Chris Forrester, on 14-09-2008
“Film is the entertainment option for the family in India,” said Radesh Mishra, CEO of Indian operations at digital distribution specialists UFO Moviez. "A new film is an opportunity for the whole family to visit the cinema, and bond together.”

Speaking at IBC, he said movie distribution was in a transformational period affecting all levels of the operation. “We are now delivering movies direct to theatres in India using satellite.”

Misra said the upside was that movies had achieved cult status. But the downside was that India was an extremely price-sensitive market despite about 1000 movies being released a year in more than 20 languages. But the cost of prints, not helped by the usual two-and-a-half to three-hour typical running time, is too high.

“A major film might have just 400 prints made at about $1500 a print, which then trickle down to secondary cinemas. By this time however piracy has usually kicked in, and in a big way.”

The solution, Mishra argued, was digital cinema. UFO Moviez digitized the film, and took responsibility for distribution at a cost that was about 90% lower than the conventional celluloid task. His organization had already financed about 1250 screens, and was targeting an additional 1500 over the next two years. This allowed distributors and producers to go for a much wider release pattern.

“We provide an end-to-end solution, sourcing the satellite bandwidth, the movies and fund the equipment. We are paid on a ‘per show’ basis, around 21 screenings a week. Even better some 50% of our revenue comes from a brand-new source – advertising. Prior to this digital distribution there was little or no interest from national advertisers in cinema ads. With 9000 screens and about 8000 owners this was an impossibility. Now we are generating widespread interest, and cutting down on piracy.”

Source: Rapid TV News 2008

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