Reliance Entertainment to start film mktg biz

Reliance Entertainment, the entertainment company of Anil Ambani, is planning a new business - film marketing.

A new division under Reliance Entertainment will cater to the promotion and marketing activities, including in-movie placements and merchandising, for films its produces and acquires from other producers. 
 
Saurabh Varma, who has been roped in by the company as chief marketing officer, will lead the division. Varma currently is vice president (programming and distribution) at Inox Leisure. He is expected to take over by mid-November, and will be responsible for developing the marketing strategy. 

An R-ADAG spokesperson confirmed the development, and added that the new business will exploit all platforms for the promotion of films. The group already operates radio stations (BIG FM 92.70), and owns music and home entertainment labels (BIG Music and BIG Home Video).

It has recently launched BigFlicks.com, an online retail video rental business. The company is also planning to set up a company, Big Motion Pictures, to foray into movie production. As of now, its film production, distribution and exhibition businesses run under Adlabs Films, in which it had bought a majority stake from Manmohan Shetty and his family.

R-ADAG has also announced plans to enter the direct-to-home (DTH) business under Reliance Bluemagic. 

The company is believed to be in advanced negotiations with film director Nitin Desai to acquire either a majority stake or a complete buyout of his movie studio - N D Studio, located in Karjat (near Mumbai).