Of Conferences and academia

As another year rolls and Bollywood gains in prominence in the global media, correctly attributed by Amitabh Bachchan to the rise and increasing openness of the Indian economy, it also gives rise to a
whole lot of film and media related conferences in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, LA, London, etc.

The question that often arises, similar to living here in Silicon Valley, is whether these conferences a) add any real value to the person(s) looking to do business with the Indian entertainment industry and b) on the capability of the people addressing these conferences.

The truth of the matter is that almost all of these conferences are conducted by people who probably are not in the real world of film commerce (more on the periphery) and also by career film school
academics. The common thing to both of these sets of profile is that a) their knowledge is at best second hand and bookish and the common thing to both of these sets of profile is b) these people have
probably not done anything in the real world. Hence they have all the time to be on these panels. Like in anything there are exceptions to the rule, but this seems to be my assessment of the norm.

Name the last conference or panel discussion that you attended that had the likes of Ram Gopal Varma, Yash Chopra, Rekha, or the CEOs of major production and distribution companies of India.

Now name the last conference or panel discussion that you attended that was full of people from the top film schools, journalists, etc, etc- the one thing in common with all these folks being....they are
outsiders watching in, as opposed to be the "roll your sleeves up" types that really get down to business.

So that brings us to the question - How qualified are these outsiders looking in to address these conferences and also to the question, is there any value to attend these conferences?

The answer to the above are Not qualified and No.

Just as a great company is not formed by attending a networking event, similarly the business of film can best be learned by being in the business itself or from people who do this for a living. And
remember there is a BIG, BIG, difference between the REAL world of film commerce (that only happens between the maker and the audience) and the UNREAL world of film commerce (that includes festivals,
critics, parties, discussions, etc). So the next time you see a movie which has won over some sort of mass appeal, use that as a case study of the film business, as opposed to discussions mediated by the
Unreal world.

Till then don't waste your hard earned money on hearing folks give out wisdom, when the very folks giving it are potential recipients.

Sincerely,

Vivek "cinema is about mass communications and the true communicators are those who have interacted with the masses as communicators as opposed to folks who are not in the direct demand supply chain" Kumar