Shekhar to launch film consultancy

Shekhar Kapur along with three other prominent persons - Pia Singh, Hari Shankar Bhartia and Suhel Seth - launched a consultancy for potential filmmakers, called Digital Talkies here on Saturday. As a major initiative, Digital Talkies will, for the first time, organise a digital film festival here in March.

Pia Singh, former vice-president (finance), DLF Universal, is the CEO of Digital Talkies, and she will be supported in the venture by Shekhar Kapur, Hari Shankar Bhartia, owner of Vam Bhartia Group of Companies and Suhel Seth, CEO, Equus Advertising.

Announcing the launch of Digital Talkies, Kapur said it would be a platform for potential filmmakers to independently access the market. He added, “It’s a democratic way of calling people to watch your film.” All a filmmaker needs to make a basic film now is a story in the head and a digital camera to go and shoot a digital film, said Kapur. Then, one can edit the film on the computer at home and bring it to Digital Talkies for distribution, he said.

Elaborating on the functions of Digital Talkies, Kapur said, “A filmmaker can come to us for advice on how to make a digital film, how to finance it, how to find camera-people and editors and how to access people, etc.”

So, Digital Talkies works as a one-point destination for those who don’t want to run after financiers and distributors to show their films, thereby cutting down the large power structure of the film industry and eliminating the middlemen.

Pia Singh, while speaking on the vision of the company, said it’s an end-to-end entertainment company which will produce content embracing new forms of technology in filmmaking and distribute it. The films could be documentaries or feature films, which could be anything from 10-minute to two-hour duration.

Distribution, Singh said, could be to varied forums. TV channels, airlines, home video, theatres and online companies are some of these, she added. Taking a cue from there, Kapur said, “If Steven Spielberg is to release Jurassic Park on the Internet for a charge of $ 5 per download, imagine how much money he’ll make.”

Dodging all questions on the financials of the company, Kapur said: “Let’s not bring in the old-economy rules of investment and returns into the new-economy concepts.” However, the industrialist of the group — Bhartia, put a figure to the project. He said an investment of Rs 10 crore would be made in the next 18 months on the venture.

Replying to questions on how Digital Talkies would gain from the project, Singh said: “We’ll be part owners of the content that comes to us for distribution.” The people behind Digital Talkies maintain that the holistic aim of the company is to offer a platform to filmmakers — it could be anything from handholding to ideating to funding.

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