Though the budget of Bollywood films and their box-office collections are a fraction of those made by Hollywood, the latter is looking for more collaboration with Indian film makers.
Recently, the city of Los Angeles, where the US film industry, Hollywood, is located, signed a declaration with the Film and Television Producers Guild of India and the Film Federation of India on commercial co-operation.
There is a big business opportunity for Hollywood studios from the agreement. While the agreement will provide tax incentives to Indian film makers who decide to produce their films in Hollywood, the city of Los Angeles hopes to attract more film producers to spend their money in the city.
“It is an agreement for economic co-operation. Indian film makers shooting in Los Angeles would get tax credits of 20-25 per cent for films made on a budget of $1-75 million. In the recent past, films like My Name Is Khan and Kites were shot in Los Angeles and this declaration will further help,” said Motion Picture Association India’s MD, Rajiv Dalal.
Such an agreement shows the business potential of India’s film industry is being recognised by Hollywood, say veterans. “This agreement will bring greater collaboration between two of the largest film industries. In the long term, there might be investment by Hollywood studios in Indian talent as well,” said UTV Motion Pictures’ CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Film producer Bobby Bedi said, “Hollywood and Bollywood are two industries that are economically robust and represent significant economic and cultural interests of their respective countries. India has always held a fascination for Hollywood and this agreement pulls us closer together, with the aim of sharing ideas and best practices on domestic and international film production.”
This is the second major step towards economic development between Hollywood and the Indian film industry this year. In March, the two came together in Mumbai to launch the Alliance Against Copyright Theft, a Bollywood-Hollywood content protection coalition in India.
Some of the joint ventures and co-productions between individual Hollywood studios and Indian production houses over the past several years include MNIK, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge, Lahore, Khichdi, We Are Family, Do Dooni Chaar, Chandni Chowk To China, Quick Gun Murugan and Roadside Romeo.
