SEMINAR DAY - APRIL 16, 10:00 AM
"LOOKING FORWARD: TRENDS IN THE INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY"
Saturday, April 16, 2011
10AM- 3PM
ArcLight Hollywood
Sponsored by NBC Universal Diversity, Nickelodeon, SAG Diversity, Screen International, WGA
PANEL #1: "Hollywood's Evolving Relationship with India"
With India's rise as an economic powerhouse, global companies are looking to tap into this rapid growth. Increasingly flexing its muscle as a global player, the Indian entertainment industry has recently developed its power base in the U.S. Highlights include Indian conglomerate Reliance's significant equity investment in Dreamworks in 2008 and Sundance Film Festival's support for world independent cinema in a pact reached by the Mahindra Group and the Sundance Institute. Studios are producing Indian-themed content for the local market in India and IFFLA's closing night film, ZOKKOMON, is a perfect example of this direction as it's Walt Disney Pictures' first foray into live action Hindi films.
In this panel, leading experts will discuss the growing partnerships between Hollywood and the Indian entertainment industry, analyzing how these avenues converge in terms of the world's two largest media content providers, touching on the current state of opportunities and projected future investments.
Moderator: Christina Marouda, Executive Director, IFFLA
Uday Kumar, Business Head - North America, Reliance MediaWorks
Alesia Weston, Associate Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute
Syed Ahmed, Vice President, Deluxe Laboratories
Panel #2: "Meet the Filmmakers Behind the New Wave of Indian Cinema"
A Q&A with some of IFFLA's invited filmmakers as they discuss the recent and future trends in Indian cinema.
Moderator: Jeremy Kay, Editor, Screen International
Vikramaditya Motwane, Writer/Director, UDAAN
Nisha Ganatra, Writer/Director, BEHOLDER
Abhay Kumar, Director/Producer, ...JUST THAT SORT OF DAY
Panel #3: "Breaking Into the Industry: Opportunities and Challenges for South Asian American Filmmakers and Talent"
Over the past decade there has been a steady increase in the number of films and television shows that feature South Asian talent both in front of and behind the camera. Shows like "Glee", "The Good Wife," "Outsourced", "The Office", "Royal Pains", and films like SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, SPIDERMAN, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, and the upcoming A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR CHRISTMAS are proof that a new era of diversity in story-telling is upon us. As South Asians join the media fray in stories that go beyond ethnicity and touch on issues of modern American life, the sphere of opportunities in Hollywood is making a gradual shift. Join the discussion with our panel of professionals from different entertainment organizations that provide resources for artists to continue this trend.
Moderator: Reena Singh, Vice President, Development and Current Programming, Universal Cable Productions
Rupak Ginn, Actor ("Royal Pains", Private Practice", JUST WRIGHT, THE NAMESAKE, CHEETAH GIRLS: ONE WORLD)
Karen Kirkland, Executive Director, Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship Program
Luvh Rakhe (WGAW), Writer ("Outsourced", "It's always Sunny in Philadelphia")
Rebecca Yee, National Director/Sr. Equal Opportunities Counsel, Screen Actors Guild Diversity
Seminar Day Reception to follow in the STAR Lounge
MEET OUR PANELISTS
PANEL #1: "Hollywood's Evolving Relationship with India"
Uday Kumar is in charge for the US operations of Reliance Media works as Business Head - North America. His experience includes senior management roles in all segments of the media and entertainment business. He has been responsible for establishing the Big Cinemas theatre chain in the United States and the film distribution business to service the demand for South Asian movies in North America. Currently his focus is to expand Reliance Mediaworks' service offerings in image processing globally and to establish a VFX and Media Services business built upon the collaboration between India and US based operations.
Alesia Weston oversees the international part of Sundance Institute's year-round Feature Film Program for the Screenwriters and Directors labs. She is part of the core team working on a new program at Sundance called Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue, in partnership with the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Most recently, she initiated and developed a multi-faceted collaboration with Mahindra, which includes the Global Filmmaking Award and a Screenwriting lab in India to be launched in 2012.
Panel #2: "Meet the Filmmakers Behind the New Wave of Indian Cinema"
Jeremy Kay is the US editor of the film trade publication Screen International. The London-born journalist covers many aspects of the business with particular emphasis on the independent sector, including financing, production and distribution. Jeremy is a familiar face on the festival circuit and travels each year to Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and Toronto, among others.
Vikramaditya Motwane started his film career assisting his producer-mother on her television talk show ‘Teen Talk'. Eventually, he made the big leap to feature films by assisting Sanjay Leela Bhansali on HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM. Further stints assisting Deepa Mehta on the ill-fated first venture of WATER and directing songs for Anurag Kashyap's PAANCH followed. He then acted as Associate Director and Sound Designer on Bhansali's DEVDAS. Since then, Virkam has directed songs in the now-completed WATER and has written the screenplays for GOAL and DEV D. UDAAN is his debut feature film.
Canadian-Indian writer/Director Nisha Ganatra is an IFFLA alumnus, returning this year with her short film "Beholder." Her feature film credits include CHUTNEY POPCORN & COSMOPOLITAN. She is a graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
Abhay Kumar graduated in Mass Communication from Delhi and received his post graduation diploma in filmmaking from Xaviers Institute of Communications, Mumbai. He is a two-time winner at MAMI in the short film category with a Jury Special Mention in 2009 for UDAAN, and 2nd Prize in 2010 for MERA GHAR. His first short film submission to a film festival JUST THAT SORT OF DAY had its world premiere at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2011 and is now competing at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival.
Panel #3: "Breaking Into the Industry: Opportunities and Challenges for South Asian American Filmmakers and Talent"
Reena Singh is Vice President of Development and Current Programming at Universal Cable Productions (UCP). Prior to UCP, she was at Disney Channel in the role of Director of Development, Original Movies. Reena spent a year at ABC network as an Entertainment Associate and at ABC Network News where she was a producer who covered international and domestic events. Reena began her media career at Conde Nast's Bon Appetit magazine before attending the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Rupak Ginn's love for acting started at a young age and followed him to college at Harvard University where, during his senior year, director Mira Nair offered him a supporting role in THE NAMESAKE. His film work includes supporting roles in FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS starring Justin Timberlake and JUST WRIGHT starring Queen Latifah as well as a romantic lead role in Disney Channel's THE CHEETAH GIRLS: ONE WORLD. On television, he currently plays the role of Raj on the USA Network hit series "Royal Pains" and has guest starred this season on ABC's "Private Practice".
Karen Kirkland currently serves as Executive Director of Nickelodeon's Writing and Artist Fellowships. The Nick Writing and Artist Fellowships are designed to attract, develop, and staff diverse writing and artistic talent on Nickelodeon Network productions. Under Karen's leadership, the Writing Fellowship has become one of the most competitive and well-respected vehicles for emerging television writing talent. For the last 20 years, Karen has been involved in various areas of the film and television industry and has been a judge for numerous competitions including the BANFF World Media Festival and the UCLA Screenwriter's Showcase.
Luvh Rakhe has been writing for television since 2004 and has written for some shows that have been loved but mostly shows that have been hated. He currently writes for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".
Rebecca Yee is the National Director/Senior Equal Employment Opportunities Counsel of Screen Actors Guild Affirmative Action & Diversity. Rebecca advances SAG's policy and advocacy of diversity and equal employment in the entertainment industry. She leads a team of professionals who provides strategy, support, advice and counsel, technical, and administrative assistance to six member-led national committees in developing and implementing programs and initiatives designed to increase employment opportunities for underrepresented and underemployed actors. |
