American Pride Films is keen to co-produce and offshore work with Indian showbiz companies

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1 From theindianentertainment.com Volume No: I-37 June 10-29, 2007 New Delhi India Americanizing Shelly Producer to vist Mumbai in July Producer-Screenwriter-Actor NAMRATA SINGH GUJRAL as Shelly in the Indian immigrant comedy Americanizing Shelly. The film got a decent box office return in the US. Sales agent Idream Independent Pictures did brisk overseas sales of Shelly at Cannes. Turn to page 3 Bridging US & India American Pride Films is keen to co-produce and offshore work with Indian showbiz companies Los Angeles-based American Pride Films Group (APFG) is keen to do business with film directors and producers in India. The company has visualised a huge entertainment offshore opportunity between US and India. AFPG President Namrata Singh Gujral (Shalini Singh/Shelly in Americanizing Shelly) will be in Mumbai early July to meet with Indian showbiz companies and film directors. Located in the heart of Hollywood, APFG has positioned itself as a entertainment studio (offer everything that a major Hollywood studio provides -- outside of the studio system at competitive ``independent'' project prices). ``We see a lot of new opportunities and synergies between India and the US in the filmed entertainment sector,'' says Namrata -- an accomplished South Asian actress in the US, appearing in numerous TV shows and manages AFPG as its president. ``We want to take Indian film directors and exhibit their talent in the US.'' APFG's tasted success in its recent production Americanizing Shelly ( from the director of The Sopranos). The company is currently producing Still, a science fiction thriller and a war film, Red, White and Blue, based on Iraq. Namrata is also looking for an Indian co-financier for the film on Iraq and has zeroed in to do some of the shooting in Rajasthan, India (Sahara desert). APFG president@americanpridefilms.com to set up a July meeting in Mumbai with Namrata.. We want to take Indian film directors to work with ace professionals in the US and exhibit their talent 1

2 There has been no blockbusters in But... INDIA IS HOT And top in film investor s radar India s Filmed entertainment space is gaining momentum in the global minds. Look at the new developments... WALT DISNEY TO WORK WITH YASHRAJ IN INDIA WALT DISNEY Studio in 1 collaboration with Yashraj Films has target ed to make one animation film a year. The first venture Roadside Romeo ($4- $10m), will be an animated tale featuring the voices of Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan and Karrena Kapoor. Both companies will be equal partners in the venture and will contribute creative, technical and financial support to the project. Each film under this alliance will be creatively overseen by Aditya Chopra and worked on with an inventive array of leading local talent. The first film to be co-produced in this alliance will be Roadside Romeo, set to release in The film will be produced by Aditya Chopra and will utilize stateof-the-art computer animation technology done entirely in India. MUKESH AMBANI TO PUMP $60 MN IN YASHRAJ JV 2 3 At this point of time the heading you have just read looks like a rumour but is all set to become true in the coming months. Reliance Retail, associate of Reliance Industries (Spearheaded by Mukesh AmbanI) and YASHRAJ FILMS are likely to set up joint venture to set up a chain of multiplexes across the country. It is a well-known fact that Yashraj Films have had troubles multiplex chains in the country. In recent times it has been the dream of Aditya Chopra to own multiplexes and there cannot be a better synergy to do biz with Mukesh Ambani. His younger brother owns majority stake in Adlabs Cinema, spread across the country. Once this venture takes off, it will rewrite the existing showbiz rules in India.Watch out more on this space. INDIA IN LONDON S ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MART Indian filmed entertainment companies are flocking to the London's Alternative Investment Market. listings. The market capitalization of Eros Entertainment is close to $950 million. It got listed in the London's AIM on July 4, TV 18's Indian Film Co through their recent AIM debut raised $109 million. UTV plans to raise $80 million. Chandigarh-based animation outsourcing company Compact Disc India is all set to raise $50 million through this route. Theatre chain Pyramid Saimira is all set to enter AIM raising $150 million. Amitabh Bachchan's AB Corp is considering a move to enter AIM. London is also the biggest grosser for overseas collections of Indian blockbusters. SONY, PARAMOUNT,WARNER TESTING MOVIES IN INDIA 4 5 SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT has already announced their first Indian co-production in collaboration with film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the film Saawariya (to be released by end 2007). It has fresh stars Ranbir Kapoor (son of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh) and Sonam (daughter of Anil Kapoor). WARNER which recently pulled out of many of its movie related business in China is busy strengthening its India push. Warner has reportedly engaged actor Akshay Kumar for a film to be shot in China under the direction of Sippys. PARAMOUNT Studio is already working on an Indian project. The film will be shot in India. The country's respected line production company has been engaged for this assignment. MURDOCH OKAYS FOX TO PRODUCE MOVIES IN INDIA Rupert Murdoch's TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX will soon venture to do domestic movie production in India. The News Corp chairman has given green signal for Twentieth Century Fox to bet on India's movie mart. Murdoch doesn't believe producing small budget movies, but has advised his people at the international division to look at producing big budget movies out of India. The work has already begun to chart a long term plan for Twentieth Century Fox in India. For once, he doesn't need to worry about foreign direct investment. India follows an open door policy for overseas investment in the film sector. 100 per cent FDI is allowed in film sector covering film financing, production, exhibition, marketing and distribution. 2

3 David Dhawan s Partner to hit screens on July 20 Eros Intl bets on Partner With Govinda's career in desperate need to be revived and with virtually no box office draw overseas, Partner is pratically a Salman Khan and David Dhawan vehicle Stills from David Dhawan s PARTNER starring Salman Khan, Govinda, Lara Dutta and Katrina Kaif Eros International has announced the global distribution of director David Dhawan s film Partner, produced by Sohail Khan and K Sera Sera. Jyoti Deshpande, COO, Eros International commented: Eros has a long association with David Dhawan, who is undoubtedly one of the best comedy directors of Bollywood. We have distributed many of his films including Shaadi No.1, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah, Jodi No.1, Chal Mere Bhai and Biwi No. 1 amongst others. We are very excited about Partner, which we are distributing globally. Partner has the ingredients of a summer smash hit comedy. Love Guru, Prem (Salman Khan) likes nothing better than helping lonely souls find their soul mates. But he faces the biggest challenge of his life when he meets hopeless case Bhaskar (Govinda) for this nerdy guy has set his eyes on no less than the most eligible socialite in town, Priya Jaisingh (Katrina Kaif). As Prem teaches his worst but most ardent student Bhaskar, he finds himself getting involved with journalist Naina (Lara Dutta). While Love Guru has succeeded in giving a happy ending to many love stories, he faces an uphill task when it comes to his own love life. David Dhawan and Govinda were once partners that spelt box office success. Today Govinda is piggy riding on David Dhawan and Salman Khan's back with the film Partner. Govinda s biggest ever opening weekend with David Dhawan at the critical UK box office was for Mukta Art's Ek aur Ek Gyrah that collected pounds. It pails in comparison to the box office sway of Salman Khan and David Dhawan combine. Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, their last film together collected 148,298 pounds in the opening week. Mujhse Shaadi Karogi which was released in 2004 did an opening week business of 183,473 pounds. In 1999 when Govinda was the top box office draw, his domestically successful film Haseena Maan Jayegi had an opening weekend of pounds. That same year David Dhawan and Salman Khan combine raked in over pound over the opening weekend for Biwi No 1. For trade enquires alice@erosintl.co.uk. Script of Americanizing Shelly has been invited to the AMPAS Library Americanizing Shelly is the most talked about Indian immigrant comedy in recent times in the globar market. The script of the film has been invited to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences library. The film is a contemporary Pygmalion like comedy, set in LA, featuring an American country boy from the South and a Himalayan village belle, thrown together due to unavoidable circumstances. Responding to a challenge thrown by the CEO of a Hollywood management company (Bridges), Americanizing Shelley tells the story of a wanna-be Hollywood player from the deep South, who sets out to A Still from Americanizing Shelly. It will do well in the multiplex chains in India Americanize an Indian girl straight from the Himalayas. As he creatively teaches her all about the American way of life and what it takes be a Hollywood celebrity, he ends up learning a thing or two about his own life. Their clash in cultures soon gives way to understanding, unity and love as they begin to see the world through each other's eyes. The film basically is close to "Bend It like Beckham," and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Idream Independent Pictures is the sales agent and the response from overseas buyers is outstanding at the Cannes Film Market.. It is an American Pride Films Group presentation. Produced by Namrata Singh Gujral. Executive producers, Joe Cooper, Natasha Gill. Directed by Lorraine Senna. Screenplay, Namrata More info at and 3

4 Major events we recommend you to attend this year Block dates in your diary In its second year, the RomeFilmFest is gearing to have India as the main focus of the festival. India is also the country of honour at MIPCOM at Cannes. Read on MIPCOM,CANNES OCTOBER 8-12, 2007 India will add another feather to its cap at MIPCOM, the biggest market for audiovisual content in Cannes, France. Paul Zilk, CEO, Reed Midem - organizers of MIPCOM-said October 8 has been designated India Day. ``Our aim is to make the world aware of the Indian media and entertainment industry and take it to the next level. MIPCOM will attempt at opening a window of opportunities for content providers in India to forge partnerships in areas like coproductions. MIPCOM is the global content event for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content across all platforms. It provides the key decision-makers in the TV, film, digital and audiovisual content, production and distribution industry with the only market conference and networking forum to discover future trends and trade content rights on a global level. Reed MIDEM has named Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation, MIPCOM 2007 Personality of the Year. Leslie Moonves will receive the accolade on October 9th during a gala dinner for leading industry executives, as part of the 23rd MIPCOM. FICCI is coordinating the India related events at MIPCOM for conferences and India Day at Cannes. Register before July 19th 2007 to avail early bird rate of Euros 980,.72 (includes tax). ROME FILM FEST THE BUSINESS STREET OCTOBER 18-21, 2007 Rome is now the perfect place to talk business, watch movies and finalize deals during the fall festival season. A winning blend of a relaxed atmosphere, careful organization and wonderful locations. The Business Street, a success made possible thanks to the trust and the commitment of the film industry around the world: 447 professionals and 230 international companies attending, 130 screenings organized in 12 fully-equipped venues prove Top: Kaushik Roy's Apna Asman will be screnned at the Stuttgart Film Festival from July 11-15, Sixty Indian films will be screened at Stuttgart, Bottom: Vasantabalan's Tamil Film Veyil was screened at this month's Shanghai International Film Festival the gamble paid off. Not a traditional market, but nevertheless with all its facilities, The Business Street represents a different way to serve the international film business community. Fellini's Via Veneto is the ideal location, not just for its evocative power, but also because it provides all the IFFI, GOA NOV 23-DEC 3, 2007 The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, held annually for ten days in Nov-Dec showcases the best of Indian and international Cinema. The festival screens over necessary infrastructure, including luxurious hotels, exclusive terrazze, famous restaurants and cafes. Contact: business@romacinemafest.org AFM, CALIFORNIA OCT 31-NOVEMBER 7, 2007 Over 8,000 industry leaders converge in Santa Monica for eight days of deal-making, screenings, seminars, red carpet premieres, networking and parties. Participants come from over 70 countries and include acquisition and development executives, agents, attorneys, directors, distributors, festival directors, financiers, film commissioners, producers, writers, the world s press all those who provide services to the motion picture industry. The AFM transforms Santa Monica. The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and the Le Merigot Beach Hotel are converted into a busy marketplace. All 23 screens on the Santa Monica Promenade and the surrounding community become AFM screening rooms for the entire eight-day event and eight digital and video screening rooms are added just for the AFM. Participants may view more than 900 screenings of approximately 500 films - 31 new films every two hours - the majority of them world or U.S. premieres. Web address: The event diary will Continue 150 films and now in its 38th year the festival is a world class event. Concurrent to the festival, Confederation of Indian Industry organises India-The Big Picture conference focusing on Indian filmbiz. Also look for Film Market around the fest. 4

5 A review of what India did at the Cannes Film market India s new Cannes script This was the first year Indian filmed content really hit the international mainstream market at Cannes Supran Sen, Secretary General, Film & TV Guild, VB Pyarelal, JS (F) I&B Ministry, Filmmaker Kaushik Roy, I&B Secretary Asha Swarup, Ajay Khanna, deputy director general, CII at the India Party, MaJestic Beach, Cannes BY RON LAVERY & STEVE BAKOS Being back from the Cannes Film Festival, we can say we're still reeling from the experience, in a good way. The landscape of the worldwide entertainment market is rapidly changing, and the change surely has huge potential pitfalls but also huge opportunities. This was the first year when Indian content really hit the international mainstream market. An unprecedented number of Indian companies were there as sales agents and tried their hand at selling their fare to all the buyers. Reactions we heard are mixed. Some say they had a good market, some say they had a not-sogood market. We know expectations were high, but we experienced this ourselves with our own indy titles ten-fifteen years ago: it takes time and effort to establish oneself on the international marketplace. If we approach this from the perspective of the traditional description of the marketing mix (the 4 Ps: product, price, place, promotion), the picture looks pretty good, although there is room for improvement. The product: As everybody can see, there is definitely a market for pure Bollywood movies, but outside the traditional audience and a small aficionado circuit, the possibilities are fairly limited. If Indian companies want to become serious international distributors/sales agents, they also have to start diversifying their portfolio by acquiring "regular" Hollywood movies and other good quality product form all over the world. At the moment, if we take a close look at the number of Indian and/or crossover titles with a more mainstream appeal, it is not enough to support a successful global operation. Partnership with Hollywood Partnership with Hollywood is the way for India to really secure a source of the big pie. This is bound to happen means that the Indian stars will become international stars, the product will become internationally known and can demand license fees in the same tier with US movies, which brings us to the pricing question. Comparing the prices between last years' AFM, Cannes, it's baffling to see that in only six months, the numbers for almost all territories have halved. Prices are constantly falling for many years, and the real or imagined reasons for this can be hotly debated, but it does not change the fact that the process of recouping the investment for a film has become significantly different in the last few years. But actually, India has a competitive advantage in this aspect because the cost reduction which can be achieved by shooting and doing the post there coupled with the incentives offered by coproduction treaties (especially if they would be finally signed and ratified), and considering the fact that many Indian ventures have to plan for midand long term profits, and invest substantial capital if they want to grow to the level of other well-established international players. In terms of the third "P", placement, if we strictly talk about the Cannes market, the booth locations of many Indian companies were less than ideal, but that will improve in the coming years, these crowded marketplaces always award the not so ideal locations to newcomers. Finally, a few words about promotion: India surely knows how to present itself, no doubt about that. The Indian pavilion, the parties hosted and events organized by the different entities, the paid advertisements were all top of the line, world-class promotional tools that conveyed the economic and cultural power of the region very well. (Ron & Steve are from WestHam Films, US. They represent Indian films in the global market as sales agents) 5

6 MARKET INDICATORS Media & Entertainment Companies traded in the Bonbay Stock Exchange (value in Rs and crore) Company June 29 (1200 hrs) P/E Ratio Adlabs Films Bag films Balaji Telefilm Cinemax India Crest Animation Cyber Media Deccan Chronicle ETC Networks ENT Network India Galaxy Ent HT Media Inox Leisure JagranPrakashan K Sera Sera Mid Day Multimedia Moser Baer Mukta Arts NDTV Prime Focus PVR Pritish Nandy Pyramid Saimira Sahara One Saregama India Shringar Cinema Sun TV TV TV Today Network TIPS Industries UTV Software Zee Entertainment PICKLE DIGEST Shemaroo premieres Apne at Canada and US Canada is increasingly becoming a premier hub for Indian cinema. While Maniratnam s Guru was premiered at Toronto and New York, Shemaroo Entertainment, which has the overseas rights of Apne has zeroed in Vancouver and San Francisco. Shemaroo has used family bonding as a theme line in their campaign to push the movie. Apne is released in 12 overseas countries.apne will see Dharmendra with both his sons on screen for the first time. The film is also likely to do well in UK where majority of the diaspora would watch the movie to witness the comeback of Dharmendra. For trade related queries write to kalapi@shemaroo.com this space is available for for $25 per insertion Write to: natvid@gmail.com London AIM Listing (in Pounds) MCAP Eros Intl mn Indian Film Co UTV CONTACT INFORMATION Send your letters, views, suggestions to The Editor PICKLE natvid@gmail.com Designed by Rajni s Sivaji will be the biggest grosser in 2007 Sivaji, the most expensive film to be made in India at $20 million by AVM Productions in all probability will be the biggest grosser in India this year with $ 60 million. Sivaji is screnned in 900 screens across the world and has done exceptionally well in many non-traditional territories. The film has already hit the Internet piracy zone and many have downloaded the movie. Sivaji will also be screened in international festivals including the one at Japan this year. Sivaji will remain Rajnikanth s best acts in all times to come. BY THE NUMBERS 95 countries have been invited to submit one film for Oscar nomination in the foreign-language film category at the 80th Academy Awards set for Feb 24, The picture should have been released between Oct and Sep 30, The submitted film should have been screened in a commercial thetre for 7 consequtive days. Entry forms and film prints to Academy by Oct 1,