Eros International Plc has set up a new entity called Eyeqube Studios Pvt Ltd (ESPL) to offer visual effects (VFX) of global standards to the film industry.
Sees investment of $50m in visual effects business
MUMBAI: Eros International Plc has set up a new entity called Eyeqube Studios Pvt Ltd (ESPL) to offer visual effects (VFX) of global standards to the film industry.
Charles Darby, a pioneer in digital matte paintings, will be the creative director if ESPL.
ESPL, according to group COO and commercial director Jyoti Deshpande, was being planned for the last six months.
“It’s a wholly owned subsidiary and will focus on providing world-class VFX services to the Indian film industry,” said Deshpande.
Eros is a significant player in the $10 billion Indian media and entertainment sector has a market capitalisation of $1.2 billion. While Eros will hold the majority stake in ESPL, Darby will be responsible for running the show.
“I can’t disclose my financial interests in the new business at this stage,” said Darby. In all, Eros and Darby have invested close to $7 million in the new venture which will house close to 300 VFX artists in Andheri.
The domain heads and specialists have already been hired and the company is expected to kick-start the recruitment process online and through referrals.
“What we are trying to do in India is leverage on our past experience and offer a pool of domain specialists with the ability to execute big scale VFX-driven films to be made by Indian filmmakers for a global audience,” said Darby.
Eyeqube will handle visual effects for all of Eros’ productions and co-productions.
In fact, work has already commenced on two of their projects — Aladin and Drona — and negotiations are currently on for several other films. Both projects have a budget of $10 million each, of which 40-50% will be utilised for visual effects,
“Being a specialist service provider for the film industry, we are targeting not more than 3-4 projects annually. These would be Indian projects, Eros’ co-productions and international projects. In fact, from the 40-odd projects that we will do annually, 10-12 will be co-productions,” said Deshpande.
In the coming years, Eros International envisages an overall investment of close to $50 million towards visual effects in their productions.
Established in 1977, the London-listed Eros International operates on a ‘studio’ model by producing and distributing films globally.
A studio model works around the concept of simultaneously producing and distributing entertainment content.
The company operates in over 50 countries with offices in India, the UK, the US, Dubai, Australia, Fiji and Isle of Man.
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