Mumbai Production & Post Companies
Mumbai Production & Post Companies
In general prices in India are lower than in the west and the work can be comparable, if managed properly. The correct partnership is absolutely essential, as is local knowledge and awareness. Locations are adaptable and you can find extremes such as mountains, deserts, beaches, a variety of villages and, of course, cities. Keep in mind the monsoon season from June to September, which can disrupt filming. Mumbai has brilliant studios and a long established reputation as a film centre, dubbed “Bollywood” for its massive film industry.
There are many strong production companies in Mumbai who work with local and international directors. Many of these work on long and short form but there is a growing number that specialize in production for advertising. You will find a number of these companies listed in the WORK directory at LBBOnline. Our goal is to be sure that you have the best contacts in each region.
While 5 years ago most of the local work went to local directors, it seems that is changing, thanks to companies like Bang Bang Films. Roopak Saluja, Co-Founder and MD explains: “We set up a company that had some local directors but also worked with a lot of international directors whom we felt would benefit the local market. We became one of the go-to companies for international work and slowly but surely [local] companies started to trust us to manage their business locally as well. At Bang Bang we can simply offer whom we think can best direct the job working with our local or international directors and the agencies trust us to make the choice”.
London-based production company Great Guns has developed a relationship with Mumbai-based company Crocodile. For Great Guns MD Laura Gregory, the move to India was a no brainer and a great deal of the appeal also lay in the personal connection with Sajiv Kurup, founder of Crocodile, whom she describes as “one of the most forward thinking new wave producers and the perfect partner for our continued expansion in Asia”. It is a perfect example of two established players coming together in the mutual interest of their businesses. Kurup’s close association with the Indian Film Industry was also a draw.
With the “Bollywood” film industry rated one of the largest in the world; there is no shortage of post production companies. Many of these companies work on both long form and advertising. From our research, it appears that there are three main post houses used by the agencies: Famous, Primefocus and Pixion. All three have complete commercial capabilities. In this emerging market, though, new companies are appearing on the scene to shake up the establishment. One such company is Futureworks, which is working on a brand new offering, soon to be announced. Keep your eyes on this new player, which is poised to make waves. Prices for post in Mumbai are low compared to the west but can differ in quality.
Q&A with Roopak Saluja, Co-Founder & Managing Director Bang Bang Films & Jack in the Box Worldwide
LBBOnline: Tell us a bit about your company and what makes it unique?
Saluja: We are only a four year old company. I came to India after various roles in advertising (Saluja worked for Ogilvy Paris and Y&R Budapest) and my partner, Kirk Dias had been in the production business for 15 years. Back then APAC (Asia Pacific) was, like today, a very heavily cross-pollinated region in terms of commercials production but no one was talking to Indian companies outside India and the converse was true as well- Indian agencies weren't working with directors and producers from outside India either. The local market was mostly director driven, there was less transparency and accountability to the point that quotes were sent to agencies as a single lump sum figure instead of being broken down. We set up a company with the aim of building a production brand that had some local directors but also worked with a lot of international directors that we felt would benefit the local market. We were the first to bring the international model to India and soon became THE go-to company for international work. Slowly but surely, we also managed to start getting good work for our local directors. So instead of being a director-driven company, we followed the production-driven model and we offered directors based on script. In the last year we have seen a huge growth in placing international directors for local work. At Bang Bang we can simply offer whom we think can best direct the job working with our local or international directors and the agencies trust us to make the choice. The strategy of building a production brand has succeeded.
LBBOnline: Do you find that you have to compete with foreign directors when bidding on jobs in your country?
Saluja: Yes. We are bidding against companies from other countries now: @radical, Partizan, The Sweet Shop, etc. We feel that we have helped open a market that is now accessible to foreign directors.
LBBOnline: Equally, do you find other territories calling upon your Directors?
Saluja: Yes, we are being called on by other countries. We are thinking about opening a Singapore office as we are now working around the region.
LBBOnline: Are production companies in your country doing work directly with the client and bypassing the agency? If so, how is that working?
Saluja: Good question. As far as Bang Bang goes, not really. Jack in the Box was set up one year ago to create content for digital, mobile, blogs, shows, etc., so we brought in other talent to become a ‘thinking and doing’ company, not just a ‘doing’ company. Through Jack in the Box, we work with agencies if it makes sense but in several cases, we are building lots of stuff that is direct to client like social and digital media.
LBBOnline: What are the financial benefits and incentives of working in your city?
Saluja: It’s not the cheapest place to shoot, but it is low cost. What we do have is excellent studios, interesting locations, and great value on post production.
LBBOnline: You have just entered in to a partnership with Believe Media of Los Angeles (with offices in NY and London). Can you tell us how this came about?
Saluja: What was meant to be a twenty minute courtesy meet and greet at Believe in LA back in February this year turned into a two hour discussion that resulted in the creation of Believe@Bang Bang. A certain sense of mutual comfort was established the moment I walked into their office.
LBBOnline: Why is this important for Believe?
Saluja: We have a strong network within Asia Pacific and the Middle East which Believe Media can now exploit using us as their ‘on ground’ partner. In addition, they gain our local production team and know how.
LBBOnline: What are the advantages for Bang Bang?
Saluja: As India's international production company, it’s hugely advantageous for us to have access to a heavyweight roster like Believe's (including directors Zack Snyder, Bruno Aveillan, Gerard de Thame and more). Their work is very visually and aesthetically strong, which is similar to what you'll find on our own reel. Yes, both companies have brands with strong equity and we do work for several of the same clients and agencies on different sides of the world but what I think will make this partnership tick is the fact that we share a commonality in outlook and values. No partnership can survive too long with a difference in values.
LBBOnline: Has Believe@Bang Bang completed any work to date?
Saluja: Our first spot should air in November. It's for Tata Motors spot shot by Gerard de Thame in South Africa for Ogilvy Mumbai.
Q&A with Gaurav Gupta, Future Works Post Production
LBBOnline: Tell us a bit about your company and what makes it unique?
Gupta: As a young company we can spend more time understanding what clients need and creating workflows for them. We want to deliver them their vision and not what we think it is. For feature films we have created a very high VFX department and we are trying to deliver that to the commercial market - high end imaging to really shine. We are pitching on VFX shots in commercials, CG, or creating really good finished shots. We find that a lot of directors shoot with passion but forget the finished product. We want to offer high end VFX and we are focusing on partnering with global companies to bring a polished look to the local market. We don't want to rush this, we want to offer a unique value proposition.
LBBOnline: What kit are you running in your facility and can you cope with all post work from edit, to colour to finish? Or do you work with partners?
Gupta: We have three Flames, Smoke, Lustre, 2 iQ Pablos and 1 Resolve coming in. We have 200 people working in visual effects. We also have Nuke and Maya capabilities.
LBBOnline: What are your rough rates for smoke, flame, TK an hour?
Gupta: 6000 Indian rupees an hour.
LBBOnline: What kind of difficulty do you see in international companies coming to Mumbai?
Gupta: In most businesses, it’s best to work with local partners. We understand how our infrastructure works. Working here may frustrate companies who aren't locals, it’s done differently here. NY and London are similar, Mumbai is different.
LBBOnline: How does an operator typically gain experience in your city?
Gupta: We have a good budget for training, keep the vendors training, we get senior guys to run course
LBBOnline: Is 3D Stereoscopic a reality in your city and are you working in stereo?
Gupta: We have quoted on it but clients have shied away.
Q&A With Pranav Chaturvedi, Prime Focus
LBBOnline: Tell us a bit about your company and what makes it unique?
Chaturvedi: Prime Focus is a global Visual Entertainment Services group. We provide creative and technical services to the Film, Broadcast, Commercials, Gaming, Internet and Media industries. Visual Entertainment Services is a new definition for an industry where technology, visual delivery platforms and content are converging and evolving. We offer a genuine end-to-end solution from pre-production to final delivery including pre-visualisation, equipment hire, visual effects, video and audio post-production, Digital Intermediate, digital asset management and distribution. Our pioneering business model ‘Worldsourcing’ enables our talent to share their expertise across projects, locations, disciplines and sectors. It means we can operate across the entire Visual Entertainment sector; in every major market and at every stage of a project’s development. Worldsourcing has no borders, time zones or limits on capacity and is able to adapt to the constantly changing needs and ambitions of content creators.
LBBOnline: Are your clients mainly production companies or agencies? How does the bidding and hiring deal work in Mumbai?
Chaturvedi: Our clients include Production houses and creative agencies. Bidding on projects is on the basis of the client’s budgets.
LBBOnline: What kit are you running in your facility and can you cope with all post work from edit, to colour to finish? Or do you work with partners?
Chaturvedi: Since we use Smoke 2010, Telecine on spirit 2k, Avids and fcps, cg, sound studios on protocols and Media library in our facility, we can cope with all work from edit to colour to finish.
LBBOnline: What kind of companies do you compete with? Large post houses, boutiques or global post players?
Chaturvedi: All of the above
LBBOnline: Is 3D Stereoscopic a reality in your city and are you working in stereo?
Chaturvedi: View-D™ from Prime Focus is a proprietary system for the conversion of 2D moving images to stereo 3D images. It offers many advantages over alternative conversion methods, including superior quality of converted imagery, significantly shorter production timeframes, more iterations and control over virtually every pixel in the frame.
The first commercial application of View-D™ was on the Warner Bros. feature film 'Clash of the Titans' which became the highest-grossing Easter weekend opening of all time on its release. We also successfully delivered the recent ‘My Soul to Take’ and the unreleased ‘Chronicles of Narnia’.
LBBOnline: What percentage of your work is local? And what percentage comes from other countries?
Chaturvedi: Most of the work is local and it is not possible for us to put a percentage of work that comes from other countries as it varies from year to year.
