Adlabs awarded FACT's anti-piracy certification

I am very chuffed to announce that Adlabs has been awarded certification by UK's Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). This makes us not just the only film services company in India receive this recognition, but the the first one in all of Asia. This demonstrates our absolute seriousness about protecting our clients films and that we do not benchmark ourselves against India but against the best in the world. The certificate was only awarded after a rigorous on-site two day inspection, audit and a series of interviews by a FACT officer who flew in from London especially for this purpose.

Bollywood or Hollywood, the same high standards of security and quality are what I push for in digital cinema and my colleagues at Adlabs insist on for DI and for the print lab. From The Hollywood Reporter:

NEW DELHI -- Adlabs Films, India's largest film processing facility, said Monday that it is the first such facility in Asia to be certified by U.K.-based industry body Federation Against Copyright Theft.

A large number of film service companies in the U.K. and Europe are now accredited by FACT, making it easier for studios and filmmakers to know they are dealing with a secure facility.

The Adlabs deal marks the first time in FACT's 25-year history that a company has been accredited outside the U.K. or Europe.

The certification applies to Adlabs' film processing and print lab, digital lab and digital cinema mastering facility along with Adlabs' preview theater, all housed within its Film City premises in Mumbai.

More details on the international implicatins of this deal from Indiantelevision.com:

Adlabs Films, the entertainment arm of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is stepping up to tap the international film processing markets, specifically the US, UK and Europe.

Already one of the biggest end-to-end digital post-production services provider in India, Adlabs feels there is potential to have a strong outsourcing model for Hollywood studios due to a low-cost advantage.

As a first step towards achieving this ambition, Adlabs has got "International Anti-Piracy Certification" by the UK body - FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft). With the accreditation in place, Adlabs is hopeful of getting the foreign projects outsourced to its Film City premises in Mumbai.

"In the US, UK and other European countries, studios do not outsource processing because of piracy. Now after getting a certificate from an international body like FACT, studios and film-makers will know that they are dealing with a secure facility and we will be able to market ourselves better," Adlabs motion picture processing and allied services president Shankar Dutta tells Indiantelevision.com.

Already one Hollywood studio is doing its release prints in India with us and we are in discussions with others for print, DI and digital cinema work. You can now find us under the list of accredited members (screen shot above from sub-section of accredited digital cinema members).

And as the press release says, this is not the end but the tart of our efforts to ensure and demonstrate our commitment to copyright protection. Watch this space for more developments and announcements in the future.