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Tag: Eros International

  • As COO, Kapur will be responsible for leading the growth of the studio business at Eros

    Eros appoints Shikha Kapur as COO, Studios

    By A Correspondent

     

    Shikha Kapur

    Eros International has announced the appointment of Shikha Kapur as Chief Operating Officer, Studios of its majority-owned subsidiary, Eros International Media Limited.

     

    As COO, Kapur will be responsible for leading the growth of the studio business at Eros. She will be responsible for feature films, web originals, and other differentiated content in India along with managing marketing and revenues for the film slate. She will also lead talent and partner relationships.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO-India, Eros International Media Ltd. said: “Shikha has a leadership track record of bringing marketing innovation and business understanding that we believe is critical to lead our studios business. Her vast experience and enviable track record will benefit in driving the company’s goals. I look forward to working closely with her in her new role as COO and wish her all the best.”

     

    Added Ridhima Lulla, Chief Content Officer, Eros Group: “Shikha has the perfect blend of diligence and passion, and I welcome her to the Eros International family as she joins us in the new growth phase.”

     

    Commenting on her new role, Kapur said: “I am excited for the new journey ahead of me. The entertainment business is going through a radical transformation and I am looking forward to collaborating with the exceptional leadership team at Eros and leading the vision for a new era in storytelling. Together we envision to deliver a global entertainment brand immersed in creativity, powerful storytelling and innovation.”

     

     

  • Combines leading Indian film studio and OTT platform with one of Hollywood’s fastest-growing independent media companies

    Eros partners STX Entertainment to launch new OTT vertical

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros International and STX Filmworks announced last weekend that they have entered into a definitive stock-for-stock merger agreement to create the first publicly traded, independent content and distribution company with global reach and unique positions in the United States, India and China.

     

    The combined company, to be called Eros STX Global Corporation, will have a pipeline of feature length films and episodic content.

     

    Said Kishore Lulla Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eros International: “We are thrilled to join with STX Entertainment as this represents a landmark step in our company’s transformation. We are already at an inflection point as we move to a more consistent, stable and high growth revenue profile with our digital over-the-top (“OTT”) platform. This merger will not only fuel our growth but will also diversify our underlying sources of revenue and subscribers with a truly global play, building a powerhouse between East and West. We are well positioned to create long-term value for our shareholders, partners and employees,” adding: “Collectively, we will have a unique capability to present our film and episodic libraries and pipeline of original content to a broad and growing global audience through multi-year output deals, strategic alliances and our market leading Eros Now streaming platform.”

     

    Added Robert Simonds, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of STX Entertainment: “The combination of our two companies creates the first truly independent media company that deeply integrates the expertise and creative cultures of Hollywood and Bollywood. Kishore is a legend in the Indian entertainment industry and a pioneer in OTT content development and distribution in India. Together we will have the relationships, management expertise and resources to create new content and grow rapidly in the largest and most attractive global markets. On day one, we will have the ability to tap into our significant combined libraries and draw upon our deep relationships with A-list actors, directors and producers across the globe to create even more compelling content for millions of consumers.”

     

     

  • Eros International has also appointed  Vijay Vaishnav as Chief Finance Officer at Eros Now and Bishwarup Chakrabarti as Legal-Head at Eros Digital

    Pradeep Dwivedi joins Eros India as CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pradeep Dwivedi

    In Greek mythology, Eros is the god of love, the son of Aphrodite. And now comes the news that Pradeep Dwivedi, the M&E professional the industry loves, has joined Eros International Media Limited (EIML) as its Chief Executive Officer.

     

    EIML is a majority-owned subsidiary of Eros International Plc, a leading player in the global Indian film entertainment domain. Dwivedi, a popular, high profile and very visible face in the Indian A&M industry, will be, as per a communique, responsible for managing business growth and operations of the company and will also be responsible for all commercial negotiations and representations in various markets, forums, customers, vendors and regulatory authorities.

     

    Said Kishore Lulla, Executive Director, EIML and Executive Chairman and CEO of Eros International Plc, in a statement: “We are delighted to have Pradeep Dwivedi joining us as CEO at Eros India. His energy, leadership credentials and relationships across multiple industries and deep understanding of media & technology business will be an asset in driving our growth. I am looking forward to working with him in successfully executing our strategy”

     

    Added Dwivedi: “The Indian media and entertainment industry is poised for rapid transformation in the digital era and Eros India, with its strong legacy and innovative vision of Mr. Kishore Lulla, is all set to take advantage of the enormous market opportunities ahead. This provides a significant springboard to lead large-scale creation of value and business transformation. I am keen to work with all our stakeholders to accelerate growth and further success in the next exciting phase of its journey.”

     

    Dwivedi was until last year CEO of the Sakal Media Group, and before that was Chief Corporate Sales and Marketing Officer of the Dainik Bhaskar Group. He is a superactive officebearer of industry associations like the India chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) as well as of The Advertising Club.

     

    Meanwhile, Eros International has also appointed  Vijay Vaishnav as Chief Finance Officer at Eros Now and Bishwarup Chakrabarti as Legal-Head at Eros Digital.

     

     

  • He will be spearheading brand marketing initiatives of the studio and digital business

    Eros Intnl appoints Manav Sethi as Group CMO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros International announced the appointment of Manav Sethi as Group Chief Marketing Officer. He will be spearheading brand marketing initiatives of the studio and digital business, including Eros Now. He will work closely with Rishika Lulla Singh and Kishore Lulla in this role.

     

    Said Singh who is CEO – Eros Digital: “We are delighted to have Manav join the leadership team at Eros. The impact of digital technology on media consumption is growing at a rapid space, making this sector one of the most exciting in present times. With Manav’s exceptional experience in media & entertainment space as well as an extensive global network of relationships, we look forward to further capitalising our expansion strategy for digital and studio business. On behalf of team Eros, I wish him all the best and welcome him to the team.”

     

    Added Sethi: “This is an exciting time for the media and entertainment space along with changing digital landscape and OTT revolution. Eros International is an established global player and has been ahead of the curve in content innovation and technology, dominating the market share globally. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join this amazing team to accelerate Eros’ growth as we continue to define the future of entertainment industry.

     

     

  • Announces over 50 short-form series under Quickie to release in FY 2019

    Eros Now rolls out its ‘Eros Now Quickie’ offering

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros International has announced that Eros Now, its digital OTT distribution service, is xpanding its content strategy with the launch of Eros Now Quickie. Eros Now will launch over 50 Quickie series set to roll out by 2019, the first two of premiered yesterday.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Ridhima Lulla, Chief Content Officer, Eros Group said: “Eros Now Quickie reiterates our commitment towards providing real value to our audiences by creating unique and original concepts that engage and stand out. We want to continue developing compelling content, expand audience engagement and add novelty to the platform by refreshing the service continually. Quickie is yet another initiative towards our promise of a one stop destination for all entertainment”.

     

     

  • The association will enable advertisers to directly monetize on Eros Now’s video platform

    Eros Now announces partnership with InMobi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros International has announced that its OTT platform, Eros Now, has partnered with InMobi, a global provider of enterprise platforms for marketers.

     

    Commenting on this association, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital, said: “With the advertising landscape transforming into immersive engagement, brands can now leverage deep story-telling to collaborate with the audience. The digital penetration is seeing an incremental growth across cities in India and the consumer is increasingly spending much more time on their mobile devices than they did a few years ago, making it one of the most sought-after platforms for advertising. We are happy to join hands with one of the leading advertising platforms in India and aim to continue providing a seamless experience to all our subscribers.”

     

    Added Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO, InMobi: “Our association with Eros Now marks an industry first partnership in the OTT space which is the next big thing after the app economy. It will be a trendsetter in many ways. Our distinction lies in our core business which centers around the primary screen – Mobile; making this an organic progression for us, and that’s where our decade-long expertise also comes at play. Our full-stack mobile OTT solutions hinged on in-app and our video-first platform will not only allow for deep brand integrations but will improve the overall efficacy of content monetization, driven through Eros Now’s original video content.”

     

     

  • This association is the first of the many that Eros Now and Colour Yellow Digital are planning in 2018-19

    Eros Now ventures into films with ‘Meri Nimmo’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros announced its first original film ‘Meri Nimmo’ in association with Colour Yellow Productions and Aanand L Rai. The film will premiere on April 27.

     

    Said Ridhima Lulla, Group Chief Content Officer, Eros International: “This launch is a mega step on the evolution of the film business in India. We are thrilled to extend our relationship with Aanandji, with whom we share a wonderful synergy, to the digital space as well. The launch of our first direct to digital film, Meri Nimmo, furthers our promise of offering very engaging original content ensuring a superior consumer experience. With this movie we embark on a journey of providing filmmakers and viewers across the globe with fantastic programming that might not get a theatrical release and delivers better viewership and engagement on digital.”

     

    Commenting on the development, Rai said: “Developing content for digital consumption on Eros Now was a natural progression after our association together on films for the big screen. The digital world excites as well as challenges me and at Colour Yellow Digital, we can’t wait to paint this blank canvas and present Indian content targeted towards audiences for this medium. Meri Nimmo is one such film that’s very Indian at heart and I’m sure it will strike the right chord with its beautiful storytelling and stand out performances”.

     

     

  • Users will also have access to Eros Now’s exciting features including full length movies, thematic curated playlists and multi-language subtitles for movies

    Eros Now collaborates with Foxxum

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros International has announced that its OTT platform Eros Now has forged a strategic partnership with Foxxum, a leading provider of Smart TV solutions, to provide its vast library of premium content on the Foxxum TV app store worldwide.

     

    Through this association, Eros Now continues its global expansion. Apart from the extensive catalogue of Bollywood and regional language films, music videos, TV shows and original shows will be pre-integrated on Foxxum’s Smart TV store and made available to their millions of users across a wide range of devices worldwide. Users will also have access to Eros Now’s exciting features including full length movies, thematic curated playlists, multi-language subtitles for movies, music video playlists, regional language filters, video progression and access to a watch list of titles.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital said: “Launching Eros Now on Foxxum, one of the finest Smart TV platform solutions providers, reinforces our presence and our reach strategy worldwide. We continue to work toward providing the best of Indian entertainment across multiple screens and seamless user experience by being platform agnostic.”

  • India's first franchise label announces an exciting range of films across genres

    Trinity Pictures to start production duties in FY 2017

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading Indian studio Eros International’s Trinity Pictures is ready with its first slate of films across new and exciting genres. Trinity’s first slate is all about creating character-driven franchises which will be leveraged across feature films, merchandising, digital and more. With a focus on creating fresh concepts in new spaces, Trinity is also the first Bollywood studio in India that has a dedicated in-house team of writers in the ‘Trinity Writers’ Room’ who have created over ten original franchises since the Division’s inception, out of which at least four films will go into production in fiscal year 2017.

     

    Trinity’s initial lineup includes a range of character-driven franchises across budgets, genres and languages – from a live action elephant film, to a kid’s action film and an Indo-China project to name a few. These will be helmed by acclaimed directors from across the country including Kabir Khan, Siddharth Anand, Amole Gupte, Telugu director Krish and popular Tamil director Prabhu Solomon.

     

    The first feature to roll out under Trinity Pictures will be director Amole Gupte’ s film – a kids action film, a big scale action film with a child secret agent at the centre of the story that will go on floor in the summer vacation.

     

    With Trinity’s launch, the studio is looking at expanding new film markets which includes opening of one of the biggest markets in the world – China. Two projects will be co-produced with a leading Chinese studio, based on stories organically weaving the socio-cultural worlds of India and China. Additionally, the films will be shot in both languages. The first Indo-China co-production to roll will be directed by Kabir Khan with A-lister cast from India and China — a human drama exploring the central character’s journey from India to China.

     

    Other projects in the pipe line include a film by Siddharth Anand which will explore a fresh take on the spy genre in India. This genre is a global favourite with franchise potential.

     

    Multiple award winning Tamil director, Prabhu Solomon’s bilingual project will be an inspiration from the hit animal film—Haathi Mere Saathi. The shooting will take place during the monsoons across India and abroad and will be mounted on a scale with never-seen-before visual effects in this genre.

     

    Ace director Krish’s buddy cop film will be shot in Hindi and Tamil simultaneously, featuring popular lead actors from both the South and Bollywood. This film has been co-written by Shridhar Raghavan (mentor to Trinity writers), Dheeraj Rattan and K. Subhash.

     

    Commenting on Trinity plans, Jyoti Deshpande, Group CEO, Eros International said, “With Trinity, we continue our endeavor to raise the bar in revolutionizing Indian cinema. As a leading film studio, we have peaked with three out of the top four and seven out of top fifteen films in Bollywood in 2015 being Eros films. Trinity strategy is all about conceiving breakthrough big content ideas and unlocking value from that intellectual property across various distribution platforms for a very long time. We are excited about the slate under development and hope we will have a few top ten films from Trinity”.

     

    Ajit Thakur, CEO, Trinity Pictures added, “With Trinity, there is an effort to create something absolutely new for the Indian market, an effort in investing in creating characters that open a world of possibilities – films, digital games, comics, merchandise. We have writers for the first time creating characters first and then building scripts and projects around these characters. We are the first studio to have tied up with China for co-productions and will be creating new markets with films shot in multiple languages.  There are many firsts to Trinity and only Eros could have seen the merit in a franchise set up as this and taken the risk of making Trinity Pictures happen. We are very excited that the characters and franchises we are creating will hopefully entertain Indian audiences across platforms and well beyond the first Friday”.

     

  • ErosNow Service to be Integrated & Pre-Bundled onLemax and Le1s smartphones

    Eros Now partners LeEco for video content

    By A Correspondent

     

    Eros International Plc announced a strategic business alliance between ErosNow, its cutting edge digital OTT platform, and LeEco, multinational internet and technology company and one of the largest online video companies in China.

     

    LeEco has launched their flagship super phones,Le Max & Le1s, in the Indian market recently. As their preferred partner, ErosNowwill be integrated within the Le ecosystem of internet enabled smartphones and smart televisions, showcasing ErosNow’sextensive repository of Bollywood films, musicand Originals.Devices will include aone year premiumsubscription to ErosNowservice pre-bundled with the purchase of the phones.

     

    With a focus on maximum user engagement and satisfaction, the Eros Now service will be seamlessly integrated into the user interface of Le devices purchased in India, such that users can always be close to their favorite entertainment.

     

    Jyoti Deshpande, Group CEO & MD Eros International commented, “Content consumption is surging across consumers with patterns changing rapidly and internet entertainment networks becoming increasingly popular. At Eros International, as market leaders in the film business, we have always strived to bring to our users the best of Indian entertainment, offering them the same unified experience across screens and we also believe in being platform agnostic. Our partnership with LeEco is part of our philosophy to provide consumers entertainment whenever and wherever they want it. We are delighted to partner with LeEco who believe in offering an online environment complete with content, devices and applications. When content owners and platforms come together like Eros and LeEco, we provide a compelling consumer proposition. We are confident the LeEco range will be able establish its success in the attractive Indian market bundled with our premium content that consumers will love”.

     

    Tin Mok, CEO APAC, LeEco commented, “We are excited to be entering the attractive and vibrant Indian market and partner with some great companies here like Eros who is a proven market leader in Indian entertainment. We sold 4 million phones in China last year and our target this year is 15 million and we hope to replicate that success in India and wow the Indian consumer with our super phones and televisions packed with features. We are pioneers and innovators in the technology world and creating a seamless ecosystem has worked for us very well in China. We believe the Indian consumer will get great value and user experience from our cool phones at compelling prices with annual subscription of Eros Now built into the price.”

     

  • A first-of-its kind video marketplace, Wynk Movies offers a specially curated library of thousands of movies and other popular videos

    Bharti Airtel partners ErosNow for Wynk Movies

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharti Airtel Limited (“Bharti Airtel”) announced a partnership with ErosNow, the cutting edge OTT (Over-the-top) Bollywood entertainment network of Eros International Plc, the NYSE-Listed leading global company in the Indian filmed entertainment sector, for its carrier agnostic mobile application – Wynk Movies.

     

    A first-of-its kind video marketplace, Wynk Movies offers a specially curated library of thousands of movies and other popular videos from host of partners including ErosNow. With this partnership, users of Wynk Movies can access ErosNow’s premium Bollywood content offering thousands of new and classic Bollywood movies. ErosNow also offers a vast selection of audio and song videos, television content and ErosNow originals in the form of drama series with young and contemporary themes. While the app content can be accessed across 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi services, users can enjoy the app best on 4G given its seamless internet capability.

     

    Kartik Sheth, CEO – Wynk said, “We always partner with the best and are confident that having Eros’s premium content as one of channels on our app will help drive faster adoption for video services in the country. As smartphones penetrate deeper leading to a surge in the consumption of videos on mobile, Wynk Movies will further empower users to seamlessly access the best of video content on the move”.

     

    Speaking on the collaboration, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO Eros Digital said, “Armed with our content library and first mover advantage, our vision for ErosNow is to fulfill the growing consumer need for endless premium entertainment on-demand and on-the-go, whether on their smartphones, tablets, laptops or internet enabled devices. An important part of our strategy is to be platform-agnostic and we are delighted to tie up with Airtel, a leading player in its space and a front runner in the 4G revolution where we believe our content and distribution synergies will create a win-win consumer proposition.”

     

    Kumar Ahuja, President – Business Development, Eros International added, “ErosNow has already garnered over 19 million registered users worldwide for ErosNow and we believe our integration with Airtel for their Wynk Movies platform will further give momentum to our customer acquisition strategy”.

     

  • This is the first big external acquisition this year for Colors, after the channel sold a large chunk of 500 films from its library to Star Network earlier in January

    Colors strikes deal with Eros to acquire 9 films @ Rs95 cr

    By Nandini Raghavendra

     

    Raj Nayak

    Colors, Viacom18’s entertainment channel, has struck an exclusive seven-to-nine year deal with Eros International to acquire a slate of nine yet-to-be-released films for around Rs95 crore, marking a return to the movie space.

     

    This is the first big external acquisition this year for Colors, after the channel sold a large chunk of 500 films from its library to Star Network earlier in January this year, as it deferred the launch of its own movie channel.

     

    Earlier this year, the channel had picked up an entire slate of 17 movies from Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, a Viacom group company.

     

    Confirming the deal, Colors chief executive officer Raj Nayak said: “The way movie prices are going we decided to take a pause. It is not viable for one channel to pick up films at those prices as we cannot amortize it across our channels. At the same time, being a leading general entertainment channel, we cannot not offer movies.”

     

    The deal is exclusive to Colors, which retains the right to syndicate the films. As for building their library again with more movies, while talks with a few independent producers to acquire more films is on Mr Nayak says price will be the deciding factor.

     

    It must above all make business sense. Which is why as a strategy, Colors has made a big shift into non-fiction programming and experimented with shows like ‘Ring Ka King,’ and the recently acquired the dance reality show, ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’.

     

    While the satellite market has seen many ups and downs, it remains a huge source of income for producers and makes for as much as 20-35 per cent of a film’s recovery costs, especially the big ones. For Eros, it also reduces risk prior to release. Broadcasters who are in a race for ratings have been paying huge sums for big films.

     

    Industry insiders say, on condition of anonymity, that it is difficult to recover anything beyond Rs20 crore per movie. But the pressure to improve viewership is unrelenting. “The reality on a movie premiere is that it cannot recover more than 30 per cent of its cost; and the rest is across the years,” said Mr Nayak.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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