A. V. T. Shankardass

A. V. T. Shankardass is a motion picture financier[1] and producer based in London, England and New Delhi, India.[2]

Career

Shankardass worked in theatre as a director in London and Edinburgh. He then directed the films Praying for Pay, The Commuters and The Stepmother, before becoming involved in film production. He was also a screenwriter with Tomahawk Entertainment and Warner Bros for five years.

Shankardass became C. E. O. and Managing Director of film finance corporation Victory in 1998, handling tax efficient and equity funding, matched with debt structure in various countries. Films financed included K-19 The Widowmaker (Harrison Ford), Femme Fatale (Antonio Banderas), Fly Boys (James Franco), Johnny Was (Vinnie Jones), and Ball & Chain (Kal Penn). In 2000 he managed a takeover of the company, and in 2005 Victory conducted a private stock flotation. At Victory Shankardass negotiated multi-picture deals for artists, including, directors, actors and writers and arranged about US$300 million in motion picture funding. In 2006, he left his management roles, but remained on the board as the largest shareholder.

Shankardass advised officials in Jordan, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and Brazil on tax efficient structures for motion picture production and entertainment. He also advised Merrill Lynch in building an entertainment portfolio for the Islamic community, which was Sharia law compliant.

Shankardass has developed and managed entertainment funds in New York, Munich, São Paulo, Brazil and India[3][4] and Las Vegas, Nevada. Independently as a film producer and financier he has funded about US$200 million in entertainment projects.

Until 2014, he maintained a long-term distribution output deal with Lions Gate Films for North America. He was Managing Partner of Cinema Centro Fund, Brazil and subsequently for Global Entertainment Partners.[5] Recent films include, Captain America: The First Avenger (Chris Evans),[6] Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Tom Cruise) and Man of Steel (Henry Cavill).[7][8] He is the CEO of Victory Media, an AIF Alternative Investment under SEBI Securities and Exchange Board of India recent titles are 'Chuskit' (2018) and 'Chippa' (2019).

Shankardass is an Ambassador of Peace for the Harvey Ball Foundation and Spokesperson for the Society of Social Responsibility for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

References
  1. "There’s dearth of excellent Bollywood filmmakers: Gurinder Chadha". Indian Express, May 11, 2014
  2. "AVT Shankardass floats Rs 500 crore film fund in India" Archived October 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Financial Chronicle, By Reji John Dec 24 2009
  3. "Recession-hit Hollywood turns to India for film financing". The Economic Times, Jan 10, 2010
  4. "Coming soon: Fund to invest in hollywood movies". Nandini Raghavendra, Economic Times Bureau Oct 13, 2009
  5. "Hollywood finds a piggy bank in Bollywood". Asia Times, Feb 10, 2010 By Indrajit Basu
  6. "Gurinder Chadha to set up venture capital fund in April to invest in film and television projects globally". Economic Times, India, Biswarup Gooptu, Mar 18, 2014,
  7. "This is for reel". Business Today. Ajita Shashidhar
  8. "Exclusive: Hollywood movie financier floats Indian media fund". VC Circle, April 22, 2016 Anushree Bhattacharyya


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