MUMBAI: At the television trade event Mipcom which takes place in Cannes, France next month from 8-12 October, Indian firms will look to acquire content for distribution within the country.

One of these firms is Star Entertainment which distributes content in the form of films for theatres and also television content like animation and documentaries to channels.

Star Entertainment MD Jiten Hemdev says, "This event allows us to meet different clients at one place instead of having to do the run around. Our business is challenging given the fact that foreign content is niche. That is what we explain to clients."

Hemdev adds that although India has a huge population, the vast majority wants local content. "So we have to be clever in how we package and position our content. We offer dubbed animation content in regional languages for channels. We also do content for mobile aggregators. 60-65 per cent of content we acquire is from US firms."

The company also buys content from firms in Korea and Hong Kong.

Among other things it is looking to acquire documentary and educational content. In terms of mobile content being sought he mentions wallpapers, two three minute clips of shows on lifestyle, travel amongst others.

Hemdev believes that India being the country of honour, will not benefit a firm like his that looks to bring foreign content in. The aim of the event is to showcase Indian content to the world and if by pushing India, global sellers feel that India has grown in importance then acquisition costs will rise, he adds.

The firm has just released the film Death Of a President into theatres. It has also worked with Zee Studio in the past for their Oscar festival.