Film Production
NFDC signs landmark film tie-ups with Australia for global collaborations
MUMBAI: Lights, camera, collaboration! India and Australia are ready for a cinematic crossover as the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) has inked two landmark Letters of Intent (LOIs) with Screen Producers Australia (SPA) and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA). Together, they’re rolling out a red carpet for co-productions, preservation and partnerships.
With Screen Producers Australia, the spotlight is on India Connect, a marquee initiative that will see a delegation of Indian producers fly to the Gold Coast in 2026 for Screen Forever, the country’s biggest screen conference. Think project-matching forums, structured networking, and fresh avenues for cultural exchange, a power-packed script designed to spark creative and commercial collaborations across borders.
The second LOI with NFSA is all about safeguarding cinema’s soul. The partnership will focus on film restoration, digitisation, and archival expertise, ensuring that the legacies of both nations remain intact for future generations of cinephiles. Knowledge-sharing and joint preservation practices will form the spine of this alliance, giving old reels a new lease of life.
The curtain rises on these collaborations in late 2025, with timelines rolling into Screen Forever 2026 and beyond. The partnerships will also extend to Waves Bazaar, NFDC’s flagship content and co-production market, hosted alongside IFFI in November. With Australian participation bolstering the line-up, Waves Bazaar promises to be a buzzing hub where stories, ideas and partnerships take centre stage.
As I&B Secretary Sanjay Jaju put it, the moves “reaffirm NFDC’s commitment to building global bridges for Indian cinema.” From the Gold Coast to Goa, the script is set for a blockbuster partnership that brings filmmakers, audiences, and archives together in one global reel.
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.
