Film Production
Exim Bank puts Rs 2 billion behind films in FY07, mulls equity in animation companies
MUMBAI: For the Bollywood industry which is keen to tap the overseas market, there is good news. The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) is willing to loosen its purse strings and has extended funding to the tune of Rs 2 billion for eight movies during the current fiscal.
Exim Bank, in fact, has funded the recently released Yash Raj Films’ big ticket movie Dhoom 2. “We have lent Rs 2 billion to the film industry this fiscal,” Exim Bank chairman & managing director TC Venkat Subramaniam tells Indiantelevision.com. “Our total exposure to the sector is Rs 4 billion.”
Of the other Yash Chopra movies funded by Exim Bank are Veer Zaara, Hum Tum, Bunty Aur Babli and Dum. The Bank has also financed Don (Rs 100 million) and Mangal Pandey – The rising (Rs 80 million). Exim Bank has been funding Hindi movie projects which have a potential to earn foreign currency revenues in the overseas market.
Animation is another area in the entertainment sector that has drawn the attention of Exim Bank. It is eyeing the option of picking up equity in start-up animation companies. “With their outsourcing models, animation companies in India have the potential to grow. Apart from prividing debt, we may consider equity participation in the start-ups. But for the companies which are listed and are already enjoying high valuations, it doesn’t make sense for us to enter as equity partners because they are already highly valued,” says Subramaniam.
Exim Bank is in talks with an animation company to provide finance for the expansion needs. With Crest Animation Studios Ltd, it has already agreed to lend $7 million to Crest Animation Studios Ltd.
The Bank has extended lending to over Rs 4 billion for film projects which have potential to earn foreign exchange. “We are not only financing on production but also on the overseas distribution side.
Noted film producer Bobby Bedi will approach Exim Bank to discuss his new project Mahabharata for which he plans to invest Rs 3-4 billion. Bedi is considering institutional financing for the epic project which will extend to a talent hunt, TV series, film trilogy, gaming, animation and a theme park. “Bedi is looking at an innovative financial structuring. He is taking the project to financial institutions. He is also going to approach Exim Bank for this,” an industry source says.
Exim Bank will examine the cash-flow situation of the project as it spans over different formats and will take a longer period to complete.
Film Production
Disney to cut 1,000 jobs under new chief executive
The entertainment giant’s freshly installed boss inherits a restructuring already in motion, with marketing and corporate roles bearing the brunt
CALIFORNIA: Walt Disney is preparing to slash up to 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the entertainment giant’s freshly installed chief executive moves swiftly to trim fat and tighten the ship.
The cuts, less than 1 per cent of Disney’s global workforce of 231,000, will fall hardest on marketing and corporate roles. The planning, notably, began before D’Amaro formally took the top job in March, suggesting the new boss inherited a restructuring already in motion rather than one of his own making.
Driving the push is Asad Ayaz, Disney’s newly appointed chief marketing officer, who in January assumed command of a unified, company-wide marketing operation spanning film, television and streaming. His consolidation drive has been given a suitably cinematic internal name: Project Imagine.
The move is modest by Disney’s recent standards. Between 2023 and 2025, under former chief executive Bob Iger, the company eliminated roughly 8,000 positions across several brutal rounds of cuts, saving $7.5 billion, comfortably exceeding its own targets. As recently as June 2025, several hundred more jobs were axed across Disney Entertainment, hitting film and television marketing, publicity, casting, development and corporate finance.
Disney’s structural headaches are well-documented: shrinking streaming margins, a weakened box office, and fierce competition from Amazon and YouTube gnawing at its flanks. The company is merging its Disney+ and Hulu teams into a single app, has brought in consultants from Bain & Co to guide its broader cost strategy, and is betting heavily on digital growth.
The wider entertainment industry offers little comfort. Sony Pictures, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have all taken the knife to their workforces in recent years, and further cuts loom if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner goes through.
For D’Amaro, the message is clear: there will be no honeymoon period. The magic kingdom still has some cost-cutting spells left to cast.
