Documentary
Old guard goes at UFO Moviez; new blood elevated
MUMBAI: Come 1 January 2025, and a new senior management team will be in place at the digital cinema solutions leader UFO Moviez. The Sanjay Gaikwad-headed firm has gone in for a total organisational restructuring by promoting some executives, giving them additional responsibilities, and superannuating others.
These executives had been given extensions in their employment to help the company tide over the dire consequences that the cinema industry and UFO Moviez faced following covid.
Among those who have been elevated and will be re-designated by 1 January 2025 figure:
* Group enterprises sales head & chief marketing officer Siddharth Bhardwaj has been moved up to CEO digital cinema.
* Chief operating officer – India operations Pradeep Shetty has been promoted to deputy chief executive officer -digital cinema.
* Senior vice-president – engineering Kaushik Mamania has been moved up to chief information officer.
* Senior vice-president – technical operations Nitin Nohani has been raised to chief technical officer.
Amongst the executives who are being superannuated by 31 December figure: chief purchase & logistics Kamalaksha Bhoja Suvarna; CEO – distribution and film services A Pankaj Jaysinh; chief technology officer Sanjay Chavan; CEO rural exhibition Shirish Deshpande; chief strategy officer Sushil Agrawal and CEO—special projects Vishnu Patel.
UFO Moviez said that the superannuated executives would be moved to advisory roles for a certain period to help in the transition.
The company made these announcements in a regulatory filing with the BSE last weekend.
Documentary
Netflix and Warner Music ink landmark documentary deal
The streaming giant has just unlocked one of the richest vaults in music history. Its rivals should be worried
CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK: Netflix and Warner Music Group have signed an exclusive multi-year deal to produce documentary series and films drawn from the label’s storied artist roster, the companies announced on Friday — a move that hands the streaming platform access to one of the most formidable catalogues in music history.
Warner Music Group represents legends including David Bowie, Cher, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin and Joni Mitchell, alongside contemporary superstars such as Charli XCX, Coldplay and Bruno Mars. That is a staggering breadth of material for a platform hungry for prestige content and subscriber growth to match.
Under the agreement, Warner Music will work with Unigram, the production company aligned with the label, which will serve as the studio for its long-form projects. Each title will be developed in collaboration with the artists themselves or their estates, ensuring the kind of intimate access that turns a documentary into an event.
The deal reflects an intensifying race between music-rights owners and streaming platforms eager to turn deep catalogues into premium visual content. Music documentaries have become a vehicle for fan-driven, culturally resonant programming — a trend underscored by Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” film, which grossed over $260 million globally and reminded every platform chief just how lucrative the genre can be.
Netflix already boasts formidable credentials in music storytelling, with “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé” and “Quincy” among its highest-profile releases. The Warner deal sharpens that edge considerably. Rival platforms have not been idle: Disney+ has released “The Beach Boys”, while Max has drawn attention with “Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.” Apple Music, meanwhile, has pushed into original content through its Apple Music Live series, producing documentaries and livestreamed concerts featuring Harry Styles and Billie Eilish.
The battle for music’s visual soul, then, is well and truly on. Netflix has just made its boldest move yet.
