Riding the wave in a upswing economy – India’s entertainment industry boom

India’s diverse and stable economic landscape provides multi-faceted venues in direct collation with its consumption of content. The Indian entertainment industry has grown 5 to 6 times since the inception of Bollywood. From the high end multiplex to the lower end truck rolling up to a marketplace with movies to screen– hundreds upon hundreds of Indians watch the latest movie releases from Bollywood. As India’s role in the “industry” expands, it is worthwhile to note the distinct differences between the “Hollywood style” business model and the Indian way of doing business.

In India, the movie business is wrapped around celebrities and music. The more celebrated stars make their mark by being recording artists as well as actors, with products spinning into movies and television alike. Most feature releases are romantic-comedies, splashed with musical numbers and dancing. Looking the recent box office earnings, cinemas in India are witnessing increasingly strong numbers, and going to the movies is a popular feature of the Indian lifestyle.

Witness the crossover success of the Oscar nominated “Slumdog Millionaire”, proof that there is a clear surge of interest focused on India. Bollywood is launching films that can contend with American films. In March, the trade publication Variety, reported that Bollywood is widening its global footprint with the US release of “My Name is Kahn”. The US box office for the movie, which came in at $1.9 million was considered a success by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Searchlight’s distribution arm had successfully delivered entertainment to the growing Asian market residing in the states.

And it doesn’t stop with cinematic content. Recently, CBS International Studios aligned themselves with Reliance Broadcast Network to show properties like CSI to an Indian audience. Alongside CBS are Viacom, Walt Disney Studios, and News Corp. By putting their hat in the ring, CBS is betting on the television market to the tune of 521 billion rupee ($11.4 billion USD) business. India boasts an estimated 500 million viewers for that market while other company, KMPG forecasts that there will be a 15% yearly increase by 2014.

On the music forefront, according to IMI (The Indian Music Industry), the numbers are solid with Rs.670 crores (USD 149 million). The figures do not include royalties made from music sales. Revenue has been driven in recent times by digital distribution and lifted the recession the music revenue has faced for over a decade. The graph below illustrates the favorable trend in revenues.

Photo Credit: IANS Bollywood.com

The article also noted that the business strategy will need to be built on a manufacturing industry for the country while taking care of revenue streams and legitimate distribution concurrently.

”The opportunities in India are vast. They have so many of the pieces – the creativity, the numbers, and the technical base to continue their growth as major participants in the world’s global entertainment industry,” noted Kristin Petrovich-Kennedy, President of Createasphere at the close of this year’s successful Cinema India exposition in Mumbai earlier this month. “We see India as a place that serious content creators are paying attention to, and that includes the technologies that support storytellers. We are planning on being involved in India for a long time to come and are excited about the possibilities there.”

PALM and Cinema India Expo’s exit numbers had an impressive 28% increase for 2010, with over 11,500 participating in all venues and exhibits. The inter-related expos presented advanced information and connection across a wide swath of the industry – content creation, music, entertainment, audio, and communications companies. PALM, recognized as an international event within the creative and technical communities, brought highly sought after sponsorships slots.

As would be expected, attendees at Cinema India and PALM are comprised of decision makers, creative team members and working entertainment industry professionals who must seek top quality information and advice from exhibitors and presenters. Based on post-show interviews and feedback, exhibitors reported that the PALM and Cinema India Expo was extremely well attended and among the most successful that they have participated in.

Alongside the exhibition, compelling speakers appeared at the events to share industry-defining experience with attendees. Don McAlpine, ASC, ACS, presented three sessions during the event. McAlpine, a revered cinematographer who has worked with Baz Luhrman, Bruce Beresford, and John McTiernan among many other internationally recognized directors, presented a Master Class for Kodak along with two other presentations arranged by Cinema India’s international sales and programming partner, Createasphere. McAlpine, an Oscar nominated, BAFTA & ASC winner, noted, “I feel the workshops at Mumbai were truly rewarding for all of us. The local film people seemed to be very interested in what I had to say, and attendance grew during each workshop. The questions were searching and each session ran over time. I truly believe it was time well spent.”

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers also participated at Cinema India. Barbara Lange, Executive Director for SMPTE, commented, “SMPTE was delighted to participate in Cinema India for the first time this year. The attendees appreciated the SMPTE presentation delivered by local SMPTE Fellow, Ujwal Nirgudkar, and we were very pleased with the number of leads generated at our SMPTE booth. We look forward to working with the Cinema India in the future. “

Dates for next year’s CIE will be announced soon. Anil Chopra, Managing Director of Diversified Communications India noted that the expos are reaching new heights and pushing their boundaries. “We see that India is front and center in the world viewfinder. There is great progress in entertainment technology taking place in Bollywood that is of great value to the global entertainment business. Cinema India has been the one and only cinema industry expo in India for over 10 years and the PALM Expo is a premier event for the audio and music industry. The creative community in music and movies is gravitating to our all-inclusive-show from across the nation and around the globe.”

For the complete series of interviews held at the conference, go to Vimeo.

About Diversified Business Communications
Diversified Business Communications (http://www.divbusiness.com) is the parent company of Diversified Communications India and Createasphere. It is based in Portland, Maine, US and provides information and market access through face-to-face events, magazine publishing, and online resources on four continents. Diversified serves a number of industries including: seafood, food service, commercial marine, business management and technology. Diversified operates divisions in Australia, Hong Kong, India, the UK, the US and Canada. For more information, visit: http://www.divbusiness.com

About Createasphere
Since 2001, HD EXPO created venues where the entertainment and technology communities meet and exchange invaluable information, community and education. At the start of 2010, HD EXPO transitioned to Createasphere, a world where entertainment technology and creative vision converge. Createasphere, building on the success of HD EXPO, is an integrated organization presenting multi-tiered offerings that include expos and events, a membership organization, ongoing professional education, and a dynamic online content resource. Createasphere is headquartered in Burbank, California.