CEO Insights India

Anant Roongta, Managing Director, Famous Studios,is a third generation entrepreneur taking forth the legacy set by his grandfather and father. From an early age, Anant has closely witnessed Content Manifestations in the Audio Visual industry. Anant has maintained a strong focus towards introducing innovative technologies to add new age relevance to offerings at Famous Studios. He has spearheaded many new service offerings at the studio, such as visual engineering, virtual production, and co-working spaces. He is dedicatedly working towards expanding their creative, visual effects and content production facilities. He entered the family business fold after exiting his Sports Tourism Venture partnership.

He grew up observing his grandfather & father and heard stories about how Famous Studios continuously supported the industry ecosystem. Inspired by these crucial life lessons, he has built a new vision and mission to support story tellers. Anant is known as an ambitious professional, who in a short period has been able to grasp the entrepreneurial qualities that are required to lead a large business operation. The Young Turk has been instrumental in steering the company into new sectors such as Specialized Film Production, OTT Post Production and, Virtual Production. The urge to narrate great stories keeps him motivated. Below is an excerpt of an exclusive interview with Anant.

Tell us about Famous Studios as the landmark of Mumbai’s Media & Entertainment Industry?
Famous Studios was established in

1946 by ‘my grandfather’. He built Asia’s first Air Conditioned Studio and invested in Producing Content for the industry. In the 1990s, my father took over and introduced one of India’s first post production and animation facilities, Famous, which

was already on the road to becoming India’s ‘Mecca of Advertising’. It has an unwavering legacy of world class tech, talent, and infrastructure, and continues to thrive and flourish in the Media and Entertainment industry. From shooting floors, recording studios, event spaces, co-working space to housing a cluster of production houses with cutting edge production, specialized production, and global standard postproduction facilities, Famous Studios has spread into a sprawling 110,000 Sq. Ft. and is ‘The Creative Hub’ of the fraternity.

As the MD, how do you intend to develop strategies to maintain your company’s history of providing innovation to the Media and Entertainment industry?
My focus has been on ensuring the perfect blend of tech, talent, and infrastructure. We are dedicated to investing and implementing the latest technologies in our portfolio of solutions and are continuously looking for ways to improve the experience for storytellers. We have introduced new service offerings at the studio, such as visual enginee

ring, virtual production, specialized production, and co-working spaces.

How would you describe your role in tackling the challenges posed by the pandemic?
The pandemic posed numerous challenges for our industry, which is primarily based on the physical interaction of people that create content. However, while our operations were shut for three months, we did not let it affect our performance as we moved to a successful WFH model and were the first studio to fully open when restrictions were eased. We ensured to address our clients’ issues and also paid equal focus on our employees during this crucial time. We also laid down strategies to support our employees and their families who were directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic, which included a vaccination drive. Even though the company was going into a loss, we moved ahead with our expansion of services and investment in technology.

What is your success mantra?
I believe change is the only constant in the Media and Entertainment industry. Every day is a new challenge that requires advanced solutions. I believe, I have been able to embrace change successfully. Through continuous learning and support from the people I work with, I have been able to capture the pulse of the market, introduce the right technology at the right time for the industry, and have ensured to provide our best services to the clients. I am extremely grateful to my team members who continue to play a major role in my success.

Anant Roongta, Managing Director, Famous Studios
With a BA in Marketing & Finance from the University of Strathclyde and an MSc in International Business from Aston University, Anant is the MD of Famous Studios and aspires to take the brand to newer heights.

•Favorite Cuisine: Indian & Italian
•Favorite Book:
'The Ride of a Lifetime'by Robert Iger