Film and entertainment services company Reliance MediaWorks Ltd (RMW), a part of Reliance ADAG, has entered into a partnership with US-based studio Digital Domain Productions, to create visual effects (VFX) and 3D conversion studios in Mumbai and London.
Through the partnership, RMW will set up a new co-branded Digital Domain/Reliance MediaWorks studio at its existing media BPO facility in Navi Mumbai.
The co-branded studios will cater to motion pictures, television, commercial, and stereo 3D conversion for catalogue projects, beginning next month. RMW currently offers VFX and stereo 3D conversion services with an existing team of 500.
An additional team of up to 650 people will be made available for projects allied with Digital Domain. In London, Digital Domain will co-locate a visual effects team within Reliance MediaWorks' UK facility.
Impact
On the impact that the new studio will have on RMW's capital expenditure, Mr Anil Arjun, CEO, RMW, told Business Line , “We will be expanding the existing facility, so it's only an incremental capex that we will be incurring. The operating cost will be accompanied by revenues from the new VFX projects.”
On the impact on top line, he added, “The contribution of VFX to the revenues last year was not more than 5 to 6 per cent. We will be fully staffed at the new studio by February/March, and for the financial year ending March 2013, we expect VFX to contribute close to 20 or 22 per cent, even as the total business grows at 15 to 20 per cent.”
For the year-ended March 2011, Reliance MediaWorks registered revenue of Rs 836 crore.
According to a KPMG report, the VFX industry in India is expected to grow from Rs 450 crore in 2010 to Rs 1,300 crore by 2015.