Tapaas Chakravarti, Chairman & CEO – DQ Entertainment

In recent times we have aimed at building value by real ownership of the properties we are produc¬ing. Creation, development and production of intellectual properties (IP) has been a focus area for us which will provide long-term and sustaining revenues to the company. We started with producing ‘The Jungle Book’ which has sold in more than 160 countries worldwide for TV broadcast. Currently under development are other iconic productions such as Peter Pan, Lassie, Charlie Chaplin, and several Indian IPs which have been conceptualised and developed by the creative and dynamic Global-IP Division of the company. 

Further, the licensing and merchandising division has made phenomenal inroads across the globe for the exploitation of our IPs and we have concluded deals with leading distributors and licensees such as TF1 Enterprises-France, ZDF Enterprises-Germany, CPLG-London, Belltex-Belgium, Ha¬chette Livre-France, and others for publishing worldwide. DQE has also forayed into production of 3D animated stereoscopic feature films. We are producing ‘The Prodigies’ for Warner Bros, Fidelitie Films, Studio 37 and Onyx Films which is to be released worldwide on May 28, 2011. DQE holds the rights to develop and produce 3D stereoscopic feature films for ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘Peter Pan’, its own IPs. 

DQE has two streams of revenues that come from production and distribution and licensing. The company will see significant growth in its licensing and merchandising business with the exploita-tion of the rights acquired by DQE through various co-production deals, thereby adding to a healthy bottomline. The company currently holds a programming library of over 450 hours for TV broadcast with rights in various territories including South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe, etc while for its own international IPs viz. ‘Jungle Book’ and ‘Peter Pan’, the company holds all the worldwide rights, including feature films and game publishing. The L&D revenue will be more upstream compared to TV license revenue but will be sustaining and perennial in nature since the life of the animated properties continues well beyond the broadcast time-frame.

We will be expanding our facility in the SEZ with high-end machines and software to meet the requirements for the production of the pro¬posed 3D stereoscopic feature films. 

DQE has established a global footprint with respect to market reach and networking. We have aligned with global partners for co-produc¬tions, licensing and distribution with the best in India, Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well as CIS countries. Licensing of the ‘Jungle Book’ TV rights in over 160 countries is fine proof of DQE’s global sales, distribution and licensing reach. DQE has a strong presence for high-quality development in the US, the UK, France and Philippines with the largest workforce of over 3000+ in India alone. DQE is leveraging on the best talents available for creative work such as primary designing, scriptwriting, voice, music and some other pre-production activities from its subsidiaries in Europe and offices in Ireland, France, UK and Philippines to support the main production in India. 

DQE’s vision is to be a globally recognised entertainment company developing branded and popular intellectual properties and monetiz¬ing these IPs through a 360 degree exploitation by way of television series, feature films, publishing, merchandise sales, etc. 

As such we have created a niche for ourselves in the global market and hence do not foresee any immediate challenges or risks that may impact our goals or targets except for such events that are beyond our control and may cause delays in the production process and delivery schedules. As we operate in multiple currencies there is always the risk of foreign exchange fluctuations which we try to cover by way of options or hedging. We also aim to de-risk our productions by aligning with suitable co-production partners of repute. 

DQE is conscious of its fiduciary responsibility towards all its stake¬holders, including investors. Ever since the commencement of its operations DQE has earned profits and grown at a CAGR of more than 35 per cent year on year. DQE has gradually but strategically moved along the animation value chain and gained greater expo¬sure to IP ownership and distribution, thereby improving the margins year on year. The company has also adapted to the latest techno¬logical improvements, thereby keeping itself on par with the global giants in this industry and the testimony to that is that we already have the expertise in place to develop 3D stereoscopic television series for the small screen as well as 3D stereoscopic feature films for the big screens.