Palador Pictures
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| Palador Pictures Pvt. Ltd. | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Private |
| Founded | 2005 Mumbai, India |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, India |
| Key people | Gautam Shiknis, Founder & Managing Director Mohan Polamar, Co-Founder & Joint MD |
| Industry | Home Video |
| Products | DVD |
| Website | www.mypalador.com |
Palador Pictures (also Palador Pictures Private Limited) is a content production, programming and publishing company operating from Mumbai, India, dealing mainly with the acquisition and distribution of foreign language films, also knows as World cinema in the Indian Subcontinent through DVD, Television and Theatre.
Palador Pictures was the first company to focus on the world cinema category in India four years back. Reports from various articles published in newspapers put the number of foreign language films owned by Palador to be close to 1000 films including works of yesteryears as well as todays' masters like Charlie Chaplin, Ingmar Bergman, Buster Keaton, Akira Kurosawa, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Abbas Kiarostami, David Lynch etc.
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[edit] Naming
The name "Palador" is derived from the word "Pala", a fictional island in the novel The Island by Aldous Huxley.[1] However, Palador is a planet in the science fictional world of Arthur C. Clarke. The planet, first featured in Arthur C. Clarke's short story Rescue Party, the first story Clarke sold. The residents of this planet are called Paladorians and are characterized as having different bodies, but one mind. Palador is also the name of a dental alloy.
[edit] Acquired films
The company has acquired these films from different parts of the world, especially film festivals e.g. it acquired the rights to around 300 films in the Cannes Film Festival of 2007,[2] including the 'Extra-Special' anniversary prize winning film Paranoid Park. In the recently concluded Berlin International Film Festival, the company is said to have acquired films like Shine A Light (film) the biography of Rolling Stones directed by Martin Scorsese and the Lou Reed documentary Berlin.[3]
On television, eight films from Palador's catalog were shown under a tie-up with Tata Sky during October-November 2007. These were films by directors like Akira Kurosawa, Wim Wenders, Francois Truffaut, Wong Kar Wai and others. The company recently tied up with Zee Studio and is slated to show 26 of its films for six months.
[edit] DVD releases
Palador has launched a DVD Label called 'Palador Presents' and have released world cinema titles under it. The films are being sold as box sets and as individual titles. Some of the movies include: Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood; and Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries and Summer Interlude.
Palador has tied up with Moser Baer, to offer 50 films on DVD. These titles expected to cost INR 399, will mark the entry of Moser Baer, known for their inexpensive DVDs and VCDs, into a premium category.
[edit] Online promotion
The company is promoting world cinema online via different partnerships. It is selling its DVD titles and box sets with Indiaplaza.in and from their own online store. An Akira Kurosawa, Wong Kar Wai, Francois Truffaut and World Cinema Collectors Box Sets are available on these stores.
As a promotional measure Palador has also begun a 'Trip To Cannes' contest that allows those that buy these box sets to win a trip to the Cannes Film Festival 2008.
[edit] Valuation
Palador raised funding of US$ 6 million from private investors including Mahesh Mathai, the director of Indian film, Bhopal Express in August 2007, after a 15% dilution of equity. By this estimation the valuation of Palador is US$ 40 million. The valuation is understated considering that the world cinema market in the country has been estimated to reach a valuation of Indian Rs.1,500 crore by 2009 and compose 20 percent of the non-Indian language movie segment in India.[4]
[edit] Dispute with UTV
The company was into a joint venture agreement with UTV Software Communications Ltd. in 2006-07. The partnership soured and UTV terminated the contract citing 'material breach and non-performance' in May 2007. However, after a court arbitration UTV had to unconditionally withdraw the allegations in August 2007.[5] Things soured further between the two and Palador took UTV to court in November 2007.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ What is Pala? Company's Website
- ^ Palador Acquires the Most Coveted Film of the Festival. IndiaTimes News
- ^ India hits the market Variety Magazine Online Edition.
- ^ UTV, Palador extend 'Olive' branch. Hollywood Reporter |Aug 10, 2007|
- ^ UTV and Palador settle dispute. IndiaTimes.com |Aug 9, 2007|
- ^ Palador drags one-time partner UTV to court over film rights. Financial Express |November 2, 2007|
