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Tag: Content Studio

  • Content studio By The Gram aims for two-fold growth by end of 2023

    Content studio By The Gram aims for two-fold growth by end of 2023

    Mumbai: Mumbai-based content studio, By The Gram expects to double its revenues by the end of 2023. This ambitious growth target will be achieved by broadening its client base across the globe including Hong Kong, UK, US and Dubai.

    Founded in March 2018 with a focus on luxury, fashion and films, BTG has close to 25 clients and a team size of ~30 full time employees and 50 plus freelancers under its payroll. Founded by Aaliya Amrin, Danisha Kohli and Eman Batliwala, the content studio generated Rs 40 lakh in revenues in the first year of operations which has grown 16-fold in the four years of its existence.

    “Back in 2018, Danisha, Eman, and I started this venture with merely an idea to fill a gap in the market. We weren’t totally sure how well it would sell. We are all a bit overwhelmed by the current rate of growth. We’ve come a long way since broadening our clientele globally. With bigger and better plans in the works, we look forward to working more closely with our existing brands while also building new ones on our journey,” said Amrin.

    Batliwalla said, “Very delighted to be working with my two partners and the whole team & how we have come so far from the day we started. We have evolved significantly since beginning with 30 brands and progressing through various industries and especially setting ablaze with our OTT-driven initiatives and campaigns. We hope to continue growing and contributing our knowledge to new age content in the future.”

    “Having a creative eye, working tremendously on it, and seeing the results bloom every day, only makes my heart fill with gratitude. Our creative team works tirelessly to come up with out-of-the-box ideas for the ever-changing trends in our industry. My team and I are really looking forward to working on creating more innovative and creatively trendsetting content.” added Kohli.

    By the end of December 2023, BTG plans to work across verticals from brand identity, content development, visual direction and production, luxe editorial concepts and new OTT productions. It is poised for exponential growth in both India and global markets and aims to increase their team strength in markets like London and L.A this year and next.  

    The content studio has produced over 300 films and 2000 plus hours of content in the last four years. Its clients include Dharma Productions, Tiger Baby, Netflix, Prime Video, Nykaa, Lakme Fashion Week, Roy Kapur Films, Bumble, Tata Cliq Luxury and Lodha. By The Gram intends to be the preferred brand partner for leading OTT, Bollywood and luxury clients.

  • Suresh Triveni launches his creative studio; Abundantia Entertainment to back the venture

    Suresh Triveni launches his creative studio; Abundantia Entertainment to back the venture

    Mumbai: Critically acclaimed director of films like “Tumhari Sulu” and “Jalsa,” Suresh Triveni on Thursday announced the formation of his creative studio and production house ‘Opening Image,’ in association with Vikram Malhotra-led Abundantia Entertainment. This alliance aims to create and produce content across mediums.

    Opening Image is set to partner with studios and platforms that share its vision of bringing high-quality stories to screens of all sizes and dimensions and is language and genre-agnostic. “The studio will be an end-to-end entity with an ability to work from idea to screen. An exciting slate of films and series is already under development at the newly-formed company and the list includes Suresh’s next directorial ventures as well as content that he’s set to showrun,” said the statement. “It will also host a first-of-its-kind script lab which will enable creators to develop their ideas with the best writers and creative minds available to collaborate with.”

    Triveni shot to fame with the popular ‘Mauka Mauka’ advertising campaign during the cricket World Cup matches between India and Pakistan. In 2017, he made his Bollywood feature film debut with the Vidya Balan-starrer “Tumhari Sulu,” a slice-of-life film, chronicling the life of an enthusiastic housewife who suddenly lands a lucrative job as a radio jockey. The film was an instant hit and swept most awards that year between the lead actor, the director and the film itself.

    “The idea of ‘Opening Image’ is to empower talent – writers, filmmakers, technicians. to offer fresh, exclusive and original stories tailored for viewers across the globe,” Suresh Triveni said. “The vision behind Opening Image is to curate disruptive stories and provide a platform for creators, especially fresh and young talent, to deliver their best. I am delighted to extend my partnership with Abundantia Entertainment and Vikram to the next level and in them, I have found the right backers for my vision.”

    The backing of Suresh Triveni’s venture is a further step in Abundantia Entertainment’s commitment to support and enable its creator partners and incubate high-potential talent, according to the statement.

    “Abundantia Entertainment believes in the power of stories and the vision of storytellers. This philosophy is strongly demonstrated in the body of work that team Abundantia has delivered in its young journey, highlighted by the recent success of ‘Jalsa,’” commented Abundantia Entertainment founder and CEO Vikram Malhotra. “Suresh has been a fabulous collaborator and friend and I am proud that we are now taking the next step in our relationship as he launches Opening Image. I am excited with the promise and potential of Opening Image and can’t wait for Suresh and the team to tell their brand of stories to the world.”

  • International Art Machine ropes in Karishma Naina Sharma to head international TV

    International Art Machine ropes in Karishma Naina Sharma to head international TV

    Mumbai: Global entertainment studio International Art Machine has appointed film and TV executive Karishma Naina Sharma to head international television.

    In her new role, Sharma will “bring her vast experience in the Indian and global marketplace to help curate a creative vision with an international perspective,” said the statement. She previously worked at Balaji Motion Pictures as the head of development and creative vice president where she developed and produced over 20 feature films under Ekta Kapoor and Sameer Nair.

    Sharma, who will be based globally and in Mumbai, will be steering the studio in Asia and “take International Art Machine to its next phase of growth,” the statement said.

    “To be a part of a truly international studio, headed by an innovator like Roy Price whose vision has carved out a legacy of award-winning shows and cutting-edge technology is both exciting and invigorating,” said International Art Machine head of international television Karishma Naina Sharma. “Our visions are aligned in recognizing that content is key and nurturing story tellers and story makers across the globe is at the very core of what we aim to cultivate at International Art Machine. I look forward to the journey ahead. I look forward to absorbing India’s myriad of talent and I look very much forward to curating a brand for International Art Machine that carry’s powerful, entertaining stories across borders that prove to be high in quality, innovative, relevant and commercially viable.”

    “Karishma is a world class executive with a talent for story and strong talent relationships. We look forward to having her spearhead efforts from Mumbai,” said International Art Machine CEO and founder Roy Price.

    International Art Machines recently announced its foray into India picking up the rights to Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy and partnering with talent such as Shekhar Kapur, Preity G Zinta, Dibakar Banerjee and Suparn S Varma.

  • Media veteran Vijay Subramaniam launches 29SeptemberWorks

    Media veteran Vijay Subramaniam launches 29SeptemberWorks

    Mumbai: Media veteran Vijay Subramaniam has launched an independent venture to develop, curate, finance, and produce multi-platform content for the Indian market with his new venture, 29SeptemberWorks. The initial focus of the company will be on the Southern India region.

    Headquartered in Bangalore with a presence in Chennai and Kochi, the company is already underway with its first slate that features films in Malayalam and Tamil and series in Tamil and Kannada. Subramaniam is partnering with leading production houses and multiple project-specific announcements are expected soon, according to the statement.

    Subramaniam was previously with video streaming service Amazon Prime Video India as head of content. During his career, he has held leadership roles across Star Network, MTV Networks, and Disney India.  

    “29SeptemberWorks will be a platform-agnostic creator-enabler with a focus on working with fresh and established creators and producers to enable them to develop and showcase their work to a pan-Indian market,” said the statement.

    “Indian content is at its tipping point moment,” said 29SeptemberWorks founder and managing director Vijay Subramaniam. “On one side is a massive and entertainment-hungry population and on the other side is some of the finest content creating minds that the world has seen. 29SeptemberWorks is slated to be a new-age entertainment company that will leverage the best of these two worlds to empower and enable storytellers, especially from the South of India, both in front and behind the camera, to take their craft pan-India and to the world.”

    “I hope to leverage my experience in building partnerships with progressive minds and entities and coupled with my personal understanding of the diverse Indian market, the ambition is to build a strong, sustainable bridge between creators and customers and in doing so, expand the canvas of our stories in every respect, creatively and commercially,” he added.

  • M&E veterans Saurabh Varma, Utpal Acharya launch Content Engineers

    M&E veterans Saurabh Varma, Utpal Acharya launch Content Engineers

    Mumbai: Former Jio Studios chief marketing officer Saurabh Varma has joined hands with a former executive from Cinépolis Gulf and Sony Pictures Utpal Acharya to form a content creation studio – Content Engineers.

    According to a statement, the studio will put $50 million as an initial investment to create all forms of intellectual properties including feature films, web series, documentaries and docudramas to cater to both theatrical and OTT space.

    Content Engineers is backed by Silicon Valley-based technology consulting and Angel investing enterprise Veear Projects which has networks all across North America and Asia.

    “The content will focus on grass-rooted Indian stories with Indian values. The vision is to create films based on new-age, heart-warming Indian stories that will connect with audiences all across the world,” a statement said.

    The firm will set up its own ideation cell and think tanks, disruptive media-tech initiatives, technology innovations, VFX studios, a post-production unit, and virtual production and script lab. The team at Content Engineers will consist of writers, storytellers, content creators from all across India including tier 2 and 3 towns with a focus on commercially viable original stories.

    Varma has worked with Jio Studios, Inox, Reliance Entertainment and PVR Ltd, handling marketing, distribution, programming and content syndication. Varma has also directed multiple feature films. Acharya has been part of giant corporates like Sony Pictures, UTV, Studio18, Reliance Entertainment and Cinepolis Gulf handling box office, sales, business development, production, distribution, programming, content acquisition and syndication. Both will bring in the experience of over 45 years and more than 1500+ films together.

    “Good stories can survive the toughest of times and well-engineered content has the power to put ideas into the world today,” said Saurabh Varma. “The recent growth in demand for content due to the rise of so many OTT platforms has opened a world of opportunities to explore disruptive content. In today’s world, where language is no longer a barrier, we intend to create grass-rooted Indian content that is Indian and yet global in its appeal. Content Engineers intends to invest in people, emotions and stories seamlessly link these elements to create impactful and meaningful content.”

    “Apart from creating relevant IP’s and disruptive content, Content Engineers aim to build a wholesome system that will nurture the chosen projects from scripting till it reaches the audiences worldwide,” said Utpal Acharya. “At times, a good narrative fails to get the right audience due to the lack of proper strategy and initiatives. Content Engineers aims to fill that void by forming a fine balance between the creative and the commerce thinking in the media-tech business.”

  • aha Studio and Applause Entertainment partner to produce four bi-lingual web series

    aha Studio and Applause Entertainment partner to produce four bi-lingual web series

    Mumbai: Telugu OTT platform aha on Monday launched an independent content and IP creation entity – aha Studio, which has also entered into a partnership with Applause Entertainment to co-produce four premium bi-lingual series.

    Their first offering- a web series titled ‘Half-Lion’ will tell the story of former prime minister P V Narsimha Rao. Based on the book with the same name written by Vinay Sitapati, the series will be released in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil, the streaming platform announced at an event held on Monday.

    aha Studio will work on projects at a Pan-India level and tell stories that have their origins in the South. The entity will self-finance these projects and license it to various platforms once the production is finished. “The studio is an initiative to create content at an arms-length from the platform. Doing this helps us work with the top talent in the country. We’re looking for projects that have a Pan-India appeal but have their origins in the South, that’s our USP,” said aha CEO Ajit Thakur.

    “For us, this partnership is about collaborating with a strong creative and production company,” said Applause Entertainment chief executive officer Sameer Nair. “Geetha Arts is one of the largest content creation companies in South India and have been making movies and series for many years, and they’ve launched the platform aha. In order for us to do bigger, better and brighter things, we will have to collaborate with other content studios. This is not the age of going solo. Lot of creative people should work together on projects.”

    Elaborating on the new web series, Nair said, “We enjoy telling stories of this kind. These stories are increasingly being told in the language that they deserve to be told. ‘Scam 1992’ was equal part Hindi and equal part Gujarati. Once we’ve made it, I’m sure there will be a lot of people interested in it because it is an important story to tell.”

    The series will be helmed by National Award-winning director Prakash Jha known for his socio-political films such as ‘Gangaajal’, ‘Apaharan’, ‘Rajneeti’ and ‘Aarakshan’ and web series ‘Ashram’. “Hardly a small percentage of today’s generation knows about Rao, the ”man who changed India”. He brought about changes, systems in our polity, economy, society and everyday life in our country which now is completely irreversible,” said Jha.

    aha Studio had acquired the rights to the book ‘Half-Lion’ and approached Applause Entertainment that has the expertise in telling layered narratives with an ensemble cast. The content studio headed by Nair recently bagged 12 Filmfare OTT awards for ‘Scam 1992’ their biopic on stockbroker Harshad Mehta.

    “It’s been a remarkable journey with aha in Telugu so far,” said Geetha Arts managing director and aha promoter Allu Aravind at the event. “We are overwhelmed with the love and support we’ve received globally from the audience, who’ve made aha one of the fastest growing apps in India within a span of two years.  In what is another pioneering effort from aha, we believe aha Studio will help us work with the best creative talent in the country to present world class entertainment to our global audience.”

    Telugu OTT platform aha is set to launch in Tamil language next year. The platform which has grown by 13+ million downloads in the last year and a half will increase its content investments in 2022 and launch new unscripted formats including ‘Indian Idol Telugu’.

  • Lionsgate expands Rohit Jain’s role in Asia

    Lionsgate expands Rohit Jain’s role in Asia

    KOLKATA: Global content leader Lionsgate has elevated Rohit Jain as managing director, South Asia and networks – emerging markets Asia.  

    With the promotion, Jain is responsible for shepherding growth across all of Lionsgate’s South Asian businesses and expanding the Starz premium subscription platform throughout the emerging markets of Asia. He joins a group of dynamic and entrepreneurial Indian executives taking on expanding regional and worldwide roles within their global companies.

    Since Lionsgate opened its first office in India in 2018 under his leadership, Jain has overseen the growth of its Asian operations by launching the Lionsgate Play streaming service across multiple emerging Asian markets including India, establishing strategic partnerships with major telcos, broadband services, OEMs and global streaming platforms. He has also been instrumental in establishing a robust South Asian licensing and distribution business to strengthen Lionsgate’s footprint in the region. 

    “Rohit is an entrepreneurial and innovative executive who has gotten our Indian operations off to a great start with the successful launch of Lionsgate Play,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said. 

     “He has created a forward-looking blueprint for growth in one of the world’s most important territories. As he expands our streaming initiatives into additional emerging Asian markets, he will be an important part of moving our global platform forward, ” he added further. 

    “This is an exciting time for all of us at Lionsgate as our newly launched SVOD service has received a phenomenal response from Indian viewers,” Jain said.  

    “The entrepreneurial culture at Lionsgate, a global company with the soul of a start-up, is what keeps me excited. I am thankful to Lionsgate’s visionary leadership team for creating this wonderful opportunity,” he added. 

  • Star India set to up Kevin Vaz, Gaurav Banerjee

    Star India set to up Kevin Vaz, Gaurav Banerjee

    MUMBAI: In a major shuffle of roles, Star India is all set to promote two of its senior employees with extended roles.

     

    Star India business head – English cluster, Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies and Channel V Kevin Vaz is all set to take additional responsibility of the network’s Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs). With this, Vaz will now also head Star Plus and Life OK in addition to FX, Fox Crime, Star World, Star World HD, Star World Premiere HD, Star Movies, Star Movies Action, Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies and Channel V. The total number of channels under him now tot up to 12. It may be recalled that Channel V fell into Vaz’s portfolio only earlier this year.  

     

    Meanwhile, Star India executive vice president – content strategy Gaurav Banerjee has been upped as the deputy chief creative officer – content studio. 

     

    Confirming the development to Indiantelevision.com, a source said, “It’s just a reward to their respective contribution to the network.”

     

    Vaz joined Star India in the mid 90s, while Banerjee was roped in by his mentor Star India CEO Uday Shankar in 2008 to kick-start the broadcaster’s regional news channel business.

     

    At the time of filing this story, Vaz and Banerjee were unavailable for comment.