Palador Pictures

Palador Pictures Pvt. Ltd.
Private
Industry Home video
Founded 2005 Mumbai, India
Headquarters Mumbai, India
Key people

Gautam Shiknis, Founder & Managing Director

Mohan Polamar, Co-Founder & Joint MD
Products DVD
Website www.mypalador.com

Palador Pictures (also Palador Pictures Private Limited) is a content production, programming and publishing company operating from Mumbai, India, dealing mainly with the acquisition and distribution of foreign language films, also known as World cinema in the Indian subcontinent through DVD, television and theatre.

Palador Pictures was the first company to focus on the world cinema category in India in 2005. Reports from various articles published in newspapers put the number of foreign language films owned by Palador to be close to 1000 films including works of yesteryear as well as today's masters like Charlie Chaplin, Ingmar Bergman, Buster Keaton, Akira Kurosawa, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Abbas Kiarostami, David Lynch etc.

Naming

The name "Palador" is derived from the word "Pala", a fictional island in the novel The Island by Aldous Huxley.[1] Palador is also a planet in the science fictional world of Arthur C. Clarke. The planet, first featured in Arthur C. Clarke's short story "Rescue Party," the first story Clarke sold. The residents of this planet are called Paladorians and are characterized as having different bodies, but one mind. Palador is also the name of a dental alloy.

Acquired films

Cover for Palador Pictures' DVD release of Seven Samurai.

The company has acquired these films from different parts of the world, especially film festivals e.g. it acquired the rights to around 300 films in the Cannes Film Festival of 2007,[2] including the 'Extra-Special' anniversary prize winning film Paranoid Park. In the recently concluded Berlin International Film Festival, the company is said to have acquired films like Shine A Light), the biography of the Rolling Stones directed by Martin Scorsese, and the Lou Reed documentary Berlin.[3]

On television, eight films from Palador's catalog were shown under a tie-up with Tata Sky during October–November 2007. These were films by directors like Akira Kurosawa, Wim Wenders, François Truffaut, Wong Kar-wai and others. The company recently tied up with Zee Studio and is slated to show 26 of its films for six months.

DVD releases

Palador has launched a DVD Label called 'The One World Collection' and have released world cinema titles under it. The films are being sold as box sets and as individual titles. Some of the movies include: Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood; and Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries and Summer Interlude.

Palador has tied up with Moser Baer, to offer 50 films on DVD. These titles expected to cost INR 399, will mark the entry of Moser Baer, known for their inexpensive DVDs and VCDs, into a premium category.

Online promotion

The company is promoting world cinema online via different partnerships. It is selling its DVD titles and box sets with Indiaplaza.in and from their own online store. Akira Kurosawa, Wong Kar-wai, François Truffaut and World Cinema Collectors Box Sets are available in these stores.

As a promotional measure Palador has also begun a 'Trip To Cannes' contest that allows those that buy these box sets to win a trip to the Cannes Film Festival 2008.

The online store does not have customer support, and there are no listed phone numbers to contact in case of ordering or shipping problems. E-mails to their support team are not entertained in case of disputes.

Valuation

Palador raised funding of US$6 million from private investors including Mahesh Mathai, the director of Indian film, Bhopal Express in August 2007, after a 15% dilution of equity. By this estimation the valuation of Palador is US$40 million. The valuation is understated considering that the world cinema market in the country has been estimated to reach a valuation of Indian Rs.1,500 crore by 2009 and compose 20 percent of the non-Indian language movie segment in India.[4]

Dispute with UTV

The company was in a joint venture agreement with UTV Software Communications Ltd. in 2006-07. The partnership soured and UTV terminated the contract, citing 'material breach and non-performance' in May 2007. However, after a court arbitration UTV had to unconditionally withdraw the allegations in August 2007.[5] Things soured further between the two and Palador took UTV to court in November 2007.[6]

References

  1. ↑ What is Pala? Company's Website
  2. ↑ Palador Acquires the Most Coveted Film of the Festival. IndiaTimes News
  3. ↑ India hits the market Variety Magazine Online Edition.
  4. ↑ UTV, Palador extend 'Olive' branch. Hollywood Reporter |10 August 2007|
  5. ↑ UTV and Palador settle dispute. IndiaTimes.com |9 August 2007|
  6. ↑ Palador drags one-time partner UTV to court over film rights. Financial Express |2 November 2007|
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