The future lies in films

Mumbai: The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) is in talks with multinational film financing companies as part of its efforts to venture into financing movies in a major way.

At present, two firms, a European and an American, have expressed willingness to make strategic alliance with IDBI in the venture.

A senior IDBI official said the US-based company, Film Finances Inc, has approached financial institutions to gather adequate risk coverage and guarantee to the films financed by IDBI. Film Finances is a well-known name in the international film industry and has presence in the UK, Canada, Italy and France, apart from the US. If the deal works out, IDBI will not bear the risk in financing films, as the international agency would give guarantees of completion to the financier.

The arrangement will be in line with the global practice of film financing, the official said. "We are looking at film financing as a risk-free investment. The international agency will take the responsibility for the completion of the film and will also do the project appraisal in the run-up to the sanctioning of funds."

He said the US company has asked for the script, the shooting schedule and the budget of the films for which IDBI has already allocated its funds. But so far, IDBI has not taken any decision on this regard.

He said the foreign companies would provide financiers assurance that the films would be delivered on time and the over-budget costs would not be the financiers responsibility.

A European company has also approached IDBI for the same business. Talks with the firm are in a preliminary stage and it may take at least one more month to get a vivid picture on the deal, he said. He, however, was reluctant to divulge the name of the European film financing company.