Globosport readies '20 to watch under 20' talent database

Globosport, an entertainment and sports solutions company promoted by tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi, is working on an ‘intelligence database’ of talent across sports, entertainment and experts, titled ’20 to watch under 20’.

The dynamic list of 20 potential celebrity endorsers will feature those under 20 years of age (signalling upcoming talent to watch out for), and more importantly, those who can be roped in at a fee of under Rs 20 lakhs.

“We have moved away from being a celebrity-led talent seller to a talent (buyer) for brands. In the meantime, the talent pool has now expanded to cover actors, experts and sports persons. The list of people on the database we are working on will be dynamically updated, and we plan to get the software to provide access to the database to clients by December 2012,” explained Aditya Hitkari, CEO, brand advisory business, Globosport.

The database will use multiple filters to arrive at celebrities to associate with, he added. Experts listed on the database number over 150, and include dentists, hair stylists, bloggers, celebrity stylists and more. Sports that Globosport will track to identify the under 20s for the database include soccer, cricket, tennis,

Platinum Rye picks stake

In another development, US-based Platinum Rye Entertainment picked up 50 per cent stake in Globosport’s brand advisory business, which contributes 35 per cent to company’s revenues. As a consequence, best practices are being exchanged. Also on the anvil thanks to the tie-up is exploration of Indian talent for other markets.

Kavita Bhupathi Chadda, Group CEO, Globosport, noted that for Platinum Rye, India was the first access point to Asia. She added, "There is a lot of excitement about international talent and content coming together. Given Platinum Rye's global experience and our expertise in India, we see enormous possibilities."

Globosport is also in talks with 'a couple of brands' for an in-show placement in soaps like the 'Big Bang Theory', and a Hollywood production slated for 2013 release.

"Indian brands can currently do post production tie ups with Hollywood movies. We're looking at a deeper engagement with pre-production and in-film / in-show placements. TV shows also offer a much longer window (of around six months) as against a movie burst of two to three weeks," Hitkari said.

He added that Globosport was working with projects where cost of association would be in the range of US $ 50,000 to $ 650,000.