Prime Focus Share Discussion Threads

[tara7] 05/5/2011 11:51

Prime Focus group is one of the world's largest integrated film, advertising and television post production and visual effects companies. With a current market capitalization of USD $140m, it operates six facilities in India, five facilities in the UK and five facilities in North America, offering clients access to a talent pool of over 600 visual effects (VFX) artists worldwide.

Over the last eleven years, Prime Focus has played a pioneering role in embracing digital entertainment technologies, and today offers an end-to-end service, deploying robust, best-in-class technology platforms to create a delivery pipeline that lets its customers effectively manage the creative process.

Prime Focus is a market leader in its field, ranked number #1 in India and number #4 in the highly competitive UK market, and part of its success has been due to the care and attention it pays to its clients at a local level (running studios in London, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Los Angeles, New York, Winnipeg and Vancouver) whilst leveraging the talent, resources and cost advantages of its global infrastructure.

Prime Focus Limited is a public stock company and its shares are traded in the Mumbai and National Stock exchanges in India (Symbol - PRIMEFOCUS). Prime Focus also owns and operates a UK holding company, Prime Focus London plc, which is publicly traded in the LSE's AIM market (Code - PFO).

[tara7] 05/5/2011 11:50

Prime Focus group is one of the world's largest integrated film, advertising and television post production and visual effects companies. With a current market capitalization of USD $140m, it operates six facilities in India, five facilities in the UK and five facilities in North America, offering clients access to a talent pool of over 600 visual effects (VFX) artists worldwide.

Over the last eleven years, Prime Focus has played a pioneering role in embracing digital entertainment technologies, and today offers an end-to-end service, deploying robust, best-in-class technology platforms to create a delivery pipeline that lets its customers effectively manage the creative process.

Prime Focus is a market leader in its field, ranked number #1 in India and number #4 in the highly competitive UK market, and part of its success has been due to the care and attention it pays to its clients at a local level (running studios in London, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Los Angeles, New York, Winnipeg and Vancouver) whilst leveraging the talent, resources and cost advantages of its global infrastructure.

Prime Focus Limited is a public stock company and its shares are traded in the Mumbai and National Stock exchanges in India (Symbol - PRIMEFOCUS). Prime Focus also owns and operates a UK holding company, Prime Focus London plc, which is publicly traded in the LSE's AIM market (Code - PFO).

[tara7] 04/5/2011 19:42

Prime Focus on TV tonight.!!

[tara7] 03/5/2011 18:41

READ THE LAST PARA.!!


Star Wars: Episode 1 Phantom Menace has been converted to 3D by visual entertainment company Prime Focus, the same company who converted Clash of the Titans and Chronicles of Narnia into 3D. They were selected by both Lucasfilm and ILM after an "exhaustive testing process".

The first Star Wars 3D conversion is being done with the help of a team of over 1000 rotoscope artists based in India as well as visual effects artists in LA and London all connected by a massive global network which can quickly shift data between each facility.

"It was incredibly important to me that we have the technology, the resources and the time to do this right," said Star Wars creator George Lucas. "I'm very happy with the results I've been seeing on Episode I."

Prime Focus founder and CEO Namit Malhotra said: "Wherever you are in the world, the Star Wars films have become part of the very fabric of film-making – the epitome of the big cinema experience. To be chosen by Lucasfilm as a trusted partner and to be given the time and opportunity to re-present this series as a new experience to both old and new audiences alike, is an incredible honour. For a project of this importance and magnitude, Lucasfilm and ILM would only have chosen a company with the best talent in the industry, leading proprietary technology and infrastructure, a production-proven pipeline and unmatched scale. I'm hugely proud that Prime Focus is that company."

The extensive conversion process is being completed under the close supervision of John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor for ILM.

"Getting really good results from stereo conversion requires a lot of attention to detail and it is imperative that you take the time to get it right – and that's just what we're doing," said Knoll. "We're taking a different approach than you might expect. George's vision has been to add dimension to the film in subtle ways. This isn't a novelty conversion, with things jumping out at the audience; our goal has been to enhance the classic Star Wars theatrical experience, utilising the latest cinematic tools and techniques."

Prime Focus came under fire for the conversion of Clash of the Titans which was slated by James Cameron but in an exclusive interview with 3D Focus coming soon, Matthew Bristow defended the company's work on the title and highlighted their conversion of Chronicles of Narnia which was voted the best live action 3D movie at the International 3D Society. Prime Focus were also involved in conversion work for Tron: Legacy, Avatar and currently have three films going through their facility which Matthew claims to be "arguably the biggest films on the planet". One might suspect that this is the Star Wars trilogy conversion after today's announcement.









To read more about Prime Focus click here.

[tara7] 03/5/2011 17:21

Nice to see these 25k buys each day.

[tara7] 03/5/2011 17:21

Nice to see these 25k buys each day.

[tara7] 03/5/2011 17:11

More great news, see that they started this in June 10 and in my view will have been paid, [and thus profit will fall in the Oct 10 to March 11 half.]!!


The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader


Prime Focus has completed the full 3D conversion of the eagerly-awaited Christmas blockbuster 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader', which opened in the UK on Friday 10 December.

The film, directed by Michael Apted and starring Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley and Will Poulter is the third film in the Chronicles of Narnia series, and is the industry's biggest full 3D conversion film to date.

The opportunity to convert 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader' came in June 2010, when producers were looking for a facility that could manage such an extensive project in the challenging timeframe. With its integrated worldwide studios and global digital pipeline at the heart of the project, Prime Focus was able to convert a staggering 1500 shots into S3D for the 115-minute movie. Normally for a project of this magnitude, the studio would split up conversion shots between a number of vendors, but with artists working across its facilities in London, Los Angeles and Mumbai, Prime Focus was able to take ownership of the 3D conversion.

It was this global team mobilisation which ensured the high quality delivery of the project on time. Sean Santiago, Vice President, Visual Effects Walden Media emphasised how important this was: "We chose Prime Focus based primarily on their ability to deliver. In Prime Focus we recognised a toolset that when properly harnessed would result in high quality stereo images across an incredible volume of material."

Prime Focus Film spent 24 hours a day across three different time zones working on the conversion process. In total they delivered 600 shots from London, 550 from Los Angeles and 350 from Mumbai.

Richard Baker, senior Prime Focus stereographer, emphasised that without the company's global digital pipeline the process wouldn't have run as smoothly. "Our long experience and huge knowledge base in the conversion arena, our production proven pipeline and the efficiency of our transfer technology gave us the ability to respond to client changes immediately. The client was amazed that we could view a shot in London, submit notes to Mumbai at the beginning of dailies and have the amended stereo 3D shots sent back for review before the end of the session."

A very close working relationship with the Fox and Walden production teams, in particular the studio stereographer Ed Marsh, was essential to the success of this project. Prime Focus spent a great deal of time with Ed at the beginning of the process, developing and understanding the levels of depth required for different types of shot and developing a shorthand which helped the project to run efficiently. As Santiago explains, "Working with Prime Focus was a collaborative experience based on partnership. Every artist shared the same goal as our own team of filmmakers: render the best stereo material from single-camera photography possible. Thanks to Prime Focus' tireless effort, that goal was achieved."

One of the main challenges Prime Focus faced working on such a large and vfx-heavy project was dealing with the huge number of assets produced by the multiple vfx facilities working on the film. By producing a 'vendor package' book, detailing exactly how vfx material should be delivered for successful conversion, and by leveraging the good relationships Prime Focus holds with the various vfx vendors on the project, the company was able to effectively process and manage over 10,000 delivered assets to produce the 1500 S3D conversion shots.

Matthew Bristowe, senior producer at Prime Focus, praised the talent of the team of artists and stereographers for their work on the project. "Without our global infrastructure and such a committed team, we couldn't have achieved the results we did. This project was delivered by the most highly- skilled stereo conversion team out there and we think the final results speak for themselves."

Credits.

Project: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Film Company: Twentieth Century Fox, Walden Media
Director: Michael Apted
VP VFX @ Walden Media: Sean Santiago
Stereographer: Ed Marsh
Cast: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes
Prime Focus.

Stereo 3D Conversion: Prime Focus Film
Senior Stereographer: Richard Baker
Senior Producer: Matt Bristowe
Connect.

[tara7] 02/5/2011 08:00

Big lump in the Sunday Times re the boom in the uk film industry.

Note the rise from 3Din post production work .

One company has doubled its workforce in the last two years.!

[tara7] 28/4/2011 08:10

Late trade at 43p.

[tara7] 27/4/2011 17:24

PFO is the London side of the group listed on AIM.

[tara7] 27/4/2011 17:23

Run down on the company

Prime Focus Group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search


Prime Focus Group is one of the largest film, advertising and television post-production and visual effects companies in the world. It is the result of a number of acquisitions and mergers by Prime Focus Ltd.

Prime Focus GroupPrime Focus has a presence across three continents:

Prime Focus India:
Prime Focus Ltd is India's largest visual effects and post-production company, offering a full range of services to the feature film, ad film and broadcast markets. Prime Focus Ltd is listed on the Mumbai and National Stock Exchanges in India (Symbol PRIF IN).

Prime Focus UK (formerly VTR plc):
Prime Focus London plc is a visual entertainment services group, servicing the Film, Broadcast, Commercials, Gaming, Internet and Media industries. Prime Focus London plc is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (Symbol - PFO). The company was formed as a result of the consolidation of the following entities in 2006:
VTR plc - A London-based post production group, including commercials specialist VTR, visual effects division The Hive Animation, broadcast specialist blue and film treatment / restoration facility The Machine Room.
Clear Post Production - A London-based full service post production house.
Prime Focus London plc also includes the acquisition in January 2008 of Machine Effects Limited, a London-based visual effects specialist and Clarke Associates, a broadcast visual effects boutique.


Prime Focus North America (formerly Frantic Films VFX and Post Logic Studios):
Prime Focus North America offers cutting edge feature film visual effects and full service post production services out of its four North American sites in Los Angeles, New York, and Vancouver.
Frantic Films VFX The Frantic Films VFX and Software divisions were acquired from Frantic Films in late 2007. Frantic Films' Live Action and Branded Content divisions were not acquired during Prime Focus Group's acquisition and remain as a separate company (Frantic Films Corporation). The software division has since been acquire by Thinkbox Software and is no longer part of the Prime Focus Group.
Post Logic Studios Based out of Los Angeles and New York, and specializing in digital intermediate, digital restoration, mastering, and audio, Post Logic Studios was also acquired by Prime Focus in 2007.


Prime Focus Technologies:
Prime Focus Technologies provides digital content solutions to the media and entertainment industry. It is a global company based out of India, providing digital asset management technology infrastructure and services.
[edit] External linksPrime Focus - Official website
Prime Focus Technologies - Official website
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Focus_Group"
Categories: Film production companies | Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange,

[tara7] 27/4/2011 14:29

Should be trading at a quid 20.

[tara7] 27/4/2011 14:28

God knows, the city boys are not that smart, if they were, we would not get hold of this stock for love or money.!!

Above we have a fund more than happy with Idean stock on a pe of 8 yet one can buy PFO uk on a pe of just 2.

[vanunu] 27/4/2011 14:18

A question Tara,

Why don't holders of Indian PFO sell and buy UK PFO?

[tara7] 27/4/2011 14:08

33p paid for 5k

[tara7] 27/4/2011 14:02

Valued at 1/4 of the price of the PFO India stock.!!

[tara7] 27/4/2011 14:01

On the move

[tara7] 27/4/2011 12:09

GO to "INDIA capital growth fund"

Read the MARCH fact sheet and more so the FEB fact sheet [under Archives.] Lower down on the same page

{40% growth.] just love that from the directors mouth.

[tara7] 27/4/2011 11:45

Any stock with a growth rate of 40% on a pe of under 2 is a screaming buy in my view.

[vanunu] 27/4/2011 11:35

So that would be a PEG of 2/40 = 0.05

Good old Jim Slater of The Zulu Principle said that anything with a PEG of under 1 was attractive.

[tara7] 27/4/2011 11:30

WOW!!

Growth of 40%,

So Prime Focus UK trades on a pe of under 2, while INDIA is now on around 8.!!

[tara7] 27/4/2011 11:23

This is from a UK fund that owns 6% plus of Prime Focus INDIA.

It is from the FEB 2011 update to shareholders.

Sure enough the stock is way up over the last 2 months.!!




Our regular dialogues with the management
continue to reassure us that the operating
outlook is developing very positively and
we are confident that this will be reflected in
the market in due course. The stock trades on a
price to forward earnings of 6x for growth of
40% and the weighting here remains
unchanged at 6.5%

[tara7] 27/4/2011 10:36

If ever you could find a stock on a PE of 2 at the start of a boom, its here!!

Research can be found on my other thread.

[tara7] 27/4/2011 10:34

Updated JAN 7th 2012

This is from company web page: Primefocusworld.com [a very good site]

Prime Focus group is one of the world's largest integrated film, advertising and television post production and visual effects companies. With a current market capitalization of USD $140m, it operates six facilities in India, five facilities in the UK and five facilities in North America, offering clients access to a talent pool of over 600 visual effects (VFX) artists worldwide.

Over the last eleven years, Prime Focus has played a pioneering role in embracing digital entertainment technologies, and today offers an end-to-end service, deploying robust, best-in-class technology platforms to create a delivery pipeline that lets its customers effectively manage the creative process.

Prime Focus is a market leader in its field, ranked number #1 in India and number #4 in the highly competitive UK market, and part of its success has been due to the care and attention it pays to its clients at a local level (running studios in London, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Los Angeles, New York, Winnipeg and Vancouver) whilst leveraging the talent, resources and cost advantages of its global infrastructure.

Prime Focus Limited is a public stock company and its shares are traded in the Mumbai and National Stock exchanges in India (Symbol - PRIMEFOCUS). Prime Focus also owns and operates a UK holding company, Prime Focus London plc, which is publicly traded in the LSE's AIM market (Code - PFO).

Now for my research:

Prime Focus is trading on a pe of around one based on last years profits and this years first half.

Very few investors have understood just how cheap this stock is.

The company is carrying out a review of its London listing as of 01/.01/12 with the result being known by the end of the month.

PFO India [the parent company ] own 65%, but need 75% to delist.

New Indian stock exchange rules will from the 15/01/12 allow PFO India to offer shares to PFO UK shareholders for the first time,[in exchange for our stock.]

Since the Indian stock trades on a pe of around 12-15, and London on under 1.5 one can see If London shareholders were offered a pe of say 7 both parties would be more than happy.

That would = 5 times todays stock price. !!

If PFO London takes the view not to delist the shares, we get re rated overnight as de listing fears evaporate.



One posters views after last results RNS 23/12/11

tradeit4 - 3 Jan'12 - 12:01 - 202 of 242


I have been looking at the Financials here and i believe Tara is onto something.

Reported profits £1.795m for 6 months
This is after absorbing £4.5m of costs associated with the view D business (now sold) and one off £0.485m of prefessional fees.
Also adjust for the £1.799m gain from the sale of view D.

I end up with an underlying profit of £4.981 million (less whatever revenue was associated with view D prior to disposal. I can't see this disclosed in the figures)

If we assume say £2.0m revenue that would leave £2.981 milion for 6 months, or an EPS of 9p. We could be looking at 15p EPS for the year here.




tradeit4 - 4 Jan'12 - 17:29 - 224 of 242


Cash/Debt Position.
In the rersults to 30/09/11 the Company repoted an increase in borrowings from £8.277m to £9.369m. +£1.1m Whilst this is true it is unduely negative to focus on this alone.

Look at debtors at 30/09/11 £28.554m verses 31/03/11 at £21.563m ie +£6.991m.
Its not surprising that borrowings increased to fund this level of working capital.
When these debts are collected £7m of cash will be generated. OK assume £3m is allocated to paying off the increased creditors.
That still gives net cash generated of around £4m. which ontop of the repoted cash position of £1.612m, should result in cash in the balance sheet of £5.6m or 17p a share.

I suspect its an intercompany balance, effectively funding another part of the group and hiding the cash generative capability of this company.

[tara7] 26/4/2011 08:30

Buying on Plus this morning.