AVT Shankardass claims everybody in Hollywood is his friend. That is because Shankardass, a

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motion picture financier and producer, has been working with them for some time now. With the impact of the global financial crisis, Hollywood is looking in every direction for money. “They just don’t have the money to make the product,” Shankardass said. “It is a great opportunity for India and for Indians to benefit from this by being investors of capital in Hollywood products,” he added. He has come to his home country from USA to launch Global Entertainment Partners (GEP), a Rs 500 crore close-ended film fund.

GEP is a seven-year close-ended fund, with a five-year investment period. 80 per cent of the fund will be invested in Hollywood movie projects and the remaining 20 per cent will be in Indian films.

Regarding the fund, he said, “It has been oversubscribed. The difficulty was more about getting the right profile of investors; high net worth Indians who have to fit in well with what we envisioned for GEP.” We are in the portfolio business. We are not going to invest just in one movie or two movies. At the end of five committed years, we will have several movies of various sizes and genres,” said Shankardass. He claims the portfolio strategy helps him and his investors avoid losses. “We made movies that have lost money, but being investors in a portfolio of movies, none of us will lose money,” he said.

“They (investors) come because they are attracted to the exclusivity of the structure. So I can’t take anyone and everyone. The focus is not I will give you an opportunity for a photo op—but I can get that though—it is more about making lots of money,” said Shankardass. “Certain times in my youth, I also sought the glitz of the business but rapidly learnt the glitz of the business can play tricks on your judgment which means you then make poor business decisions. Therefore, it was a fundamental decision to ask am I buying glitz or do I really want to do business,” he explains.