‘Indian movie industry to be worth USD 5 bn in 2 yrs’

“India is the biggest movie ticket market in the world,with 3.3 billion tickets sold every year. India’s movie industry is in transition from being a USD 3.2 billion industry until two years ago,towards becoming a USD five billion industry in the next two years,” he added.

This,Dodd felt,is a huge opportunity that the US motion picture industry is keen on tapping.

Stating that collaboration between the Indian and the US movie industries is is expected to increase,Dodd said “barriers that prevent production and distribution of content must be brought down.”

He said the two industries would have to harness opportunities that technology has thrown up and do everything to bring artists of the two countries together.

Expressing concern about piracy of movies,Dodd said,”When content is stolen,it hurts all those who work in this industry. It hurts all those workers whose names don’t appear on the marquee,just as it hurts those who make those movies.”

He called for joint efforts between the industries to end theft of content as it is a major threat.

Dodd quoted an Ernst & Young report which said the Indian movie industry loses around USD one million due to content theft every year.

“Strong laws are necessary to stop content theft which hurts the movie industry. MPAA also appreciates the work that FICCI is doing in the area of intellectual property rights. I think it is also an important opportunity for the Indian government to move against online piracy,” he said.

Refuting claims that technology had helped increase piracy,Dodd said,”Technology and content need each other.

All gadgets need content. So it is a false argument that you have to choose either technology or content.”

Ficci FRAMES is an annual global convention on India’s media and entertainment industry.