enables users to discover 22 years of rich content from the network channels of Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd. It also provides a rich array of movies, and a strong lineup of events across all sports, shows, music, product reviews.

Voot is a video ondemand platform, part of Viacom 18 Digital Ventures, the digital arm of Viacom 18 - one of the India’s largest growing media networks. With over 35,000 hours of exciting content for audiences with varying choices and preferences, covering Colors (Hindi), MTV, Nickelodeon, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Colors Kannada, Colors Marathi, Colors Bangla, Colors Super and Colors Gujarati.

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Armed with a large library catalogue of Hindi and regional content across 12 languages available with Zee network of channels, Zee5 plans to launch 90 originals in next 18 months. Zee5 offers an exhaustive array of content; with 90+ live TV channels and 1.25 lac+ hours of viewing across the languages of English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati & Punjabi making it a complete video destination for OTT viewers.

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INDIE FILMS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN

OTT: IT’S ABOUT BREAKING BARRIERS, GAINING CONTROL The arrival of OTT has broken many barriers to the quality cinema experience and put viewers in total control of the choices they want to make.

Discrediting established theories on consumption patterns, attention spans and viewing habits, it has heralded a new era for independent film making says filmmaker, producer and industry veteran Bobby Bedi.

BOBBY BEDI Managing Director Kaleidoscope Entertainment

Bobby Bedi is a film maker and museum designer. He can be reached at bobby@kepl.in

F I have viewed more and better drama in the last two years than I have viewed in the last 20.

Never a fan of ad breaks, I never saw films on TV and my lifestyle rarely permitted me to plan a film outing unless it was really “one of those big ones”.

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or those interested in mathematics, there is a method of solving equations which involves the introduction of an external character often represented by the Greek letter Lamda. It helps solve the equation, in fact the equation cannot be solved without it. But once solved it can be removed. The solution stays. I will come back to Lamda later in this piece.

OTT is the new field for TV drama and independent film making. It has changed everything, scripts, budgets, quality of art, even the list of senior crew and actors prepared to work on the smaller formats.

The Ad break was the bane of home viewing. As an audience, we had come to believe that our pleasure and concentration was at the mercy of soap, shampoo, sweet black liquids, the list is endless. OTT removed the AD break.

The other possibly bigger bane of home viewing was the belief that while all human beings are born equal, (which is true), therefore they must consume enter-

pickle entertainment biz guide

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tainment identically, in fixed doses and at fixed times. This, even though their consumption patterns of food clothing, other necessities and luxuries was in their control their viewing pleasure was in the control of the GECs. For me, there is a third bane. I must watch my favorite film accompanied by a poison decided by the cinema. Nope! No hope of a cocktail or glass of wine.

Netflix and Amazon changed that. All theories about consumption patterns, attention spans, viewing habits et al were thrown out of the window. What was additionally thrown out was the belief that just because you are watching it at home and on a smaller screen, the quality need not match up to the expectations of the cinema experience.

And, to be honest, what is cinema experience? In India the exhibitors treat independent cinema like they treat lepers.

They give the small independents small screens and at the most inconvenient times. If you want to see an independent film it will necessarily be at the cinema’s convenience, not yours.

All that is changing. I have viewed more and better drama in the last two years than I have viewed in the last 20. Never a fan of ad breaks, I never saw films on TV and my lifestyle rarely permitted me to plan a film outing unless it was really “one of those big ones”. Today I look forward to my post dinner two (maybe three) hours of viewing across a range of content. Addictive web-series and films I couldn’t see. All accompanied by my choice of poison.

Also, what the OTTs have created is a giant online super store. The store has everything akin to a real superstore. Laid out for you specially. Popular offerings in the front, shelves full of normal fare and dead stock at the dusty back, but it is all there in case you want it and it’s there at the press of a button.

So, what does all this have to do with independent film? Is this not just enhanced TV? My belief is that it is not. Drama is drama, which is not to be confused with “Spectacle”. And the drama watching experience is not really reduced when consumed at home. “Going to the Pictures” is largely reserved for spectacle. Definitely true of India. If it has a star, if it has mythology, if it is BIG, see it in a cinema.

That’s what Indian audiences are doing.

Now back to my Lamda theory.

OTT has raised the bar for the viewer and everyone has to stretch up to it. And it has raised the bar for all viewers, so even

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While Netflix and Amazon have set the bar, they aren’t really relevant to India.

Their numbers are sub one million in a 1.3 billion population. The real play will be amongst Hotstar, Sony Liv, Zee5 and the many new entrants the ”made for screen” independents have to deliver to higher expectations. India is gearing up to delivering quality. Sacred Games is not quite “Fauda” but it well ahead of anything that Indian TV has ever shown.

Even the so called “Spectacles” have to deliver a higher quality or writing and performance. It has changed completely the quality of writing, direction, photography and, consequently, the amount spent on production.

Now take away Lamda. Fortunately, while Netflix and Amazon have set the bar, they aren’t really relevant to India. Their numbers are sub one million in a 1.3 billion population. The real play will be amongst Hotstar, Sony Liv, Zee5 and the many new entrants. They will reinvent the product for the larger Indian audience.

Let us look at the challenges ahead. Technically we are fine. Creatively we have a bridge to cross. Indian Cinema has defined, even invented its own world. Our characters do not exist. They are larger than life.

No one behaves, speaks, looks, dresses, walks or even lives like them. They are written as “invented” characters and our actors deliver them as written.

Scripted drama is different. Writers have to write real characters and situations and actors have to perform them as written. Directors have to understand the real world. All three classes of talent have to reorient themselves, even reinvent themselves. It can be done and hopefully will be done. Sacred Games was a step in the right direction.

This is going to be a new era for independent cinema – different, no doubt, but better and at a larger scale. It will create opportunities for talent that have so far been ignored.

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India @ Toronto

FILM

BUYS FROM

INDIA OLU

IRAVAAKALAM

TUMBBAD

DIRECTOR Shaji Karun PRODUCER A. V. ANOOP CREATIVE PRODUCER Pierre ASSOULINE WHAT’S IT ABOUT “Olu” (She) is the tale of a Gypsy girl who mysteriously survives under the Kerala backwaters where she has been sunk by her rapists.

Only during full moon nights, can she see the world above water. It is on such a night that she happens to ‘meet’ Vasu, a young untalented painter, rowing his boat. Out of love, she empowers him to create paintings that will change his life.

DIRECTOR Ashwin Saravanan PRODUCER Thenandal Studios Ltd CAST S J Suryah, Wamiqa Gabbi WHAT’S IT ABOUT Directed by Ashwin Saravanan of ‘Maya’ fame, the movie stars actor-filmmaker S J Suryah in the lead. The movie has music by Ron Ethan Yohaan. GK Prasanna is taking care of the cuts. According to producer Hema Rukmani, the film will be classy and a visual treat.

DIRECTOR Rai Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad PRODUCER Eros International CAST Sohum Shah, Harish Khannaa, Anita Date WHAT’S IT ABOUT in the rural village of Tumbbad, a decaying castle hides an immeasurable ancestral fortune guarded by something ancient, sinister, and monstrous. Vinayak thinks he can control it, but how long will it be until his own greed destroys everything he’s built?

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ZERO DIRECTOR Aanand L Rai PRODUCER Gauri Khan, Aanand L Rai, Karuna Badwal CAST Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma WHAT’S IT ABOUT A romantic drama written

by Himanshu Sharma and

THUGS OF HINDOSTAN DIRECTOR Vijay Krishna Acharya PRODUCER Aditya Chopra, Yashraj Films CAST Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif WHAT’S IT ABOUT An action-adventure film based on Philip Meadows Taylor’s 1839 novel Confessions of a Thug. It is set to be released during Diwali on 7 November 2018. This is the first time when Amitabh Bachchan and Amir Khan share screen. The film tells a fictional story set between 1790 and 1805.

directed by Aanand L Rai, the film’s plot follows Khan playing a guy of short stature, who falls in love with a superstar played

by Kaif. Sharma portrays the character of a girl with intellectual disability. The film was conceived by Rai in 2012, announced in 2016, and set to be released in the Christmas week on 21 December 2018.

SARKAR

2.0 (ROBOT)

DIRECTOR A R Murugadoss PRODUCER Sun Pictures CAST Vijay, Keerthy Suresh, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar WHAT’S IT ABOUT A Tamil action thriller film, ‘Sarkar’ has music composed

by Oscar-Grammy winner A R Rahman with cinematography

by Girish Gangadharan, editing

by A Sreekar Prasad and produced by Kalanithi Maran.

The film began production in January 2018, and is scheduled to be released in November 2018, coinciding with Diwali.

DIRECTOR Shankar PRODUCER Lyca CAST Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson WHAT’S IT ABOUT A science fiction, the film serves as a spiritual successor to the 2010 Tamil film ‘Enthiran’ (‘Robot)’, and features Rajinikanth reprising the roles of Dr Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. With an estimated budget of Rs 500 crore, it is the most expensive Indian film made to date.

SYE RAA NARASIMHA REDDY DIRECTOR: Surender Reddy PRODUCER: Ram Charan Teja CAST: Chiranjeevi, Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara WHAT’S IT ABOUT: It is a trilingual period film. This is the 151st film of Chiranjeevi, and is based on the life of freedom fighter from Rayalaseema, Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy. The first teaser of the film is released on August 21, 2018.

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pickle entertainment biz guide

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THE ACCIDENTAL PRIME MINISTER DIRECTOR Vijay Ratnakar Gutte PRODUCER Bohra Bros.

CAST Anupam Kher, Akshaye Khanna, Suzanne Bernert WHAT’S IT ABOUT It is a biographical political drama film directed by Vijay

Ratnakar Gutte and written by Mayank Tewari. The film stars Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh, the economist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014 under the United Progressive Alliance. The film is based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by Sanjaya Baru.

SUI DHAAGA: MADE IN INDIA

CHEKKA CHIVANTHA VAANAM

DIRECTOR: Sharat Katariya PRODUCER: Maneesh Sharma, Aditya Chopra Yash Raj Films CAST: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma WHAT’S IT ABOUT: A film about finding love and respect through self-reliance, Sui Dhaaga - Made in India is a heart-warming story that celebrates the spirit of selfreliance. The film’s plot is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and takes a leaf out of the hugely acclaimed Make In India campaign. Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan play innocent village folk Mauji and Mamta living in heartland India dreaming to make a name for themselves.

DIRECTOR Mani Ratnam PRODUCER Madras Talkies & Lyca CAST Arvind Swamy, Vijay Sethupathi, Simbu, Jyothika WHAT’S IT ABOUT It is a crime thriller film featuring an ensemble cast. The venture is jointly produced by Mani Ratnam and Subaskaran under their banners Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, the music is composed by A R Rahman, while Santosh Sivan is the cinematographer and Sreekar Prasad is the editor.

UROJAHAJ DIRECTOR Buddhadeb Dasgupta WHAT’S IT ABOUT Urojahaj (Aeroplane), the tale of a humble car mechanic whose dream of flying puts him on a collision course with the authorities. The cast of the film, Dasgupta’s first IndoBangladeshi co-production, is led by Chandan Roy Sanyal and includes Parno Mitra and Dhaka-based actress Rokeya Prachi.

DUH (Dhh) DIRECTOR: Manish Saini PRODUCER: Amdavad Films (production company), Viacom18 Motion Pictures CAST: Naseeruddin Shah, Brijendra Kala WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Dhh is a heart warming story of three friends (Gungun, Bajrang & Vakil) and their journey towards realising their true potential.

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BHOGA KHIDIKEE DIRECTOR Jahnu Barua WHAT’S IT ABOUT Bhoga Khidikee (Broken Window) is bankrolled by Lunchbox co-producer Shahnaab Alam. The film has Seema Biswas and Zerifa Wahid in key roles.

SUPER 30

SIMMBA

KURUKSHETRA

DIRECTOR Vikas Bahl PRODUCER Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Madhu Mantena, Sajid Nadiadwala, Reliance Entertainment CAST Hrithik Roshan, Virendra Saxena, Mrunal Thakur WHAT’S IT ABOUT A biographical drama, the film is based on the life of mathematician Anand Kumar and his educational program Super 30. The film stars Hrithik Roshan as Kumar and debutant Mrunal Thakur.

Super 30 is now scheduled to release on 25 January 2019 after several delays.

DIRECTOR Rohit Shetty PRODUCER Dharma Productions & Rohit Shetty Picturez. To be distributed by Reliance Entertainment CAST Ranveer Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Sonu Sood WHAT’S IT ABOUT The film is a remake of 2015 Telugu blockbuster film Temper. Principal photography began in June, 2018. The film will release on 28 December 2018. The famous 90s song Aankh Maare Ladka Aankh Maare from the 1996 movie Tere Mere Sapne will be recreated for the film.

DIRECTOR Naganna PRODUCER Muniratna Naidu CAST Darshan, Ambareesh, V Ravichandran, Arjun WHAT’S IT ABOUT It is a Kannada-language epic historical war film, based on the poem Gadhayuddha

by Ranna, which itself is based on the Indian epic Mahabharata. The story is centred on Duryodhana. It is the most-expensive film ever made in Kannada cinema, shot in both 3D and 2D. The score and soundtrack for the film is composed by V Harikrishna whilst the cinematography is

by Jayanan Vincent.

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POWER 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL IN INDIAN MEDIA AND SHOWBIZ. WATCH OUT FOR PICKLE NOVEMBER 2018 AFM ISSUE. Pickle’s goal is to help you buy, sell and distribute content from overseas territories, find co-production partners, offshore with best of the Indian service companies and track media and entertainment business in India.

INDIA AND BEYOND 42

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ER ISSU E MIT CURTAIN RAIS CII BIG PICT URE SUM t 2013 Augus

INDIAN ENTERTAI NMENT

BIZ GUIDE OCTOB ER 2017

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INNOVATION IN MEDIA Towards $100 Billion

CONTENT BUYS FROM INDIA

Indian M&E Industryy

Viacom18 Media has completed an eventful decade in Indian M&E space.

How Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats is looking forward to surprise viewers and competitors with the ‘contentfirst’ approach

VIACOM18 MEDIA The Great Surge

BIG PICTURE SUMMIT September 13 - 14, 2013 New

Delhi

t, Best contentt

Best minds, Best talen

7 :5 7 1:17:57 21:17 2 3 21:17:57 14-08-2013

T E R TA I N INDIAN EN

GUIDE MENT BIZ 20 14 DECE MBE R 2014

ATF 2014 SING APO RE

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IIND DIIA AN N ENTERT AI

T BIZ GUIDE MAY 2016

NMENT BI Z GUIDE OCT OB ER 201 6

INDIA AT

m om g.com mag.co www.picklema

CANNES FILM MARKET 2016

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BEST INDIAN FILMS

NIUM of THIS NEW MILLEN

NTERTA INDIAN E

INMENT

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FEBR UARY 2016

India at EFM Berlin

R AR TA P RST UPE SU LS AL ETERNA h Lingaa getting on. With his nnon.

.com

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ome heenom phen ut a pph but huge cttor,, bbu aactor 12 amid hug just an ac ay on Decembeerr Rajinikanth is not rthhday irt birth rd bbi rd 33rd 63rd is 663 vement at reennss onn hhis etime achievem lifetim ure uredd for his life ready to hit the scree d, w oonnour as hhono was wa hhoo w who igod, wh demigo klee pprofillee by Pickl A expectations, the l. a al. u su s a as c casu d n a and ool inss ccool main the IFFI 2014, rema

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COLORS A Journey Of Ideas Eight years on, COLORS continues to grow fro m strength to strength tak challenge thr ing on every own in its pa helped by the incredible th that differen idea tiates the bra nd from others. An insightful ch Ra at with ajj Na ya k k, CEO, CO LORS, the flagship en tertainmen t channel of Viacom 18 Media Pv t Ltd

08-10-2016

11:23:47

16 Indian Films to Watch Out For in 2016

India’s Only Film BIZ Magazine for the World 09:3 13-02-2016

ickle reaches out to audio visual companies in over 50 countries; Targets global buyers and distributors; Film Festivals and markets; Animation production companies; Global companies looking at offshoring from India; Co-production seekers and location service providers.

Pickle business guide tracks the entertainment business in India.

P

HERALDING A NEW INDIA www.pickle.co.in

Dr S. Raghunath,

Chairperson, Centre For Corporate Governance and Citizenship Professor of Strategy IIM Bangalore

44

pickle entertainment biz guide

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THOUGHT LEADER

CHANGING M&E DIGITAL LANDSCAPE FUELLING JOB, INCOME GROWTH The changing Media and Entertainment consumption pattern has positively impacted the demand for skilled labour in the Media and Entertainment sector. The production of nicheaudience content has led to more differentiated content production causing an increase in the number of jobs and job roles, writes Media and Industry expert Dr S Raghunath

W

e are witnessing a dynamic and vibrant growth in the Indian Media and Entertainment sector. According to various survey reports, it is a $22 billion industry which is expected to cross $31 billion by 2020, with a compounded annual growth (CAGR) of 11.6 per cent. This growth is predominantly being fuelled by the digital segment with increasing consumption of content over the mobile Internet.

This is an analysis that attempts to explain how digitalization is impacting the demand for creative and technical skilled labour, the supply of such labour, and the probable changes in employment and income in Indian Media and Entertainment sector.

To begin with, let us understand what is driving changes in the demand for skilled labour in the Media and Entertainment sector. Therefore, let us first check the trend in how Media and Entertainment is being consumed in the country.

According to a recent PWC report, OTT video revenue is growing rapidly at a CAGR of 22.6% and, therefore, India will move into the top 10 in global ranking by 2022. In the past 24 months, nearly 30 OTT platforms have come alive, including

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pickle entertainment biz guide

honchos such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, ALTBalaji, Hotstar and SonyLIV. The international and regional subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) platforms is growing with over 70% of revenue in 2017 attributable substantially to subscription services.

According to the report, this trend will grow to 79.4% of total market revenue expected from SVoD by 2022.

On the other hand, mobile video advertising is the fastest-growing subsegment of India’s Internet advertising market, expected to rise at 32.8% CAGR by 2022. The number of highspeed mobile Internet connections are expected to increase by 2.2 billion globally by 2022, expanding the market for mobile content consumption at faster speeds leading to a situation where mobile will become consumers’ primary means of accessing content, making it an increasingly important focus for advertisers. Spoilt for choice, with a wide variety of content and original programming, consumers tend to access and choose whatever is of interest to them, anytime and anywhere they desire to do so. With the diversity of audience tastes, audiences are fragmenting to levels not seen before. As a result of this LIKE PICKLE IN FACEBOOK

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GIG ECONOMY

GOOD TIMES

The gig economy fuelled and sustained by digitalization has implications for both creative and technology based talent. One clear benefit is an increase in the number of jobs available to a young and aspiring workforce.

More artists, creatives in general and technology geeks, can aspire to participate in the M&E Sector leading to a situation of increasing the supply of skilled labour in the sector.

This is an analysis that attempts to explain how digitalization is impacting the demand for creative and technical skilled labour, the supply of such labour, and the probable changes in employment and income in Indian M & E sector 46

development established Media and Entertainment platforms are in competition to attract and retain audience.

Such a phenomenon is giving rise to competition among producers to create quality content. Not just quality content but also niche content. So, how does the changing Media and Entertainment consumption patterns impact the demand for skilled labour in the Media and Entertainment sector? The production of niche-audience content results in more differentiated content production, even if intended for small audiences, increasing the number of jobs or job roles. However, this content, more often than not has a shorter lifecycle, which means that it supports the gig economy. Needless to say that competition for audiences increases demand for budget intensive content, which increases the demand for wages of top technical performers who deliver superb content.

Digital content and broadband Internet access have lowered the barriers to entry into the Media and Entertainment sector. Earlier, access to audience was totally controlled by television networks and cinema screen owners. Now it is easy both for the producers and the creative and technical talent to reach audiences directly and it is possible to monetize creative and technical work. According to an IBEF report, the industry provided employment to 3.5 to 4 million in 2017. More artists, creatives in general and technology geeks, can aspire to participate in the Media and Entertainment Sector leading to a situation of increasing the supply of skilled labour in the sector.

However the new job opportunities in digital media are varied in nature . Many of these job opportunities are in low-budget productions with smaller audiences.

There is another development that is interesting for creatives and technologists. There is a spurt in work done for original programming distributed on streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix that is almost at par with the higher budget content for traditional television networks. While digital video content has been around for sometime but it is a recent development that this kind of content is being

pickle entertainment biz guide

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OTT POWER

STRATEGY TIP

Increasing competition from streaming platforms is strengthening the resolve of traditional television channels to produce and demand more original programming in order to retain viewers and subscribers.

Creatives and technology professionals can focus and specialize in helping the content players streamline their production workflows and maximize their return on investment.

produced at budget levels comparable to television channels.

Increasing competition from streaming platforms is strengthening the resolve of traditional television channels to produce and demand more original programming in order to retain viewers and subscribers. This in turn is leading to an increase in job opportunities in traditional television channels due to competition from the digital warriors such as Amazon and Netflix muscling entering the media and entertainment slugfest.

However, the impact of digital platforms on talent income is varied. New digital platforms are opening the possibility of building and distributing content library.

This is increasing aggregate earnings, as talent is now being compensated with new residuals streams. However, the competition among producers is increasingly contributing to a situation of stronger bidding and higher compensation for “star” talent as the race intensifies with the media and entertainment market becoming more crowded. Many producers will invest heavily to ride on the popularity of celebrities and to pull ahead of the pack.

While the above scenario is imminent , it might lead to a downward spiral in general for average talent income.

With more accessible talent, increased competition for jobs may translate into lower earnings for talent that is yet to garner recognition and reputation. On the one hand, as content is likely to have a shorter shelf life, the average payment per job may tend to be lower leading to a situation of a “Winner-Take-All” talent market. Talent with reputation

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pickle entertainment biz guide

for quality and delivery will be able to earn even more, while majority of skilled workforce might receive littleto- negative increases in their earnings.

Many might participate in the gig economy but few will pull ahead with top earnings.

The gig economy fuelled and sustained by digitalization has implications for both creative and technology based talent. One clear benefit is an increase in the number of jobs available to a young and aspiring workforce; another is the increase in aggregate compensation in the media and entertainment sector. For well recognised and reputed talent it might yield even greater compensation.

However, these changes might bring significant downsides for engaged talent as well. Professional talent, both creative and technical, on an individual basis might witness swings in income and compensation at large will vary from year to year, resulting from increased competition . This ultimately means that developing a reputation and a track record of performance might turn out to be the only path to maintaining and sustaining a career in the media and entertainment sector. There is an emerging opportunity for collaboration between content technology companies, budding talent demonstrating hunger for learning and producers of content who are planning to adopt shared data centric environments and end to end digital acquisition, management and distribution strategies. Creatives and technology professionals can focus and specialize in helping the content players streamline their production workflows and maximize their return on investment.

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Author Tien Tzuo gives us an interesting perspective on the future of Subscription Economy in his new book Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company’s Future— and What to Do About It.

E

ntertainment Economy. Network Economy. Broadband Economy.

Innovation Economy. Membership Economy. And now it’s Subscription Economy which has just begun to take shape, says Tien Tzuo in “Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company’s Future—and What to Do About It.” He is a co-founder and CEO of Zuora, a company that creates software for subscription businesses.

This book is already a bestseller and top on the radar of global CEOs and is catching up fast with Indian business leaders across business verticals.

“The goal of business should be to start with the wants and needs of a particular customer base, then create a service that delivers ongoing value to those customers,” writes Tzuo in the introduction. “The idea was to turn customers into subscribers in order to develop recurring revenue. I called the context for this change the Subscription Economy.”

The book is divided into two parts.

Part One explores “how subscriptions are transforming several different industries”, and Part two “dig into more tactical, operational details about how to apply the subscription model across every aspect of your company”. Tzuo

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has co-authored the book with Gabe Weisert.

“Ownership is dead. Access is the new imperative”. That’s the biggest takeaway from the book. “We’re in a pivotal moment in business history, one not seen since the Industrial Revolution,” says Tzuo, formerly with Salesforce as employee #11, who helped turn it into a billion-dollar company over ten years.

“Simply put, the world is moving from products to services. Subscriptions are exploding because billions of digital consumers are increasingly favouring access over ownership, but most companies are still built to sell products.

They’re not set up correctly for the next hundred years of business. As a result, huge opportunities are up for grabs.

If you’re not shifting to this business model now, chances are that in a few years you might not have any business left to shift”. Companies like GE and Caterpillar are reinventing themselves as solutions providers.

The media and the streaming platforms are already the subscription economy and the book delves deep into it.

Throughout the book there are fascinating case studies and anecdotes across business sectors ranging from media to manufacturing. Netflix, which

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THE NEW BUSINESS MODEL

THE RISE of

SUBSCRIPTION

ECONOMY

began streaming films in 2007, went from Zero to 100 million subscribers in a decade. Spotify added 50 million subscribers in nine years. UK-based sports company DAZN (Da Zone) hosts 8,000 sporting events a year for $20 a month across markets.

According to The Reuters Institute Digital News Report, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker all gained hundreds of thousands of new digital subscribers in 2017.

Media companies are increasingly building businesses that do not need ads for survival. NYT has more than 2.6 million paying digital subscribers in 195 countries. Financial Times has more than 900,000 subscribers (over 75 percent of their revenue coming from digital subscriptions). The Economist has a similar story.

“Making advertising a secondary— though still vital—revenue source is the most important strategic goal for most news publishers,” says Ken Doctor, who runs website Newsonomics. “Reader revenue, if backed by sufficiently high-quality content and good digital products, proves far more stable than advertising.”

This trend is catching up in India too.

India’s leading business newspaper

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Here are some of the topics covered in the book:  How the subscription model is transforming every industry on the planet, including retail, journalism, manufacturing, media, and enterprise software  The basic financial model and most important growth metrics for subscription businesses  How the subscription model changes your approach to engineering, marketing, sales, finance, and IT  The eight core growth strategies of all subscription businesses  A customer-centric operating framework for subscription businesses Economic Times has been pushing vigorously “ET Prime Membership” in recent weeks.

NYSE-listed Zuora Inc has over thousands of customers across industries including streaming media companies, publishers, newspapers, manufacturers, online learning companies, health care providers.

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SANTA MONICA CALLING

What to Look For at

AMERICAN FILM MARKET 2018 AFM by the Numbers 7000+

500+

INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

SCREENINGS

2000+

400+ DISTRIBUTORS

NEW FILMS & PROJECTS

1000+ PRODUCTION COMPANIES

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pickle entertainment biz guide

Blockchain Conference Saturday, November 3 Production Finance Opportunities: Through decentralized transactions and transparency, Blockchain can attract stakeholders, reduce production costs and empower producers. Three presentations will explore how to use Blockchain in your next production. Democratizing Distribution: Blockchain promises a frictionless ecosystem with immediate cash-flow from transactions – including peer-topeer – with direct access to global audiences, transparent royalty payments and reduced piracy risk. Three presentations will cover the breadth of Blockchain’s potential to transform independent film distribution.

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Korea CG/VFX Pitching Showcase Friday, November 2 Meet with the leading CG/VFX companies in Korea. CG/VFX accounts for a significant part in K-wave, just like K-POP, K-Drama, K-Movie. Don’t miss your chance to experience the latest technology of K-CG/VFX. Buyer Business Meetings will take place in Escondido on the 8th floor after the session.

Understanding Distribution In China Friday, November 2 With the influx of new streaming platforms, and the continued increase in the number of theaters in China, experts give insights on the distribution options in the Chinese market.

This is presented by the US China Film & TV Industry Expo.

Carousel Cocktails LocationEXPO 2018 November 3-6, 2018 AFM’s LocationEXPO will take place from November 3-6, 2018. It will provide both a face-to-face and online platform to connect Film Commissions, production facilities and services with 7000+ producers, distributors and industry professionals. LocationEXPO which was launched last year drew 61 film commissions and agencies from around the world including Chile, Spain, Norway, New Zealand, Thailand and Russia. Together the organizations presented more than US1 billion in production incentives.

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pickle entertainment biz guide

AFM hosts the world’s producers and decision makers to four networking receptions at the historic Merry-GoRound on the Santa Monica Pier. The AFM’s Carousel Cocktails provide a unique and memorable experience as participants connect and relax at the beach. Carousel Cocktails will take place Friday – Monday, November 2, 3, 4 & 5, from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

W

e are happy to present the latest issue of Pickle for the delegates at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival and sales and industry representatives. TIFF is unarguably the biggest festival and market in North America.

For India, and now increasingly to South Asia, Toronto has become a hub for discovery of talent. Toronto is a great place to be in especially young Indian filmmakers who are visibly changing the face of Indian cinema. Being discovered at Toronto opens them a new path to their cinematic techniques and excellence.

Toronto leads the global film festival outfits to bring into limelight excellence and best minds in Indian cinema.

Five Indian films will be premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Besides these, two short films from India — Circle and Field – will be premiered.

TIFF will also host the world premieres of three films with an India connect -British director Michael Winterbottom’s The Wedding Guest, Australian Anthony Maras’s first feature Hotel Mumbai (Dev Patel) and French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Love’s Maya.

Confederation of Indian Industry is taking a high level media and entertainment industry delegation to TIFF from 8-10 September 2018. Also India has a Stand at the market to promote cinemas of India, film locales and services. A breakfast session with global producers is slated for September 10.

The Indian media ecosystem is changing fast. There are few markets in the world where you could see both traditional and new media flourishing. The Over-theTop (OTT) space is gaining attraction in the Indian market with the presence of Hotstar, Voot, ErosNow, ZEE5, Sony Liv, Amazon Prime and Netflix are expanding market presence in India.

If you are have plans to visit India, schedule it around end of November to attend the 49th edition of International Film Festival of India, (IFFI) Goa. Pickle’s October print issue will focus and reach out to delegates at MIP Junior and MIPCOM -- the world’s biggest audiovisual market at Cannes, France.

Feel free to email your thoughts and suggestions.

n vidyasagar pickle media nat@pickle.co.in, www.pickle.co.in

Pickle Volume XII 1st edition Published by Pickle Media Private Limited Email: natvid@gmail.com  Mumbai  Chennai No.2, Habib Complex Dr Durgabhai Deshmukh Road RA Puram CHENNAI 600 028

Printed by Bon Graphics New #7, Arumugam Nagar, Dayalan Garden, Chinna Porur, Chennai – 600 116 Mobile: +91 9884816263 Email: bon_graphics@yahoo.co.in

Editorial Coordinators : M Sai Email: natvid@gmail.com Photo Editor: K K Laskar

For advertising: natvid@gmail.com

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Pickle Business Guide 2018 Copyright 2018 by Pickle Media Pvt Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Pickle is an ad supported business guide tracking the filmed entertainment business in India.

pickle entertainment biz guide

Layout Design: P S Antony Jeyaseeli

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