Film Production
FY-2014: Mukta Arts pays producers, distributors share Rs 234 crore; reports loss at Rs 7.34 crore.
BENGALURU: Mukta Arts Limited (Mukta Arts) paid Rs 234.09 crore (76 per cent of consolidated net total income from operations or Op Inc of Rs 234.09 crore) as producers and distributors share in FY-2014. The company has reported a consolidated loss of Rs 7.34 crore in FY-2014, which was 5.36 times the loss of Rs 1.37 crore the company had reported in FY-2013. Other Income in FY-2014, which included the proceeds of a keyman insurance policy, cushioned the loss by Rs 4.63 crore, else loss would have been nearly Rs10 crore in the year.
In FY-2013, Mukta Arts paid Rs 269.91 crore or 95 per cent of Op Inc on a consolidated basis towards producers and distributors share. In FY-2013, other income reduced the loss by Rs 2.25 crore.
Note : (1)100,00,000=100 lakh = 1 crore = 10 million.
(2) Annual figures are on a consolidated basis.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by Mukta Arts for FY-2014 and Q4-2014
Mukta Arts reported Total Income from operations (net) excluding other income in Q4-2014 as Rs 57.07 crore which was 25.6 per cent lower than the Rs 76.67 crore in Q3-2014 and 3.1 per cent less than the Rs 61.91 crore in the year ago quarter Q4-2013.
Consolidated Total Expense for FY-2014 at Rs 313.83 crore (102 per cent of Op Inc) was 14.7 per cent more than the Rs 273.65 crore (98.9 per cent of Op Inc) in FY-2013. Mukta Arts total expense in Q4-2014 at Rs 60.21 crore (105.5 per cent of Op Inc) was 21.4 per cent less than the Rs 76.61 crore (99.9 per cent of Op Inc) in Q3-2014 and 2.7 per cent less than the Rs 61.91 crore (105 per cent of Op Inc) in Q4-2013.
Producers and distributors share expense in Q4-2014 at Rs 48.93 crore (85.7 per cent of Op Inc) was 29 per cent less than the Rs 68.98 crore (90 per cent of Op Inc) in Q3-2014 and 8.9 per cent less than the Rs 53.73 crore (91.2 per cent of Op Inc) in the fourth quarter of last year.
Other expense for FY-2014 at Rs 30.6 crore (9.9 per cent of Op Inc) was 32.3 per cent more than the Rs 23.12 crore (8.35 per cent of Op Inc). In FY-2013, Mukta Arts reported other expense in Q4-2014 at Rs 6.33 crore (11.1 per cent of Op Inc) was 62.7 per cent more than the Rs 3.89 crore (5.1 per cent of Op Inc) and 30.1 per cent more than the Rs 4.87 crore (8.3 per cent of Op Inc) in Q4-2013.
Finance cost is FY-2104 at Rs 6.64 crore (2.2 per cent of Op Inc) was 16.7 per cent more than the Rs 5.69 crore (2.1 per cent of Op Inc) in FY-2013. Mukta Arts spent Rs1.97 crore (3.45 per cent of Op Inc) towards finance cost, which was 31.5 per cent more than the Rs 1.5 crore (1.95 per cent of Op Inc) in Q3-2014 and 53.7 per cent more than the Rs 1.28 crore (2.2 per cent of Op Inc) in Q4-2013.
Mukta Arts reported depreciation of tangible assets as Rs 7.09 crore (2.3 per cent of Op Inc) in FY-2014, which was 1.3 per cent more than the Rs 6.99 crore (2.5 per cent of Op Inc) in FY-2013. Depreciation for Q3-2014 at Rs1.33 crore (2.3 per cent of Op Inc) was 27.1 per cent more than the Rs 1.05 crore (1.4 per cent of Op Inc) in Q3-2014 and was 32.7 per cent more than the Rs1 crore (1.7 per cent of Op Inc) in Q4-2013.
Operating Results for the quarters were: Q4-2014 – loss of Rs 33.5 crore; Q3-2014 – Profit of Rs 0.92 crore; Q4-2013 loss of Rs 2.49 crore.
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.
