 "M&E could be driver of economic change: Uday Shankar")
Talking about the M&E Industry, Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India who has taken over as the chairman of the Media & Entertainment Committee, said, “While the industry has made spectacular progress in the last 20 years in increasing the intensity of engagement with the Indian consumer through superior content–there is still a gap in our ability to monetise the engagement and use the resources generated to advance both access and content.
2013 is a year of many milestones in the media and entertainment industry and FRAMES will offer an opportunity for us to put these developments into perspective, look at the larger picture and engage on such a bold and important theme”.
He added that while industry is not asking for any financial aid from the government, what it is looking for is the right state of policy legislation.
Shankar emphasised that the sector has an enormous potential for making a considerable contribution. “If given right policies, this sector can surprise all other sectors and will be the driver of the economic change,” he said.
Karan Johar, co-chairman of Media & Entertainment Committee added, “The M&E industry has the potential to become the catalyst for social change and a force of good for every niche of society. FICCI Frames has been the most eminent platform for the M&E sector and its initiatives over the past decade have improved the quality of content generation, skill development and stature of the industry. We believe that our new agenda will be the change agent for social and commercial development, connecting a billion people, while shaping and informing their opinions and getting influenced by their collective needs in turn.”
He said that there are many obstacles and impediments though. “As an industry, we have always been self-sufficient and have not asked for help. But it is a time when levels of delusion have to decrease and levels of pragmatism have to increase,” he added.
At Frames 2013, the aim is to deliberate on the growth of the industry and find ways to maximise both its creative and economic potential by engaging with the billion strong consumer base in our country.
The range of topics to be covered include - digitisation, making big budget films and being successful in Bollywood, censorship, marketing, exhibition, distribution, viability of the sports broadcasting business, the future of content consumption in an era progressively getting defined by the digital media, innovation and planning required in various policy issues within TV, cinema, animation and gaming.
Speakers include Manish Tewari, Minister of Information and Broadcasting; Uday Kumar Varma, Secretary, I&B; Dr Rahul Khullar, Chairman, TRAI; Naina Lal Kidwai, President, FICCI; Andy Bird, Chairman, Walt Disney International; Anne Sweeney, Co-Chair, Walt Disney International & President Disney ABC Television Group; Bob Bakish, CEO, Viacom Media International; Colin Maclay, MD, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University; Andy Kaplan, President, International Networks, Sony Pictures Television; Mira Nair, film-maker; Dominic Proctor, President, Group M Worldwide; Seymour Stein, Vice President, Warner Bros Music; David Womart, the Producer of Life of Pi; and film maker Gurinder Chaddha among others.
Also, at FRAMES 2013, Information Ministers of the SAARC nations will form an exclusive panel on forging bilateral ties to augment growth amongst geographically and culturally connected countries.