By Neeraj Nanda
Melbourne: A Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Government will cement Victoria’s economic and cultural ties with India and South Asia with an ambitious plan to attract more Bollywood film production to Victoria.
“Bollywood is a cultural and economic powerhouse in India and the sub-continent and Victoria can only benefit from a much closer relationship with India’s film industry,” Coalition Leader Ted Baillieu said today.
The Coalition’s initiatives to build better links with Bollywood include:
• initiating a bid by the Victorian Major Events Corporation to gain for Melbourne the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, the Academy Awards of India and Bollywood. The IIFA Awards are presented annually to honour artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Bollywood and celebrate the achievements of Indian cinema. The awards ceremony is held in a different country around the world every year to demonstrate and promote the international success of Bollywood. The Awards could be used to showcase Melbourne and Victoria to the world, opening up huge opportunities in tourism, Victoria’s film and television industry and business;
• committing $500,000 over four years to develop the Bollywood Film Festival, co-ordinated with the Melbourne International Film Festival as a permanent part of Melbourne’s cultural calendar, including releasing world premieres of new productions;
• appointing a well known Bollywood personality to be a Bollywood Ambassador for Victoria to help bring in more Bollywood productions, tourists and international students to Victoria. The Bollywood Ambassador will be promoted and supported to market Victoria in India and around the world as a great tourist destination and a suitable location for Bollywood productions;
• establishing six Victorian Fellowships of up to $20,000 each for young Victorian directors and producers to give them the opportunity to undertake short-term overseas study missions to movie production bases such as Bollywood;
• setting up a technical and artistic exchange program between the Indian and Victorian film and music industries to strengthen and promote commercial and professional links between the two industries; and
• reviewing and reforming the granting of film production permits to cut red tape for overseas productions, including Bollywood films, to ensure the Victorian industry is competitive with interstate and international film industries.
