02-25-2009, 01:07 PM
Q. Explain our obsession with making it at the Oscars even when we are being honoured by film festivals around the globe.
A. Itâs not that we havenât made films worthy of the Oscars. If you want to win the trophy, you need to understand the American system. The members of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences have to watch hundreds of films, which is humanly impossible to register. So to make sure you get noticed, you have to ensure that members watch your film carefully, that they get to hear a buzz around it. In other words, you have to lobby and hard sell. The only time we got close to it was when Aamir and Ashutosh Gowarikar understood it and went to Los Angeles to lobby as hard as they could. Not only do you have to force the members to watch your film, you have to constantly bring your film into their consciousness, which means you must have a publicist. And half the battle is won. A huge amount of money is to be spent on all of this. Now for Indian films, whose major markets are the home and diaspora, are the Oscars worthy of investment? No. Because a film will be a hit with or without the Oscars. For an American or European film, an Oscar means a lot because the award-winning film starts doing 30 to 50 per cent additional business. This reality is often not understood.
Lobbying makes sense for a Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair and M Night Shyamalan, because they are known names there, they operate there. The day Oscars mean more business for us, distributors will definitely invest in promotion; maybe even put a permanent publicist in Hollywood.
Ismail Merchant, before he became a powerful producer with James Ivory, understood this rather early. He would bribe hotel bell boys and send a note through them to Academy members, requesting them to watch his film. He did so many things entirely on his own. Regional films â and you have some brilliant works in Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada â canât even be promoted. Who will fund their effort? Besides, 90 per cent of members wonât even understand the language or register it in their minds.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/158010/I-did-B...f-misssion.html
A. Itâs not that we havenât made films worthy of the Oscars. If you want to win the trophy, you need to understand the American system. The members of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences have to watch hundreds of films, which is humanly impossible to register. So to make sure you get noticed, you have to ensure that members watch your film carefully, that they get to hear a buzz around it. In other words, you have to lobby and hard sell. The only time we got close to it was when Aamir and Ashutosh Gowarikar understood it and went to Los Angeles to lobby as hard as they could. Not only do you have to force the members to watch your film, you have to constantly bring your film into their consciousness, which means you must have a publicist. And half the battle is won. A huge amount of money is to be spent on all of this. Now for Indian films, whose major markets are the home and diaspora, are the Oscars worthy of investment? No. Because a film will be a hit with or without the Oscars. For an American or European film, an Oscar means a lot because the award-winning film starts doing 30 to 50 per cent additional business. This reality is often not understood.
Lobbying makes sense for a Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair and M Night Shyamalan, because they are known names there, they operate there. The day Oscars mean more business for us, distributors will definitely invest in promotion; maybe even put a permanent publicist in Hollywood.
Ismail Merchant, before he became a powerful producer with James Ivory, understood this rather early. He would bribe hotel bell boys and send a note through them to Academy members, requesting them to watch his film. He did so many things entirely on his own. Regional films â and you have some brilliant works in Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada â canât even be promoted. Who will fund their effort? Besides, 90 per cent of members wonât even understand the language or register it in their minds.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/158010/I-did-B...f-misssion.html