|
 The
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) was
established in 1927 to garner support for India’s independence and
to further the interests of the Indian business community. Starting
with 24 members in 1927, the membership has grown to more than 3000
by the turn of the century. Besides, over 500 Chambers of Commerce,
Trade Associations and industry bodies spread over the length and
breadth of the country are today associated with FICCI. After five
decades of independence, FICCI is in the vanguard of nation building
and is moving ahead to integrate the Indian economy with the global
mainstream. As a body, it speaks directly and indirectly for over
250,000 business units - small, medium and large - employing around
20 million people. FICCI has many specialized Committees, which
guide it in discharge of it’s multifarious responsibilities. Captains
of industry and top-notch professionals form the membership base
of these committees.
FICCI
Entertainment Commitee
|
Reactions
|
|
 “The
focus of FRAMES 2002 would be finance, piracy and technology.
The industry is realising that with clean money and professionally-made
films, the chances of making better films, as well as profits,
are higher. Apart from institutions like Industrial Development
Bank of India, commercial banks like Bank of India have earmarked
funds for film finance. Investment bankers and venture capitalists,
who were hitherto chasing only IT proposals, are now considering
entertainment. Apart from finance, another priority is piracy.
The industry loses at least six to seven times its earnings
to pirates. There is no alternative to faster prosecution
and tougher punishment. You need one guy in jail to start
a clean-up operation. Then , in this digital era, we need
to focuss on digital programming, content and broadcasting
and for this purpose a one hour long didtal film would be
shown at the convention.”
— Bobby Bedi,
Convenor, FRAMES 2002
 “Over
the years, FRAMES has become a well-organised forum for the
entertainment industry in which the best minds from the national
and international arena participate, discuss and deliberate
on critical issues of the entertainment industry.”
— Yash Chopra,
Chairman, FICCI Entertainment Commitee
 “FRAMES
symbolises the buyount growth of the Indian Entertainment
Industry. In three years not only has it become the most important
gathering of the entertainment professionals in India, it
has become synonmous with major policy initiatives both from
the industry and the government.
FRAMES 2002 will provide a forum for exchange of ideas and
visions of the new and fast changing world of entertainment
and the business opportunity it offers.”
— Amit Khanna,
Chairman, FICCI convergence commitee
 “Corporatisation
of the entertainment sector is the need of the hour and FICCI
through FRAMES has taken a step in the right direction towards
producing a positive outcome. The government is ready to treat
this industry on par with the IT sector and in today’s
scenario, this is important because of convergence, everything
becomes related. Because of the Internet, the world has truly
become a global village and we need these sorts of conventions
where entertainment professionals from all over the world
come together to share ideas.”
— Govind Swarup,
Cultural Secretary, Maharashtra Government
 “Filmmaking
is an all-engaging process and in today’s fast changing
world, we need to keep track of latest developments. Also,
it benefits a writer to interact with his colleagues from
related fields. FRAMES 2002 is really a melting pot for all
right minded people to come together and share their ideas
and I’m sure that not only the film fraternity, but the
entertainment industry as a whole is defineltely going to
benefit from such conventions.”
— Javed Siddiqi,
writer
 “As
digital technology becomes cheaper, filmmaking would soon
become as inexpensive as writing. The demythification of cinema
is inevitable. In this exciting scenario, the need to meet
and form association with similar minded people becomes rampant.
FRAMES 2002 is happening thankfully at the right time and
place and would go a long way towards making the entertainment
sector a better place.”
— Mahesh Bhatt,
Filmmaker
|
While India
has a centuries-old tradition of entertainment, the sector took
on an organised form only in the beginning of the 20th century.
Earlier, it was confined to dance recitals, drama, and song recitals.
With the advent of films, the economic parameter changed completely.
Radio boom, followed by the rise in television, and then the cable
revolution specified the need to lend an industry status to this
sector.
FICCI felt
the need of the time and set up an Entertainment Commitee two years
ago to unleash the full potential of this multifaceted sector. The
committee has successfully lobbied for several concessions for the
Entertainment sector since its inception and has become the most
important voice of the entire entertainment industry. The Chairman
of the Committee is Mr Lalit K Modi, President and Mg Director,
Modi Enterprises and Co-Chairman is Mr Amit Khanna, Chairman, Reliance
Entertainment Ltd. The Government of India has also recognised this
sector as one of the thrust areas for the new economy. It is offering
the industry all the benefits and privileges, which puts it at par
with the IT sector.
The FICCI Entertainment
Committee is leading this effort from the front. Working in close
co-operation with the Government it was able to get the entertainment
industry recognised as an Industry. The granting of the industry
status thus puts the entertainment segment at par with other industries
having access to bank finance. The Government has taken several
other encouraging steps for the growth of the industry such as allowing
public floatation of a company with 10 per cent public ownership.The
Government has also set the ball rolling for the introduction of
Direct-To-Home television broadcasting services (DTH), establishment
of private uplinking facilities and privatisation of FM radio. Simultaneous
with such deregulation, it intends to introduce growth-enabling
regulation through the Convergence Bill.
It was decided
that like minded people from all the various segments like TV, Radio,
Films, Music, Cable, Content and Live Entertainment should come
together on a common platform once a year not only to project a
united face but also to collectively take a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Objectives and Threats) analyses. Thus the FRAMES forum was formed.(Films,
Radio, Audio, Music, Events and Shows)
Frames 2002
FRAMES 2002
is the 3rd edition of this unique effort. FRAMES 2001, which was
a two day global convention saw more than 1000 delegates from India
and abroad and over 125 leading speakers making invaluable presentations
basically about the corporatisation of the entertainment industry.
While that was the key issue last year, this year the thrust is
about carrying the process forward.
Key Issues
Rationalization
of entertainment tax - legal issues and way forward.
Rationalisation
of the entertainment tax was the key demand which the entertainment
industry had put on its budget wish list. However, the government
has added to their woes by putting cable operators as well as event
management companies under the purview of the five percent service
tax. Not only that but now all broadcasters beaming content from
India will have to pay this tax as well.
Corporatisation
models for the film industry and other television and radio content
producers.
Corporatisation
is still in nascent stage in India. Earlier corporatisation efforts
like the ABCL didn’t come up to the mark, but now with Subhash
Ghai and several other companies like the Ripples group and channel
nine coming into fray, the future looks bright. One of the issues
at stake is the conservative mindset of the filmmakers. Would they
be willing to make films under the supervision of the representitives
of the finanacial institutions? This and lot of other bureaucratic
issues need to be ironed out Model guidelines for banks/financial
institutions for facilitating lending to this sector.
Would the banks be willing to lend money to a newcomer or would
a proven track record be the only criteria? There is certainly no
formula for producing hits, so are the financial institutions ready
to gamble on dreams? What about collateral security? These old and
new problems need to be seriously tackled.
Model
guidelines for executive orders for protection of IPR and structured
anti-piracy campaign by the government.
Not only the
content producers, but the goverment too loses billions beacuse
of rampant piracy. With the advent of technology, the scamsters
are running two steps ahead of the lawmakers. Prompt implementation
of existing laws and serious need for new means to put an end to
this old enemy needs consideration.
Main Thrust
During the
convention, the entire gamut of financing, valuations, insurance,
legal framework, governing entertainment industry will be discussed
by eminent experts both from India and abroad.
The main thrust will be on how institutional finance could be made
available to the film industry by making banks consider rights on
the negatives and various domestic and overseas distributors’
contractual payment obligations as colateral securities.
Other
issues include cable piracy and the abolition of entertainment duty.
Despite the
Central governemnt enacting a law prohibiting cable operators from
telecasting the latest released films, cable piracy has been rampant.
The state governments want the Central governmment to make provision
in the cable network rules to empower them to issue licenses so
that the they can enact laws to make cable operator accountable
for showing films on their network.
Also, the convention promises to present the Indian film industry
as on par with global standards. Therefore, technology is also one
of forefront issues of Frames 2002.
The sessions
will deal with topics as diverse as fighting copyright theft, insurance
and niche broadcasting to radio programming, scripting and the new
frontiers in filmmaking.
Buyer-Seller
Meet
There will
also be a buyer seller meet related to specific subjects such as
film production, animation, broadcasting, radio and events, etc.
Important technological innovations in the entertainment industry
worldwide will be a focus area.
|
The
ABC of FRAMES 2002
|
|
Audio:
While Compact disc format has created a mini revolution
in India, the MP3 format has yet to catch on. This utility,
a craze in the western world holds tremendous potential, but
has a whole gamut of legal issues tagging along with it that
need to be properly sorted out.
Broadcast:
The internet and convergence technology, have blurred the
boundries of the broadcasting world. India thankfully has
the potential to ride the crest and efforts should be made
to educate more and more people about the upcoming innovations.
Cable:
The cable laws need to be regularised, the sooner the better.
Cable piracy has become a flesh in the thorn of the entertainment
industry and effective methods should be implemented promptly
to curb it.
Digital:
Digital encryption, transmission and content programming is
the wave of the future and can’t be ignored. Thankfully,
there is no dearth of trained manpower in India, and like
computers, India is all set to emerge as the leader of digital
revolution as well.
Films:
Indian films today have come on their own and enjoy a cult
status worldwide. Still, much remains to be done in terms
of marketting to realise their full potential.
Globalisation:
With the advent of internet, the world has truly shrunk to
the size of a global village. Now, entertainment needn’t
be localised and efforts should be undertaken to create niche
markets round the globe.
Hollywood:
Joint ventures with the other entertainment giant should be
started. Likewise, efforts should be made to project India
as an alternative shooting venue.
Innovation:
Transmission and production values are surpassing new barriers
with each passing day. To stay ahead of the race, the Indian
entertainment industry not only will have to implement the
ongoing innovations promptly, but also has to invent a few
tricks of its own.
Music and Multimedia:
Indian music scene is enjoying a never before attention with
new genres like Indi-pop and Bhangra rap ruling the airwaves
in discotheques all over the world. Come convergence and Multimedia
is going to strom every household in India. Technical issues,
mainly concerning copyright, need to be probed properly.
News:
News programming is currently the biggest draw in the entertainment
sector today. The success of reality programming has ensured
that this segment has a bright future and has come home to
stay.
Production:
The production quality needs to be elevated above the current
levels as the viewers are becoming increasingly aware of their
rights. Soon, pay-as-you-watch phenomenon would unfold and
the consumer would not subscribe to shoddy programming.
Radio:
Specialised, content-based programming is the need of the
hour. News coverage through private channels should also be
given top priority.
Satellite:
India today has world class satellites roaming its skies.
It also possesses superior encryption software and these plus
points should be highlighted to market our country as the
transmission hub of Asia. Then, the private sector should
also be encouraged to invest in the satellite technology segment.
Television:
TV literally has become the mainstay of the entertainment
sector in India. The foreign makets need to be tapped and
the library content should be judiciously used in this regard
to increase revenue.
Video Piracy:
Video Piracy has become a menace and needs to be curbed instantly.
The existing laws should be swiftly implememted and the industry
and the government machinery should work in close harmony
to maintain a constant vigil over the sector.
|
More
|
