Shorter flicks,bigger returns

New innovations in marketing and publicity: Marketing and publicity is a very integral function for any movie8217;s success. Creating the right noise from the very initial stages of the film to the post production stages has become an imperative function coupled with innovation and ongoing market research for every film. For example,a movie like Raajneeti,a political thriller,had its marketing campaign strategised with promotions in the form of rallies in various cities,while its posters indicated a strong message about the film being a political thriller. Udaan,had done a research online amongst youngsters 12-19 yrs,to get an insight into their behavioural patterns,and hence to capture eyeballs in an already cluttered space.

Marketing effectiveness research: Another prominently emerging trend,this is a tool that helps map out marketing campaigns effectively by gauging audience response across different media vehicles. This will soon become an imperative tool for all studios to measure the efficacy of their marketing investment and to predict box office collections well in advance and plan accordingly.

Shorter films: Audiences of today,especially the 18-35 year-olds which form the most significant part of the Indian population,and are popularly known as the impatient generation,have a preference for more snacky and short form of content. New-age directors who can feel the pulse of these audiences are very capable of delivering content that will soon bring in the trend of watching short format content on non-theatrical platforms.

New revenue streams: Next year,the advent of new emerging platforms and technologies will pave the way for newer revenue streams for the film industry apart from the box-office and other traditional sources of revenue. Innovations like 3G will change the dynamics of the movie watching experience,creating new access points for consumers across the world.

De-risking: Today,the opening weekend box office collections dictate the commercial fate of a film. Pre-sales deals which include satellite rights,music rights and home video rights sometimes recover 40- 45 percent of the production cost of the film. Moreover,an established studio with a strong slate of 12- 15 movies a year,has the advantage of being able to de-risk an entire slate of productions well in advance of their theatrical release. Hence,the existing practice of declaring a film a hit or flop simply based on its box office performance,will be a largely irrelevant and outdated concept in 2011.

Changes in legislation: Various amendments to existing laws have been proposed,which will have a direct impact on the functioning of the industry. In this process,it is imperative for the legislators to keep in mind all sides of an issue,rather than be swayed by specific interest groups. The entire commercial dynamics of the industry could be decided simply based on a few of these amendments,and hence the required due diligence must be put in before pronouncing judgement.

Regional cinema: Regional cinema will gain more prominence,with funding from national players. The increasing preference amongst audiences for local flavours rather than standardisation in content,will see regional cinema growing in the coming years and sharing a larger pie of the film industry.

3D and visual effects: With industry players investing in 3D enabled screens in the country and producers bringing in premium content,we see a significant and growing audience for visual effects driven content in the future.

Entry of Hollywood studios into local production: Considering that some countries have reached a saturation point while others have stringent protectionist policies in favour of local cinema,India is an emerging media and entertainment hotspot for international players.

New crop of film makers: And finally,the emergence of a bold new generation of film makers,uniquely influenced by a mix of Hollywood,Bollywood and world cinema. Their creative choices are informed by the incredible changes they have witnessed growing up during India8217;s transition from a socialist to a liberalised state. This generation will dictate how we scale the next frontier for Indian cinema.