Film Production
Warner Bros & ProSiebenSat.1 extend licensing deal
MUMBAI: In a major licensing deal, Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and ProSiebenSat.1 have extended their existing licensing deal.
Thus ProSiebenSat.1 will continue to hold the exclusive free TV rights to Hollywood blockbusters and successful television series produced by the US studio for years to come. Movies such as Batman vs. Superman, Tarzan and King Arthur are among the highlights of the deal that have already been announced.
Furthermore, the trilogy Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling, will be aired by the broadcasting group. German movie productions like Der geilste Tag with Matthias Schweighofer and Florian David Fitz are also part of the deal.
The agreement will also enable ProSiebenSat.1 to significantly enhance its range of TV series: The latest Warner Bros. productions are among the highest-rated series aired on ProSiebenSat.1 stations. The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men regularly obtain above-average market shares.
The extension of the agreement also gives ProSiebenSat.1 continued access to the extensive Warner library including the fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter movies, the cult movie The Hangover and the superhero movies Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG executive vice president, group programming acquisitions Rüdiger Böss said, “Movies and series from Warner Bros. are among the best of our industry. We have been collaborating for many years and Warner productions are regularly rated highly by our viewers. I am therefore delighted that we have managed to continue this extraordinary partnership and thus to secure many attractive film and series productions for the coming years.”
Jeffrey Schlesinger, President, Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution: “We have long enjoyed a mutually-beneficial relationship with ProSiebenSat.1, which provides a terrific platform for our series and films. This latest agreement between our companies speaks for the quality of our films and television series as well as for the healthy appetite of German TV viewers for good programming.”
Licensing acquisitions across all platforms from free TV to video-on-demand and mobile is getting strategically more and more important for ProSiebenSat.1. Therefore, the division Content Acquisitions has been part of the executive department of Conrad Albert since 1 January, 2015. Conrad Albert continues also to be responsible for the areas Legal, Distribution and Regulatory Affairs.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
