Viacom says it wants to make films in India
American media giant Viacom Inc. wants to meld Hollywood with Bollywood by producing movies in India, company President and Chief Executive Tom Freston said Wednesday.
“We want to produce films here; we don’t want to just distribute,” said Freston, whose operating units include Paramount, DreamWorks, MTV and Nickelodeon. “We want to work with Indian producers.”
He made the announcement at the start of a three-day international entertainment industry conference in Mumbai (formerly called Bombay), India’s financial and entertainment capital.
Viacom is targeting India because of its billion-plus population, he said.
“Here’s what Viacom is looking at: the biggest movie and television population, with 700 million people under the age of 35. This is twice the population of the United States,” Freston said.
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