Verma will set the ball rolling with his ‘Vision Statement for Information & Broadcasting Industry in India’ while US Senator Chris Dodd, who is also chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, will deliver the inaugural keynote address.
The occasion, for which the partner country is Japan, will also see the release of the much-awaited ‘FICCI-KGPM Study on Indian Media & Entertainment for 2012’.
Having clocked in a robust 12 percent growth during 2010-11, the Indian media industry is estimated be worth around $30 billion (Rs.145,000 crore).
The growth trajectory is backed by strong consumption in tier-two and tier-three cities, continued growth of regional media and fast increasing new media businesses.
Japan will participate with a high-powered delegation comprising key stakeholders from the Japanese media and entertainment industry with a strong representation from the animation segment.
The conclave will feature a host of events like workshops, knowledge forums, interactive sessions, master classes and networking opportunities.
This year, the master-class includes sessions by Oscar winning director Bruce Beresford ("Driving Miss Daisy"), visual effects Oscar winner Harvey Lowry ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") and award-winning editor Mark Goldblatt ("Terminator", "True Lies", "Return of the Planet of the Apes").
Scriptwriting workshops will be conducted by celebrities such as Michael Goldenberg ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"), Wesley Strick ("Cape Fear") and Guillermo Arriaga ("Amores Perros").
Also featured is a daylong screenwriting workshop by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, an event that will attract 2,000 Indian and 800 foreign delegates.
Among the head-turning speakers from the Indian film industry listed for the conclave are Vidya Balan, Ekta Kapoor, Farah Khan, Zoya Akhtar, Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Kamal Haasan and Leela Sampson.
Other top international speakers include Mark Hollinger, president and CEO Discovery Networks International; Hernan Lopez, president and CEO Fox International Channels; Harvey Lowry, Hollywood VFX artist; Carolyn Everson, vice president, global marketing solutions Facebook; Mark Goldblatt, award-winning editor from Hollywood and Richard Craig Mcfeely, head sales, media and entertainment Tata Communications.
From India the likes of Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of the Indian Express Group; Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India; Puneet Goenka, MD and CEO ZEE Entertainment Enterprises; former chief justice of India Justice J.S. Varma; Rajiv Makhni, managing editor for technology NDTV; and Sunil Lulla, CEO of Times Television Network will speak.
