Week of July 29, 2010
| Hurray for Bollywood: producer plans to shift production company to Miami By Zachary S. Fagenson Bollywood producer Prashant Shah, who's in the midst of shooting a film with the genre's pre-eminent star Shahrukh Khan, is relocating his production company, Bollywood Hollywood Productions, from New Jersey to Miami and is also considering shooting another film here. Mr. Shah last year was to shoot portions of "Ra.One," a Bollywood superhero film starring Mr. Khan, in Miami but pulled out before production began due to union disagreements. And after serving as a producer for 16 Bollywood films, according to IMDb.com, he's moved his company's headquarters into the Latin Chamber of Commerce of the United States' new building at 1401 SW Flagler Terrace and is to soon look to move into a standalone office with seven to nine employees. "This will be headquarters, but there'll be branches. I just opened one in London and one in Dubai," Mr. Shah said. "Then we're doing some expansions in Europe and then of course we're looking at South America." The number of employees in Miami, he added, could swell as high as 200 during a production. Meanwhile, he's also looking into starting production in Miami of a non-Bollywood romantic comedy as soon as November. "This project is an international film that will have lots of exposure [in] Europe as compare to just Bollywood," Mr. Shah said. Though he didn't want to discuss many details, he did say the film's projected budget is to be about $3 million and it will be shot partly in Miami and partly in England. The lead, unnamed actress is English, Mr. Shah said, and the lead actor is an American stand-up comedian. Last time he considered shooting here, the project was expected to create 1,500 temporary jobs. Mr. Shah said he expects the Miami office to produce more non-Bollywood films in coming years and to "generate close to about $40 million to $50 million" between now and 2012. |
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