Gateway to Hollywood, the Amritraj way

A new reality television show is soon to be aired on SET Pix in association with Hyde Park Entertainment

Pix, the English movie channel from Sony Entertainment Television India, and Ashok Amritraj, founder and CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment, have announced the launch of ‘Gateway’, India’s first reality TV show on filmmaking.

‘Gateway’ will be Pix’s maiden local production of a television series. Starring Ashok Amritraj, ‘Gateway’ will conduct an intensive nationwide search for India’s most promising new director. The winner will be given the chance to direct a Hollywood film produced by Amritraj’s company, Hyde Park Entertainment.

Ashok Amritraj, chairman and CEO, Hyde Park Entertainment, says about the television show, “I have been eager to work with Indian filmmakers for some time now. I approached Pix more than a year ago with the idea for a show, and since then we have refined the format together. There is a dearth of Indian film makers, and this prompted me to come up with this idea.”

Participants need to send in their entries – a film between two and four minutes in length – on a DVD/VCD. Fifty finalists from around India will be selected and interviewed in the selection round and 18 final contestants will be chosen and brought to Mumbai to compete in ‘Gateway’.

The winner of the reality series will get a chance to direct a movie produced by Hyde Park Entertainment, and also be a part of an intensive eight-week internship with Ashok Amritraj and Hyde Park Entertainment.

“The show will be on the lines of ‘The Apprentice’ and will have film oriented projects for the teams to complete,” reveals Sunder Aaron, senior vice-president, English channels, SET.

The marketing strategy will be highly Internet based, and promos and mailers will be sent to B2B portals. The promos of the show will be run across all channels of Sony Entertainment Television, creating a buzz for the event. Cafes and film schools have also been made a part of the promotional activities for the television show. The target audience for this reality show will be people from urban and semi-urban areas across the nation.