Government-industry interaction discusses strategies for unleashing potential of media and entertainment sector

Development of the audio-visual sector requires industry friendly policies, collaboration and regular interaction between the Government and industry stakeholders. The National Film Development Corporation, the Ministry of I&B’s nodal developmental agency in the film sector, organized one such stakeholder meeting in Mumbai today. Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra and MD, NFDC, Ravinder Bhakar, in Mumbai on September 26, 2022.

The industry was represented by acclaimed filmmakers and industry professionals namely, Dinesh Vijan Founder of Maddock Films, Apoorva Mehta, CEO Dharma Productions, Ayan Mukerji, R. Balki, Vikram Malhotra, CEO Abundantia, Gaurav Gandhi and Aparna Purohit from Amazon Prime Vidoe, Monica Shergill of Netflix, Jayanti Lal Gada, Chairman PEN India, Bhavini Sheth, CEO Balaji Motion Pictures, Shibasish Sarkar, President Producers Guild of India, Nitin Tej Ahuja CEO, Producers Guild of India, Producers Mahaveer Jain and Madhu Mantena.

The deliberations centered around the strategic initiatives taken by the Government to unleash the potential of the M&E Industry. The Ministry of I&B’s efforts at easing filming in India through the Film Facilitation Office and the onboarding of Invest India to expand its outreach to the domestic and international industry was highlighted. The recently launched Incentive Scheme for International Productions and Official Co-productions was discussed in detail, including the benefits it would bring to content creation in India. The Industry was urged to leverage the FFO ecosystem and their suggestions on the incentives were duly noted.

The Government’s efforts to make the forthcoming 53rd edition of the International Film Festival of India a success along with the opportunities being created for the Industry were emphasized. Feedback was sought on the amendments made in the Draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The feedback received from the industry participants was positive and they unanimously accepted the proposed amendments.

The stakeholders were also apprised of the Ministry’s recognition of the Industry’s concern towards theatre density in India and the consequent development of a single window ecosystem and a model law for the ease of permission for construction of screens/theatres was in progress. Attention of the Industry was drawn to many other interventions being made by the Ministry in the audio-visual sector.

Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of I&B, summed up today’s discussion as fruitful and said: “The engagement with Industry served as a perfect opportunity to apprise the various stakeholders of the efforts being made by the Ministry to give an impetus to the film industry. The response from the participants was encouraging and we have urged them to leverage these various platforms and support our endeavor to make India a global content hub’. BCS Bureau