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Tag: Bela Bajaria

  • MIP London announces David Beckham and Bela Bajaria as headliners

    MIP London announces David Beckham and Bela Bajaria as headliners

    MUMBAI: MIP London, the  international content and networking market (23-27 February 2025) from RX Global, is putting all its energy behind  making its  inaugural edition an even greater success. 

    It has announced that Netflix  chief content officer Bela Bajaria and football club owner, entrepreneur, co-founder of content studio, Studio 99 and global brand ambassador David Beckham will be on stage  at the IET Savoy Place in a special in conversation fireside chat. 

    “We promised the TV industry to deliver big moments and future-facing conversations at Mip London next February,” said director of MIP London and MIPCOM Cannes Lucy Smith .“Bela and David are hugely impactful figures culturally and globally each with great influence and unique perspectives on creating content and connecting with audiences and both with significant international platforms. It’s a privilege to welcome them both to the MIP stage in London.” 

    Collaborators on the Emmy award-winning documentary series Beckham, and with Studio 99 now in production on the highly anticipated forthcoming series following the story behind Victoria Beckham’s fashion business, the pair will share the main MIP London stage, and respective insights, on Tuesday 25 February. 

    Hosted at the Savoy Hotel and the IET London, MIP London is a new multi-genre international marketplace with an embedded future-facing conference that aims to deliver more business and opportunities during a key content week in the global TV industry calendar.

     

  • Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, Kapil Sharma & team celebrate The Great Indian Kapil Show’s success

    Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, Kapil Sharma & team celebrate The Great Indian Kapil Show’s success

    Mumbai: Netflix’s chief content officer, Bela Bajaria is in India all the way from Los Angeles and she along with VP of content Monika Shergill, Netflix India – series head Tanya Bami met with the entire gang of The Great Indian Kapil Show including Kapil Sharma, Sunil Grover, Rajiv Thakur and Archana Puran Singh.

    The Great Indian Kapil Show is the first Indian series to trend in the global top 10 TV non-english for four consecutive weeks. Loyal fans of the show have showered a lot of love on the weekly show contributing to its massive success, and this is just the beginning.

    The Great Indian Kapil Show has lots more in store with a first-ever appearance of Aamir Khan as well an episode with global music sensation – Ed Sheeran. The party’s just getting started, and fans should expect nothing less than immense fun and entertainment!

  • Netflix global TV head Bela Bajaria dishes on ‘local impact strategy’

    Netflix global TV head Bela Bajaria dishes on ‘local impact strategy’

    KOLKATA: Among a host of over-the-top (OTT) platforms in India, Netflix has always been considered as the “premium” one in terms of pricing and content. To break the stereotype, the streaming giant has taken several measures like launching a mobile-only plan. Netflix global TV head Bela Bajaria said the platform wants to “please many more members” with its diverse content offering as well.

    Speaking on day one of APOS 2021, Bajaria, who smilingly disclosed her “personal bias” for the market because of her ethic roots, remarked that the platform wants to have a wider breadth of offerings for the country. She pointed to the much-hyped slate of more than 40 originals which consist of different categories of originals.

    “I think sometimes when we’re in a country, we make the first couple shows people externally and even sometimes [viewers] internally perceive us as just a platform having premium or edgy dramas… We want to please many more members than that,” she said during the discussion with Media Partners Asia executive director & co-founder Vivek Couto.

    Of all its Indian originals, Masaba Masaba really struck a chord with audiences. She also spoke of the recently launched women centric Bombay Begums, and the upcoming season of the highly acclaimed web series Delhi Crime that she believes will be compelling for viewers. She went on to reveal that more exciting shows would be launched in Q3 & Q4.

    Considerably, she noted the presence of family drama in Netflix’s upcoming slate. “I think it was important because we still want to have everybody’s favourite show. We want to have a show you could co-view with your family,” Bajaria commented.

    While Netflix is highly focusing on staying true to local stories, having a strong local team is really important, as is being part of the local ecosystem. For any local market the focus is always on “massive local impact”, not on making shows popular across markets. Netflix India took its localisation a step ahead with Monika Shergill’s appointment.

    “People sometimes think we want to make a show global or international. The most important thing is we make it the most authentic and specific vision in that country and it has the most local impact and people love it in that country. If people love it in that country, other people will love it too,” she stated.

    However, local shows like La Casa De Papel, Barbarians, Lupin, Who Killed Sara? and Space Sweepers have seen global success. In its home market, non-English viewership has grown by 50 per cent as the viewership of anime has increased by 100 per cent, while Korean drama consumption has tripled.

    “Traditionally, Hollywood has exported stories. Now what we are doing is we are exporting local authentic stories and shows everywhere around the world. All of these stories are different in point of views, from different lenses and very specific to the cultural lens,” she stated.

    Netflix has grown exponentially in other Asian countries too. South Korea has been the most prominent market for the streamer. It has a mix of licensed, regional, the original film in the market. While some of the licensed shows like K-Dramas have performed well, Korean shows in other categories also travelled. More importantly, Netflix could continue its production in Korea the whole time during the pandemic. Hence, the OTT platform has a “pretty solid” slate in Korea for 2021.

    The streamer is gearing up its efforts in Japan by building studios and partnering with local talent. Along with investing in anime which is very successful for the platform, it is also betting big on live-action and non-fiction in the Japan market.

    “The strategy is always going to be, we want to have the best shows. If the best shows are original shows, that’s great. If the best shows are a combination of acquisitions and partnerships and co-productions and originals, then that’s what we do,” Bajaria contended.

    To build a solid global footprint of Netflix, the other goal is it wants to be a part of the creative community in each country. There will be new places the platform starts making more original content in, she added. For instance, it was only a year and a half ago it started doing originals in Africa.

    “We’ve barely scratched the surface. There are so many great storytellers in so many parts of the world. There are great stories that can be told on a global scale in so many places,” she said.

    The media executive has worked across mediums, starting her career with millennial TV, spending a chunk of it at Studios. She has seen the growth and progression of the M&E business, especially the rapid change in the last three to five years. It has always been very important to create a supportive environment for creators and for executives to do the work.

    “I think what has been interesting about working at Netflix is typically the speed. The speed of decision making. There are not many layers like other traditional media companies I worked in. What I had to learn is to move very quickly,” she signed off.

  • Netflix streamlines content team, Bela Bajaria to lead global TV

    Netflix streamlines content team, Bela Bajaria to lead global TV

    KOLKATA: Netflix has elevated Bela Bajaria as vice president global TV in order to streamline its content team. Cindy Holland, original content vice president quits as a part of the major shakeup at the organization. Holland has served for nearly two decades at the streaming giant.

    Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 and she was given the mandate of unscripted programming and international content. Over the years, international content has been put at the heart of Netflix’s overall content strategy as the platform’s growth in the domestic market has become saturated.

    While several executives have led the different segment of Netflix’s TV programming, the film division was streamlined in the past. “Since becoming co-CEO, I’ve wanted to simplify the way our content teams operate,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos explained.

    "These kinds of changes are never easy, and I am enormously grateful to Cindy Holland for everything she has done over the last 18 years at Netflix — first licensing DVDs and then as the driving force behind our first eight years of English original series. Cindy’s been a great champion of creators and the power that comes from seeing more perspectives reflected on-screen — launching enduring dramas like Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, and The Crown. Most important of all she’s been a fabulous colleague. We wish her all the best for the future,” Sarandos commented on Holland’s departure.

    According to reports, Bajaria was courted by NBCUniversal to oversee all entertainment programming across its several divisions. Now, she will oversee all original programming, scripted and non-scripted in both the English and non-English languages at Netflix. 

  • Netflix Announces Partnership With Dharmatic Entertainment

    Netflix Announces Partnership With Dharmatic Entertainment

    Mumbai: Netflix today announced a long-term partnership with Karan Johar's Dharmatic Entertainment to create a broad range of new fiction and non-fiction series and films exclusively for Netflix members. 

    As the director of eight major films and host of a successful talk show, Johar has a proven track record of telling stories that resonate with audiences all around the world. Netflix and Johar first worked together in 2018 on the much-loved film Lust Stories. He is also involved on two upcoming Netflix films – as a director on Ghost Stories and Guilty produced by Dharmatic Entertainment. Johar has an innate sense of what people care about – and a unique way of telling stories that are universal but also authentically reflect Indian society.

    Bela Bajaria, VP, International Originals, Netflix, said, “I am incredibly excited about our partnership with Karan Johar – one of India’s greatest modern storytellers. Johar and Dharmatic Entertainment will have all the creative freedom and support they need to create pioneering dramas and unscripted series – as well as films – for our members all over the world.”

    Karan Johar said, “With its unique creative freedom and instantaneous global reach, Netflix provides a fearless space for creators. I'm super excited about the projects we already have in development and the limitless possibilities ahead. To create universal stories from India that the world discovers is an incredible and unprecedented opportunity.”

    Apoorva Mehta, CEO, Dharma Productions, said, “We’re excited about the immense storytelling possibilities ahead. With Netflix as the new storytelling home for Dharmatic Entertainment, I have the highest hopes for what we can do together. Our vision is to create differentiated stories across diverse genres and we can’t wait to craft and usher many more remarkable series and films into the world with Netflix.”

  • Netflix announces five new original series across a variety of genres

    Netflix announces five new original series across a variety of genres

    MUMBAI: Netflix today announced five new original series across a variety of genres including Young Adult, drama, thriller, horror and comedy. With deadly zombies, scary gangsters and daring friends, these incredibly diverse Indian stories are for mainstream audiences in India and around the world. 

    Bela Bajaria, VP, International Originals, Netflix, said, “India is home to some of the world’s greatest stories. It's been thrilling to watch these amazing storytellers embrace the artistic freedom possible at Netflix to create entertaining stories. Audiences everywhere will love these five inventive series set in stories of horror, drama and comedy.”

    Continuing Netflix’s investment in Indian content and long-term commitment to the Indian creative community, the five series will be developed in collaboration with leading Indian studios from Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma’s Clean Slate Films to Mutant Films. 

    Presenting the Netflix slate of upcoming series over the next year:

    Bombay Begums: In contemporary urban India, five women, across generations, wrestle with desire, ethics, personal crises and vulnerabilities to own their ambition. As glass ceilings are shattered and hearts are broken, difficult choices have to be made. And as each woman strives to find her own truth, they find in each other an unexpected understanding and the sliver of a bond. Bombay Begums is created, written and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and executive produced by Chernin Entertainment and EndemolShine India. 

    Speaking about the development, Alankrita Shrivastava said, “Collaborating with Netflix has been extremely exciting and fulfilling because they see the urgency and value of women telling their own stories, through the female gaze. Bombay Begums is an attempt to tell a story about the lives of urban Indian women, as honestly as I can. I hope that women (and maybe some men!) can connect to this story, no matter what their background, because maybe we're all trying to find ourselves and our place in this world.”   

    Mai: Following a deep personal tragedy, the docile, 47-year-old wife-and-mother, Sheel, finds herself accidentally sucked into a rabbit hole of violence and power. Ensuing entanglement with white collar crime and politics that forever changed her and the world she inhabits. Mai has Anushka Sharma & Karnesh Sharma's Clean Slate Films as the executive producers and is written by Atul Mongia along with Tamal Sen, Amita Vyas, with Sudip Sharma as a creative producer.

    Talking about the show, Anushka Sharma said, “This is my second collaboration with Netflix after Bulbul and we are again looking to disrupt the kind of content audiences are consuming. We at Clean Slate Films have been dedicated to making clutter-breaking, powerful stories since our first production and we are looking forward to push the content envelope. The creative freedom to be able to translate these stories to screens that reach a global audience is exciting for us, which is why Netflix is such an important partner. Mai is an exciting work of fiction that tells the story of a middle-class Indian woman who leads a double-life of a don. At a time when audiences globally are appreciating differential content, Mai will hopefully intrigue them and entertain them thoroughly.” 

    Betaal: A remote village becomes the theatre of a breathless battle when a two-century-old Betaal, a British Indian Army officer, and his battalion of zombie redcoats are unleashed. With Indian police pitted against the undead army, hapless villagers are trapped in a horrific, edge-of-your-seat conflict. Betaal is Red Chillies Entertainment’s second Netflix series, in collaboration with Ghoul’s Patrick Graham as the writer/director and showrunner, along with Nikhil Mahajan as the director and Suhani Kanwar as writer. It will be executive produced by Blumhouse, known to design some of the best horror content, and Ivanhoe

    Elaborating on the development Patrick Graham said, “Indian legend is filled with tales that thrill, chill and bring the audience to the edge of their seat. It’s a pleasure working with Netflix again on Betaal and to be able to tap the narrative goldmine of Indian stories for a series that brings to life universal conflicts in the engaging and immersive zombie horror genre.”

    Messy: Mumbai’s rising standup comic, Beanie, struggles to balance a career in comedy with pleasing a yuppie day-job boss, peculiar BFF, persistent parents, and proposal-popping boyfriend. Messy is her quest to find her own voice and get her life together in the midst of all the mayhem. American actor and director, Ravi Patel stars in the series which he has created and co-written with Neel Shah. The series is co-produced by The District's David Bernad and Ruben Fleischer and Mutant Films' Seher Aly Latif & Shivani Saran.

    Speaking about the series Ravi Patel said, “I’m excited to work on a story of a strong female lead and voice as we go on this journey with Messy. This is a story about a girl finding herself and her place in the world while living in a big city, and we’re hoping to create a relatable and authentic story that has a universal resonance. The character is not unlike the average urban Indian woman, grappling with various social pressures while nurturing her sense of humour throughout. With Netflix, we have a partner and platform which supports absolute artistic freedom, and can help package this in an engaging manner while taking the story to women the world over.”

    Masaba Masaba: This scripted series based on real-life moments from Masaba Gupta’s life follows her unique background, the diverse worlds she straddles across fashion and family, and her foray back into the dating world. Masaba’s life is a glorious mess, and she’s not afraid to show that to the world. An inspirational, joyous celebration of her life, this fun series will be packed with tongue-in-cheek humor, enacted by the mother-daughter duo, Masaba and Neena Gupta themselves. The genre-bending series is created and produced by Ashvini Yardi’s Viniyard Films and will be directed by Sonam Nair.

    Expressing her excitement Masaba Gupta said, “I’m a huge fan of Netflix and the kind of diverse content it houses. So when the makers approached me with the idea of a show inspired by my life, I was thrilled. It’s been a rollercoaster, honestly, and I feel that the moments I’ve experienced are both unique to my journey and relatable to people the world over. This series will be an amalgamation of my experiences, personally and professionally. I can’t wait for the audience to watch it.”

  • Netflix signs Hasan Minhaj for weekly talk show

    Netflix signs Hasan Minhaj for weekly talk show

    MUMBAI: Hasan Minhaj is set to host his own weekly talk show on Netflix that will debut later this year. Netflix has committed to a 32 episode order, making Minhaj the first Indian-American host of a weekly comedy talk show.

    Series description: Minhaj’s comedy show will explore the modern cultural and political landscape with depth and sincerity. Each week, Minhaj will bring his unique comedic voice and storytelling skill to investigate the larger trends shaping our fragmented world.

    Hasan Minhaj said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the Netflix family as the country braces for another election season. And like you, I cannot wait to find out who Putin picks this time.”

    Bela Bajaria, Vice President of Content for Netflix said “I’ve been a big fan of Hasan’s for many years. He’s a phenomenal writer with a distinct point of view. He is a brilliant performer, who is hilarious both on stage and off, and more importantly he isn’t afraid to share his thoughtful voice and unique perspective. We are so excited to bring his new talk series to Netflix members around the world.”

    Bio: Last year, Minhaj earned rave reviews for his one-hour Netflix comedy special Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, and for his performance hosting the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he was Jon’s last hire, in November 2014 as a correspondent and continued on in that role after Trevor Noah took over as host the following year. He will remain with The Daily Show through the end of July, before beginning work on this new project. In addition, Minhaj and his sketch comedy quartet, Goatface, will bring their wide-ranging brand of humor to Comedy Central for a one-hour special next year. This summer he will star in Lionsgate’s The Spy Who Dumped Me.

  • Netflix signs Hasan Minhaj for weekly talk show

    Netflix signs Hasan Minhaj for weekly talk show

    MUMBAI: Hasan Minhaj is set to host his own weekly talk show on Netflix that will debut later this year. Netflix has committed to a 32 episode order, making Minhaj the first Indian-American host of a weekly comedy talk show.

    Series description: Minhaj’s comedy show will explore the modern cultural and political landscape with depth and sincerity. Each week, Minhaj will bring his unique comedic voice and storytelling skill to investigate the larger trends shaping our fragmented world.

    Hasan Minhaj said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the Netflix family as the country braces for another election season. And like you, I cannot wait to find out who Putin picks this time.”

    Bela Bajaria, Vice President of Content for Netflix said “I’ve been a big fan of Hasan’s for many years. He’s a phenomenal writer with a distinct point of view. He is a brilliant performer, who is hilarious both on stage and off, and more importantly he isn’t afraid to share his thoughtful voice and unique perspective. We are so excited to bring his new talk series to Netflix members around the world.”

    Bio: Last year, Minhaj earned rave reviews for his one-hour Netflix comedy special Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, and for his performance hosting the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he was Jon’s last hire, in November 2014 as a correspondent and continued on in that role after Trevor Noah took over as host the following year. He will remain with The Daily Show through the end of July, before beginning work on this new project. In addition, Minhaj and his sketch comedy quartet, Goatface, will bring their wide-ranging brand of humor to Comedy Central for a one-hour special next year. This summer he will star in Lionsgate’s The Spy Who Dumped Me.

  • Netflix hires Indian origin TV exec Bela Bajaria as content VP

    Netflix hires Indian origin TV exec Bela Bajaria as content VP

    MUMBAI: Even as Netflix has been strengthening its Asia team by hiring locals with Asian and international experience, it has also been bolstering the talent at its HQ.  Last week, the leading global video streaming site, announced that it had roped in former Universal Television (NBCUniversal’s TV unit) president Bela Bajaria as vice-president of content. She is slated to join Netflix from 1 November, replacing Sean Carey, who is leaving the company.

    The London-born-but-raised-in-east-Africa-and-settled-in-Los-Angeles Bajaria is of Indian origin, At Universal Television, Bajaria supervised creative programming for the studio and producing such hit series as Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for Netflix; Brooklyn Nine-Nine for FOX; The Mindy Project for FOX and Hulu; Superstore for NBC and Bates Motel for A&E, among several others. She developed Gypsy, starring Naomi Watts, for Netflix which will premiere in 2017 as well as Pure Genius for CBS and The Good Place for NBC, which are on the network’s 2016 fall schedules.

    Bajaria has in the past been ranked amongst the top  TV executives in the US when she headed Universal Television.  She left the production outfit  when she had a run-in with executives at NBC Studios for not buying enough content from her company, even though Fox and CBS were.

    At Netflix, Bajaria has been mandated with leading the team focused on TV and film licensing from major U. studios, as well co-production relationships with major US networks. She will also oversee a new team developing original unscripted programs for Netflix.

    Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos have said time and time again that the company wants to keep showcase the best in class engaging content for its subscribers and a budget of $5 billion has been kept aside for this year to acquire and create content.

    “Bela is a great creative television executive with broad experience and deep industry relationships,” said Sarandos. “Having worked closely with her on Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, we know we have found the perfect executive to lead this new effort.”

    “I am looking forward to joining Netflix, an innovative company that supports creative vision and fosters risk-taking. Having worked closely with Ted, Cindy and the team, I know they are great creative partners and care deeply about the experience of talent, their partners and their members,” said Bela Bajaria. “They are a dynamic group and I’m looking forward to continue building new partnerships at Netflix with amazing talent and studio and network colleagues.”

  • Netflix hires Indian origin TV exec Bela Bajaria as content VP

    Netflix hires Indian origin TV exec Bela Bajaria as content VP

    MUMBAI: Even as Netflix has been strengthening its Asia team by hiring locals with Asian and international experience, it has also been bolstering the talent at its HQ.  Last week, the leading global video streaming site, announced that it had roped in former Universal Television (NBCUniversal’s TV unit) president Bela Bajaria as vice-president of content. She is slated to join Netflix from 1 November, replacing Sean Carey, who is leaving the company.

    The London-born-but-raised-in-east-Africa-and-settled-in-Los-Angeles Bajaria is of Indian origin, At Universal Television, Bajaria supervised creative programming for the studio and producing such hit series as Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for Netflix; Brooklyn Nine-Nine for FOX; The Mindy Project for FOX and Hulu; Superstore for NBC and Bates Motel for A&E, among several others. She developed Gypsy, starring Naomi Watts, for Netflix which will premiere in 2017 as well as Pure Genius for CBS and The Good Place for NBC, which are on the network’s 2016 fall schedules.

    Bajaria has in the past been ranked amongst the top  TV executives in the US when she headed Universal Television.  She left the production outfit  when she had a run-in with executives at NBC Studios for not buying enough content from her company, even though Fox and CBS were.

    At Netflix, Bajaria has been mandated with leading the team focused on TV and film licensing from major U. studios, as well co-production relationships with major US networks. She will also oversee a new team developing original unscripted programs for Netflix.

    Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos have said time and time again that the company wants to keep showcase the best in class engaging content for its subscribers and a budget of $5 billion has been kept aside for this year to acquire and create content.

    “Bela is a great creative television executive with broad experience and deep industry relationships,” said Sarandos. “Having worked closely with her on Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, we know we have found the perfect executive to lead this new effort.”

    “I am looking forward to joining Netflix, an innovative company that supports creative vision and fosters risk-taking. Having worked closely with Ted, Cindy and the team, I know they are great creative partners and care deeply about the experience of talent, their partners and their members,” said Bela Bajaria. “They are a dynamic group and I’m looking forward to continue building new partnerships at Netflix with amazing talent and studio and network colleagues.”