Films releasing in India within months of their international release; rights are being bought during production itself
Films releasing in India within months of their international release; rights are being bought during production itself
MUMBAI: Film connoisseurs never had it better. Not only are movie channels like HBO, Star Movies, Zee Studio, Sony Pix and MGM are airing English movies (even with subtitles), a new breed of world cinema channels are also diversifying viewing options.
World cinema titles from Europe, Middle East, South America and South Asia are making their way into the country. The Edge of Heaven, which released in select theatres in India within a few months of its premiere at international film festivals, is a recent example. 3 Monkeys - also saw a similar release in India, the second country only after the country of its origin.
Broadcasters like UTV World Movies, NDTV Lumiere are, therefore, forging distribution relationships globally, buying a slew of rights for the Saarc countries and monetising them through theatrical releases, DVD sales, advertising and subscription revenues on television broadcasts, and download to own/rent through internet.
UTV Global Broadcasting’s UTV World Movies has already been on air since February, gaining confidence among advertisers targeting elite audiences.
Executives at UTV said that over 40 of the top-end advertisers including IBM, LG and others had already been advertising on the channel and the second player in this genre - NDTV Lumiere - went on air recently.
Now Palador Pictures, one of the first entrants into the world cinema category, is also planning to launch its TV channel next year.
What is interesting to note is that Palador has already signed acquisition deals with 20 films that are in the production stages, a move, media planners say signals the coming of age of this category.
A lot of movie acquisitions at film festivals - Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Locarno, Rome, Toronto - happen due to the sweetening of relationships between these Indian broadcasters, all of whom will be at the film-markets signing deals and picking the best of the lot.
“Our aim will be to pick up contemporary films that are critically acclaimed and connect with Indian audiences. They’ll have wide commercial appeal as well and we’ll try to release them as soon as they’ve released them in their respective countries,” said Dhruvank Vaidya, senior VP, NDTV Imagine.
Eventually, the TV channels films will increase their dependency on subscription revenues. The niche genre of the channel means that it will be aimed primarily at DTH subscribers. The increasing number of players in the DTH space is only good for their growth, say media planners.
c_arcopol@dnaindia.net 
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