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CONTINUING THE LEGACY OF ANNAPURNA STUDI...

Nupur Pavan Bang, ...

Case

CONTINUING THE LEGACY OF ANNAPURNA STUDIOS

Nupur Pavan Bang; KAVIL RAMACHANDRAN; KANDASWAMY BHARATHAN

ISB216 | Published August 12, 2020 | 14 pages Case

Collection: Indian School of Business

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Learning Objectives

Annapurna Studios was founded by legendary Indian actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR) in Hyderabad in 1975. Over the years, Annapurna had grown to become a modern-day powerhouse in the field of entertainment and filmmaking. In 2019, it was well known for its state-of-the-art production facilities, creative content production, and film and media institute. ANR’s older son, Venkat joined the studio a few years after its inception but struggled to keep it afloat. Nagarjuna, ANR’s younger son, began helping out at the studio after finishing college, but the studio’s fortunes only changed in the mid-80s when Nagarjuna decided to become an actor In 1999, Venkat handed over management control of the studio to Nagarjuna. Their niece Supriya joined the business as a management executive. The studio had two divisions: operations and content creation. The operations division, which included post-production, editing and dubbing facilities, ran smoothly under the COO with minimal intervention from the family. In the content creation side of the business, the family’s presence was greater. Nagarjuna and Supriya made all the critical decisions related to content, guided by their business sense and passion. With the second generation of the family still at the helm of Annapurna Studios, the next generation’s involvement was relatively low. Chaitanya (Nagarjuna’s son) had started showing some interest, but the other members of the third generation were either not yet involved in the studio or were busy with their own acting careers. Nagarjuna was worried that the next generation might not have the same level of passion for the studio as the previous generations. He wanted to ensure that the studio’s legacy sustained into the future. What strategy should the studio to adopt to ensure its long-term survival in the risky and ever-changing film and entertainment business?

The steps that the family needs to take to institutionalize the studio and continue its legacy will make for an engaging classroom discussion, through which students will gain an understanding of:• The importance of professionalization, meritocracy and performance evaluation in a family business. • The elements of parallel planning and resource building. • Institutionalization of a family firm . • Legacy building challenges and responsibilities of family stakeholders. • Revitalizing a business in a new context. • Ownership as a responsibility