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Tag: Abhayanand Singh

  • Fantico names Nic Watt as their new CEO

    Fantico names Nic Watt as their new CEO

    Mumbai: Nic Watt has been onboarded as the new CEO of Vistas Media Capital’s Fantico. Fantico is India’s first curated celebrity and fan engagement platform that was the first to feature collectibles of movie stars, artists, performers, cinema, and sports stars among other unique memorabilia. Since then, Fantico has also ventured into custom metaverse experiences and games.

    Nic Watt has spent more than 20 years working in the video game and blockchain industries. He joined Fantico to focus on his top-level vision for the company’s product direction, people, and technology.

    Prior to this, Watt held positions at Immutable as head of product & innovation, at Riot Games as lead user experience designer, and formed Nnooo, a video games startup.

    Co-founder Abhayanand Singh states, “Fantico is the outcome of a collaboration between media and entertainment  and the blockchain sector. With Fantico we aspire to build close relationships between fans, brands, and celebrities to create a flourishing culture in India along with a robust creator economy. With Nic as the new CEO, we hope to elevate the company to newer heights.”

    Co-founder Dhruv Saxena added, “Fantico is focussed on creating a new medium of entertainment and engagement. Nic has great experience with traditional and web3 games, which makes it fun to build towards our common vision.”

    “Since the time I have been working with Fantico, I believe the platform to be focused on building a unique place for audiences globally. We want it to be a place where people can easily transact with each other and gain gamified benefits while playing games. In addition to this, Fantico looks forward to launching virtual reality spaces that are customizable and provide utility right back to the rest of the users. We wish it to be a fun, social place where people can socialise and hang out with each other and interact with brands and IP via games and experiences. This is a very exciting time to be in the NFT space and with a great time around me, we are sure to make it even more exciting for users,” commented Watt.

    Nic continues, “The core of Fantico is the ‘Play to Earn’ phenomenon where unique elements that blockchain provides tie back into people’s daily lives. We plan to build upon the Play to Earn experiments I was running at Immutable. We are very excited to blur the lines between real-world engagement via payment platforms and brands with digital engagement via games, experiences, and social spaces.”

    Nic is known to be instrumental in creating and prototyping Play to Earn systems at Immutable where their first experiment saw people in Brazil and Russia earning more than the countries’ monthly national average. With Fantico, Nic hopes to better comprehend the wants and needs of people in India, the Middle East, and Africa.

  • GUEST COLUMN: Film and TV revolution through NFTs and metaverse

    GUEST COLUMN: Film and TV revolution through NFTs and metaverse

    Mumbai: Technology and entertainment have historically gone hand in hand. For every new technology that came about, the world of entertainment has usually been at the forefront and adapted it to its advantage. Take the example of any technology in the past, starting from VCRs to DVDs to Blu Ray and now to 3D cameras, Imax cinemas; the entertainment industry has always made the best use of it.

    Today, as we see newer forms of technologies like NFT’s, blockchain and metaverse emerge, the entertainment space is already eyeing different ways how to make the optimum use of it. Ranging from sports collectibles to music collectibles, in-game purchases in video games and NFT sales rose to more than $17 billion globally in 2021.

    Bollywood and NFTs

    The Indian entertainment sector, too, has started to explore ways in which it can include these new, pathbreaking technologies. Given the connection that Indians share with Bollywood, it is no surprise that we have seen a lot of interest when it comes to collectibles featuring celebrities. Domestic marketplaces are turning over both physical and digital assets, and the collectors who are bidding for these assets are spending big.

    In terms of revolutionising the entertainment space, NFTs have allowed studios to find another avenue of monetisation. Big Budget films that are made for hundreds of crores, now have another way of recovering their costs by selling digital assets. Additionally, studios that have a ton of memorabilia from films that are a part of our social and cultural fabric, now have the option to convert these collectibles into NFTs and add another source of revenue to their existing models. Smaller films too have an additional avenue to recover costs through selling NFTs to fans. With NFTs, even smaller films that have a cult following can reap decent amounts of revenue.

    Bollywood enters metaverse

    There are many questions about the metaverse. Can things be worth anything in a virtual place that does not even exist in reality? While that can be said for social media as well, Bollywood has literally marked its territory in the metaverse. Producer VashuBhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment recently purchased virtual land on metaverse for $5,613. The production house is calling the space Poojaverse and it plans to provide users with a movie theatre-like experience. Another example is singer Daler Mehndi who bought land-titled ‘Balle Balle Land’ for an undisclosed amount. The singer plans to open an NFT store in the space where he plans to sell both digital art and merchandise as both virtual and digital products. Reportedly, the singer will have live concerts in the virtual space and even have interactive games.

    Another exercise of the entertainment industry’s tryst with metaverse is the ALTBalaji’s reality show titled “Lock Upp.” Even though it is using the metaverse as a way of marketing rather than being an actual metaverse based on a blockchain, it does have features where viewers can experience the unique world of the show, complete tasks, and win real money. With viewers always looking for a personal connection with celebrities, connecting with their favorite actors or artists in the metaverse becomes something very special for them.

    While NFTs are faring much better than the metaverse space, as technology evolves, the entertainment sector, like always, will not fail to take advantage of this unique opportunity and cash in on this revolution.

    (About Author: Abhayanand Singh is the Vistas Media Capital and Fantico group CEO and co-founder)

  • Industry veteran Sudesh Iyer picks up strategic equity stake in Vistas Media Capital

    Industry veteran Sudesh Iyer picks up strategic equity stake in Vistas Media Capital

    MUMBAI: Media tycoon and ex co-founder of Sony Entertainment Television (SET Satellite Singapore) Sudesh Iyer has picked up a strategic equity stake in Vistas Media Capital (VMC) for an undisclosed amount.

     Iyer, based in Singapore, is an industry veteran with stakes in multiple businesses in the media and entertainment space across the region. He ran a successful advertising and an ad-film production company which he started in 1980. In the early 90s during the Gulf War, Iyer along with his friend Sushil Shergill set up a television network called ACE TV and they later entered into a joint venture with Sony Pictures Entertainment to set up Sony Television Network. Being the original founders of Sony Entertainment Television, Iyer ran the content arm of the network, producing more than 10,000 hours of content. A serial entrepreneur, Sudesh Iyer has incubated several start-ups in the health care, information technology, manufacturing and logistics sectors.

    The strategic equity stake in VMC by Sudesh Iyer creates winning synergies across multiple axes for the company, which has big plans to increase its investments into India in the media and entertainment space while it continues to diversify into North America and Middle East. Together, they intend to launch a movie fund which will invest into both receivable financing as well as gap funding of projects. The fund will initially have an India focus and will expand into southeast Asia.

    Vistas Media Capital is headquartered in Singapore and led by Abhayanand Singh – NRI banker turned media entrepreneur and has amongst other media stalwarts, the likes of former Viacom18 CEO Raj Nayak, on its advisory board.

    VMC most recently announced the merger of its NASDAQ listed SPAC Vistas Media Acquisition Company (VMAC) with Abu Dhabi based leading music streaming platform Anghami on Nasdaq in a deal valued at approximately $220 million. Sudesh Iyer was a part of VMAC from the very beginning.

    Spotify competitor Anghami is the largest music streaming platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with over 70 million registered users and 57 million songs. Anghami has become the first Arab tech company to list on NASDAQ and VMC is a trailblazer in the red-hot SPAC space in South East Asia.

    VMC through its wholly owned subsidiary Golden Ratio Films currently holds investments and IPs in over 14 films and series in India and Hollywood. VMC’s content pipeline, presently at different stages of production spans across 25+ films and web series IPs cutting across Bollywood, Hollywood, and Indian regional cinema, which will form the company’s slate for the next three years.

    Vistas Media Capital group CEO Abhayanand Singh said, “We are very excited to have Sudesh Iyer as a part of our company as it validates our vision which he has bought into and at the same time he brings in many decades of experience and network in media amongst multiple other winning attributes. His presence on the advisory board and mentorship will surely help the company expedite its growth in this dynamic space.”

    In 2021, VMC will be launching a regional indian language over-the-top (OTT) super app, starting with Marathi language, which will be a one stop platform for films, series, music, live streaming, theatre, literature and podcast. This will be further expanded to other languages such as Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Bengali, and Punjabi in due course.

    VMC co-owns with Motion Content Group (a GroupM company) and Film Critics Guild of India, two prestigious award IPs – Critics’ Choice Film Awards and Critics’ Choice Short & Series Awards.  

    The South Asian Film Market (SAFM) and Singapore’s South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF), which is in its fourth edition, are also part of the VMC portfolio.

    Iyer added, “I am very excited to join a group of young entrepreneurs who are trying to bridge the gap between creativity and finance. They have a vision which is very well articulated through their recent developments and they are an agile team which is tracking the evolution of the merger of media and technology.”

  • Planet Marathi & Vistas Media partner for new Marathi OTT

    Planet Marathi & Vistas Media partner for new Marathi OTT

    MUMBAI: Singapore-based Vistas Media Capital (VMC) has partnered with Planet Marathi Seller Services (Planet Marathi) to introduce an OTT platform focusing on Marathi content. The soon-to-be launched streaming service aims to cater to a TG of 100 million globally with a number of genres.

     VMC will be investing up to $5 million into Planet Marathi for a strategic equity in the venture. Planet Marathi plans to deliver rich, contemporary and diversified content through advanced technology for consistent streaming across devices.

    Vistas Media Capital group CEO Abhayanand Singh said, “The Indian OTT space has grown significantly over the last few years but there is still an opportunity to capitalise on in the regional segment. The Marathi audience across the globe is a large one which for many years has patronised good content important for the digital space. We are thrilled to partner with Planet Marathi to launch this platform and fill the need-gap.”

     Planet Marathi head and founder Akshay Bardapurkar said, “Marathi viewers today are devoid of digital entertainment in their native language barring a few shows or movies on television or other platforms. With this insight, introducing an exclusive Marathi OTT shall fill a void that the Marathi entertainment industry has been facing. We also plan to expand our reach globally and VMC is the perfect partner to take the first step with us in this journey. We look forward to this long term association with VMC”.

    While the world overcomes a pandemic, the lockdown has brought about newer ways and genres in which the entertainment sector can maximise its audiences pan India with internet playing a key role. As per KPMG’s India Media and Entertainment Report 2020, “robust growth in digital infrastructure and content supply allowed the digital segment to post a 26 per cent growth in FY20 despite a slowing economy, with digital and OTT advertising growing by 24 per cent.”

    VMC owns and invests in multiple media related businesses, companies and assets in capital markets and private equity. Golden Ratio Films, a subsidiary of VMC has had a strong focus on content creation, marketing and distribution across feature films, web series and short films across budgets in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and English in India and Hollywood.

     An established brand in Marathi media & entertainment, Planet Marathi has played a pivotal role in initiating and setting trends in the Marathi film industry, be it a tie up with multi social media giants, branding and promotions of Marathi cinemas or even image building for celebrities through Planet Talent.

  • Raj Nayak Joins Vistas Media Capital on the Board of Advisors

    Raj Nayak Joins Vistas Media Capital on the Board of Advisors

    MUMBAI: Vistas Media Capital, a renowned Singapore-based Fully integrated content media and entertainment investment holding company, announces the addition of Raj Nayak to its board of advisors.

    He will be a sounding board & will advise the co-founders Abhayanand Singh and India Partner, Piiyush Singh, to grow the business units in India. He would also assist in strategy which will put Vistas Media and its existing businesses on the growth path in India and will play a critical role in launching a few of their upcoming initiatives in the market. Golden Ratio Films, a fully owned subsidiary of Vistas Media Capital, has been very active in the content space in India with releases like “Bhonsle’ recently on Sony Liv as well as their upcoming slate in Hindi, Tamil, and Marathi. 

    “We are thrilled to have Raj on board this exciting journey which started in 2014. The vast experience which he brings with him will help us gear operations in India as he is known to be an innovation catalyst in the media sector. We welcome the fresh thinking which is forward-looking and has an ability to disrupt the market,” said Vistas Media Capital Pte Ltd CEO Abhayanand Singh.

    Raj Nayak said, “The media & entertainment space is growing at an exponential pace in India, & this role gives me the opportunity to be a part of the exciting journey of Vistas Capital who have very ambitious plans. The good thing about this role is that it does not in any way restrict or disrupt my other plans in this space.” 

  • South Asian Film Market (SAFM)commences on 31st August in Singapore

    South Asian Film Market (SAFM)commences on 31st August in Singapore

    Mumbai: South Asian Film Market (SAFM) in Singapore is taking placefrom 31st August to 1st September in Singapore and will be attended by important filmmakers and industry stalwarts.  It is a unique initiative which offers a platform for selected filmmakers to raise funding for their projects from certain high net worth individuals (HNIs). It is the only such platform for South Asian films outside South Asia and had witnessed great success in its inaugural year in 2018.  4 films were funded of which 2 of them are ready for the release and the other 2 is are in their pre-production stages.

    Films in the West are produced by hedge funds and high net worth individuals who plough moneyin them purely as an alternative form of investment.SAFM is the only unique platform to offer this opportunity in South Asia. Singapore is often referred to as the financial capital of the region is the most appropriate place  to host this as the city often acts as a bridge between South Asia and South East Asia. This year, 15 filmmakers will fly down to Singapore and pitch their project to a set of jury panel members which includes Abhay Deol (Actor/Producer), Kilian Kerwin (Ivanhoe Pictures), Saugata Mukherjee (Hotstar), Saurabh Gupta (M! Capital Ventures) and Shariq Patel (Zee Essel).

    Commenting on SAFM, Abhay Deol, Actor / Producer, mentioned “I am very excited to be a part of the Jury at South Asian Film Market 2019 in Singapore. It is a unique format that brings filmmakers and high net worth individuals to a common platform. Investing into films as an alternative investment class is very common in the west and SAFM is bringing that to the content boom in South Asia. One of my films was also at SAFM last year which then got funded and is now up for release soon".
     
    “We aim to bridge the gap between creativity and finance and introduce fresh capital to films. South Asia is witnessing a boom currently in this space and it is the best time for investors to explore such investment”, said Abhayanand Singh, Chairman, SAFM.

    SAFM is also introducing a new section this year wherein publication houses will pitch for the adaptation of their books as films or web series.
     

  • Budget ’17: OTT players hoping for tax rationalisation to boost growth

    Budget ’17: OTT players hoping for tax rationalisation to boost growth

    MUMBAI: 2016 was indeed a critical year for the over-the-top (OTT) services in India. In an emerging market like India, the potential of more content consumption is certainly a reality. Increasing availability of smart phones, internet penetration, affordable data rates, 4G rollout, availability of good quality content and new entrants have led the OTT industry to bloom in 2016 and the trend is likely to continue. But the segment players are also looking up to the government for a clearer economic roadmap after the shockwaves of demonestisation.

    “The entertainment industry has always been on the forefront of economic contribution. Though it is expected that GST rollout (as and when it happens later this year) would bring about more uniformity in the system of paying multiple taxes, it is also expected that finance minister Arun Jaitley will announce reforms, which will help control piracy issues in the country and help boost video on demand market in India,” said Muvizz.com COO and co-founder Abhayanand Singh.

    Zee’s business head of digital for India Archana Anand opined that 2016 will go down as the year in which the wheels were set in motion for the growth of OTT. According to her, OTT platforms likely to become the go-to source of entertainment in the coming years, particularly for the millennials, who do not have easy access to a TV set and for whom it’s really about the content and not the size of the screen. But for that economic incentives are also needed from the government.

    Echoing similar views, Web Talkies chairman and managing director Virendra Shahaney asserted the government needs to beef up digital infrastructure like Internet and faster implementation of free wi-fi projects. “A relaxed taxation policy for start-ups would be welcome and tax breaks for start-ups should increase to five years with a significant improvement in ease of doing business,” he added.

    Pointing out that India downloaded six billion apps in 2016 making service usage the highest globally, Dekkho co-founder Tanay Desai said ,”The BHIM app has been downloaded 10 million times already indicating a healthy potential payment pipeline. GST will aid online payments for users as well as brands by reducing tax barriers across states in India and the industry looks forward to additional (tax) relaxation measures in the upcoming Budget.”

    Also Read:

    Budget ’17: Media segments seek succour, digital direction from govt

  • Budget ’17: OTT players hoping for tax rationalisation to boost growth

    Budget ’17: OTT players hoping for tax rationalisation to boost growth

    MUMBAI: 2016 was indeed a critical year for the over-the-top (OTT) services in India. In an emerging market like India, the potential of more content consumption is certainly a reality. Increasing availability of smart phones, internet penetration, affordable data rates, 4G rollout, availability of good quality content and new entrants have led the OTT industry to bloom in 2016 and the trend is likely to continue. But the segment players are also looking up to the government for a clearer economic roadmap after the shockwaves of demonestisation.

    “The entertainment industry has always been on the forefront of economic contribution. Though it is expected that GST rollout (as and when it happens later this year) would bring about more uniformity in the system of paying multiple taxes, it is also expected that finance minister Arun Jaitley will announce reforms, which will help control piracy issues in the country and help boost video on demand market in India,” said Muvizz.com COO and co-founder Abhayanand Singh.

    Zee’s business head of digital for India Archana Anand opined that 2016 will go down as the year in which the wheels were set in motion for the growth of OTT. According to her, OTT platforms likely to become the go-to source of entertainment in the coming years, particularly for the millennials, who do not have easy access to a TV set and for whom it’s really about the content and not the size of the screen. But for that economic incentives are also needed from the government.

    Echoing similar views, Web Talkies chairman and managing director Virendra Shahaney asserted the government needs to beef up digital infrastructure like Internet and faster implementation of free wi-fi projects. “A relaxed taxation policy for start-ups would be welcome and tax breaks for start-ups should increase to five years with a significant improvement in ease of doing business,” he added.

    Pointing out that India downloaded six billion apps in 2016 making service usage the highest globally, Dekkho co-founder Tanay Desai said ,”The BHIM app has been downloaded 10 million times already indicating a healthy potential payment pipeline. GST will aid online payments for users as well as brands by reducing tax barriers across states in India and the industry looks forward to additional (tax) relaxation measures in the upcoming Budget.”

    Also Read:

    Budget ’17: Media segments seek succour, digital direction from govt

  • Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    MUMBAI: The Online video streaming platform muvizz.com increased its library by signing a deal with PVR and has acquired 25 movie titles for exclusive streaming.

    The deal will now give subscribers access to movies such as: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Another Year (2010), Greenberg (2010), The Greatest (2009), A Single Man (2009), Nightwatching (2007), etc. The 25 titles include some major award winning films and are already available to all the registered users of muvizz.com.

    Muvizz.com declared that these titles span across multiple languages and genres, including feature films, documentaries and short films. The website currently has around 300 titles and is planning to acquire more in the coming months.

    “Our intent is to get closer to our audience,” said Muvizz.com founder Abhayanand Singh. “We also hope that this content acquisition will help muvizz.com grow and provide our users with some remarkable films. We want such interesting films to reach the audiences and cinephiles so that they can enjoy good cinema.”

    Muvizz.com offers only a curated list of titles ranging from short films to documentaries to feature films in various languages to its users, so that they don’t have to go through thousands of titles to decide which one to watch. One major example is the critically acclaimed film “Path of Zarathustra” that muvizz.com recently started streaming.

  • Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    Muvizz.com acquires 25 titles from PVR

    MUMBAI: The Online video streaming platform muvizz.com increased its library by signing a deal with PVR and has acquired 25 movie titles for exclusive streaming.

    The deal will now give subscribers access to movies such as: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Another Year (2010), Greenberg (2010), The Greatest (2009), A Single Man (2009), Nightwatching (2007), etc. The 25 titles include some major award winning films and are already available to all the registered users of muvizz.com.

    Muvizz.com declared that these titles span across multiple languages and genres, including feature films, documentaries and short films. The website currently has around 300 titles and is planning to acquire more in the coming months.

    “Our intent is to get closer to our audience,” said Muvizz.com founder Abhayanand Singh. “We also hope that this content acquisition will help muvizz.com grow and provide our users with some remarkable films. We want such interesting films to reach the audiences and cinephiles so that they can enjoy good cinema.”

    Muvizz.com offers only a curated list of titles ranging from short films to documentaries to feature films in various languages to its users, so that they don’t have to go through thousands of titles to decide which one to watch. One major example is the critically acclaimed film “Path of Zarathustra” that muvizz.com recently started streaming.