Film magnate Ashok Amritraj

Former tennis player and brother to Vijay and Anand Amritraj, the ebullient Tamil producer Ashok Amritraj, celebrates his 100th film and 30 years in the business by opening his knowledge out to London’s aspiring film makers. Known for eating chicken tikka with Dustin Hoffman and playing tennis with Pierce Brosnan, this Chennai brought up personality is an international business tycoon.
Ashok Amritraj is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment and is India’s most successful producer in Hollywood as he has produced or executively produced 100 films with box office gross in excess of $1 billion.
In the 30 years he has worked in the film industry, he has partnered with every major studio (Disney, MGM, Sony etc) and his films have starred many famous A list actors and actresses including Bruce Willis, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, Steve Martin, Danny Devito, Don Cheadle and many more. Amritraj has grown the company into a cutting edge alternative to the traditional Hollywood studio system by making it one of the few progressive global independent companies that encompass most elements of a full fledged studio.
He made films like Jeans, India’s official entry to the Oscars at the time, a film that marked Aishwarya Rai’s early career, while he also took Rajinikanth to Hollywood in the English film Bloodstone, which he produced, like Jeans, alongside Sunanda Murali Manohar, who also went on to produce films like Thambi, Provoked and Dhaam Dhoom.
His films, Bringing down the House, Premonition and Death Sentence made waves in Hollywood as did his production Traitor, with Archie Panjabi, Alyy Khan, Guy Pearce and Don Cheadle. He also created quite a buzz by producing the film The other end of the line, with Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives) and Rajinikanth’s Sivaji heroine, Shriya Sharan.His film Double Impact with Jean-Claude Van Damme set the wheels of success in motion.
This Amritraj brother is married to Chitra and has 2 children. He lives in LA, while jetting around the world. He was even summoned by the late Michael Jackson, to share his thoughts on film-production and alongside Tamils like Manoj (Night Shyamalan) and J. Chandrasekhar, Amritraj is a making waves in the competitive world of Hollywood.
In this rare opportunity to meet him and learn from him in London, through the exclusive Mayfair Media Club. Here are the details:
Date: March 30th 2010
Time: 09:30-12:00
Venue: Central London (told upon application)
Ticket Cost: £50 (Early Bird before 15th March)
Schedule of the morning:
09:30-10:00� Registration and Coffee
10:00-11:00� Masterclass
11:00-12:00� Q+A and networking
Ashok will share his experience of building Hyde Park Entertainment and address some frequently asked questions:
• Who really produces movies?
• How are films chosen for production? How are scripts developed?
• Who decides how much is going to be spent to make the movie and how?
• What are the roles of the Producer, Executive Producer and Director?
• How involved is distribution and finance in the decisionâ?making processes?
• What is the role of the sales agent in the modern era of film financing?
• What is the role of banks in film financing?
• How is talent attached?
• How do the investors get their money back?
Contact to book: sheena@itsaprcompany.com
Parminder Vir OBE launched Mayfair Media Club to create a bridge where creativity meets business and members can expect to be inspired, informed and networked into the latest thinking in creativity and business. Parminder Vir has over 20 years experience working with the BBC, ITV, Channel Four and Carlton Television. Her credits include Babymother, a reggae musical, as well as acclaimed documentaries such as Algeria Women at War.