Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Oct 18, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Oct 18, 2002 |
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Industry & Economy
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Cinema KSFDC plans two projects for GIM Our Bureau
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 17 KERALA State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) has zeroed in on two major investment proposals for being showcased at the forthcoming Global Investors' Meet (GIM) in Kochi. Speaking to newspersons, Mr P.V. Gangadharan, Chairman, KSFDC, said that the projects pertain to a film and video production facility and a film-based entertainment park at the Kovalam beach resort at a total cost of Rs 75 crore. The corporation would provide the necessary infrastructure like land and other facilities, according to the State Information Minister, Mr M.M. Hassan, who was also present on the occasion. KSFDC has also responded to a series of queries from foreign production houses evincing interest in shooting at locales within the State. "At the just concluded international film festival in New Delhi, film industry representatives from South Africa, Nigeria and Sri Lanka made some queries in this regard," Mr Gangadharan said. "They have asked us whether we could help them out and we readily agreed. We will act as the nodal agency for film companies who would like to shoot in Kerala." He added: "We are in the process of preparing a package to take care of all the needs of the foreign production houses. This would include travel, accommodation and the necessary licences for shooting.'' The move is likely to revive the State's flagging film industry, which till recently produced some 80-100 movies every year. Against this, just 38 films have been released in the current year. The industry provides direct and indirect employment to some one lakh persons. According to the KSFDC Managing Director, Mr N. Vasudevan, the cost of producing films in Kerala was far lower than in other States. "We have received domestic inquiries as well, this time from film producers in Andhra Pradesh. In the months to come, Kerala could develop into a premier shooting location for Indian as well as foreign films. This would also serve to revive the economy of the State, as also of the KSFDC,'' he added. The corporation, which has accumulated losses of Rs 15 crore, returned an operating profit of Rs 50 lakh last year. It now plans to market Malayalam films abroad. "Japan is a good market for Tamil films and we are going to see what we could do to promote Malayalam films in Japan and select foreign countries. Our films would also be marketed within the country,'' Mr Gangadharan said.
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