00:00:17
we're talking today with namit motra who
00:00:20
is the CEO of Prime Focus thanks for
00:00:21
joining us thank you for having me here
00:00:24
can you explain uh to us what uh Prime
00:00:27
Focus
00:00:28
does Prime Focus is a global visual
00:00:31
entertainment services company servicing
00:00:33
the feature film
00:00:35
broadcast uh television commercials and
00:00:38
New Media uh businesses we provide uh
00:00:42
techn Creative Solutions which is
00:00:43
basically technology and Creative
00:00:45
Solutions for any audio visual content
00:00:48
that needs to be made uh and we provide
00:00:50
it in an integrated fashion across each
00:00:52
of these areas of uh the entertainment
00:00:55
business and you now have facilities in
00:00:58
Vancouver London and most recently I
00:01:00
think Hollywood uh which you you made
00:01:02
some Acquisitions in the US correct
00:01:04
that's right so it's interesting that
00:01:06
your company has grown at a time when a
00:01:08
lot of companies are shrinking so can
00:01:11
you explain sort of how that's taken
00:01:13
place I think uh we uh you know for the
00:01:17
first 10 years of our uh start out you
00:01:19
know when we started in '95 we were a
00:01:21
India Centric company and up to 2005 we
00:01:24
sort of stayed within the Indian uh
00:01:27
territory and 2006 we sort of started to
00:01:30
put together our International strategy
00:01:32
on how we can actually leverage our
00:01:35
learnings of the Indian market across
00:01:36
the global Marketplace and we started
00:01:38
out by taking up a position in the UK
00:01:41
and then in December of 2007 we made our
00:01:44
North American
00:01:45
Acquisitions uh this is all a part of
00:01:48
our Global plan that we had to sort of
00:01:50
connect and uh integrate the service
00:01:53
offerings across the markets because the
00:01:54
language of film and Cinema and any Audi
00:01:56
visual content Remains the Same the
00:01:58
technology Remains the Same
00:02:00
and uh obviously in these times when the
00:02:03
economic conditions become more
00:02:06
difficult to be able to present a global
00:02:08
solution to these Global markets where
00:02:10
there is there are Financial challenges
00:02:13
I think the opportunity and the uh
00:02:16
interest in what we do becomes only
00:02:18
greater to some degree do you think the
00:02:21
film industry has been buffered during
00:02:22
the
00:02:23
downturn I'd say I wouldn't sort of
00:02:25
agree with that although the box office
00:02:28
tends to be in its own indicator from
00:02:31
the industry because what you tend to
00:02:33
find is that you see uh two interesting
00:02:36
films that I'd like to name that came in
00:02:38
December last year in 2009 uh one being
00:02:41
Avatar as everybody knows which is the
00:02:43
sort of a game changer in the film
00:02:45
business worldwide where uh 3D and you
00:02:48
know a film like that goes out and
00:02:50
creates box office history uh worldwide
00:02:53
which released on the 18th of December
00:02:55
and there was a film in in India called
00:02:57
three idiots which again uh was a game
00:03:00
changer and it changed the entire
00:03:02
Bollywood uh uh numbers no film had ever
00:03:05
grossed anything close to the numbers
00:03:07
that they grossed so on one hand you
00:03:10
still have the with inadequate financing
00:03:13
and structured money available the
00:03:16
number of projects and the number of
00:03:18
people that could work on those projects
00:03:20
comes Under Pressure but the box office
00:03:22
obviously is a function of uh quality of
00:03:25
Cinema and and people's interest and
00:03:28
that I think is sort of if the right
00:03:30
project comes along I think the the
00:03:32
revenues on that side don't necessarily
00:03:34
get impacted even though the production
00:03:35
of content could be because of the lack
00:03:37
of financing upfront so it's a it's an
00:03:42
interesting thing but obviously these
00:03:43
two films coming uh in uh the end of
00:03:47
2009 I think has created a sort of uh
00:03:50
interest back into the Revival of the
00:03:52
industries in India and and in Hollywood
00:03:54
as I see it uh where more films are now
00:03:57
back in the running and there is greater
00:03:58
optimism in the Global Financial uh
00:04:02
investors to sort of you know try and
00:04:05
put some more confidence behind the
00:04:06
entertainment business now you mentioned
00:04:09
uh James Cameron's Avatar and I think
00:04:12
you contributed 10% of the visual
00:04:14
effects to that movie uh and and I think
00:04:17
it was 80% of the visual effects you did
00:04:19
for another big film um The Twilight
00:04:22
Saga new Moon correct um do you think
00:04:26
it's necessary for Indian film companies
00:04:28
to to look Westward for expansion to
00:04:30
look to Hollywood is that was that sort
00:04:32
of a central part of your own strategy
00:04:35
so I think you know a company like us
00:04:37
which is a sort of a technology and
00:04:39
Creative Solutions company you know we
00:04:41
believed that we have to be able to
00:04:43
service our capabilities and Technology
00:04:45
with people and systems through a global
00:04:48
Marketplace that is uh I think the the
00:04:51
structure of growth for I guess any
00:04:53
company out there that is sort of in
00:04:55
that space so in our particular case I'd
00:04:58
say absolutely you know that that is
00:05:00
clearly the way we need to be um we have
00:05:03
to sort of take advantage of our
00:05:05
positioning in India and now in the rest
00:05:07
of the world to provide This Global
00:05:09
solution rather than operate in these
00:05:12
bifur are zones of how the industries
00:05:15
otherwise tend to get divided into if
00:05:17
you think about it films in India get
00:05:20
distributed worldwide Avatar was also
00:05:22
one of the highest grossing films in
00:05:24
India which is very unique to Hollywood
00:05:26
films doing business in India so what we
00:05:29
obviously find is that in a globalized
00:05:30
world when films are traveling
00:05:33
everywhere you know film companies like
00:05:34
us also are just tagging behind and
00:05:36
going with the filmmakers go now was
00:05:39
Avatar shown in 3D in India as well yes
00:05:42
it was what and so that raised another
00:05:44
interesting issue because it's sort of a
00:05:45
Hot Topic um what do you think the
00:05:48
market potential for 3D is uh in general
00:05:50
is it sort of a fad a flash in the pan
00:05:52
or is it something that you think is
00:05:54
going to seep into more and more film
00:05:56
making I think uh unlike the past where
00:05:59
3D came more like a fad and it went away
00:06:02
this time around I think the the
00:06:04
technique that uh James Cameron
00:06:07
obviously used in Avatar where 3D was
00:06:09
more about the experience and not
00:06:11
gimmicky and not uh something that
00:06:14
hurted you in terms of uh your V viewing
00:06:17
experience it was it sort of gripped you
00:06:19
more into the story it showed you like
00:06:22
as if there was a live event happening
00:06:23
in front of you and I think that is
00:06:24
always more interesting as against
00:06:27
things just coming out at you you know
00:06:29
which is is what traditional 3D has
00:06:30
always done so this time around you know
00:06:33
the technology and the evolution of that
00:06:35
and uh the fact that television sets
00:06:37
today in 3D are going to be available
00:06:39
and are already available is uh a clear
00:06:43
sign that this is the next uh level at
00:06:46
which uh Audi Visual and content and
00:06:48
entertainment is going to be consumed
00:06:50
it's going to be a more involved process
00:06:53
you know like how uh you know the
00:06:56
biggest the last big Revolution was when
00:06:58
black and white films moved to color you
00:07:00
and we've sort of been watching color
00:07:02
films now for more than 50 60 years I
00:07:05
think this is the next big uh transition
00:07:08
into another domain of how films and
00:07:11
other forms of content will be consumed
00:07:13
and do you think and it sounds to me as
00:07:15
though you think this will take place in
00:07:16
the home as well yes you think so um
00:07:20
anything else that you mean so this is
00:07:22
sort of the next big Trend in um or
00:07:25
change over in in film making and
00:07:26
entertainment are there any other
00:07:28
effects that you think think um sort of
00:07:30
coming down the pike that that will help
00:07:33
to transform the industry or other sorts
00:07:35
of large trends that we should be aware
00:07:38
of I think uh you know the what's what's
00:07:41
happening more and more is the fact that
00:07:44
uh the the creative part of the business
00:07:46
sort of stays independent today you know
00:07:49
of now in how it gets consumed you know
00:07:52
you see all the new digital New Media
00:07:53
devices that you know you have uh the
00:07:57
cinema halls you have home theater you
00:07:59
have uh big plasma screens you have uh
00:08:03
Blu-ray you have VOD and you know the
00:08:07
new computer systems have 3D on it you
00:08:10
have new digital devices that are
00:08:11
talking about you know where content can
00:08:14
be streamed across so what's obviously
00:08:16
happening is that the what's changing is
00:08:19
the consumer uh uh need and access to
00:08:22
how they use content and how they sort
00:08:24
of switch between various forms of media
00:08:26
and uh and I think that's where the the
00:08:30
the world focuses on in terms of how
00:08:32
consumers get this content and how they
00:08:34
can actually uh interactively use it
00:08:37
across gaming or uh uh movies or you
00:08:41
know Mobis sods on the mobile or there's
00:08:43
going to be so much so many new forms in
00:08:45
which content is going to be streamed in
00:08:47
as against the traditional forms in
00:08:48
which it was created and Technologies
00:08:50
are is sort of enabling that so you know
00:08:53
there is talk that technology is the new
00:08:56
creativity in our business that now sort
00:08:58
of there's so much more uh of a bigger
00:09:01
role the technology is playing in
00:09:02
enabling all of this while the creative
00:09:04
uh vision of film making continues to
00:09:07
remain pretty similar or pretty
00:09:09
standardized you know sure are there any
00:09:11
limits to that distribution for instance
00:09:13
do you do you think people will watch
00:09:16
fulllength movies on their cell phones
00:09:18
or on their iPods I think uh from the
00:09:21
way you see uh you know even even uh the
00:09:25
new generation on a computer you see
00:09:27
them doing eight things at one time you
00:09:29
know I think the the Mind space is
00:09:31
clogged with so much different and so
00:09:33
many different ways in which people
00:09:35
interact now that uh it's it's a it's an
00:09:39
absolute position of choice you know you
00:09:41
could be watching a movie while you're
00:09:44
uh waiting at the waiting for a bus or
00:09:47
in the in the tube or uh or at the
00:09:50
airport and you could be making calls
00:09:52
and looking up your the weather and the
00:09:54
map and you know it's it's all it's all
00:09:57
coming together as one medium so I think
00:10:00
uh it's it's clearly the way things are
00:10:03
going to be and it's going to get more
00:10:04
and more interactive and there's going
00:10:06
to be more ways in which that content
00:10:09
will be integrated into uh how people
00:10:12
sort of access uh their daily life and
00:10:16
and I think the technology is making
00:10:18
that possible and I think that's the way
00:10:20
we think that uh the future of our
00:10:22
business is sort of slated to grow
00:10:24
into now uh just taking a little bit
00:10:27
back into your uh your own background
00:10:29
your bio says you are a compulsive um
00:10:32
entrepreneur so what is it that
00:10:34
compelled you to start Prime Focus if
00:10:37
you remember back you know uh I'm
00:10:41
actually the third generation in the
00:10:42
film business I think I'm a compulsive
00:10:45
uh entertainment or audio visual
00:10:47
business entrepreneur rather than a
00:10:49
regular entrepreneur you know because I
00:10:51
come from the uh Third Generation in the
00:10:53
film business my grandfather was uh one
00:10:55
of the finest cinematographers in his
00:10:57
time who shot one of the first color
00:10:58
films in India
00:11:00
my father's been has been an eminent
00:11:02
film producer who's made films so coming
00:11:05
from that kind of a film background you
00:11:06
know through the evolution of our
00:11:08
history you know the idea was that when
00:11:11
India was starting to make the change in
00:11:12
the early '90s we sort of figured out
00:11:15
the that you know technology was con was
00:11:17
not a very big part of our film making
00:11:20
you know as as it was in the west and we
00:11:23
felt there was a unique opportunity for
00:11:25
somebody for people like us who know the
00:11:27
film industry if you could learn the
00:11:29
technological aspects of what the West
00:11:31
had already done there could be an
00:11:33
interesting way to serve our Indian
00:11:35
filmmakers and and create a platform
00:11:37
where uh the next generation of film and
00:11:40
other entertainment uh uh you know forms
00:11:43
could be could be better better created
00:11:46
and better served and that sort of set
00:11:48
us on the path of uh providing these uh
00:11:52
services and that's what got me in at a
00:11:54
very early stage of my life and since
00:11:57
then we've just been building this this
00:11:59
business on a backward and forward
00:12:01
integration model where we from being
00:12:04
just a small editorial house in '95 to
00:12:06
now being an end to end service provider
00:12:09
across markets across
00:12:11
geographies it's been a interesting
00:12:14
Journey yes I'd say and and along that
00:12:17
journey I mean you started at I think in
00:12:18
a garage right yeah uh literally so
00:12:22
what's the biggest lesson you've learned
00:12:23
over time as an entrepreneur since since
00:12:27
since since that time when you began in
00:12:28
a garage
00:12:30
I think uh the ability to consistently
00:12:33
learn and consistently adapt and uh the
00:12:37
fact that you almost learn to fight
00:12:40
harder when you sort of start to lose is
00:12:42
sort of some of the key areas of what my
00:12:45
learning has been you know it's it's
00:12:47
great when things are all working in
00:12:49
your favor but you know when you have to
00:12:51
sort of start out uh and build something
00:12:53
you have to be able to very quickly
00:12:56
adapt and learn and navigate yourself
00:12:59
and just when you know that things are
00:13:01
not working you sort of start pushing it
00:13:04
harder the other way so you sort of know
00:13:05
that you can actually because sometimes
00:13:08
your destination is just that that much
00:13:11
closer to you than you can see it and I
00:13:12
think that has been probably one of my
00:13:14
greatest learnings in the last uh in in
00:13:17
my little
00:13:19
career great thanks very much thank
00:13:28
you
