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Two years ago, I was invited by a Professor friend, to give a guest lecture at the local University to students who were about to graduate as filmmakers. The objective was to offer them my 2 cents of advise on the business and marketing side of the internet for their films.

The lecture to my relief went smoothly and was followed with a power packed Q&A after. I wish I could have video taped it for PFC’s budding filmmakers and aspirants. Since the lecture, two years ago, it gives me great pleasure to read an email I receive occasionally or so from these students, many of them making shorts, documentaries and even indies, thanking me for the lecture and mentioning how they followed those principles to success for each movie they make.

Yet, it frustrates me no end, that the industry most dear to me - Bombay, still is quite behind in …

With a slew of big releases planned for next three months, it almost seems that the Hindi film industry is showing no impact of the financial crisis that has engulfed the world. While the impact of the financial crisis on other sectors in India like Banking, Realty and IT has been covered widely in media, there’s been limited focus on its impact on the entertainment sector. It will be interesting to analyze what the impact on the industry will be and what could be the potential responses by the industry.

First, a quick summary of the outcomes of the current crisis (past article on the origination of the crisis here). While a lot of us relate the crisis to ‘events’ like the collapse of Bear Stearns (who, incidentally, were the Bankers to Disney), of Lehmann Brothers and the fall of stock markets (Indian indices have fallen by over 60% in …

Berlin is coming to Bollywood to present business and financing possibilites. Variety reports “The Medienboard will present the Berlin film industry and its advantages and financing possibilities at a special event on Nov. 2 in Mumbai to an audience of Indian producers and creative professionals. Among the highlights of the presentation will be a discussion on co-production opportunities with German filmmakers and the ongoing development of potential joint projects… With an overall subsidy volume of E30 million ($39 million), the Medienboard is the second-biggest regional film fund in the country behind North Rhine-Westphalia’s Filmstiftung NRW.”

There has been discussions here before on Movies, their marketing and challenges we face in dealing with piracy - i say ‘we’ here for convenience sake (devlish-eheh). India Today organised a conclave with different entrepreneurs and main speakers Aamir Khan, Shekhar Kapur (moderator) and Ashok Amritraj recently (i believe they do it ever year) and aamirkhan.org has put up videos of the event on Youtube for all of us to see.

Aamir had this to say in an interview at the Conclave

Q: Taare Zameen Par touched many hearts. Do you think you have been successful in integrating commercial and art cinema?
Firstly, I don’t believe in the concept of art and commercial cinema. I have never distinguished them. For me, the main aim is make popular films which cater to the popular market, to the masses. To me, the audience is the one that decides. Cinema is an art form in itself. …