In the centenary year of Indian cinema, the Malayalam movie industry is all set to experiment a new model of film production, a professionally managed equity fund.
Certain business groups in the state, high networth individuals, persons in the film field in Kerala and North India-based media houses are holding talks with consultancy firms to start such a fund. Though the discussions are at a nascent stage the fund will be launched in a year, sources said.
An equity fund is a chunk of money accumulated from various investors and managed professionally in order to make profit. Currently such a fund is active in Bollywood and is managed by UTV Motion Pictures.
Rajesh Nair, vice-president(markets), Ernst and Young, said that film as a business has become more professional now and formation of an equity fund is only the sign.
“Normally low budget films are produced by these funds. As the fund is managed professionally, there will be tight control over the cost of production. Mostly the funding happens on the basis of script,” he added.
He said that since production houses from outside Kerala are increasingly funding Malayalam movies, a film fund will be launched in the State without much delay.