Export of Indian entertainment software

Abstract

This is a study of the potential for exports of Indian film and television software. It uses the word entertainment to encompass these two,'.-and only these two components. It is written from the perspective of Mukta Arts, an Indian media and entertainment company that wishes to grow and become a major power in the world market. To do this. The company must tap into both. an enormous domestic market, and an overseas audience that includes people of Indian origin as well as others. The study has been broken up into two components. In the first, Investigative component, the objective is to gain an’ understanding of the industry and the macro- environment rather than make any specific recommendations. To that end, this component begins by tracing the history of entertainment abroad. The growth of the industry is examined primarily in the American context, although there are brief sections that touch upon the European and the Japanese experiences. Based on this, the report seeks to identify certain Dimensions of Growth. These dimensions contributed, in varying proportions, to the growth of the industry in each of the three regions, and they play a role in the Indian context. By highlighting these dimensions, the report seeks to bring out similarities and differences in the paths taken by the different industries. In the next section, the report examines the Indian macro-environment. It discusses why it is important to study the potential of export of Indian entertainment today, discussing both, the growing interest in India among international audiences, and the maturing of the Indian industry. It also examines the characteristics of the current social, economic, technological, human, political, legal and regulatory environments in India, as they apply to entertainment exports. Having done that, the report discusses the applicability of the Emerging Industry framework to the Indian entertainment industry. It draws a distinction between newborn industries, which are naturally emerging industries, and reborn industries, arguing that recent changes in the macro-environment and in the industry itself have been such that the industry can justifiably be considered an emerging industry. In substantiation identifies certain key distinguishing characteristics of an emerging indents/, and examines how well each describes Indian entertainment. With this, the report moves into its second, Interpretative component. in this component, the objective is to make recommendations from the perspective of an Indian entertainment company. . ln the first section of this component, the reopen analyses the failure that was the Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited. ABCL was the first attempt at corporatizations in the industry, and it flopped. The report analyses why that happened, arguing that while corporatized, the firm still behaved unprofessionally, with differences cropping up between the professional management team and Bachchan's cronies on the Board. ' While ABCL failed, however, the report argues that Bollywood will eventually have to turn professional. It argues that ABCL is a good example of how an entertainment company should not be run, but it does not mean there is no hope for the industry. Moving on, the report tackles another case study. It now focuses on Mukta Arts, a, company promoted by Subhash Ghai. Mukta is another attempt at corporatization, and one that might succeed where ABCL failed. The report analyses the business model and emerging business strategy of the company, and then applies the SWOT framework from the perspective of exports. Mukta‘s core competence lies in the film production, and its strengths include its hardware facilities, its software library, and the industry goodwill it enjoys. _ Based on the SWOT analysis, the report makes recommendations to Mukta, in the term of Eight Commandments. Finally, in its concluding section the report makes five key predictions that will impact the future of Indian entertainment software exports.