Film Production
DMG Entertainment invests in Valiant; to make new superhero movies
MUMBAI: Watch out Spiderman, Superman and Batman. The superhero universe just got bigger. Valiant Entertainment has secured an undisclosed nine-figure investment from Chinese entertainment company DMG, the co-producers and co-financiers of Iron Man 3. The investment will be for feature-film financing as well as publishing, television and licensing opportunities.
DMG chief executive officer Dan Mintz said, “Comic superheroes are profitable and highly sought intellectual properties for film franchises so taking a stake in the last indecent massive comic universe is a strategic investment for DMG that will produce movies and TV that are both appealing and relevant to a global audience.”
Current projects under development at Valiant include Shadowman, Bloodshot and Archer & Armstrong. Bloodshot is in development with Sony Pictures and Neal Moritz’s Original Film (producers of the Fast and the Furious and Jump Street franchises). Shadowman, with a script by J. Michael Straczynski, and Archer & Armstrong, being written by Bendavid Grabinski, are also in development.
In addition to developing films for release in the United States and China, Valiant and DMG will develop the former’s characters for new audiences in China and the Asia-Pacific region. DMG and Valiant will also be pursuing Chinese licensing for Valiant properties beyond film in publishing, animation and theme parks, as well as toys and apparel.
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.
