Film Production
Ekta ties up with Lemon Advisors for Alt Balaji global launch
MUMBAI: Ekta Kapoor’s Alt Balaji, which is gearing up for launch in early 2017, has announced a strategic partnership with Lemon Advisors, a Singapore based technology consulting firm. With this tie-up, the tech company will assist and strengthen business development activities in key global markets with significant Indian diaspora and demand for Indian content.
“We are delighted to have Lemon Advisors on board. Their impressive network spanning across 30 countries worldwide will certainly help us in reaching out to the global audience. Technology will play a huge role in shaping the growth trajectory of digital entertainment industry in India and globally, and as we make our foray into the domain with disruptive content, we are proud to have an established technology and business development partner,” said Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair.
Lemon Advisors will help Alt Balaji forge alliances with distribution partners like telecom operators, internet service providers and OEMs. They will also assist in exploring brand alliance opportunities with major international brands along with planning& executing marketing and on ground activities. In addition to this, they will also be a representative entity for Alt Balaji at various trade shows & exhibitions.
“Balaji is a name that every Indian content consumer worldwide is extremely familiar with. It’s a privilege for us to partner with Balaji as they embark on their digital journey in the form of Alt Balaji. We are happy that we will have a chance to contribute to the overall success of their endeavour”, added Lemon Advisors founder and chairman SubhashR. Ghosh.
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.
