Hasta La Motion!

In its endeavour to fight counterfeit products and illegal usage of Intellectual Property (IP), Viacom18 Media has joined hands with Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police and brand owner Entertainment One to conduct raids and curb fake products of its popular kids’ brand Peppa Pig.

Viacom18 general counsel Anil Lale said: “The government of India has taken up the issue of piracy and illegal usage of IP significantly over the past few years and we are proud to have worked with public agencies such as the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Maharashtra Cyber Crime Cell and Mumbai Police’s EOW to amp up these efforts. It is important to acknowledge that sale and purchase of counterfeit products are as serious offences as piracy since it takes away from the brand’s loyalty and diminishes its value for the creator. As rightful exclusive licensees, we feel it’s our duty to the customer – which in this case are young children, to safeguard their interest against fake products.”

The raids conducted at Choice Gifts in Abdul Rahman Street and Rolex Novelty at Princess Street in Mumbai, has collectively seized a sizeable amount of counterfeit merchandise.

Entertainment One Business Affairs, Family & Brands SVP Tim Pfeiffer added: “eOne believes in taking vibrant brands from screens to stores and it is very encouraging to see our international partners and authorities undertake efforts that ensure only real products reach our young audience. Counterfeit merchandise is not only against the licensor’s interest but also has a colossal impact on safety and health of the user due to the absence of quality standards.”

The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has been at the forefront of a rigorous fight against counterfeit products. Over the course of last year alone they have been able to seize surreptitious businesses that trade in counterfeit products, severely denting the illegal counterfeit merchandising business.

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Dream11, India’s sports game, has announced its exclusive partnership with the European Cricket League (ECL), the new Champions League of European Cricket. Dream11 will be the official fantasy game of the tournament. The inaugural edition of the international league will kick off from 29 to 31 July at the prestigious La Manga Club in Spain. This first edition of the tournament will be played in a T10 format across 17 matches.

The partnership between Dream11 and ECL will enable millions of fans to create their own fantasy cricket teams thereby deepening their engagement with their favourite sports. While ECL will be beamed around the world on live TV broadcasts and the European Cricket Network (ECN), the ECL matches will also be live streamed on FanCode, the ad-free multi-sport aggregator platform from the house of Dream11. All participating teams along with the Umpire will sport Dream11’s logo on their jerseys.

Talking about the partnership, Dream11 spokesperson said, “ECL is a first-of-its-kind cricket league and we are happy to partner with them. Dream11 believes in collaborating with and promoting sports leagues across all formats and geographies. Through this partnership, our 70 million+ users will be the first to experience European fantasy cricket! Shorter formats have seen great traction in India and we are sure that ECL, too, will resonate well with the Indian cricket fans.”

“From fans to fantasy players, they all love Dream11 because the platform creates the next level of engagement and enjoyment for users when following their favourite sport. Our partnership with Dream11 will help us achieve our goals of establishing the ECL as a new global cricket property and igniting the growth of cricket’s presence in Europe even faster, while also bringing the league closer to enthusiastic Indian fans in late July,” said , ECL founder Daniel Weston.

To promote this tournament, Dream11 and the ECL will launch an exciting social media campaign that will entail match highlights and content from the ECL. This will help increase brand awareness and also lead to the promotion of Cricket in Europe and India.

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The Lion King

The legendary tale of Lion King being given a live-action treatment in itself was a prospect that had me in two minds initially. For one, I didn’t want the absolute classic that stands the test of time to this day being fiddled around with. Although the trailer itself looked extremely promising yet the dread still loomed that it might turn out to be just another one of those Animal Planet clips. Will the animals look convincing enough? Will their expression correspond to their speech in tandem?

The story begins in a shot-by-shot nod to the 1994 original 2D version announcement scene where the cub is raised over the sounds of the rising beats of the circle of life. There begins the stunning choreographies of striped animals and mammalians crisscrossing and genuflecting in recognition of Mufasa’s son, the heir to the throne.

The natural surroundings jive in perfect harmony with the computer-generated animals that are so photorealistic that you forget after a while that you’ve known lions to be any other way and you are transported right into the story. The way their mouths move while talking and bodies gesticulate in perfect synchronisation with the emotions they portrayed. Right from the way the winds made the light-golden fur oscillate in the natural motion to the way lions gracefully leapt and ambled across the fields, the remake captured the essence of wild cat behaviour in its true spirit.

The triumph of a movie as challenging as this rests in every element of the movie stitched in a ‘delicate balance’. The CGI techniques, performance capture, the refraction of light and the interactions which need to be infused in just the right amount.

I resolved to deem this film even more immersive and funny than the original classic as it brilliantly spools out the real-life references to deploy the photorealistic imagery; the flawless magic that MPC has mastered over the years, dishing out a spate of live-action remakes of Disney classics over the last number of years.

Lion King

Mufasa’s brother ruses to topple the regime and take over as he has been nursing a mortal grudge against him all along. The sinister villainy is impeccably depicted in his movements as he plots with the hyenas and manages to kill the king and scare away the little lion into a far-off wilderness where the distraught and broken Simba is nursed back to health and happiness (Hakuna Matata- style) by the comic-duo of Timon and Pumba who emerge as the stars of the movie.  Simba is made to realise the spirit of his father that lives within him as he reunites with his childhood sweetheart and returns in his grown-up full-fledged adolescent look, reminiscent of his father; to claim his throne and defeat the mangled-looking and scheming uncle Scar, the real kingslayer! Through and through, a Disney classic masterfully stylised to live-action cinematic perfection.

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The Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) 2019 has just announced the first round of keynote speakers for the ATF Leaders’ Summit on 3 December 2019 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Themed “Streaming the Future”, this year’s event seeks to reflect the spirit of Asia’s dynamic content industry and its bold step into the future, with prominent C-Level speakers shedding light on opportunities and strategies moving forward.

This year, ATF is celebrating its 20th year and spotlights are on China and India-media powerhouses of Asia, as they play a pertinent role in shaping the region’s entertainment content market. At the forefront of the content industry in these countries are iQIYI and Reliance Entertainment.

Founded in 2010 under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Gong Yu, NASDAQ-listed iQIYI has grown to become China’s largest video and entertainment platform both in terms of user base and viewing time.

In 2017, Gong announced his aspiration for iQIYI to become “a technology-based entertainment giant that brings fun and joy to people and their families”. Today, the company is an entertainment empire with a wide spectrum of products and services. In late June 2019, the company further announced that it will push harder into overseas markets such as North America and Japan after hitting a milestone of 100 million paying subscribers.

Over in India, Reliance Entertainment has been making waves, with Group CEO Shibasish Sarkar at its helm. A media and entertainment industry veteran, Sakar’s experience spans across multiple verticals including gaming, films, television, animation, digital content and new media platforms. His work at Reliance has seen him establishing and scaling business operations, driving sustainable growth by forming key alliances, managing stakeholders, talent partners and cross-functional teams. Prior to his role at Reliance, he had been with Viacom18 and Disney-UTV.

ATF group project director Yeow Hui Leng said, “We are excited to feature such influential keynote speakers to give us a glimpse into the future of the industry as ATF marks its 20th edition this year.”

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