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LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK and MUMBAI August 20, 2006 - UTV, India's
leading media and entertainment company, today announced an unprecedented
slate of co-productions with leading Hollywood Studios, with a total
value across projects of USD 37 million - the largest such commitment
by any South Asian media major.
UTV and Fox Searchlight announced a co-production deal on the film
I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE, starring Chris Rock. Ronnie Screwvala, CEO
of UTV Motion Pictures and Peter Rice, CEO of Fox Searchlight announced
this in Los Angeles on Friday. Principal photography has been completed
in New York; Fox Searchlight plans to release the film in the U.S.
on February 9, 2007. The USD 14 million production is UTV's second
venture with Fox after THE NAMESAKE, directed by Mira Nair, which
will be released in March 2007.
Peter Rice, CEO of Fox Searchlight says, "We are very eager
to be partnering with UTV, a dynamic force in South Asian Media.
Ronnie's innovative vision parallels Searchlight's and after working
together on THE NAMESAKE we jumped at the chance to collaborate
again on our highly anticipated Chris Rock comedy I THINK I LOVE
MY WIFE."
The second deal UTV announced is a USD 30 million co-production
agreement with Actor/producer Will Smith and his production company
Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, for films
to be created and distributed worldwide. This was announced in New
York on Saturday by Ronnie Screwvala, Will Smith, James Lassiter,
Smith's partner at Overbrook Entertainment and Amy Pascal, Chairman
of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.
The two-picture deal emerged from a Sony arranged visit Smith and
Lassiter took to India in February 2006 to explore co-production
possibilities, when they met with media titans and key members of
the creative community. As a result of the co-production agreement,
UTV and Overbrook will develop films that will have a global reach
and appeal. The first two projects will be a live-action film valued
at USD 10 million and a CG animated motion picture at USD 20 million.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has a first look deal for the two productions.
According to the terms of the agreement, while UTV and Overbrook
will co-produce the movies, SPE will distribute the movies worldwide,
excluding India.
"India is one of the most remarkable places on Earth and its
motion picture industry has always fascinated me", said Will
Smith.
"This unique agreement is the future of our business",
said Pascal. "Sony has been involved with local language initiatives
for many years and this deal accentuates the way our industry is
becoming more borderless and more global every day."
"We are particularly excited to have an animation project as
part of this agreement", said Lassiter, "since India is
emerging as the next big destination for animation content and UTV
is on the cutting-edge of animation development."
Ronnie Screwvala, Chief Executive Officer of UTV states: "UTV
is focused on collaborating with like-minded partners like Fox,
Sony and Will Smith to produce entertainment for global audiences.
For UTV, these projects are a big step in reaching key North American
markets and expanding our presence globally. UTV has made the biggest
commitment by any South Asian media major to international co-productions
and we will continue to lead the way in this regard."
About UTV: UTV is a leading integrated media and entertainment
company based in South Asia, with international subsidiaries in
the U.S., UK and South East Asia. Publicly listed on the Indian
Stock Exchange last year, it is a leader in TV content in Asia,
with a large Animation and SFX facility; has one of the first fully
integrated studio models in movies and occupies a dominant space
in the kids programming and broadcasting space in South Asia.
About Fox Searchlight: Fox Searchlight Pictures is a specialty
film company that both produces and acquires motion pictures. It
has its own marketing and distribution operations, and its films
are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight
Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment
Group.
About Sony Pictures Entertainment: Sony Pictures Entertainment
(SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary
of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPEs global operations encompass
motion picture production and distribution; television production
and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide
channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution;
operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment
products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed
entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be
found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com <http://www.sonypictures.com>
.
About Overbrook Entertainment: Overbrook Entertainment is a film
and television production company owned by James Lassiter and Will
Smith. Overbrook's film productions include the hit romantic comedy
Hitch, the sci-fi thriller I, Robot, the bio-pic Ali, and the upcoming
drama The Pursuit of Happyness, all starring Smith. In addition
Overbrook produced Saving Face starring Joan Chen, Showtime starring
Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy and ATL starring platinum-selling
recording artist T.I. For television, Overbrook produces the current
CW network hit All Of Us. Overbrook also produced the soundtracks
for such films as Wild, Wild West and Men In Black, both of which
won the American Music Award for favorite soundtracks.
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