iWorld
Vistas Media Capital acquires majority stake in Paperboat Design Studios
Mumbai: Singapore-based media and entertainment-related investments company Vistas Media Capital (VMC) on Wednesday announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Paperboat Design Studios, an animation and design company based out of India, for an undisclosed amount. The studio, with more than 250 full-time employees across offices in Mumbai and Hyderabad, will help stride VMC’s growing media ecosystem that spans across film and video content, NFT, gaming and metaverse, said the statement.
The move reflects VMC’s ongoing commitment to expand its value chain of media, entertainment, and related technologies. This deal comes at the heels of a newly announced film project between Golden Ratio Films (GRF) – a wholly-owned subsidiary of VMC and US-based production company Appian Way Productions last month.
“Paperboat is a team of passionate, talented, and creative people, with a proven track record in animation and VFX. We welcome them to the Vistas eco-system and hope to have a synergistic relationship to grow the business beyond India across content, gaming, and metaverse,” stated Vistas Media Capital group CEO Abhayanand Singh.
Established over a decade ago, Paperboat Design Studios has created animation and design work and produced the live-action films for a diverse clientele. The studio also offers VFX and CGI services through its majorly owned subsidiary Occult Studios, based out of Mumbai. Some of the major clients of Paperboat and Occult include Disney India, Discovery Kids, McCann, World Bank, Coca Cola, Cadburys, Nestle, Burger King, and Reebok.
“We are extremely excited about being a part of Vistas Media Capital as it gives us an opportunity to explore exponential growth across genres and markets,” said Paperboat Design Studios CEO and co-founder Soumitra Ranade. “The capital infused will be used to expand the team, create original IPs, and cross synergise other verticals with them. The business and its offerings are at an inflection point of a massive explosion in the post COVID world, across digital and traditional media.”
Paperboat has worked on several popular television series including “Bandbudh Aur Budbak” and “Fukrey Boyzz.” The studio also worked on the 2D animated feature film “Bombay Rose,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 and was the first Indian animation to open for the Venice Film Critics’ Week.
Currently, Paperboat is working on two international animation projects – “Bhrigu And The Palace of Mirrors,” based on the book with the same name, and “Kabuliwala,” based on the classic short story by Nobel prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
iWorld
Anirudh Ravichander and Universal Music India join forces to take South India’s sound to the world
The composer behind 13 billion streams launches Albuquerque Records with UMI as its exclusive global partner
MUMBAI: Universal Music India has struck an exclusive partnership with Albuquerque Records, the freshly minted independent label of singer-composer Anirudh Ravichander, in a deal that bets big on South India’s booming pop and hip-hop scene going global.
The arrangement, announced on 17 March, will see Universal Music India handle future pop and hip-hop releases by Anirudh himself, as well as artists signed to the new label. A first release is already in the pipeline for April, featuring Anirudh.
The numbers behind the man are hard to ignore. Debuting in 2012 with the viral sensation “Why This Kolaveri Di”, Anirudh has since clocked over 13 billion audio streams across more than 770 tracks, cementing his position as the No.1 South Indian artist on Spotify by total streams. His fingerprints are all over some of the Tamil film industry’s biggest musical moments, from Hukum and Vaathi Coming to Arabic Kuthu and the A23 Theme.
But Albuquerque Records is a different beast. Built for the non-film space, it is designed to nurture independent talent and champion the next wave of Indian pop voices. “Universal Music India’s leadership in pop and hip-hop made them the natural partner,” said Anirudh. “I’m excited to take independent voices to audiences around the world.”
Universal Music India’s chairman and CEO Devraj Sanyal was equally effusive. “Anirudh represents the future of Indian music, bold, original, and with enormous potential,” he said. “Identifying transformative talent is our superpower, and this partnership reflects that belief.”
Sanujeet Bhujabal, managing director of Universal Music India, framed the deal as more than a distribution play. “Albuquerque Records represents Anirudh’s bold artistic vision in the world of pop and hip-hop,” he said. “True to his legacy of innovation, this partnership is set to establish yet another landmark creative space, this time for the emerging world of iPop and beyond.”
For Universal Music India, the deal deepens a long-running push into South India’s four key language markets: Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. The label already has regional imprints, film partnerships with Maddock Films and Excel Entertainment, and a growing non-film roster. Landing Anirudh, arguably the south’s most bankable music brand, is a statement of intent. South Indian music has the streams. Now it is coming for the world.
