UTV on signing spree with Hollywood studios

UTV Motion Pictures, a leading media and entertainment company in the country, has announced a spate of co-productions with leading Hollywood studios

UTV Motion Pictures, a leading media and entertainment company in the country, has announced a spate of co-productions with leading Hollywood studios, with a total value across projects of 37 million 8212; the largest such commitment by any South Asian media major till date.

UTV and Fox Searchlight have signed a co-production deal on the film 8216;I think I love my wife8217; starring Chris Rock. Ronnie Screwvala, CEO of UTV Motion Pictures and Peter Rice, CEO of Fox Searchlight announced the deal in Los Angeles on Friday. While principal photography has been completed in New York, Fox Searchlight plans to release the film in the US in February. The 14 million production is UTV8217;s second venture with Fox after The Namesake8217; directed by Mira Nair, which will be released in March 2007.

Commenting on the deal, Peter Rice, CEO of Fox Searchlight says, 8220;We are eager to be partnering with UTV, a dynamic force in South Asian Media as the companies innovative vision parallels Searchlight8217;s. After working together on The Namesake, we jumped at the chance to collaborate again on our highly anticipated Chris Rock comedy8221;.

UTV has also inked a co-production agreement worth 30 million, with actor-producer Will Smith and his production company Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, for films to be created and distributed worldwide. The two-picture deal emerged from a Sony-arranged visit that Smith and Lassiter took to India in February this year, to explore co-production possibilities.

As a result of the co-production agreement, UTV and Overbrook will develop films that will have a global reach and appeal. The first two projects will be a live-action film valued at 10 million and an animated motion picture at 20 million. Sony Pictures Entertainment has a first look deal for the two productions. According to the terms of the agreement, while UTV and Overbrook will co-produce the movies, SPE will distribute the movies worldwide, excluding India.

8220;This unique agreement is the future of our business8221;, said Amy Pascal, chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. 8220;Sony has been involved with local language initiatives for many years and this deal accentuates the way our industry is becoming more borderless and more global every day,8221; he added. For UTV, such deals are a big step in reaching key North American markets and expanding the group8217;s presence globally.