Mukta Arts Limited has completed its presence in all verticals of the Motion Picture Production pipeline by acquiring a substantial minority stake in Maya Digital Studios.
When Mukta Arts went public in 2000, the only film production house at the time to go public, it laid out strategies for the next decade. Since 2000, Mukta Arts has built business models in Exhibition Programming, Distribution, Film Education and Film Exhibition. After taking this stake, the Mukta Arts group is now present in all verticals of the film industry starting from Film education (Whistling Woods International), Programming & Distribution (Mukta Movie Distributors), Exhibition (‘Mukta Cinemas’ chain of multiplexes open in April 2011) and now in the Animation & VFX industry in Maya Digital Studios.
The new studio will be based out of the Mukta Arts Head Office Building ‘Mukta House’, in Filmcity Mumbai & will have 4 primary business lines – Original IP creation, outsourced Animation & VFX work for international projects, international co-productions & 2D to 3D conversion.
Rahul Puri, Executive Director, Mukta Arts says “Animation and VFX have been on our radar for the past couple of years and we have been exploring the right entry point into this sunrise industry. So, while investment in Maya, has been a matter of timing, we have been considering this industry for a while.”
Mr Subhash Ghai says “Mr Ketan Mehta is a highly artistic & creative filmmaker and has also proven to be a visionary when, almost a decade ago, he realized the potential of Animation & VFX as a key component of filmmaking and forayed in the same. We are confident that this partnership of Mukta Arts’ tradition of pathbreaking cinema and Maya’s potential of success in the fields of Animation & VFX will bear fruit, sooner rather than later.”
Ravi Gupta adds “Frank Foster was the pioneer of Computer Animation and Visual Effects in Hollywood. He has years of experience in running studios not only in USA but also in China. He, as COO of Maya, brings with him all this international experience and contacts in order to achieve the best international standards and business practices to Maya”
Meghna Ghai-Puri, President, Whistling Woods International adds “With Ketanji & Frank Foster, both being high regarded professionals in the fields of Animation & VFX and Maya having had a history of Animation education, the synergies between Maya & The WWI School of Animation will flourish. Both Ketanji & Frank have already conveyed their availability to teach students & take workshops, which we are thrilled about. We are also working out the modalities of an apprenticeship program for students who graduate the WWI Animation & VFX courses.”
Source: India Infoline