Post Production Trend: Hollywood Turns to India for Special Effects

By Dennis Kuba
November 11, 2011

• Hollywood is looking to special effects houses in India to deliver shots for 25-50 percent of what they would spend domestically. PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicts the Indian special effects industry will more than double in size by 2015.
• Digital Domain is partnering with Reliance MediaWorks, an affiliate of India’s Reliance ADA conglomerate. Lucasfilm is working with India’s Prime Focus for the 3D conversion of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.”
• Indian companies like Crest Animation Studios and DQ Entertainment, meanwhile, have announced projects with Lionsgate Entertainment and France Television.
• “These days, as much as a third of the budget for major Hollywood films is earmarked for special effects, according to a research report by accounting firm KPMG. The annual amount spent by filmmakers on special effects in the world’s top five markets totals some $1.9 billion,” reports Fortune.

Cheapest Tablet Launches in India: The Aakash is Finally Here

By Rob Scott
October 10, 2011

• ETCentric previously reported that the Indian government had been promising the world’s most affordable tablet PC for quite some time. The wait is now over, and the Aakash tablet has finally launched.
• Running on Android 2.2 and boasting 32GB of Flash memory, 256MB RAM, two USB ports, and a 7-inch screen, the tablet will be sold to students for $35 and the general public for $50-$70 (current reports vary).
• The Indian government is subsidizing the tablets (about $50 per tablet) to make them affordable. The student version will reportedly not feature a SIM card though, meaning that student users will need to rely on Wi-Fi for the time being.
• The government hopes this project will help bolster India’s connectivity, which is below 10 percent penetration and limits the online potential of the nation’s 1.2 billion citizens.