Tag: Culture Machine

Culture machine acquires Telugu YouTube channel ‘Viva’

Mumbai: Culture machine is planning to strengthen the content creation space in SouthIindia by acquiring popular youth Telugu channel Viva. Viva’s content resonates with the youth of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and the expat community alike. Put Chutney is one of the humorous South Indian channels in the Tamil space of the multi-channel network Culture Machine.

Culture Machine co-founder Sameer Pitalwala said – “We have always aimed to expand and reach out to as many markets. With the success of the Comedy Factory, Put Chutney and Aithe Ok, in the Gujarati, Tamil and Telugu audiences respectively, we now want to able to provide as much variety in entertainment for the Telugu speaking market with viva.”

It has released the first video titled ‘Every Hyderabadi’ that encapsulates every aspect of being a true Hyderabadi. Cutting a slice of life observation from any localities’ life, this video depicts how most of the youth spend their time in the city. The video shows the life and habits of one Hyderabadi guy who goes about life greeting people, delaying, laughing, talking and enjoying life the way he likes. Moving through life with ease, life to a Hyderabad just happens along the way. One can identify with them from a distance from their unique style of walking, talking and going about life.

July 4, 2016
Blush Originals to release Papa Reji’s story

MUMBAI: The inspiring tales of real life heroes, people who stood up against all odds, the stories that will melt everyone’s heart are the stories that Culture Machine’s Blush is set to recite under its Blush Original vertical. Encouraged by the heart-warming response for its first documentary-narration on Bollywood stunt woman Geeta Tondon, Blush has come up with a new story based on Papa Reji to be released on Father’s Day.

Papa Reji Thomas gave up his government job and started the Bless Foundation to shelter HIV+ve kids that have been abandoned by their families. Reji shelters 22 children, he takes care of their medical treatment, their living expenses and their education with the help of public donations. He has so far managed to rehabilitate 90 percent of the kids brought under his care. His wife and kids stay with these children as one big family, giving these kids parental care and a place to call home.

The channel calls Papa Reji’s story a reality check. During times when we are stuck with our worldly problems, people with the least amount of money and huge hearts are making a difference. “It does not take a big bank account to help people, it takes determination and a very big heart” expressed Blush channel director Akanksha.

The film on Geeta Tondan narrated the tale of how she survived an ugly marriage, of her escape from brothels and her bringing up her two young children. It recounted how Geeta made her space to do stunts for Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt as Bollywood’s leading stuntwoman.

Blush has content under many verticals like Unblushed, which has stories of outstanding celebrity heroes, and Blush Verdict for its entertainment column. The Original space is entirely dedicated to the real life stories that deserve to be told. “We wish to inspire people through these strong hearted humans, Blush Originals is a celebration of humanity and spirit that people have to live it” explained Seda.

In spite of Blush being a women-centric content creator, Blush Originals is planning to not only concentrate on female stories, but also narrate any inspiring story from a chaiwala to an up market entrepreneur. Any tale that can inspire. Seda asserted that through digital platforms it has become much easier to create awareness among people and have them share what they have gone through. Digitization has brought people together to empathize and understand the other person’s journey, and Blush is planning to make most of it. It is also open to creating something around a concept and connect various individual stories to it.

Each documentary is planned to be shot in its own taste say the makers. All the productions are in-house, shot with Sony F7 and 5D Mark III cameras. Blush Originals is set to release one documentary per month. The production team has informed that its is ready with two more videos to be released in July and August.

Explaining about the people to be showcased, the makers said that they pick up stories amongst themselves. “These are the people we come across day by day, it could be my friend or a neighbor or just someone I run into. There is a story everyone has and every story deserves to be told” added Seda.

There is no specific search team. It is an in-house task to find people. The makers also claim that they have such a good response after the first video that stories are coming to them now.

On the marketing and promotion front, Blush is majorly using cross promotion with its sister YouTube channel Being Indian. Otherwise it is pushing the videos through regular online marketing strategies. “Documentaries have reached the right audiences through digitization” commented Seda while explaining the promotion front.

There are no tie ups with any brands or sponsors as of now. These documentaries are intellectual properties of Blush.

June 15, 2016
Blush Originals to release Papa Reji’s story

MUMBAI: The inspiring tales of real life heroes, people who stood up against all odds, the stories that will melt everyone’s heart are the stories that Culture Machine’s Blush is set to recite under its Blush Original vertical. Encouraged by the heart-warming response for its first documentary-narration on Bollywood stunt woman Geeta Tondon, Blush has come up with a new story based on Papa Reji to be released on Father’s Day.

Papa Reji Thomas gave up his government job and started the Bless Foundation to shelter HIV+ve kids that have been abandoned by their families. Reji shelters 22 children, he takes care of their medical treatment, their living expenses and their education with the help of public donations. He has so far managed to rehabilitate 90 percent of the kids brought under his care. His wife and kids stay with these children as one big family, giving these kids parental care and a place to call home.

The channel calls Papa Reji’s story a reality check. During times when we are stuck with our worldly problems, people with the least amount of money and huge hearts are making a difference. “It does not take a big bank account to help people, it takes determination and a very big heart” expressed Blush channel director Akanksha.

The film on Geeta Tondan narrated the tale of how she survived an ugly marriage, of her escape from brothels and her bringing up her two young children. It recounted how Geeta made her space to do stunts for Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt as Bollywood’s leading stuntwoman.

Blush has content under many verticals like Unblushed, which has stories of outstanding celebrity heroes, and Blush Verdict for its entertainment column. The Original space is entirely dedicated to the real life stories that deserve to be told. “We wish to inspire people through these strong hearted humans, Blush Originals is a celebration of humanity and spirit that people have to live it” explained Seda.

In spite of Blush being a women-centric content creator, Blush Originals is planning to not only concentrate on female stories, but also narrate any inspiring story from a chaiwala to an up market entrepreneur. Any tale that can inspire. Seda asserted that through digital platforms it has become much easier to create awareness among people and have them share what they have gone through. Digitization has brought people together to empathize and understand the other person’s journey, and Blush is planning to make most of it. It is also open to creating something around a concept and connect various individual stories to it.

Each documentary is planned to be shot in its own taste say the makers. All the productions are in-house, shot with Sony F7 and 5D Mark III cameras. Blush Originals is set to release one documentary per month. The production team has informed that its is ready with two more videos to be released in July and August.

Explaining about the people to be showcased, the makers said that they pick up stories amongst themselves. “These are the people we come across day by day, it could be my friend or a neighbor or just someone I run into. There is a story everyone has and every story deserves to be told” added Seda.

There is no specific search team. It is an in-house task to find people. The makers also claim that they have such a good response after the first video that stories are coming to them now.

On the marketing and promotion front, Blush is majorly using cross promotion with its sister YouTube channel Being Indian. Otherwise it is pushing the videos through regular online marketing strategies. “Documentaries have reached the right audiences through digitization” commented Seda while explaining the promotion front.

There are no tie ups with any brands or sponsors as of now. These documentaries are intellectual properties of Blush.

June 15, 2016
Culture Machine & Paintcollar launch online Being Indian store

MUMBAI: Culture Machine has extended its brand franchise in association with Paintcollar by launching an online Being Indian storeshop.beingindian.com. Through this strategic partnership, Paintcollar will power the Being Indian store which will feature the brand’s iconic art and designs inspired merchandise so as to further their reach within the BI fan following.

The e-commerce portal will update the portals designs on the online store on a weekly basis with art ranging from t-shirts, mobile covers, laptop skins and prints among others.

Following the massive success of the digital channel and fan demand, the venture also launched exclusive brand merchandise as an extension to create more conversations with the consumer. This extension has received a positive response among the fan base through engagements at various offline events such as Comic Con, The Lost Party and various college festivals across the country.

Culture Machine plans to take this forward through partnerships with popular YouTubers wherein consumers will get access to their merchandise on the Being Indian store online.

Speaking about the launch of the online store, Culture Machine president Siddharth Narula said, “Being Indian is one of the biggest successes in the digital space and has become synonymous with quirky urbane humour and sensibility. Launching an online store is the next logical step in expanding the franchise so we could give fans a more wholesome experience of the Being Indian universe. Through this store, we will be able to engage with fans across the length and breadth of the country with a unique brand experience.”

Launched in 2013, Being Indian has come a long way with fresh, young and bold content that resonates with the unapologetic and funny Indian. The channel currently has over 800,000 subscribers and 128 million views. Being Indian merchandise starts at Rs.399/- and the online store has a 15 percent discount as an introductory offer.

June 7, 2016
Culture Machine & Paintcollar launch online Being Indian store

MUMBAI: Culture Machine has extended its brand franchise in association with Paintcollar by launching an online Being Indian storeshop.beingindian.com. Through this strategic partnership, Paintcollar will power the Being Indian store which will feature the brand’s iconic art and designs inspired merchandise so as to further their reach within the BI fan following.

The e-commerce portal will update the portals designs on the online store on a weekly basis with art ranging from t-shirts, mobile covers, laptop skins and prints among others.

Following the massive success of the digital channel and fan demand, the venture also launched exclusive brand merchandise as an extension to create more conversations with the consumer. This extension has received a positive response among the fan base through engagements at various offline events such as Comic Con, The Lost Party and various college festivals across the country.

Culture Machine plans to take this forward through partnerships with popular YouTubers wherein consumers will get access to their merchandise on the Being Indian store online.

Speaking about the launch of the online store, Culture Machine president Siddharth Narula said, “Being Indian is one of the biggest successes in the digital space and has become synonymous with quirky urbane humour and sensibility. Launching an online store is the next logical step in expanding the franchise so we could give fans a more wholesome experience of the Being Indian universe. Through this store, we will be able to engage with fans across the length and breadth of the country with a unique brand experience.”

Launched in 2013, Being Indian has come a long way with fresh, young and bold content that resonates with the unapologetic and funny Indian. The channel currently has over 800,000 subscribers and 128 million views. Being Indian merchandise starts at Rs.399/- and the online store has a 15 percent discount as an introductory offer.

June 7, 2016
YouTube fanfest returns to India for 3rd edition

MUMBAI: Youtube Fanfest is back in India for a third time and how! On its third edition now, the mega celebration boasts of a 30 artists line up of digital artists and content creators, who will take centre stage on 18 March 2016 in Mumbai. The show will be co-produced by Only Much Louder and Branded, and has Pepsi, Pantene, Amazon.in and Clean and Clear as sponsors, with Pepsi coming onbaord for the second time. Star acts include SuperWoman aka Lilly Singh, Kanan Gill, Connor Franta, SANAM, TVF and AIB

Sharing his excitement over the fest, YouTube India head of entertainment and content Satya Raghavan said, “India has undergone a content creator revolution. Over the last few years, Indian YouTube creators have gained millions of new subscribers and have taken over the imagination of the youth in India. In our view, 2015 was a breakout year for the young industry and the ecosystem has really evolved in India, with mobile driving massive growth for online video consumption. Now, we’re seeing online creators break open the gates for a whole new kind of entertainment for Indians online, with advertisers looking to tap into this space in a meaningful way.”

While the idea is to reach out to maximum number of people and inspire them to not only celebrate the existing content creators, but join the community as well. YouTube is banking on organic promotion of the show through artists and their subscribers. “It is largely organic. Several thousands of content creators put out videos on their channels, and they have their millions of subscribers, who themselves have their own social media platforms to put the word across. We don’t think we need any more marketing,” said Raghavan.

About the booming digital content industry and the mushrooming of OTT players across the board Ragahavan said, “I think it’s great that more people are doing things around video. It will only expand the pie. Especially with bandwidth opening up in the country hopefully thanks to the several 4G services. It is an exciting time for content creators and video content consumers to be in India.”

Making the most of the platform, Culture Machine, OML, Qyuki, and The Viral Fever (TVF) also announced four new original properties on YouTube. Firstly #LaughterGames, where nine comedy creators will launch their own comedy web series, featuring YouTube comedians such as East India Comedy, Put Chutney and Kenny Sebastian. Qyuki will launch Jamminin’, a show featuring Bollywood composers and YouTube music creators. In the coming months, Culture Machine will be launching Beauty Hunt, a beauty/style-centric program, while OML will launch season 2 of its successful Comedy Hunt, the search for India’s next comedy act, while veteran web show creators TVF will be launching a search for the next generation of web series creators. A Tamil Comedy Hunt with Vision Time, a Telugu Comedy Hunt with ETV, and Katha, a Tamil/Telugu web series property are some of the launches that can be expected from south India later in the year.

To reflect on YouTube’s growth in India Raghavan shared some data: “While overall watchtime in India has grown by 80 per cent YoY (with 55 per cent of that watchtime on mobile) and the hours of video uploaded from India has increased at 90 per cent YoY, content uploaded by India’s independent creators has risen especially quickly. For instance, watchtime of independent musicians grew over 92 per cent YoY; comedy and entertainment grew 100 per cent YoY; beauty and fashion videos have grown over 138 per cent YoY. Another notable area of watchtime growth came from the south, with Tamil and Telugu content seeing a 75 per cent spike in YoY growth.

March 17, 2016
YouTube fanfest returns to India for 3rd edition

MUMBAI: Youtube Fanfest is back in India for a third time and how! On its third edition now, the mega celebration boasts of a 30 artists line up of digital artists and content creators, who will take centre stage on 18 March 2016 in Mumbai. The show will be co-produced by Only Much Louder and Branded, and has Pepsi, Pantene, Amazon.in and Clean and Clear as sponsors, with Pepsi coming onbaord for the second time. Star acts include SuperWoman aka Lilly Singh, Kanan Gill, Connor Franta, SANAM, TVF and AIB

Sharing his excitement over the fest, YouTube India head of entertainment and content Satya Raghavan said, “India has undergone a content creator revolution. Over the last few years, Indian YouTube creators have gained millions of new subscribers and have taken over the imagination of the youth in India. In our view, 2015 was a breakout year for the young industry and the ecosystem has really evolved in India, with mobile driving massive growth for online video consumption. Now, we’re seeing online creators break open the gates for a whole new kind of entertainment for Indians online, with advertisers looking to tap into this space in a meaningful way.”

While the idea is to reach out to maximum number of people and inspire them to not only celebrate the existing content creators, but join the community as well. YouTube is banking on organic promotion of the show through artists and their subscribers. “It is largely organic. Several thousands of content creators put out videos on their channels, and they have their millions of subscribers, who themselves have their own social media platforms to put the word across. We don’t think we need any more marketing,” said Raghavan.

About the booming digital content industry and the mushrooming of OTT players across the board Ragahavan said, “I think it’s great that more people are doing things around video. It will only expand the pie. Especially with bandwidth opening up in the country hopefully thanks to the several 4G services. It is an exciting time for content creators and video content consumers to be in India.”

Making the most of the platform, Culture Machine, OML, Qyuki, and The Viral Fever (TVF) also announced four new original properties on YouTube. Firstly #LaughterGames, where nine comedy creators will launch their own comedy web series, featuring YouTube comedians such as East India Comedy, Put Chutney and Kenny Sebastian. Qyuki will launch Jamminin’, a show featuring Bollywood composers and YouTube music creators. In the coming months, Culture Machine will be launching Beauty Hunt, a beauty/style-centric program, while OML will launch season 2 of its successful Comedy Hunt, the search for India’s next comedy act, while veteran web show creators TVF will be launching a search for the next generation of web series creators. A Tamil Comedy Hunt with Vision Time, a Telugu Comedy Hunt with ETV, and Katha, a Tamil/Telugu web series property are some of the launches that can be expected from south India later in the year.

To reflect on YouTube’s growth in India Raghavan shared some data: “While overall watchtime in India has grown by 80 per cent YoY (with 55 per cent of that watchtime on mobile) and the hours of video uploaded from India has increased at 90 per cent YoY, content uploaded by India’s independent creators has risen especially quickly. For instance, watchtime of independent musicians grew over 92 per cent YoY; comedy and entertainment grew 100 per cent YoY; beauty and fashion videos have grown over 138 per cent YoY. Another notable area of watchtime growth came from the south, with Tamil and Telugu content seeing a 75 per cent spike in YoY growth.

March 17, 2016
Culture Machine and Bench Flix join hands for Bench Culture

Mumbai: A digital video entertainment company Culture Machine and Karthik Subbaraj founded Bench Flix, announced the launch of Bench Culture, which will curate short films and documentaries across the world. Bench Culture will open up the world to short film-makers while making it easier for the viewers to access content from domestic and international markets.

“With respect to content quality and viewership, short film segment is surely main stream material and ‘making short films big’ is our core vision. Bench Culture, the collaboration between Bench Flix and Culture Machine is powerful and complementing in building a brand for quality short films across the world” says Karthik Subbaraj.

Commenting on the launch of the platform Culture Machine CEO and co-founder Sameer Pitalwalla said, “ Bench Culture is a great platform that will provide the best of short films that are still unrecognised and create great entertainment for the Internet generation.”

Stone Bench Creations’ Bench Flix is an integrated aggregation and distribution platform for short films and is uniquely positioned in the space with over 1400 short films being curated under their banner. Besides, Bench Flix has played an integral role in bringing a mainstream credibility to this segment. Their most recent wins being the ‘Bench Talkies’ the successful theatrical release of short film as a feature and soon to be followed by ‘Aviyal’ in December this year. Culture Machine, the only digital entertainment company that brings together great content with great technology giving it an undisputed edge, reaches out to 4 Million subscribers through its expansive network.

The collaboration sees the coming together of the two powerhouses bringing their strengths to Bench Culture and build a platform that provides unprecedented opportunities for both the films and their makers.

November 6, 2015
Epic & Culture Machine join hands to launch short format non-fiction content

MUMBAI: With an aim to strengthen its position as industry leaders in Indian historic and mythological content on television, the Epic Channel and digital video entertainment company Culture Machine have launched ‘Epified.’

Starting 15 August, ‘Epified’ is a collection of short format non-fiction content related to Indian history and mythology, which includes works inspired by the writings of renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik and many more. Epified’s programming includes a plethora of series like the Mahabharata, Dharma Explained, Gods-Masters-Heroes and more.

The Epic Channel founder and MD Mahesh Samat said, “It has been our constant endeavour to bring to Indian audiences, some of the great stories of Indian history and mythology. With Epified, and its innovative unique animated format, we found great resonance with the channel and we’re sure the audiences will love it.”

Culture Machine CEO Sameer Pitalwalla added, “Our vision with Epified was to marry great storytelling around Indian history and mythology with great art. We have had a great run thus far growing our community across digital platforms and it’s heartening to see the Epic Channel’s belief in this format and their conviction in making it part of the programming line-up. It’s a landmark deal for digital video content and brands.”

August 17, 2015
Care World TV eyes digital space for growth

MUMBAI: Digital is the way forward and grasping the same is healthcare channel Care World TV, which has added two lakh subscribers and crossed 12 crore views on YouTube.

The channel, which plans to digitalize its content, has already partnered with Shemaroo Films, Rajshri Films and Culture Machine in order to expand its presence in this space.

The new move is in sync with the channel’s effort in reinventing itself to be widely accessible to anyone and everyone across the healthcare spectrum. The network will continue to focus its efforts on the digital platform to remain competitive and provide accessibility to its audience.

“Our aim is to revolutionize the healthcare sector and as a channel, a medium we understand that we can play a pivotal role in doing so. For seven years, as a satellite channel we’ve successfully connected the medical community with the masses. Now we want to walk with the times and explore the digital medium to be further effective in accomplishing the task. If it is any indication, the huge subscription base we have garnered on YouTube, which is increasing each day, taking steps to digitalize the platform seems only logical,” said Care World TV managing director Ajit Gupta.

Care World’s YouTube network presently has five channels: Beauty Mantra, My Food Court, Love, Sex and Drama (LSD), The Daily Doctor and Care World Events. The channel will add FitVit – your personal trainer, in the near future.

“All our YouTube channels are unique and address various subjects. Care World helps you become a better you with Do-It-Yourself videos covering everything from exercise, diet; and healthy living to style, makeup and fashion tips. All these programmes are meant to appeal as personalized content to the viewer and so we’ve maintained the highest quality of recording and streaming the shows. We are sure that this will not only enrich the audiences’ experience but also will set a new audio-visual benchmark in the field of healthcare,” added Care World TV creative head Ashok Singh.

“After creating these channels on YouTube, we also plan to launch one more offline content channel on Daily Motion. Yupp TV and Roku TV are already running HD version of Care World TV. Care World’s future plan is to integrate all YouTube channels to one mobile application for easy accessibility to all our viewers around the globe,” concluded Gupta.

May 22, 2015