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'Our major focus this year will be on content creation'

Q&A: Hiren Gada

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Priyanka Joshi New Delhi
Last Updated : Feb 05 2013 | 4:18 AM IST
how the company will invest to compete in the Rs 43,000-crore Indian entertainment and media industry and tap virgin business avenues like emerging digital platforms.

How will you streamline your investments in the business?

Shemaroo Entertainment's major focus this year will be on content creation. We are eyeing both film and animation to boost our revenues. Shemaroo intends to produce two-three commercial films annually, which should appeal to both Indian and foreign audiences.

An overall corpus of Rs 75 crore has been earmarked for the content creation business, with Rs 50 crore for film production and Rs 20-25 crore for animation films. In another two years, it is our intention to further pump in around Rs 50 crore to this corpus.

Will this focused approach on content creation alone drive Shemaroo's business for the next couple of years?

We believe so. The total turnover of our content creation business is expected to be more than Rs 100 crore. This, in return, will help secure the content pipeline for various other distribution business that we are already in.

In the next two years, around 40 per cent of the company's content business is projected to be created in-house. Rest of the business, we expect, would be coming in from the acquired content. Currently, over 50 per cent of Shemaroo's revenues come from satellite rights distribution and about 20 per cent from home video business.

By next year, revenues from in-house production should be higher than the home video business. The company registered a turnover of Rs 140 crore in 2007-08 and expects to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent over the next three years.

Any other business stream that you plan to add in 2008?

On the distribution front, there are still two avenues that we have to explore and capitalise. One is theatrical distribution that we have begun with the launch of DVDs of classic theatre plays and popular television serials. The second is audio and music distribution where we plan to grow expansively this year.

As far as expanding the home entertainment segment is concerned, Shemaroo expects audio-visual content (non-film based) like edutainment films for children, television content, sports and animation to be an emerging business driver, driving almost 20 per cent of our home entertainment revenues this year. Shemaroo's regional production will be an active business activity too.

Do new digital distribution and marketing platforms feature in Shemaroo's roadmap?

On the distribution front, films today are getting wider releases through digital cinemas. Among the various new digital mediums that we are exploring for distribution include IPTV, video on demand and mobile platforms.

We have tie-ups with leading service providers who are setting up these services, namely Bharti Airtel, VSNL, Aksh Optifibre, Goldstone, WatchIndia, Tinsel Vision, Rajshri, Bigflicks, among others.

Do you expect stiff competition from other business houses that have already announced large projects and international content tie-ups?

We are an established player in the industry and have an integrated presence across production, distribution and value-chain of the film entertainment business. Competition is a part of every business but we are equipped with our own set of strategies and tie-ups.


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First Published: May 15 2008 | 12:00 AM IST

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