Hollywood, Bollywood sign cooperation

Hollywood, Bollywood sign cooperation pact

Actor Shah Rukh Khan, left, attends the "My Name is Khan" premiere in Rome, Italy. It was filmed in Los Angele

                            Hollywood and India's Bollywood have signed a historic cooperation pact that will have the world's two leading film industries working together in areas from production to distribution to content protection.

                           Leaders from the two industries met in Hollywood this week for a two-day session to discuss economic development and collaboration.

                          Signing an official pact at Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood, representatives from the two entertainment powerhouses declared to develop and strengthen motion picture production, distribution, technology, content protection and commercial cooperation, according to a release issued by the Motion Picture Association of America.

                                The event was attended by Los Angeles Mayor Anotonio Villaraigosa as well as many of Hollywood's and Bollywood's industry elite.

                               Jonathan Kuntz, visiting associate professor at the University of California at Los Angeles' school of theater, film and television, told CNN the agreement appeared to be more an effort by each film industry to hunt for financing in the other country. The pact also seemed a promotional effort by Los Angeles officials to drum up film productions for Hollywood, he said.

                              "I think the connection will be more at the financial level," Kuntz said.

                               Los Angeles officials appeared to be seeking film productions to replace those that have moved to other states or countries where costs are cheaper, he said.

                             Today's action is an important step toward furthering that growth," Pisano said.

Tamil producer and Film Federation of India President L. Suresh compared the collaboration between Hollywood and Bollywood to the close ties developed between the United States and India during the technology boom.

                           Both Hollywood and , have worked together in numerous co-production and joint investments in the past. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, in March of this year the two joined forces in Mumbai, India, to launch the Alliance against Copyright Theft, a Bollywood-Hollywood content protection coalition in India.,