FICCI FRAMES Day 2: Emphasis on Film Financing, Basics of film making, Radio and Advertising

By Bollywood Hungama -

March 25, 2011 - 12:00 AM IST

FICCI FRAMES Day 2: Emphasis on Film Financing, Basics of film making, Radio and Advertising

With the day packed to the tee with seminars, group discussions and workshops, Day 2 at FICCI FRAMES was abuzz with activities. Here's an overview -

Innovative ways to fund the entertainment business: There is no doubt that investments made in films can at times have phenomenal returns, but it is accompanied by a huge risk factor. This deters many financiers in today's era of economic flux. The seminar focussed on newer ways of gathering funds for the media and entertainment sector. A few interesting observations from the seminar were that banks weren't keen on setting up a panel that would evaluate the feasibility and potential of a creative project before investing in it. They would still bet on high profile stars as a security for getting their money back. Film-funds would be the best bet for someone planning to make a feature without the backing of the stars, but India barely has any of them for supporting the industry.

The business of filmmaking: This talk had a good assortment of speakers from the film industry that were brought on to shed light on what are the factors that come to together to create a successful film. Shyam Benegal pointed out to a very vital point by saying that the concept of 'genres' doesn't exist in India as Indians want all the emotions from the 'Nav-Rasa' packed into a film and that's what makes films a cultural phenomenon and project. This hence, rules out the prospects of having a crossover film. Ms. Shibani Bathija, screenwriter, went on to elaborate what elements come to together to make a conventional mass-entertainer in India. She equated them a 'thali meal'. Ian Booth from Australia, however was of the opinion that creativity must be applied into the business aspect of cinema and that crossover of films are possible - they are merely a creative challenge. Anjum Rajabali, brought to light that over 85% films released between 1991 to 2010 have failed to recover their investment He elaborated, film is a medium of visual storytelling, a good screenplay backed by a good director and a cast - is what it takes to make a successful and entertaining film. The producers in India need to invest more on writing and look for better scripts vs. Stars. Ramesh Sippy in his speech agreed with what the other speakers said and emphasized on films being more of a cultural phenomenon.

David Freeman Workshop: His talks were the most popular seminars all day, with writers, directors, producers and media professional filling the venue beyond capacity. His brief screenwriting workshops focussed on '6 Layers of a great film and characters' and the '11 techniques that make Pixar films successful. He stated that screenwriting is 75% of craft, which can be taught, but the rest is art - which comes from within a writer. But there are various techniques that he has come up with to help aid a writer to study his/her screenplay and refine it. He supported each insight he presented with a convincing examples from films. This made for a really interesting learning experience for all those who attended.

Coming soon 800 new radio stations in 300 towns: Opportunities and hurdles - The speakers spoke about the expected launch of 'phase-3' radio reforms, which will lead to an auction of over 800 frequencies in nearly 300 towns. This will enable radio to compete with other medias and hence bring forth opportunities for revenue generation. There were intelligent and relevant questions asked to the panellists during the seminar. One of the conclusions derived during the seminars was that currently only the top 3-4 players are able to exploit the market, however government needs to make reforms in the policies that will enable the smaller players to exploit the market.

Advertising next gen: Advertising, Technology and Content - The seminars speakers elaborated on the potential of internet as a strong medium of advertising and delivering customised advertising to the audience. They were of the opinion that the way ahead for the advertisers is to 'listen' to their consumers and 'watch out', as content creation has become cheaper and can be distributed via the internet easily, so one must be able to tackle negative advertising directed at ones brand too.

Gateways in the European film market: How to market our films abroad - The seminar was conducted by Juliane Schulze who gave an overview of European film market and how it functions. The option of co-production was discussed in detail as it makes the distribution of a film and revenue generation of a film far easier as it helps one to access the powerful resources of the collaborating country.

The Day concluded with BAF Awards where Indian animation, gaming and VFX companies romped home with the lion's share of 10 of the 16 Best Animated Frame (BAF).