Development of a Business plan: World Cinema house

Abstract

Business “M-Square Films” would be a firm in the business of providing the service of screening of acclaimed movies from across the world in a theatrical setting in Bangalore. These would be movies of various genres from World Cinema that are not available in the commercial distribution network in India. Concept While there are numerous avenues available for viewing world cinema there is a dearth of market offerings which combine the best films, quality ambience and a communal setting which are the three central aspects that a cinephile expects to derive the maximum satisfaction from the movie watching experience. The abundant multiplexes and theatres while providing good ambience are limited to Indian and Hollywood mainstream commercial movies and fail to cultivate a community of film lovers. Other media including the DVD and internet are limited to home environment and fail to provide a communal setting. Hence there is a discernable gap in the movie exhibition market for a service offering addressing the needs of cinephiles.1 This is the gap that our proposed World Cinema House - “M-Square Films” would aim to plug. Target Customers Working, educated individuals or students, belonging to the middle and upper classes of society, residing in an urban area, seeking alternative forms of entertainment and having an interest in cinema in general. Status The plan is entering the development stage and talks with film distributors, theatre owners and partner film clubs are in progress to strike contractual alliances. The screenings would be conducted in a small theatre in a multiplex setting with limited seating and state of the art infrastructure. The service is intended to be provided round the year with regular screenings all through the week with 4 shows per day. The lobby in the multiplex premises would be used for holding discussions after the screening. Two of the shows during the weekend would be lead and moderated by an expert from the film industry or an eminent member of the film society. The film to be screened would be procured predominantly from the distributors within India. A differential pricing model would be employed to encourage patronage throughout the week and the promotions would be carried out predominantly through the internet, FM radio, press and Intheatre promotions. Financing The firm would initially need INR 20 lakhs to start operations. We plan to raise this through "family and friend" type angel investors and a bank loan. The firm would break even in the 3rd quarter of its operations. Based on the progress made, we intend to scale up by extending the service on a Pan- India basis in a one to two year horizon at which time we intend to seek Venture funding. Team The firm’s core team is composed of two MBA’s from IIM Bangalore who have a background in engineering, more than 3 years work experience in the Software Industry and share a passion for movies.