Film Project Pitching Âan innovative section launched by Kerala Chalachitra Academy as part of the 18th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala received immense response from aspiring filmmakers.
Within 24 hours of the inaugural of the project, 42 aspiring talents from across the state approached the Film Marketing Section under the Academy to pitch their ideas in the hope of attracting producers and directors. On Monday, the Academy organized a special interactive session for aspiring filmmakers with an expert panel of known and experienced faces of the film industry.
Vijai Babu, producer and actor of many hit movies, including 'Philips and the Monkey Pen', said that Malayalam film industry was now the test market of many national production companies.
“Many leading production companies, including UTV Motion Pictures, are making movies in Malayalam at low budget to check whether the film is appealing. The investment for making a movie here is below Rs 3 crore, while the same movie is made in Bollywood spending Rs 50 crore," said Mr Vijai Babu.
He said that filmmaking is a gamble. “I am ready to promote new talents, thoughts, concept and treatments. But, there is a calculated risk involved in producing movies. Malayalam film industry is going through a peculiar phase. The harsh reality is that a film will not survive with theatre revenue alone. It's very important to have a marketable story with global appeal so that it could be made in other languages," he said.
Actor Raveendran, head of Project Pitching and general council member of Kerala Chalachitra Academy, said that all ideas received would be scrutinized by an expert panel. He said that the film marketing division is organizing classes on film budgeting, discussion and seminars on topics related to movie making in the coming days.
“Producers are looking for new talents. We will act as a launch pad and catalyst for the growth of aspiring filmmakers. The committee will have members like Ranjan Pramod. They will shortlist the synopsis submitted by the talents. Subsequently, we will organize a one-to-one session with producers from the industry where the aspiring talents will get the unique opportunity to pitch their ideas," said Raveendran.
He said that the committee would submit a report on the ideas which will be presented before the Film Chamber and Producers Association.
During the session, participants got the chance to express their ideas and interact with the panel on the expectations of the producers and directors. “We are on the lookout for good stories and I am ready to produce stories with a good message. New films are being categorized, based on the themes. Actually there are no new generation and old generation films. There are only good and bad movies," said Mr. Sandeep Senan, the producer of movie 'Ne Ko Nan Cha'.
Known producers, screenplay writers and directors, including Lijo Jose Pallisserry , K. Ambady and Suresh Unnithan were also part of the panel.
