You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2008.
CANNES – Lionsgate and Eros Intl., the leading distributor of Indian movies, have set up a joint venture spanning distribution and production in India and North America.Initial aim of the alliance is to better exploit existing slates and library content and to put more volume through the two companies’ respective distribution networks. Production, likely to involve movies in the $10 million-$20 million range, will follow.
“This is a 50-50 deal because both sides are bringing great things to the table,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.
“There are three good reasons to do this,” he continued. “We want to monetize our library and new film and TV content in better ways. Second, we want to monetize Eros’ properties in home entertainment in North America and together become a major aggregator of other people’s content and distribute library and formats in South Asia. Then, we also want to produce English- and Hindi-language movies together, both original and remakes.”
In addition, Lionsgate is committed to acquiring North America homevideo rights to 20 Eros titles, including “Eklavya: The Royal Guard” and “Gandhi My Father.”
Courtesy of Patrick Frater
If a documentary or a film can alter personal or corporate behavior can it also alter politics? That is the question raised by the success of features such as an “inconvenient truth.”
Al Gore’s documentary did as much if not better than any political talk to raise awareness about the alarming environmental problems that our contemporary society is facing.
The documentary received four times as much media attention as the 2001 intergovernmental panel on climate change report. It also grossed 24 million at the US box office and went on to get an Academy Awards. Three months after the film’s release, California passed sweeping legislation to curb greenhouses gases.
Similarly Michael’s Moore “Sicko”, about the American health care system, did more for public awareness than any other single event in the movement according to Joel Segal, a staffer assisting Congress man, John Conyers on a universal-health care bill.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that as a result of Moore’s documentary 43% were more likely to report that health-care reform is urgently needed.
Hollywood is today frequently thriving on its power of social engineering. Stars such as Leonardo Dicaprio, Angelina Jolie or Georges Clooney have willingly taken pay cuts and extensively promoted features that further humanitarian or political agendas.
This spring at least eight projects with strong social agendas from directors such as Errol Morris and Morgan Spurlock and Brett Morgen will hit US theatres. Chicago 10, which was financed by “Participant Production”, has backed 39 other movies, among which documentaries as well as features, including Syrianna and the Kite Runner
All its movies have social-actions campaigns. “We want to make social return and commercial return on our investments,” says Participant president Ricky Strauss.
So do movies make a difference? We want to believe they do. We hope they do. At the very least they can make advocates out of supporters as long as we have bold movie directors striving to produce thought-provocative and compelling features and keep drawing audiences into a social and cultural debate.
