Category Archives: Directing Business

Directing Business, ET, Movies

In the Global Movie Business, China Aims for a Starring Role

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“Chinese Titan Takes Aim at Hollywood,” said a New York Times report last month, referring to the plans of Wang Jianlin, China’s wealthiest investor and founder of the $30 billion real estate group Dalian Wanda, to build a movie-themed real estate project in the upscale seaside town of Qingdao. Price tag: 50 billion Yuan ($8 billion). “It is estimated that China’s film box office revenue will surpass North America’s by 2018 and will double it by 2023 — that is why I believe the future of the world’s film industry is in China,” the Times quoted Wang as saying.

Wang’s project, called the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis, will include the world’s largest studio (among several others), resort hotels, an indoor amusement park and movie theaters on a 930-acre site. Big-name Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Nicole Kidman were present at the project’s launch ceremony last month in Qingdao. Wang described the ceremony as a symbol of his country’s plan to become a leader in the movie business. Last year, he bought U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion.

 

ET, Management, Movies

Brand Bachchan

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What is more, he retains the simplicity and the humility of yore. Speaking to this correspondent recently at the launch of a book on his films’ posters, he said, “I am happy that people want me even at this age, that film-makers still want me…. I may not be happy with all the jobs I do, but I am nervous about every new venture, be it a film or a television show. It is important to be nervous. That way you give your best. You are not smug.”

Indeed, he is far from smug. Forever reinventing himself, forever pushing boundaries, Bachchan has scoffed at all the norms of cinema. Now, it is the turn of television, where he is set to make his acting debut later this year. He still retains the same nervous energy. “Every day I am apprehensive before facing the camera. I rehearse my lines for hours. We all try to reach a situation where we become so natural that the camera doesn’t exist for us. I don’t know if I have been able to achieve it.”

More at Frontline.in

 

Directing Business, Strategy

Why Flipkart is raising so much money

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When top online retailer Flipkart raised $200 million in July, it was asked a pertinent question: Why did the company go to its existing investors rather than new ones? While Flipkart pointed out that the move showed confidence of the current investors in the company’s future, rivals and analysts argued it was a decision made due to lack of options. “Existing investors were finding it tough to exit, so they decided to re-invest.” Three months down the line when Flipkart went to the market again to raise $160 million, it faced a new question: “Why does it need funds so soon?”

To that, Sachin Bansal, chief executive and co-founder of the company, says the money had to be raised for “technology and supply-chain expansion to reach more and more people”, adding that these are long-term goals. The company has notched up a total of $540 million in funds over the last six years, $360 million of which has flowed in two tranches this year itself.

More at Business Standard