In praise of Bond - and Lowry Digital

I have not bothered to update you about the ins-and-outs of the Ambani-Speielberg-DreamWorks-Paramount deal because there is enough written about it everywhere else anyway. Instead I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the good work done by our colleagues as Lowry Digital ahead of the latest James Bond release. "Quantum-what," are you saying? No, no, this is Blu-Ray release of the Bond film that launched the franchise, Dr. No.

Lowry Digital did the restoration of the Bond series four years ago and amazingly it is the same restoration that is being used for the BD release as was used for the DVD. The release was reviewed by Robert Harris, one of the hardest task masters when it comes to digital restoration (a much abused term if there ever was one) and rightly so, as he was in charge of the restoration of Lawrence of Arabia and Vertigo.

So when you submit a four year old restoration meant for DVD, it is a bit like submittng a freshman essay as your PhD thesis to the toughest professor in college. What does Mr Harris have to say on "A few words about...™ Dr. No - in Blu-ray":

M-G-M and Eon made a prudent move in permitting Lowry Digital to scan, digitize, and work their magic on the elements. A featurette produced several years ago describes the work performed as restoration, and while I'm not certain whether the actual work performed was restoration or digital cleanup, the final result on Blu-ray is nothing less than spectacular.
...
The correct post facility, using the correct (here Lowry's proprietary) techniques, can make a huge difference in the viewing pleasure of films from the last half of the twentieth century.
...
Dr. No, via the wizards at Lowry Digital, looks far better than it has any right to look. The overall viewing experience is superb. The disc arrives at a street price with a full list of extras of around $23.

The question that I raised earlier, as to whether this film is truly "restored" in the full sense of the word really doesn't come into play here. The single overriding fact is that the Blu-ray is as perfect as it can be.

High praise indeed from a man who really knows his trade and who has slammed many a lesser efforts of 'digital restoration'. Big congratulations to John and his team and I am looking forwards to getting my hands on a copy to see it for myself.

Adabs/Reliance - first to distribute films by fiber optic cable commercially

Distribution of digital cinema films to multiplexes by fibre optic cable has long been the (pipe) dream of the movie industry. Qwest and Fox tested it in 2000. Japan's NTT West tested it in 4K with WB, Paramount and Sony in 005-2006. But as of May this year, Adlabs together with Reliance Communication are doing it on a weekly commercial basis - week in, week out. From Indiantelevision.com:

Adlabs Digital Cinema adds that it has also established a world first by becoming the first and only operator in the world to-date to commercially distribute digital cinema films over the optic fiber cable (OFC). Using the network of Reliance Communications, over 2000 digital cinema shows to-date have come from digital copies delivered via OFC on a weekly commercial basis.

Films are encoded at Adlabs Digital Cinema Mastering Facility at Film City in Mumbai and sent over a 200Mbps connection to its Content Distribution and Logistics (CDL) Hub at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai, from where they are sent further via dedicated 100Mbps OFC to cinemas as far as Ahmedabad. OFC allows for transportation of digital cinema films that is faster, more reliable and more secure than any other form of delivery.

With Reliance Communication having laid down 80,000 kilometers of fiber all across India, we could not have asked for a better partner (and it helps having the same parent company in Reliance ADAG), though the 'last mile' to the multiplex we've had to install.

So forget hard drives or satellite. If you want to see the future of film distribution, book a ticket to Mumbai and come and visit us. We will treat you to a nice meal as well.

UPDATE: This news was covered by both Variety and THR.com.

Spielberg-Reliance deal signed - Paramount reaction is very gracefull

So at last the deal has been signed. Spielberg is officially exiting Paramount and setting up DreamWorks SKG as an independent entity with the backing of Anil Ambani's Reliance ADA Group. THR.com broke the news:

Steven Spielberg has finalized a deal to secure at least $500 million in funding from Mumbai-based Reliance Big Entertainment.

In a related transaction, JPMorgan Securities will lead a bank loan syndication giving Spielberg another $500 million or more for a total $1 billion-plus to re-create DreamWorks as a private company, allowing it to sever its current ties with Paramount. Documents were finalized Friday after representatives of the various parties reached a handshake agreement on deal terms Thursday night.

The pleasant surprise was how gracious Paramount was about Spielberg's exit:

In a surprise move, Paramount issued a statement saying that the departing DreamWorks principals were also free to take their employees with them. While the DreamWorks brass had exit clauses in their current contracts, they needed permission to bring other execs or staff along to a reconstituted DreamWorks.

"To facilitate a timely and smooth transition, Paramount has waived certain provisions from the original deal to clear the way for the DreamWorks principals and their employees to join their new company without delay," the studio said.

Spielberg, DreamWorks partner David Geffen and CEO Stacey Snider are expected to quickly tender their resignations from Paramount. A DreamWorks spokesman declined comment on the developments.

Paramount even issued a letter wishing the exiting team well. The studio has had time to prepare for this departure and plan its reaction. It may also be angling for a future distribution pact with the new DreamWorks. But I would like to believe that the good people at Paramount are sincere. However, others are already busy wooing Spielberg to distribute through them:

Next comes a distribution deal, which is why GE's Jeffrey Immelt and Universal's Ron Meyer were dining with Spielberg and Snider last Thursday and why NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker spent the better part of that afternoon with Steven planning out the rebuild of the fire-ravaged Uni backlot. Given how Spielberg sees Universal as his professional home (he never moved his offices even after Paramount bought DreamWorks), I've always assumed he'd land there. Now, with Immelt and Zucker paying homage, it looks like another done deal no matter how much Geffen would dearly love to play one studio off of the other and mastermind a bidding war for Spielberg/Snider. And David himself? He keeps telling everyone that all he wants is to say goodbye to the movie biz.

The effectively reveres acquisition of DremWorks in 2005 - which infused new talent and vigor into the seemingly moribund Paramount - was what the studio needed and it is under Brad Gray's leadership much stronger as a result today. So much so that they can afford to see Spielberg leave.

Now the interesting thing will be to see what the Reliance and JP Morgan-backed DreamWorks does. Just don't expect Spielberg to start shooting a masala film with SRK next.

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.

Middle East woes Hollywood with financing

Now the petro-dollars are flowing back to the US, with Middle Eastern states taking an interest in Hollywood. It seems like $1bn is the minimum starting sum these days. The government owned Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) will spend that amount on making movies and theme parks in partnership with the likes of Warner Bros. From THR.com:

ADM unit Imagenation Abu Dhabi aims to partner on international film projects and invest in regional talent to create Arabic- and mixed-language content with crossover appeal.

The deal adds to ADM's growing global portfolio, which includes a previously announced film and video deal with Warner Bros. as well as plans for theme park and movie theater projects. ADM's first film under its Warner deal -- the Robert Rodriguez-helmed "Shorts" -- recently went into postproduction.

Based in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, Imagenation will assume oversight of the Warners deal, launched last year with twin $500 million funds covering film and video productions. The latest ADM funding is expected to cover 40 projects toting budgets of up to $50 million.

I am now waiting for one of the two US presidential candidates to take a swipe at Hollywood's dependence of foreign oil financing for its all-American entertainment.

Meanwhile the wait for the announcement about the signing of the Ambani-Spielberg/Reliance ADAG-DreamWorks deal continues. It is imminent, I am reliably told.

Who lost Spielberg, UTV cracks US Top 20 and Snoop goes Bollywood

An assortment of news with an Indian flavour in the last few days.

It is talked about as if the ink is dry on the paper, but this article from the New York Times gives a bit more context to the Ambani-Spielberg/Reliance-Dreamworks deal under negotiation, particularly the financial climate in which an Indian conglomerate trumped Hollywood studios and traditional investment banks to the world's most commercially successful director:

But there was still an element of shock [following the announcement of the Reliance negotiations]: Hollywood could not come up with a rich enough deal for Mr. Spielberg, the most bankable director in the business and a “national treasure”? His last movie alone, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” has sold $743 million in tickets and is still playing in theaters around the world.

For that matter, there wasn’t anybody on Wall Street willing to write a blank check for the guy with “Jaws” and “Jurassic Park” on his résumé?

The pending deal with Reliance underscores some realities about Mr. Spielberg — mainly that he has become so expensive that few public companies can afford him. Mr. Spielberg’s standard deal, on par with other blue-chip talent, is 20 percent of a movie’s gross from the first ticket sold, although he agreed to a somewhat less aggressive paycheck on the latest “Indiana Jones” installment to offset its high budget.

And:

Hollywood’s seeming inability to close a deal with Mr. Spielberg highlights the shift toward a more corporate, buttoned-down movie business. Just a few years ago, bragging rights often drove business decisions. Steven Spielberg is available? Back up the money truck. We want that jewel in our crown no matter what the cost. And studio bosses could justify such ego-driven loss leaders: In the entertainment business, talent draws talent.

And:

As for Wall Street, the firm belief in Hollywood is that the arrival of Reliance marks the end of the private equity and hedge fund boom that has propped up the industry. With the capital markets in turmoil, terms have tightened substantially for movie deals. Investors are demanding faster payback schedules, better guarantees and even a say in how movies are made and marketed.

So out with the Germans and in with the Indians, confirming once again that Hollywood is colour blind when it comes to foreign investment, as long as it is dollar-green.

Elsewhere follow Indian company UTV has just cracked the Top 20 US distributors list on the strength of several Bollywood hits. From THR.com:

UTV Motion Pictures said Monday that it earned $5.48 million from ticket sales in North America in the first half of the year, becoming the first foreign-language distributor to rise into the ranks of the top 20 distributors in the territory. North America's growing South Asian population flocked to see such UTV releases as the historical epic "Jodhaa Akbar," which earned $3.44 million in ticket sales; action-thriller "Race," which earned $1.37 million; and recent musical release "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na," which has earned $539,857 so far.

Not bad, but I am sure that the likes of UTV and Eros can and will climb even higher than this, possibly all the way up to the Top 10.

An unlikely convert to all things Bollywood is bad dog rapper Snoop Doggy Dog. But soon he will be seen duetting on the big screen with Bollywood's comedy star du jour Akshay Kumar. Sayz the Snoopster himself in IHT.com:

"I really dig how much music is infused with the movies" in Bollywood, Snoop Dogg said in an e-mailed response to questions. "Lots of hip-hop tracks sample Indian music, and a lot of their music sounds like it was influenced by hip-hop," he said. "We're putting together something real big" in India, that will include collaborations, live shows and "more movies with some of my Bollywood homies."

"I'm coming to take over Bollywood," Snoop Dogg promised during the video shoot. "I've never been able to come over there and do shows for you all, but now I'm going to come and do shows," he said in a clip that the video's promoters put on YouTube. "This is just the beginning."

I for one can't wait.

Getting digital wrong in Mumbai from a distance

Never let facts get in the way of a good story, or better, of a daring piece of analysis. That is the only conclusion I can draw from the following breathless pronouncement by my colleague Nick Dagger over at Digital Cinema Report:

July 15, 2008 | Issue #131

A recent press release from Digital Projection International highlighted the news that the company is supplying the projectors for all of the 1,000 digital screens in UFO Moviez’s digital cinema network in Mumbai, India. While that is admittedly a significant announcement for DPI, I think it represents an even more significant development for the global digital cinema marketplace. My reasoning? The projectors are all 720P HD, which means that – for now, and by choice – the largest digital theatre chain in the largest city in the world will not be showing first run Hollywood movies digitally.

Interesting if it was true, but it is not. Simple research would have thrown up two glaring errors in this claim. The first is that Mumbai is the largest city on earth. It is not. From Wikipedia:

It is not the biggest, it just feels like the most crowded.

Secondly, there are not 1,000 UFO screens using DPI projectors in Mumbai. There aren't even 1,000 digital screens by any and all operators combined. In fact, there aren't 1,000 cinema screens in Mumbai full stop.

A quick visit to UFO Moviez's website would have confirmed it, as they helpfully provide a list of all their screens everywhere in India by state:


According to this list Maharastra (the state in which Mumbai is located) had a total of 257 screens installed. Of these I counted 46 screens in Mumbai (if we include Navi Mumbai). So well short of the 1,000 claimed.

You do not need to live in Mumbai to know this - an Internet connection and a healthy dose of skepticism about outlandish digital claims is all that is required. But he is right that UFO will not be showing Hollywood films on the e-cinema screens. However, a little bird tells me that they have a surprise in store.

Bollywood's BO takings slump in 1st half of 2008

Half way through the box office year in Bollywood the industry is feeling distinctly glum at the lack of a significant number of hits so far. Just three to four films have genuinely done gang buster business, if THR.com is the be believed:

Bollywood lost about $37.5 million in the first half of 2008, as most films released here sold fewer tickets than expected, a leading business daily reported here Monday.

A survey published by the Economic Times of India also showed ticket receipts of only $75 million for the 47 Hindi-language films released from January through June, well below industry expectations.

Bollywood, the most famous segment of India's vast movie industry, does not have an independent source for boxoffice data.

"It's been a bad year (in that) major films have just tanked," film critic and industry analyst Rajeev Masand told The Hollywood Reporter.

The few successes in the first half of the year included UTV's historical epic "Jodhaa Akbar," which collected $30 million worldwide on the way to recovering its $10 million budget; the action-packed "Race" from the Abbas-Mastan directing duo; and "Jannat" (Heaven), Kunal Deshmukh's look at illegal betting in cricket.

The second half of the year got off to a so-so start, with the Aamir Khan Productions/PVR film Jaane Tu... doing well, while the Adlabs-backed Love Story 2050 did less well.

Unlike Hollywood, which has a box office summer stretching from May until Labour Day, the Indian box office summer is usually in May before the monsoon, though the IPL cricket stole away the viewers this year and will have a dampening effect next year. Hopes are instead high for Diwali and the releases tied to the other Indian national and religious holidays.

Despite this the investment in Indian films continues to grow, Hollywood studios are stepping up their local productions, more and more multiplexes are being opened and the expectations are for the industry as a whole to continue growing.

Interestingly websites that host pirated Bollywood content that is downloaded by NRIs (non-resident Indians) in UK, US and even Finland (!) are doing terrific business according to this article. For Bollywood, digital cinema and legit digital overseas distribution cannot come soon enough to help fill the coffers.

Reliance-Spielberg discussions "going well"

I have just returned to Mumbai - which is looking particularly lush and green after several weeks of rain - now that I have secured a permanent work visa. Lots of things have been going on while I attended SAWA and Cinema Expo, but over in the States the discussions to enable Spielberg to set up DreamWorks as a stand-alone studio with Reliance ADAG's support are apparently going well. From THR.com, which leads both the international and domestic daily with the news:

Representatives of Steven Spielberg and the Indian conglomerate Reliance continue to talk daily about terms of a $1.5 billion proposal to fund a privately owned DreamWorks that would produce more than 30 films over the next five years.

Reliance executives are expected to hold sit-down talks with Spielberg reps soon in New York or Los Angeles, though things are going so well they might hold off flying in until a meeting to close the deal later this summer. The business plan being discussed would see Spielberg and top DreamWorks execs create a new company financed with about $550 million in equity funding by Reliance, a senior debt facility and possible additional equity from whichever studio is chosen as a theatrical distributor.

"Things are going well, and God willing we'll get there," said Schuyler Moore, a Strook & Strook & Lavan attorney representing Reliance in the DreamWorks talks.

God willing, indeed. Who knows, perhaps Mr Spielberg will even be persuaded to come out to India at some point, though as you can see from the article above the deal would be signed in Hollywood.

Reliance partners Bollywood's Top Film Family

In India there is no greater or more popular actor than Amitabh Bachan (know simly as Big B) and he heads a family that includes his successful-in-his-own-right son Abhishek and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai (Miss Universe 1994), as well as wife Jaya. We learn today that Reliance BIG Entertainment has struck a major deal with them. From THR.com:

Reliance Big Entertainment, the film arm of the Indian conglomerate courting Steven Spielberg and other top Hollywood names, strengthened its Bollywood roots Wednesday by forming a pact with India's "first family" of filmmaking. RBE, a division of Reliance ADA, will launch a production entity with Amitabh Bachchan and his family of actors to produce films and television content, president Rajesh Sawhney saidtold The Hollywood Reporter. "If we want to engage globally, we have to engage with Hollywood. And that means engaging with talent," Sawhney said.

And

The new unnamed RBE-Bachchan entity will see RBE handle finance, marketing, distribution and other management issues while "the Bachchans will focus on creative aspects," Sawhney said. Without providing investment figures, he termed the agreement "long-term and open-ended." The Times of India speculated that the deal could be worth about $300 million, but Sawhney dismissed the figure as "baseless," adding that the investments "really depend on the nature of projects, which are still to be finalized."

So it is Big B meets BIG Entertainment. Quite the suitable match really. Big B writes about it on his own blog:

Because of the announcement of the Reliance Entertainment and our tie up, there was media bombardment from all sections. The phone was filled with queries and requests for answers and talk ins and bites from the electronic community. They are all friends and i consider it common courtesy to respond to them even if I am completely unable to comply with their requests.

Though for all things Bachan, log on to TheBachans.com

Being back in London briefly after Cinema Expo, I was amazed by how many people had read about the Reliance-Spielberg-DreamWorks discussions. It really has put India and Reliance on the world map.

Future of cinema advertising in Cannes

For the fourth year in a row I had the fun and pleasure of moderating the SAWA (Screen Advertising World Association) seminar at the Cannel Lions Festival on advertising, this year called 'Cinema - the Medium where all ideal look big.'

This year we looked at interactive advertising, courtesy of the interactive 'human joystick' game created by Brand Experience Lab. We also looked at 3D advertising in cinemas, including Red Bull from UK and Superbock and Vodafone from Portugal.

All-in-all 470 people attended the session and we had to turn away some 150 unhappy late comers. Once again it was the single most well attended event of the Cannes Lions.



As an extra personal thrill for me the most prestigious award that evening went to an Indian agency in the Direct Marketing category:

The Direct Lions Grand Prix was awarded to JWT India, Mumbai, for the Times of India Newspaper entry 'Lead India'. Seven gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze trophies were given from a total of 1697 entries of which 183 were shortlisted.

We celebrated well into the evening, but still made it up for the meeting of the SAWA Digital Sub Committee (DSC) the following morning to tackle the many challenges digital screen advertising faces in being part of the DCI future.

Trades' view of Ambani-Spielberg / Reliance-Dreamworks

The trades follow the scoop by WSJ that there are serious discussions underway for Anil Ambani's Reliance BIG Entertainment financing Steven Spileberg's break-away of Dreamworks from Paramount. THR.com notes:

Indian business group Reliance is considering a plan to invest $550 million in return for a 50% stake in a new version of DreamWorks, which Steven Spielberg would create after exiting his deal with Paramount.

The Mumbai-based conglomerate was approached as a potential DreamWorks investor by CAA and likely will take at least two more weeks to mull the proposition. Hired by DreamWorks chairman David Geffen, entertainment attorney Skip Brittenham has created a detailed business plan that would give Reliance a key role in the new DreamWorks but grant Spielberg extensive creative control of the reinvented studio.

Details including $500 million or so in accompanying bank debt could take the rest of the summer to sort out, and even the issue of ownership control remains fuzzy. Spielberg has been on the hunt for equity and other financing for several weeks or more. The interest from Reliance was first reported on the Wall Street Journal's Web site.

It is no small irony that the same issue of THR has an article called 'Global media gains will be built by BRIC', which observes that 'Growth in the roaring economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China -- the so-called BRIC nations -- will outpace the more mature markets of the U.S. and Western Europe, with PwC forecasting 13.6% average annual growth in BRIC compared with just 4.8% annual growth in the U.S. media industry and 5.4% in Western Europe.' It is just that the PWC report had not anticipated one of the Indian growth engines to set up a virtual studio in Hollywood.

Meanwhile Variety goes into more detail about the implications of this possible deal:

The emergence of Reliance as DreamWorks' principal new financier marks the latest and most dramatic example of talent -- and their agents -- aligning with outsiders and using other people's money.

Beyond emerging as DreamWorks' principal new financier, the Indian company closed development deals with seven Hollywood heavyweights.

At Cannes last month, Reliance trumpeted deals with seven production companies headed by high-profile thesps (Daily Variety, May 19) and this week pacted to pay each company at least $1.2 million-$2 million to develop projects.

More than one option

• (Co) Daily Variety
  Filmography, Year, Role
• (Co) Daily Variety

And

Reliance's deals with Cage, Carrey, Clooney, Columbus, Hanks, Pitt and Roach will potentially give that talent the opportunity to fashion a finished script that can be shopped to studios along with 50% of the film's financing. That will allow the talent to make the most favorable deal possible, because if a studio doesn't want to pay a star or director's usual gross deal, the package can be shopped to another studio.

While CAA is steering Reliance at a deliberately measured pace, the Indian conglom likely sees the arrangement as getting its foot in the door. Reliance may well finance the films itself and make a distribution deal with a studio.

A very exciting time to be working in India, that's for sure.

Is Anil Ambani the new backer of Spielberg?

Could Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks turn out to be the trump cards in the Ambani/Reliance/Adlabs ambition to expand in Hollywood? It would seem so, based on this report by Bloomberg and WSJ:

June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Steven Spielberg and Indian billionaire Anil Ambani are close to forming a venture that may help the movie director's DreamWorks SKG team exit from Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group will invest as much as $600 million in the studio, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. The venture may borrow another $500 million to finance about six films a year, the Journal said. Reliance and Viacom declined to comment and spokesmen at DreamWorks were unavailable.

As of now it is still only a rumour, though an interesting one.

First photo from our Mastering Theatre

This 3D article makes me sound sooo gay

While I am busy preparing the 2K Keynote for this weeks Cinema India Expo, digital 3D intrudes in the form of AccessIT's latest announcement and an article that quotes me about the prospects of 3D for India's digital cinema. AccessIT first.

Almost a year ago at IBC I met with representatives of International Datacasting Corp. and Sensio, showcasing a product for Live 3D, whose USP was that it could be sent down a single HDTV channel. I knew that they had a winner on their hands, so it is no surprise that their technology will be implemented by AccessIT in their digital cinema network. from the press release:

Access Integrated Technologies, Inc. ("AccessIT") (NASDAQ:AIXD) announced today, its plans for the installation of 150 of its leading edge CineLiveSM product in key markets throughout the United States. The technology, which enables the live broadcast to movie theatres of both 2-D and 3-D events such as sports and concerts, will be added to those theaters that are part of AccessIT’s satellite network, all of which are part of the company’s completed 3700 plus screen Phase 1 digital cinema deployment plan. Installations of CineLive will begin immediately in 50 sites and are anticipated to expand to at least 150 by the end of 2008.

The releases will be handled by AIX's alternative content division the Bigger Picture. Carolyn Giardina's take in THR.com is that, "The move underscores a growing interest in this alternative content possibility," and that , "Deployment is set to begin immediately on the first 50 CineLive systems, which will include installation in key markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Access IT expects to have at least 150 in place by year's end."

The news brought a smidgen of cheer to AIX's share price, which came dangerously close to touching $2.00 last week, before climbing up to $2.37 in current trading.

Meanwhile 3D fever is spreading to India as well, ahead of talks about it in this week's Cinema India Expo 2008, where I will be presenting a Keynote on 2K Digital Cinema in India. DNA ran a story headlined 'Cricket cheerleaders in 3D? Possible…' that actually pre-empted the AIX announcement. (For those who wonder what 'Cricket cheerleaders' look like, they are American Football cheerleaders flown in for the IPL tournament):

Multiplexes are gearing up for their next leg of digitisation that may see 5,000 3D digital projections being installed by 2009. This means by next year, live-action screenings in multiplexes like IPL matches will promise an altogether new experience for viewers — by taking them as close to the action as is virtually possible.

This will also mean that those live-actions screenings that are hugely popular overseas, such as the U2 Live Latin American concert, may now also enter Indian multiplexes.

Currently, there's only one theatre in the country — Satyam Cinemas in Chennai — that has a 3D cinema or stereoscopic digital cinema projection in place. But by next year, most premier digital cinema chains like Adlabs and PVR will have 3D digital projections installed. Both the companies are currently in talks with digital cinema infrastructure providers like Real Image Technologies for 3D cinema systems.

I got interviewed for the article and got quoted towards the end about the prospects for 3D film productions in India:

No major 3D productions have been announced from India yet. However, Patrick von Sychowski, COO, Adlabs Digital Cinemas, says within the next 1-2 years "there should be some announcements on that front."

When asked if Reliance Big Entertainment has any plans to produce 3D feature films, Sychowski said, "Reliance has been the front-runner in a number of initiatives, so you never know."

Adlabs is part of Reliance ADAG, which acquired Hollywood-based DTS Digital Images, a company that industry observers say will help Reliance Big Entertainment supply technology solutions to the rapidly growing 3D content market.

Then comes the bit where the writer took some creative freedoms in interpreting my comments:

Sychowski said live action 3D films were "about a year or two" away for India and digital animation possibilities in 3D, seem more likely to be exploited. "Shooting in 3D requires two cameras held in close proximity, therefore making it more difficult to shoot SRK's six pack."

I had said that it was more difficult to "shoot Shahrukh Khan" but nothing about his six pack. Seriously. If that had been on my mind it would have been something about the ample charms of Preity Zinta, Bebo or, hell, even Rakhi Savant for that matter.

But I do think that 3D film making will have a considerable impact in India very soon. More about that and 2K at Cinema India Expo. I will post an update after the conference.

Reliance's second $1bn deal at Cannes, this time with the Hollywood 8

The follow up to Reliance Big Entertainment's Billion Dollar film production deal was unveiled on Sunday in Cannes. It may not quite rival MGM's claim of 'More Stars than there are in Heaven', but it is not far off.

Deals have been struck with the actors and their production houses listed below, to develop scripts that will go into production with established Hollywood studios, with Reliance coming in as co-financing partner. The deal does not replace the existing deals that these production outfits have with Universal etal, but suppements.

- Nicolas Cage (Saturn Productions);

- Jim Carrey (JCB 23);

- George Clooney (Smokehouse Productions)

- Chris Columbus (1492 Pictures)

- Tom Hanks (Playtone Productions)

- Brad Pitt (Plan B Entertainment)

- Jay Roach (Everyman Pictures)

(+ one that is as-yet un-announced)

More details on thr nature of the deals form the Calcutta Times:

Another day and another billion announcement from Anil Ambani whose Reliance Big Entertainment today announced in Cannes that it will provide “development funds to eight leading creative forces in Hollywood”.

The value of the 30 films being developed jointly will be a billion dollars, “but this will not be the billion dollars that we talked about the other day,”said Amit Khanna, who is chairman of Reliance Big Entertainment and has been acting as the entity’s chief spokesman in Cannes.

“What it means for the average Indian is a sense of pride that India has finally arrived on the global media map,” Khanna explained to The Telegraph after his main press conference.

A billion here, a billion there... Pretty soon it starts to add up to some real money.

As the Times of London also notes, "the deals represent the biggest entry into the western media market by an Indian group and mark a reverse to the flood of money that has been poured into the Indian film industry by Hollywood production houses in recent months." Coming, as it does, not long after Sony, Disney and NBC-Universal's investment spree in Bollywood.

As my intrepid namesake P. Frater at Variety notes, these deals are not meant to rock the Hollywood studios' boat:

Deals are described as “production silos” under which Reliance Big Entertainment provides development coin to enable the talent to nurture or acquire movie projects before taking them to the studios with which they have first-look arrangements. In a second stage, deals allow Reliance to participate in up to 50% of a movie’s subsequent production funding and to secure rights in India.

“We are totally respectful of the existing first-look deals that each of our partners enjoys and are confident that the respective studios will welcome our development silos and our subsequent co-financing ability,” said Reliance prexy Rajesh Sawhney. “We are breaking completely new ground and not just as an Indian-based company.”

Khanna said the silos will likely become involved with 30 projects in the next couple of years, of which at least 10 will go into production. Reliance execs and CAA reps, who brokered the deals, were at pains to explain that Reliance coin is supplementary to the stars’ first-look deals rather than alternatives.

“We will increase the speed and safety of the elevator, but the destination is still the top floor,” said Reliance Big Entertainment CEO Amit Khanna"

The key to understanding Reliance ADAG is not to think of it as an Indian company abroad, but also to recognise it as a company that occupies the number one, two and three position in its home market with regards to the 'competition'. This is not boasting, but the distilled essence of my experience after more than half a year here. Reliance ADAG does not enter ANY market in which it is not sure that it will be number one and will do everything to ensure that position.

As an example, see the announcement on the same day of the launch of Reliance's Big TV DTH service into 4,000 Indian towns, which aggressively undercuts the competitions' prices while offering a better technology platform. Also on the same day, Reliance ADAG's gaming group Zapak announced its own $100m acquisition fund for expansion.

Given the size of such undertakings, the company is not interested in small deals and something like the Lowry Digital acquisition (a relatively paltry $7.m in comparison) was undertaken because it was strategic and would ensure the company became number on it this particular field.

Returning to Cannes, the second Billion Dollar Deal is particularly timely THR.com notes:

“This is a good thing for the studios with equity financing drying up thanks to the financial crunch,” said an agent from CAA, which brokered the deal. “It provides a new source of funding for the studios, and gives the studios a foothold in the India, a market they are all expanding into.”

If you doubt the crdit crunch impact on production, then read the IHT article 'Hollywood dreams face cold financial reality' and expect to read more in the future about what Mr Khanna (pictured above) calls "the reach and potential of India's steadily growing soft power".

Photocredit: Viewimages.com

Reliance's Billion Dollar Entertainment Baby

The Cannes Film Festival is in full swing but I didn't make it this year. Instead it was my boss' boss who went there to announce Reliance Big Entertainment's Billion Dollar Plan.

While the company has previously been involved in film production and distribution, nothing could have prepared the world for the magnitude of this commitment to making films in India and beyond.

From the Economic Times:

CANNES: Reliance Big Entertainment, the media and entertainment arm of the $75 billion Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group, on Friday announced that it would spend $1 billion on the Indian film and entertainment business over the next 12-15 months.

This is by far the biggest commitment made by an Indian entertainment company for show business. Amid the glitter and glamour at the 61st edition of the Cannes Film Festival at the French Riviera, Reliance Big Entertainment also revealed that 69 films in nine languages would be ready for distribution over the next 18 months. Over a dozen films will be released this year.

"India is uniquely positioned in the global economic order. We believe this is the right time to make this commitment of $1 billion for the film entertainment business," said Amit Khanna, chairman of Reliance Entertainment.

The best coverage of the Cannes event itself comes from the Telegraph of Calcutta:

The Ambanis don’t do things in small ways — and today Anil Ambani chose Cannes to make public what the media had been promised would be information on a “major and unique event”.

The news conference had been organised by DDA, a PR firm which usually handles established American and European clients. In the last few days, its publicists have been calling up journalists to make sure they would be in the Salon Diane of the Majestic Hotel to hear the announcement at 10am today.

It was left to Amit Khanna, chairman of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd, henceforth renamed the Reliance Big Entertainment, to drop the bombshell — the group would invest $1 billion (around Rs 4,250 crore) to change the face of the Indian movie industry as we have known it.

And the ambition is not confined to India alone. My very diligent namesake Mr Frater does a good job of capturing it all in Variety's 'Reliance sets out its very Big ambitions':

The company is expected to follow Sunday with further announcement about relationships and production deals involving Hollywood talent such as Will Smith, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis. “It is time for Indian companies to step up and take on the world,” Reliance CEO Amit Khanna said.

From THR.com 'Reliance goes Big with billion-dollar unit':

Reliance's empire spans production, distribution, home entertainment and exhibition across the subcontinent and also has outposts in Sri Lanka and Mauritius among others. Khanna said the company plans to open offices in New York and Los Angeles.

Even our own little digital cinema effort got a mention at Cannes and in Variety: 'Unlike other digital cinema initiatives in India, Reliance Big Entertainment and its stock-market listed Adlabs unit, are rolling out fully DCI-compliant 2k systems.'

Yup, that's us. But more on those plans another time. Maybe Cinema Expo.

Ambani vs. Ambani showdown at the multiplex

It was an open secret that Mukesh Ambani had ambitions and plans to challenge his younger brother Anil Ambani in the multiplex space. But it came as a bit of a bombshell that the person who might implement the ambition is Manmohan Shetty, the man who set up Adlabs Cinemas before it was acquired by Anil's Reliance ADAG. From the Economic Times:

Manmohan Shetty, the founder of Adlabs Films, is likely to team up with Mukesh Ambani. The Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman is believed to be in negotiations with Mr Shetty to get him on board to shape and run a planned country-wide multiplex operation.

The RIL group is looking at about 500 screens across the country, according to persons familiar with the matter. Mr Shetty was, till not very long ago, a key member of ADAG’s entertainment business.

As part of its retail entertainment plan, the RIL Group is simultaneously in advanced talks with Yashraj Films (YRF) to ink an arrangement whereby all YRF films will be released in the planned chain. The partnership is also being cemented across other areas, all of which are part of the RIL’s Group foray into the entertainment business.

The group is in the process of setting up the back end for the proposed foray, largely using fibre optic linkages. According to sources, YRF and Mr Shetty are jointly forming a content company, which will be the primary vendor for the RIL Group’s entertainment venture.

If RIL is considering fibre optic linkage then they are considering digital cinema (again, no surprise, as we knew this from our spies), but this is logical for anyone looking to enter cinema at this late stage. Mr Shetty denies the partnership as does a Yash Raj spokesperson:

Mr Shetty denied the development stating, “There have been no talks or discussions between either Mukesh Ambani or YRF with me. No such deal/deals have been signed by me.”

A highly-placed source within the ADAG group said Mr Shetty was still in the last stages of his exit from ADAG and might not be comfortable talking of future plans.

Sanjeev Kohli, director and CEO Yash Raj Films, also denied being part of the RIL Group’s entertainment plans. “YRF has not signed any deal and we are not aware of developments in the areas that have been mentioned. YRF will certainly share with the media their future plans when they take concrete shape.”

It sure keep life interesting out here in India and we will see who will drink who's multiplex milkshake in the end.

UPDATE 17/05/08: Mr Shetty has directly denied that he is in any discussions with Mukesh. If not Shetty then let's see who he will put in charge of such a major effort.

Warner and Sony go to India, Adlabs goes to Malaysia

Having previously dipped their corporate toe in the warm flow of the Indian film production river, both Warner Bros and Sony Pictures are now taking the full plunge in. Sony has signed a three-picture deal with a major Indian production studio in a deal worth Rs 2.5bn ($62m), while Warners is pursuing a remake of The Wedding Crashers. From THR.com (as the-trade-magazine-formerly-known-as-the-Hollywood-Reporter now insists on calling itself):

In what would mark the first authorized remake of a Hollywood film here, Warner Bros. Pictures India is in discussions with Bollywood banner Orion Pictures for an official remake of the 2005 comedy "Wedding Crashers."

Orion Pictures, headed by producer Mukesh Talreja and director Nikhil Advani, is co-producing WBPI's Bollywood debut with veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, "Chandni Chowk to China."

"We are in talks with Orion Pictures on the possibility of remaking 'Wedding Crashers' in India. Orion has shown keen interest, and they have lined up some of the best talent for this project," WBPI managing director Blaise Fernandes told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, adding that a deal has not yet been signed.

Somebody at WB must have finally woken up to the fact that if Indian film producers see a film they like they will take the concept and make it their own. Without buying the re-make rights. That is how Three Men and a Baby became Heyy Babyy while Love, Actually morphed into Salaam-e-Ishq and most recently this Diwali's big Hindi release Ghajini is a remake of Tamil film also called Ghajini, which, if you liked this story of how "A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes, tattoos and photo's to hunt down his girlfriend's killer", Amazon suggests you might also like Memento. If you can't beat them, beat them to the re-make at least.


Sony Pictures has meanwhile gone one bolder, after the so-so performance of Saawariya, with a three picture deal that will put them firmly on the Bollywood map, as well as buying world-wide distribution rights to Hindi comedy Meerabai Not Out. According to Variety:

Uday Singh, Sony Pictures India topper added, "Sony has several established platforms in India -- TV, theatrical distribution, music and homevideos. We intend to put all these behind the film and make it one of this summer's biggest attractions."

Amongst other ventures, Sony Television India is currently screening the newly created IPL (Indian Premiere League) cricket matches that has viewers glued to their sets and advertising rupees pouring into the channel's coffers. In relation to the co-production deal, Times of India adds that:

Sony's investment sets a new benchmark for big budget movie making in India. In its deal with PNC, the first of the three movies will be a comic extravaganza set in Las Vegas. Titled Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram , the film is budgeted at Rs 70 crore. The two other films are in a conceptual stage. Says Pritish Nandy of PNC: ‘‘An investment by a major international studio like Sony shows the changing paradigm of Indian motion picture business.''

This comes not long after Disney went Bollywood, 20th Century Fox set up base in Nitin Desai Studios and NBC Univ bought a $150m stake in NDTV, leaving just Paramount still outside looking in. This is ironic, as the best article on Hollywood pushing into Bollywood (New York Times' Hollywood Starts Making Bollywood Films in India) quotes the aforementioned studio towards the end of the article:

“The importing of American films into India is not filling a gap,” Gareth Wigan, a vice chairman of Columbia TriStar, the Sony division that produced the film, said by telephone from Los Angeles. “You’re not bringing a dish to a bare table. You’re bringing a dish to a table where you have to move a lot of other dishes to fit in, and that’s not true in a lot of other countries.”

And so begins a strange competition to make the best Bollywood film, pitting Hollywood against India’s own studios, which make more movies and sell more tickets than any film industry in the world.

With international revenues increasingly important to the conglomerates that own the major studios, Hollywood wants to tap into India’s market. But indigenous films captured 95 percent of Indian box office sales in 2006, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The figure is identical for domestic pictures in the United States, but just 35 percent in France, 33 percent in Japan and 12 percent in Britain, according to 2005 data published by two scholars, David Waterman and Sang-Woo Lee.

“There is no country on the planet, other than India and the United States, that approaches that level of domestic business,” Andrew Cripps, the president of Paramount Pictures International, said by telephone from Los Angeles. And so Paramount, too, is contemplating Bollywood productions.

Still contemplating, it seems.

Meanwhile Adlabs/Reliance has conquered another territory with the announcement that it has acquired control of the third largest cinema chain in Malaysia. From THR.com's hard working India correspondent Nyay Bhushan:

Mumbai-based Adlabs Films, which runs India's largest theatrical chain along with holding interests in film production, said Monday it has acquired a majority stake in Malaysia's Lotus Five Star Cinemas.

"We cannot reveal financial details or the equity structure but, as a result of this deal, we have acquired a controlling stake in the company which runs 51 screens," Reliance Entertainment senior vp Anil Arjun said in an interview. Adlabs is part of Reliance.

Arjun added that the newly acquired screens -- which will make Adlabs the third largest chain in the country -- will continue to show a mix of market leader Hollywood product in addition to Malaysian- and Indian-language films.

Add this to the 150+ screens in India and 240+ screens in the US, plus some more South Asian territories coming up and this is starting to look like a cinema empire in the making. Some more analysis is offered by Patrick Frater in Variety:

Malaysia is one of the fastest growing theatrical markets in Asia but remains significantly underscreened. According to government agency FINAS, the country had just 341 screens in mid-2007.

Lotus mainly runs small cinemas outside the biggest cities and has itself been adding properties over the last year. In terms of screen numbers alone it ranks behind Golden Screen Cinemas and TGV, in which Hong Kong's Golden Harvest was invested until last year, and ahead of Singapore-owned Cathay Cineplexes.

Adlabs' move is not the first into Malaysia by an Indian exhibition group. Pyramid Saimira, which operates over 250 screens in India, unveiled a joint venture early last year with Malaysian company Asian Integrated Industries. Besides cinema ownership, that deal is intended to create a network of digital cinemas and provide them with distribution services.

No wonder that the parent company Reliance Big Entertainment is "in talks with private equity funds such as US-based private equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company (KKR), billionaire investor Carl Icahn, Japan’s Softbank and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for divestment of 10% equity" for "an estimated asking value...in the range of $500 million," according to the Economic Times.

Adlabs embraces the concept of megaplexes

While I've been impressed by the standard of multiplexes in India, which are as comfy as anything in the UK and US (and the Ebony Lounges are even more luxurious - see above), I've always been puzzled by the fact that a 'multiplex' in India is only four to six screens. This means that even with flexible programming of up to three to four different films per screen each day, the choice is often limited as the dame film tends to jump between screens and when a blockbuster like 'Race', 'Krazzy 4' or the up-coming 'Tashan' play, 80 per cent of screen real estate is booked up.

So welcome news that Adlabs Cinemas (it would be them) are going to pioneer the concept of multiplexes in India, with screen counts in the double digits, which earns it the title of 'mega-plexes'. Here is what the Economic Times had to say about it:

As a part of its new venture, Adlabs will be setting up a number of megaplexes, which would be around 5-6 times larger than the size of a multiplex offering not only multiple screens for films, but also gaming, alternative cinema, sports and others.

"The idea is to create an entertainment destination which will have something for everyone. We will have megaplexes for those looking for entertainment through and beyond films," Adlabs Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra said.

To begin with, Adlabs will open six megaplexes with each one spread across 1.5 lakh square feet in cities, including Mohali, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. While, the plan for the first phase was at least 12-15 such destinations.

"All the six sites are at different stages of development. The first one is going to be either in Mohali or Hyderabad," Dhingra said without specifying when was the first project expected to be operational.

One of the reasons that there haven't been many 10-15 screen cinemas to date is that the multiplex concept itself is still less than a decade old in India, plus that real estate (reel estate?) is difficult to come by even for a five-screen cinema in places like Mumbai. But my colleagues over at Adlabs Cinemas also face hurdles in cutting through red tape to get permissions to open a regular cinema that make applying for permission for opening a nuclear power station in a place like UK seem like getting permission for a garage extension by comparison.

In other news, Adlabs/Reliance has partnered ImaginAsian, which means that we now have flagship screens in both New York and Los Angeles, though these are only the tip of the activities that this partnership will bring. As reported in The Hollywood Reporter:

ImaginAsian owns such properties as iaTV, iaRadio, Web portal iaLink, New York's ImaginAsian Theater and the ImaginAsian Center in Los Angeles, which offer a diverse range of Asian-inspired programming including comedy and variety shows, drama series, documentaries and features.

"The agreement with ImaginAsian is a nonexclusive media marketing agreement in areas such as advertising sales and content marketing with both parties sharing access to various kinds of programming," Mumbai-based Reliance Big Entertainment senior vp Anil Arjun said Wednesday.

All this and Lowry Digital too - Reliance/Adlabs is on a roll right now. Meanwhile we are not slacking off on the digital cinema side too, but more about that in a future post.