On Record:CEO K Sera Sera

Que sera sera in French means 'What will be, will be'. Many of us have heard the song, but only a few believe in it. Kacon Sethi, CEO, K Sera Sera, is among the select group which passionately believes in this idiom, despite the uncertainties involved in show-biz. Her vision at K Sera Sera is to create entertainment for every screen. She came on board about with a clear mandate – to lead the young and aggressive company through its various initiatives. The company, which is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, is involved in the movie business. Recently, it forayed into television and has plans to foray into the broadband and wireless businesses in a big way. The IIM Calcutta alumnus, who did time with HTA, Grey, Bennett, Coleman & Company and Sony Entertainment Television, was a management consultant prior to taking up her assignment at K Sera Sera. She took time out of her busy schedule to chat up with Viveat Susan Pinto and Aditya Chatterjee of agencyfaqs! Excerpts of the interview.

K Sera Sera is not a traditional film production/distribution house such as Yash Raj or B R Chopra or Sippy Productions, which were started by creative people. Do you view this as an advantage or a disadvantage? What does K Sera Sera bring to the table?

A. To me, it is definitely an advantage. It is not necessary to have creative people housed within the company. We are very clear that the people who take the creative call and the ones who take the business call are different. That's how we operate. By and large, it is our observation that when creative people have taken business calls, those have not worked to our advantage. At least, that's what happened in our case. I say this because when you are taking a creative call, business takes a back seat. You are looking at the expression of creativity at a cost that may not be beneficial to your bottomline. Having said that, let me add that we are passionate and open about the kind of people we want to work with and the kind of projects we want to back. For us, the hero is not the actor, he comes next. The first priority is the story. If there's an idea, we will go for it.

Q. The company started as a financier of films in 2002. When did you venture into film production and distribution?

A. For us, financial year 2003-04 was the first twelve months of operation for K Sera Sera. In the first year, we did 'Darna Mana Hai', 'Ek Hasina Thi' and 'Ab Tak Chappan'. This year, that is 2004-05, we've completed and released 'Gayab', 'Vaastu Shastra' and 'Naach'. Another movie 'My Wife's Murder'' starring Anil Kapoor is awaiting release. We are yet to finalise the date of release for it.

Besides, there is an ambitious project called 'Sarkar' starring Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, which should be released between June and August, 2005. All of these films are part of the deal with Sahara, which began with 'Ab Tak Chappan'. The deal specifies that we have to complete ten movies under the Sahara group banner. So far we have completed five projects, and we have five more to go. However, there is one movie that we are doing which is outside the deal. We began this project before the Sahara arrangement. It is called 'D', which is a prequel to 'Company' and is a K Sera Sera, Ram Gopal Varma and UTV Motion Pictures venture.

Q. Tell us about your cost of production. How do you manage budgets?

A. If you take out publicity, then normally our cost of production works out to about Rs 4.5-6 crore. Our profitability is taken at a minimum of 15 per cent of cost of production. In other words, we are happy to make a profit of Rs 1-1.5-crore.

Q. So volumes are critical for you?

A. Yes it is. You have to play the volume game. That's because there is a multiplex audience out there, which means that there is a demand for movies. So, we deal with movies of a certain size, which is easy to produce. We create them fast and push them faster still.

Q. What is your business model?

A. For the first two years, we will be making medium-sized movies. While we are doing that, the attempt is not to load the cost of production with various elements. For example, we make sure our production cost remains low. If Ramu (Ram Gopal Varma) is in the venture, he does not charge his fee to the production house. Wherever possible, we try and bring in actors who do not load the cost of production. This way, budgets are under control. For your information, in the movie business, there are two large cost components – actor fees and cost of production. If you can control the expenditure and manage your profits well, then there is hope that medium-sized budgets can make money. The beauty of films with medium-sized budgets is that if you are able to manage it well within a period of time, you have a realistic chance of looking at profits.

Q. You talked of a multiplex audience for your movies. When will you venture into the hinterlands and start making movies for the masses?

A. It is on the cards. As I mentioned earlier, our business model specifies that we will do medium-budget projects in the first two years of operation. This way, your cost of production is in place and all you have to do is replace the smaller stars with bigger actors. That is what we are moving into in the next financial year. 'Sarkar' will lead the way. It is a big venture for us and you will see the promos of the movie along with 'Black', whose distribution rights we have acquired in Nizam.

A. We have aggressive plans for Twenty Twenty Television. When I joined the company, the mandate that I created for myself was to provide entertainment for every screen. And, TV is just the right extension for us. At Twenty Twenty, we will be producing content for a couple of screens. Here's where we do our broadband deals and this is where we produce content for the applications part of wireless as well.

First of the block, though, is television content. In the next fiscal, we are definitely on with six shows on various channels. We have two shows on air already on SaharaOne. But that is for the current fiscal. In the next financial year, there is 'Darna Mana Hai', the TV series on STAR One, 'Kashish' and 'Hum Paanch' on ZEE, a show on Sony and 'Bold & Beautiful Wives', 'Dulhan' and 'NDA'. In terms of revenues, I hope to see TV contributing about 30 per cent to the kitty in the next two to three years.

Q. Creative associations characterise your TV business as well. Be it tie-ups with Girish Malik, Ravi Rai or Rakhi Tandon. Do you believe that this is the way forward for a new-age entertainment company?

A. I certainly believe in the power of alliances because more is always better. I am not stuck up on the issue of having my company's projects exclusively on air. What I bring to the table is the production company formula. This is not to say that the concepts generated are not from the company. The company itself has generated almost half of the concepts that we are working on today. Therefore, alliances are welcome because they bring commitment and variety. It is not possible to do everything yourself. So I am keeping my ego on the back seat on this one.

CHALLENGING STINT AT SONY

Even as Sethi was creating waves as the youngest media director in the country, another huge opportunity knocked on her door. Arun Arora, William Pfeiffer and the team at Sony Entertainment Television (SET), which was to launch in October 1995, had come to make a presentation to her. An hour after it was over, she received a call from Arora's office asking whether she was free for lunch. "I said sure. I thought it would be to talk about founder advertisers for the channel. But, instead, he wanted me to join the channel as head of sales."

"This time I didn't freak out because though I was not strictly a salesperson it was an interesting proposition. In all these years, personally, I never felt like my neck was on the block. It was a relatively safe existence. I really had no adrenalin rush. Advertising has seen a sea change. There was more accountability than ever before yet, but frankly speaking, it wasn't. I realized that I secretly wanted more pressure. I wanted risk and turmoil. And here was a position where it would be all of that and believe me it was," says Sethi.

Some called it a cop out and others said that she had lost focus. "Only I know that I just needed that time, which I didn't have earlier. And I decided to succumb without a fight because I wanted to do it with as much grace as I could muster in the given circumstances."

Looking back she says, "It was the best thing to happen to me. Ruhin, our daughter is the centre of our life and I know that both my husband and I are happier for it."

So how does she rate her Sony days? "I could write a book on my experiences there. Much of what I am today is because of that association. Seven years is a long time for a passionate dalliance. I was like a tiger there, even in my weakest moments, I felt infallible. It was my turf and my passion for it only grew every year."

NEW TURF

Sethi turned to a new turf after two years of mothering her child. The offer came from K Sera Sera and she returned to work as CEO of a company that was not into television business at all. Though she was involved with movies as head of Max channel, she had no exposure to the production side of the business. But she had management and organizational skills and K Sera Sera was making efforts to imbibe a corporate image. "That I wanted to explore a broader canvas in entertainment was very much part of my come back strategy. I took almost a year to decide since K Sera Sera first offered me the position."

One of Sethi's primary tasks was to prepare the company for the follow on public issue that would take place a year from the time she joined. Also on the agenda was a foray into TV content business.

The blue print took shape. She was given the task of assembling, developing and leading the best creative minds in the business. K Sera Sera signed up deals with noted filmmakers like David Dhawan and designed strategies to scale up the movie business.

Sethi also set up Twenty Twenty, the television and new media subsidiary of K Sera Sera, in December 2004. Darna Mana Hai is a product which aired on Star One. "With Twenty Twenty I seem to have, fairly and squarely, stepped into the content game seamlessly. I was the creative director for close to 100 episodes of Darna Mana Hai."

What draws her to television, "Perhaps it's the organized structure and my knowledge of the television business that compels me or the innate strength of the medium to impact lives of millions of people, that it will be the cheapest entertainment option, there is measurement. I am drawn to television even more powerfully than ever before."

Sethi expects to air three shows on different channels this fiscal. "This year, my first co-written story will be on air as also my first non fiction format concept. I am working on more formats, stories and concepts. I want to backend Twenty Twenty with a talent management structure, new faces, existing actors and writers."

The "knowledge is power" approach that Sethi follows allows greater flexibility and creativity in thinking as well as stronger negotiation positions with creative media partners. Just like with clients, she strives for long term relationships with partners. Being tough, but fair, negotiators, and gaining their respect providing maximum benefit for their plan is Sethi's gameplan.

But most importantly for her, K Sera Sera has emerged as an entertainment company with a sound and interesting business proposition. "On the film side, we opened our doors to creative talent and to ideas. Our distribution strengths became more robust. We structured ourselves to become the managers of the creative process, where a creative product would be delivered within the scheduled time and budget. It is much like a studio model."

Sethi's career graph should inspire many young women. As she puts it simply, "I would live to come back another day and what I will do next is always more promising."

http://www.indiantelevision.com/special/y2k6/ms_media/kacon. htm