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Tag: Greymatter Entertainment

  • Greymatter’s ‘The Remix’ makes it to Fresh TV’s ‘Top 25 Formats’

    Greymatter’s ‘The Remix’ makes it to Fresh TV’s ‘Top 25 Formats’

    MUMBAI: Greymatter Entertainment’s new music reality format The Remix is creating waves. The format, which has been produced by the Vietnam based Cattiensa and is aired at VTV3 in Vietnam, has been garnering not just television ratings, but also generating a lot of social media buzz.

     

    The ten episode show, in the first two weeks generated close to 43,000 discussions among viewers. Not only that, the live show has generated a 10 plus rating in Vietnam and close to 5.5 million views per episode on YouTube.

     

    The rising success and the uniqueness of the format has helped it in getting chosen by Fresh TV for the ‘Mip top 25 formats to watch out for.’

     

    “We had created the format two years ago, and Vietnam showed interest in it and thus got it first,” says Greymatter director Rahul Sarangi.

     

    Sarangi is overwhelmed as it is the first time an Asian format has made it to the Fresh TV top 25 format list. Talking about the format he says, “It is a music talent show, wherein the winner gets a million dollars and a chance to shoot with a record label. There are two performers in each team, wherein one sings while the other composes the music. There are four judges, who give a song of their choice to the performers, who then have to remake it and perform.”

     

    Every week sees an elimination, which comprises 50 per cent points from the judges and 50 per cent votes coming in through SMSes.

     

    “The interesting part of this show, unlike the others like X Factor, Got Talent etc is that it is Live and not deferred even by a second,” informs Sarangi.

     

    Another differentiator, according to Sarangi is that the entire set is a LED Box, which changes with the mood of the song. “The set is customized and sees a changed setting and graphics along with the songs,” he says.

     

    This $2 million property airs two hours of programming per episode. “We are the format owners of the show and have done the set designing, the graphics and the whole packaging of the reality programme, the finale of which will be aired on 12 April,” informs Sarangi.

     

    The format has also been sold to a French production house. “The format has become a big success and we are in talks with production houses from Australia, Philippines, Indonesia and the US who have shown interest in the format,” he adds.

     

    Sarangi opines that it is time that Indian broadcasters too get into airing live reality shows. “We are always working towards global ideas and would like to bring these ideas to India as well,” concludes Sarangi.  

     

  • Wave World Kabaddi League targets north India

    Wave World Kabaddi League targets north India

    MUMBAI: The ancient sport of Kabaddi has caught the attention of broadcasters in India. However, taking the sport to the world is Greymatter Entertainment’s Wave World Kabaddi League (WKL) that is all set to kick off on 9 August at the O2 arena in London.

     

    Indian sports broadcaster Sony Six which has bagged the telecast rights for the league in India is very enthusiastic about it. Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan says that the channel wants to establish credibility of the sport first on television and then focus on increasing viewership.

     

    Krishnan expects WKL to be popular in the northern belt of India especially in UP and Punjab where the circular styled format of the game is more prevalent. To add to it is the presence of celebrities Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Yo Yo Honey Singh as team owners. “This format has never been seen on TV. The style of kabaddi followed in WKL is more physical, contact driven and fast paced,” he informs. According to industry sources the channel may have bagged the broadcast rights for Rs 35 crore to Rs 50 crore.

     

    Pre and post analysis of the games will be recorded in Hinglish, produced at the venue itself. As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com Greymatter Entertainment (which was awarded the contract to produce the league) has put together a crew of 70 seasoned sports television production professionals from Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, and India to create the HD feed for broadcasters in the US, the UK, Canada, and Asia. 10 to 12 cameras will capture the action and relay it live for various broadcasters in Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, Pakistan and Africa.

     

    WKL follows a travelling format similar to Formula 1 and will be played at 15 international venues with 86 matches over a four month long period. The country where the event is being held will have a live telecast during its prime time. Therefore, when it is in the US, it will be the US prime time and since it is early time for India, there will be a repeat during Indian prime time.

     

    Will the duration create a fatigue problem for viewers? Krishnan brushes away the doubt by saying, “International football leagues too have a similar long format and have done well. It will be travelling from city to city and since it will be telecast over the weekends I am hopeful it will do well.”

     

    As part of the promotions, TVCs featuring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha are being played on MSM network channels including English GECs AXN and Sony Pix as well as on the YouTube channels. Social media is not ignored.

     

    Not surprisingly, the marketing campaign is focused towards the northern belt of India with print ads in both vernacular and English newspapers. Radio spots have been bought on stations such as Radio Mirchi, Big FM and My FM. Outdoor hoardings adorn metros like Mumbai and Delhi which will see an increase once the league enters the India phase.

     

    Sony Six is also playing wait and watch to see how both local and international markets react to television’s new found sport. The broadcaster wants to monetise once the league comes to India after the first two rounds are held abroad. The channel for now has ads from companies such as the Wave group which is the title sponsor. An industry source says that a 10 second slot during prime time can cost anywhere between Rs 15000 to Rs 20000.

     

    Sources peg the title sponsor price to be approximately Rs one crore to Rs two crore. Sonalika International is the official partner and Li Ning Company is the official apparel partner.

     

    As to what Six has learnt from the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League Krishnan says, “The games have definitely been able to receive traction. Though the game is the same, the two can’t be compared as the rules, arena and the format are different”. He further goes on to add that findings have shown that the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi league seems to be a following a pattern wherein it is seen to receive maximum traction from west India as compared to Sony Six’s expectation from WKL to do well in the north.

     

    The WKL is a privately owned company of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal (he also serves as the president), and has Pargat Singh as commissioner with Raman Raheja serving as the CEO.  It is slated to travel across six countries  beginning in the UK, the US, India, Pakistan, Canada and UAE –  and has eight franchisee teams battling for  a purse of Rs 4 crore. The cities that the league matches will be held in include:  London, Birmingham, Dubai, New York, Sacramento, Stockton, Toronto, Vancouver, Delhi, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Mohali.

  • Greymatter Entertainment: Getting into a different league

    Greymatter Entertainment: Getting into a different league

    MUMBAI: Mumbai-based Greymatter Entertainment’s name comes from that part of the human brain which is involved  in muscle control and sensory perception such as seeing, hearing, memory, emotions, speech, decision making and self-control. Its promoters have been using a lot of that over the past five years as they have steered it into a tour de force in  the Indian subcontinent’s sports television production business. Amongst the major sports events Greymatter has filmed for television include: the Indian Badminton League (IBL), Afghanistan Premiere League, Sri Lanka Premiere League,  as well as the Celebrity Cricket League.
     

    However, what the company is most kicked about these days is a new contract it has been awarded: that of producing the World Kabaddi League (WKL) which is slated to flag off from 9 August at the O2 Arena in London.  With Wave as the title sponsor, WKL will be broadcast not just in India through Sony Six but to nearly 30 other countries over the four months it is slated to run.
     

    “We can now  proudly say, that we have only IMG-Reliance ahead of us in terms of days of sports television production in India,” says Greymatter director Rahul Sarangi. “It is quite an achievement to arguably become the second largest sports TV producer  in the Indian subcontinent.  Leaving IPL and BCCI events out, we have 25 per cent of the live sports television events production pie.”
     

    Promoted by founder and CEO Chandradev Bhagat, Sarangi and director Payal Mathur – who were earlier engaged in various sports and entertainment events – Greymatter bagged the WKL rights following a fierce bidding war that included four or five other major sports TV producers globally.  

     

    The WKL is a privately owned company of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal (he also serves as the president), and has Pargat Singh as commissioner with Raman Raheja serving as the CEO.  It is slated to travel across six countries – the UK, the US, India, Pakistan, Canada and UAE –  and has eight franchisee teams battling for  a purse of Rs 4 crore.

     

    The cities that the league matches will be held in include:  London, Birmingham, Dubai, New York, Sacramento, Stockton, Toronto, Vancouver, Delhi, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Mohali.

     

    Each Kabaddi match will be played on a circle style Kabaddi ground, 44 metres in diameter, as big as a hockey field. Cheerleaders, celebrities  and performance will – as has become the practice in most sports telecasts –  be there in good measure to spice up the screen. Sarangi, says that the WKL will have a narrative structure just like the IBL.

     

    The country where the event is being held will have a live telecast during its prime time. Therefore, when it is in the US, it will be the US prime time and since it is early time for India, there will be a repeat during prime time.

    “Sony Six has built an early morning prime time with NBA and this will also be at the 8 am slot. We can’t not have ground audience just to give a live evening feed to India,” points out Sarangi. Most of the matches will be held on weekends with very little during weekdays.

     

    For the Indian feed, commentary will be in Hinglish with Anjum Chopra while for the world feed it will be in English. “The WKL will be full of action because it is a contact oriented sport, especially due to its circular format. Contact is the reason why WWE works and we believe this will too,” he adds.  

     

    Greymatter has put together a crew of 70 seasoned sports television production professionals from Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, and India to create the HD feed for broadcasters in the US, the UK, Canada, and Asia. 10 to 12 cameras will capture the action and relay it live for various broadcasters in Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, Pakistan and Africa. Bhagat and veteran sports television producer Keith McKenzie have been roped in as TV directors for the league.

     

    During the four months, the actual shooting days will be about 45 with two matches per day. To keep its life simple Greymatter has tied up with local event and equipment  rental companies. 

     

    Sources estimate the per day TV production cost to be at between Rs 25 lakh and 30 lakh with the budget for the entire league pegged at between Rs 15 crore and Rs 18 crore. That makes it a major win for the Rs 50 crore turnover production house.

     

    “When we do something we spend the most amount of time on planning to get perfect quality work. We also ensure we have a tight and the right kind of people with us,” says Sarangi.

     

    That’s something that is endorsed by a sports broadcasting executive who told indiantelevision.com that “Chandru has been a friend for long. He and his team do a damn good job, hence they have been winning production contracts.”

     

    Greymatter has offices in Mumbai, Dubai and Europe with a team of 30 across verticals in production services, feature films, events, strategic consulting and a creative cell. It plans to open another office soon in Delhi.

     

    Apart from sports production, Greymatter has done well with  its non-fiction  format slate too. Remix – an original music show format – has been licensed to south east Asia broadcasters in Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines and optioned in three European countries. This apart, it has co-produced 52 episodes for French comedy producer Novovision, while two of its travel shows (Sunset to Sunrise and Heads or Tails) are being distributed by Off the Fence globally. Then two of its formats have been licensed to Sparks Eccho Rights for global distribution.

     

    The self funded company is now trying to make the most of the digital medium and fiction content on TV and  films, reveals Sarangi.

     

    Going by its track record in sports TV production and TV formats, it might score well on those fronts too.

  • Greymatter collaborates with Star Sports, Smaash to produce Heroes

    Greymatter collaborates with Star Sports, Smaash to produce Heroes

    MUMBAI: Come 14 November and India will witness one of its most celebrated icons Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar play his 200th and final test match against the West Indies.

    Even as everyone – from brands to hotels to television channels – is busy planning the best possible farewell for the little master, one channel has hit upon a unique way to mark the occasion.

    The channel in question – Star Sports 3 (Hindi) – will debut a new chat show, Heroes, on the very same day, featuring 13 top cricketers from across the globe, starting with none other than Sachin.

    Heroes, which is more in Hindi and less in English, has been created by Greymatter Entertainment (GME) in collaboration with Star Sports and Smaash  located at Lower Parel, Mumbai.

    Speaking about Heroes, GME owner Rahul Sarangi says: “It is a unique chat show, where the world’s top cricketers will be seen chatting informally with kids in the age group of 7-14 years. As for Sachin, he is the biggest icon that India has ever had. He has given us more smiles than any other icon.”

    Apart from Sachin, the 13-episode series will feature Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan and Kumara Sangakara among other cricketers.

    Explaining the thought process behind Heroes, Sarangi says: “It is simple; it is an entertainment chat show, and yet inspiring. This is also in sync with Star Sports’ new campaign ‘I believe’. The show is for kids to find the heroes within themselves.”

    Elaborating on the show being in sync with ‘I believe’, Sarangi says: “If you see cricketers today, they come from small towns, having big dreams. The reason they had bigger dreams was because they grew up watching Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in their younger days. So, through this show, we give these kids an opportunity to come closer to their heroes and understand what they do when off the field.”

    Sarangi informs that around 60 kids are part of the show and pose candid questions to the cricketers. Apparently, six to seven cameras were used during the shoot, with three edit machines to edit the show. Since the makers needed a very informal environment, the series was shot inside Smaash.

    According to Sarangi, Heroes is about inspirational stories of cricketers, minus any gyaan. “Since it is a ‘No gossip’ show, cricketers are without guard: talking everything under the sun,” he says, pointing out that they will be showcased in a completely different avatar. The show has been moderated by Roshni Chopra.

    He substantiates: “Virat Kohli will be seen teaching kids how to dance, Sangakara will teach violin and Raina will be seen cooking. And yet, all of them will talk about their childhood and what made them the heroes that they are today. It is through the inspirational figure that the kids will get to hear inspirational stories.”

    Sarangi goes on to reveal that Sachin will be seen teaching kids how to play spin against Shane Warne. “Smaash, which has a 3D facility, will show Warne balling. During the episode, Sachin will be seen teaching the kids how to bat on such kind of spin ball delivery,” he illustrates.

    It is a unique chat show, where the worlds top cricketers will be seen chatting informally with kids in the age group of 7-14 years says Rahul Sarangi

    Rubbishing any suggestions of the show being scripted, Sarangi adds: “Considering the show is not scripted, it is the kids who come up with the questions. It is just filtered by the channel and also us, to ensure that the questions aren’t repetitive. We keep the house open for questions. We don’t feed any questions.”

    About the collaboration, he says: “It was a concept well thought by Star Sports. The channel wanted to do a chat show. They approached us with the brief, after which together we brain stormed and came up with the concept.”

    Sarangi explains that the cricketers featured on Heroes were decided together by all three parties involved. “The next step was to convince them to be part of the show, considering all of them are popular players, it was difficult to get their time,” he says.

    The cricketers spent approximately five hours on the sets for the shoot. “We shot one hour of content to come up with a 24 minute episode,” he says, adding it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the kids. “They are not a studio audience. Here, they sit so close to the cricketer that they can touch him and also interact with him like they were sitting with him in their living room.”

    A considerable amount of time went into the making of Heroes. “A thorough research was conducted to understand what is palatable to the audience, what would be fun for the kids and yet make sense to our audiences watching the show. Even designing the look and feel of every episode took sufficient amount of time,” says Sarangi.

    How confident are the makers about the show? “These days shows are made on conviction,” replies Sarangi, adding “We had two kids’ managers to look into the needs of the kids. Since we were shooting with kids, we had to take care of the hygiene and many other issues relating to shooting.”

    It’s an in-house creative team that worked on the show. “Almost 40 people sat on production, post production, editing, research etc for the show. We don’t believe in taking freelancers for shows like this,” Sarangi rounds off.