Box Office India inks content sharing deal with US-based magazine

Select Media Holdings will publish content prepared especially for the Indian cinema industry by the official magazine of the US theatrical exhibition, Boxoffice Magazine.

Boxoffice Media LLC and Select Media Holdings have entered into a strategic content sharing tie up, as per which Box Office India will publish content prepared especially for the Indian cinema industry by Boxoffice Magazine, the official magazine of US theatrical exhibition.

For the uninitiated, Boxoffice LLC, New York has been publishing Boxoffice Magazine since 1920 and was the first magazine to report box office numbers in 1937. It is also the official magazine of NATO, the US based National Association of Theatre Owners. Apart from the magazine, the group also owns Boxoffice.com and Boxoffice Weekly for the iPad, a movie magazine for the app store.

Select Media Holdings is the publisher of Box Office India, apart from a monthly music magazine called Sound Box. Boxoffice Magazine and Box Office India are owned by two different media houses and are not inter-related.

As per the tie up, every week, Select Media, through its weekly Bollywood trade magazine Box Office India, will pick up latest trends in cinema technology in the US, services and practices, in addition to coverage of Hollywood and independent films from the US-based Boxoffice Magazine. The content will range from news to reviews, trends, interviews and box office collections from the North American market (Hollywood).

Talking about the tie up, Nitin Tej Ahuja, publisher, Box Office India, says, "It will give readers a firsthand insight into all that's happening in the North American market, with a special emphasis on news, collections, trends and developments of special relevance to us in India. This is not a mere content syndication deal but the team at Boxoffice (US) is taking care, through constant dialog with us, to create content that is relevant to our readers." For example, some such content will include the US viewpoint on Shah Rukh Khan's airport detention, North American grosses for Indian films, Facebook and Twitter tracking of Indian films and the Indian prospects of Hollywood's upcoming film, The Avengers, among others.

He adds, "The US is both an important overseas market for our films, as also a source of film, television and home video content for our trade. It is also our largest partner for products, technologies and services in our exhibition and post-production spaces. With the US being the largest film industry in the world in revenue terms, and India the largest industry in terms of the number of films produced, it is essential that there be a constant two-way exchange of thoughts, ideas and information between the two film fraternities."

Peter Cane, CEO and publisher, Boxoffice Media, says, "Distribution through Box Office India will guarantee the deepest possible penetration into India's broad community of theatrical film professionals."

To begin with, Box Office India will dedicate four pages in every issue to the shared content, and will expand the coverage with time. Going forward, once the property is established, Select Media plans to consider branding the special pages.