Crest Animation Studio announced on Thursday that its US-based subsidiary, Rich Crest Animation, has entered into an agreement with the Canada-based Lions Gate Entertainment for joint production and financing of three full-length computer generated image films.
According to the deal, Crest will co-produce and co-finance upto 40 per cent of these films, the budgetary details of which are yet to be worked out. Lions Gate, a $1 billion company, will hold the worldwide distribution and derivative rights to the films.
It had distributed films like Farenheit 9/11. The India rights would be controlled by RichCrest. Crest will produce these films in India.
The first movie is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, which has been done by the creator of Shrek, another successful CGI film.
AK Madhavan, CEO, Crest India said the company had identified possible fund raising avenues.
Through RichCrest, the company has worked on a number of DVD releases and television shows in the US, including Arthur's Missing Pal, which was distributed by Lions Gate. The Crest stock closed 8.65 per cent higher at Rs 245 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on the news of this announcement.
At present the company plans to continue doing outsourced CGI work as well as establish its presence in the gaming market, which it entered a few months ago.
"There are no immediate plans of doing work for India, although we are bullish on the market here maturing over time," said Madhavan.
Crest is also set to ramp up its India operations, starting with a move to a bigger office, followed by increasing the staff size.
