Latest news with #AVGC
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
State working on new AVGC-XR policy, aims to attract Hollywood studios
In a move to position itself as a global hub for digital creativity, the State government is working on introducing the AVGC-XR (animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality) policy to unlock its potential in the $531 billion global industry by 2030. If implemented effectively, it will position the State alongside Maharashtra (Mumbai & Pune), Karnataka (Bengaluru), Telangana (Hyderabad), and Madhya Pradesh leaders in the AVGC-XR landscape in India. If implemented correctly, the State will be able to attract Hollywood studios to outsource technical components of their production to the State. Representatives from APDTI Network and the Andhra Pradesh Vfx Animation Gaming Association have already met with State officials to highlight the critical need for this unique AVGC-XR policy. A senior official at the Secretariat told The Hindu: 'To harness the potential of the youth of our State, the government is currently considering the possibility of introducing this new AVGC-XR policy like an IT policy. A formal meeting was held with stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, for their suggestions. The draft is almost ready. We are likely to hold a workshop with stakeholders from these sectors. After corrections and feedback, we will formally announce the policy.' APDTI Network Director, Sreedhar Kosaraju one of the representatives who held discussion with the government on the policy to attract global players (studios, hardware manufacturers, research and development centres), said, 'The policy aims to attract AVGC-XR companies to the State, increase local employment opportunities, retain creative talent (currently migrating to Hyderabad and Bengaluru), and strengthen AP's media and entertainment ecosystem.' Presently, 15% of AVGC-XR CEOs in India are from Andhra Pradesh, and thousands of Andhra-origin professionals power top studios across India, including those working in the AVGC industry in Hyderabad. Mr. Sreedhar Kosaraju said: 'Our State is competitive as it has a 30-40% cost advantage over Hyderabad and Bengaluru. If the government implements the policy perfectly, we will work to retain indigenous talent.' Additionally, we have urged the government to prioritise the creation of an AVGC/gaming corridor in Visakhapatnam to accelerate this growth. We have also sought subsidies on infrastructure for this sector as the setup is costlier than the infrastructure required by IT companies,' Sreedhar opined.
The Hindu
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Trump's decision to impose 100% tariff on non-U.S. movies will impact revenue of Indian films in U.S. market, says Producers Guild of India
The Indian diaspora in the U.S. spent approximately $100 million a year to watch Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Bengali and other Indian language movies released in Uncle Sam's country, said, Producers Guild of India on Monday (May 5, 2025) in its response to Donald Trump's decision to impose 100% tariff on non-U.S. movies. Indians are the largest single-origin Asian group in the U.S., at some 5.2 million, accounting for 1.6% of the country's total population. U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a 100% Tariff on feature films made outside of the U.S. has dampened the spirit of Bollywood and rest of the cinema fraternity across the country. Shibasish Sarkar, President, Producers Guild of India told The Hindu that: 'President Trump's 100% tariff will impact any revenue which Indian films generate in the U.S. market. Indian films do approximately $100 million annually. Definitely there will be impact in footfall if ticket prices go up and it will also cut into the share of producers.' According to Mr. Sarkar, not only theatrical but any other streams of revenue or business coming from digital or satellite or any other platforms of revenue or business from U.S. will be impacted. Telugu commands the largest share of Indian movies released in the U.S., followed by Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi and all major Indian languages films have theatrical and other kinds of releases in the U.S. Ashish Kulkarni, an AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) industry expert and founder of Pune-based production house, Screenyug Creations said such unreasonable hike in tariff was quite unfair and one should not deprive the Indian diaspora of the soft power (entertainment content) of their origin country. 'Under such a high tariff regime, all channels of movie showing and movie viewing will be impacted and become more costly. It will overall increase the cost of content consumption for the Indian diaspora,' added Mr. Kulkarni.
