ITV

Tag: Rahul Kumar Tewary

  • Production houses rope in external Covid2019 compliance teams

    Production houses rope in external Covid2019 compliance teams

    MUMBAI: After seven members of Hats Off Productions’ show Bhakarwadi tested positive for Covid2019 and one of them, a tailor present on the set, succumbed to the infection on 21 July, the makers of the show found themselves in a difficult situation.

    The shoot was immediately shut for four days. When shooting resumed on the sets of Bhakarwadi, hygiene and other safety protocols were revisited. Hats Off Productions producer JD Majethia also purchased a UV machine to ensure better screening and the crew was given three vitamin tablets, immunity boosters and warm lemon water daily to boost immunity.

    After these unfortunate incidents, several production houses have hired Covid2019 compliance agencies to monitor the situation. Majethia has also consulted a Covid2019 compliance company called TISA looked after by Manish Popat and Harish Salve.

    Majethia says, “When we resumed shooting, we asked TISA to visit our sets. They joined us on a Zoom conference call with our unit and guided us. They suggested and supplied UV machines. They taught us the right way of wearing a mask too.”

    TISA is also engaged with other companies and shows such as Green Valley Studio, Endemol Shine India’s show Fear Factor, Studio Next’s Ek Duje Ke Vaste, an outdoor shoot happening in Baramati for Banijay India, BBC Studios and is in talks with Amazon Prime too.

    Manish Popat who last worke with Contiloe Pictures and member of  TISA team says, "Our whole purpose of initiating the Covid2019 compliance initiative was from the point of view of "safety as a service ". From the beginning we have been of the opinion that for all to be Covid2019 compliant, presence of a health and safety officer is critical. Trained manpower has to ensure that everyone on set is Covid2019 compliant. All our offering insist on a health and safety officer and we are happy to say that all the clients working with us have believed in us and accepted our solutions lock, stock and barrel.

    In an earlier interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Contiloe Pictures CEO Abhimanyu Singh had mentioned that the studio has hired an external agency called Momentum India to look after sanitisation, fumigation and other safety measures. According to him, it is not the studio’s forte to understand Covid2019 related measures so it is better to hire an outside agency that understands all the nuances.

    Swastik Productions producer Rahul Kumar Tewary highlights that the studio has hired a Covid2019 action team that looks at SOP measures. He has permanently purchased the sanitisation and fumigation equipment.

    He says, “We are rigorously implementing all the guidelines mentioned by the government and we have been fortunate that nothing has happened on our set. They are responsible to look after the number of people who are regularly visiting our sets. They also ensure that the people who are present on the set do not move out or interact with outside people. Access to people visiting from Mumbai is also limited. Even if they come, they have to get quarantined for 14 days. They are responsible for the daily thermal screening and maintaining data. They constantly monitor if social distancing is maintained or not.”

    Tewary’s action team is not involved in any production work. Private vehicles and cars are fumigated once they exit the set. The set is also fumigated after every shoot.

    Creative Eye Limited MD Dheeraj Kumar already has a full-fledged system in place at Kailash Plaza. He is of the opinion that rather than hiring an outside agency it is more suitable to have own people to monitor all the SOP measures.

    Kumar mentions that the protocols are followed at both the production set and office. Kumar has a post-production unit, edit team, dubbing and sound team present in the office. Thrice a week, the entire building and the office premise is sanitised. He too has purchased the equipment permanently and prefers doing the task in-house as the external agency may be neglectful.

    Whether in-house or external, a Covid2019 compliance team seems to be a must for production houses until the pandemic recedes. 

  • TV show production efficiency impacted by Covid2019: Swastik Productions’ Rahul Kumar Tewary

    TV show production efficiency impacted by Covid2019: Swastik Productions’ Rahul Kumar Tewary

    MUMBAI: A month since TV production resumed, the ride has been bumpy. With sets rigorously sanitised, makeup and hair artists wearing PPE kits, it’s still better than no shoots at all. Swastik Productions producer Rahul Kumar Tewary says that it took a lot of planning to resume shooting.

    “Before beginning the shoot, the cast and crew members of Devi Aadi Parashakti and RadhaKrishn reached Umbergaon, Gujarat, on 8 and 10 June where they were quarantined. There was regular check-up conducted within premises. The labours and crew members are living at the studio itself while artists are living at nearby apartments,” he shares.

    He highlights that the production has created a Covid2019 team that looks after sanitisation and fumigation of the entire set and the places where technicians, crew and artists are living. He clarifies that while shooting there is no contact from the outside world. There are multiple checkpoints on the set to ensure safety and security of people.

    To maintain the grandeur and bring larger-than-life feel in the episodes, Tewary is relying more on VFX than having real people on the set.

    Tewary elaborates, “It is a very difficult ride, the whole production planning, writing of episodes, consumes a lot of time. We are also focusing a lot on the VFX side to showcase more people in the story or a crowd scene. The script is written in a way that no body contact is involved. Massive sets are also avoided. So, all the departments, from the writers to creators, production, execution and technicians, are extremely careful.”

    The production house is using two camera setups and for proper lighting, the DOP is responsible for creating the entire set-up a day or a night prior to save time. Post that only actors are available for the shot sans technicians and camerapersons. This move is to ensure that at any given time there are a smaller number of people available on the set. However, this is making it difficult to get episodes out in time. The production efficiency has been compromised due to the SOP measures.

    Apart from that Tewary praises broadcasters for their constant support and encouragement. He says, “Broadcasters have been hugely impacted by this pandemic. The broadcasters worked hand in hand with producers to ensure we create a bank of episodes.”

    He adds that as the shows are on air, banks are the main thing that will drive momentum on the floor. Every show will initially have the capsule of kahani ab tak to engage audiences.

    The 12-hour shift timing remains the same as it was before the Covid2019. The studio also uses various tools to transmit data.

    Tewary notes that during the pandemic, digital mediums have gained traction. But, he says that the market audience for television and digital are completely different. Both the mediums may overlap to a certain extent, but in the end these are two different market segments. “I believe the digital is growing, but TV will also remain the same. I don’t think there will be too much of an impact on TV programming. There is a certain age group of consumers for the digital content; there is a trend that the youth of India is moving towards the digital side,” he shares.

    He is optimistic that as new content has started airing, TV audiences will be once again glued to the small screen.

  • One Life Studios brings world class content to India

    One Life Studios brings world class content to India

    MUMBAI: One Life Studios becomes the exclusive distributor of the award-winning American series “Breakers”, a Deo Tv original.

    One Life Studios, a subsidiary of Swastik Productions, thrives on telling Indian stories to the world. Now with the changing trends, One life Studios has decided to bring award winning series to India & SAARC countries. 

    Taking a new step forward, they have signed an exclusive distribution deal for the hit show “Breakers- Saving Harper Ross” which is a 10-episode nail-biting thriller about Jack who is reliving the same day over and over again. A Crime series wrapped around mystery and mind-boggling events, Breakers has won numerous awards, including Platinum Remi Winner for Best TV Series at the 51st Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 2018.

    Speaking on this development, Managing director, Rahul Kumar Tewary shares his excitement : 

    'As we continue to grow our footprint worldwide we are seeking to partner with storytellers who share our passion of crafting strong narratives for broad audiences. We are very excited to collaborate with award-winning storytellers. This is just the beginning.'

    Chason Lang, COO of DEOTV says 'We are thrilled and proud to be working with One Life Studios who has already brought such tremendous programming like Porus to Indian television, and to see our content entertain audiences across India.'

  • Indian content owners, creators don’t value own content

    Indian content owners, creators don’t value own content

    MUMBAI: The third edition of Indiatelevision.com’s The Content Hub had an insightful panel on the global syndication market. The panel consisted of Go Quest Media ventures MD Vivek Lath, Swastik Productions and One Life Studios MD Rahul Kumar Tewary, MX Player head-content acquisition Mansi Shrivastav, Sony head networks – licencing Malvika Prabhu and ANM Global co-founder partner Nidhish Mehrotra and moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

    Go Quest Media ventures MD Vivek Lath said that a lot of countries are now doing indigenous production. “But what they lack is the kind of creative maturity and evolution India has gone through. That’s where we see much larger opportunity going forward.”

    Swastik Productions and One Life Studios MD Rahul Kumar Tewary said that the demand for Indian content has reduced over time. “But what we need to understand is what kind of content we are creating. Does it resonate with the international audience or are we only catering to the Indian market? In the end, it is a business and we only cater to the Indian market. But if we really want our content to travel the world, I guess we need to re-look at what kind of content we are creating,” he said.

    Another issue syndication faces is that, according to Lath, Indian content creators don’t value their content as people from Korea, Turkey and China do because of which it is underpriced. Tewary agreed with Lath and said, “Turkish, Chinese and Korean dramas have got a standard market price. No one brings the market price down. So they value their content. Unfortunately, we are the cheapest. You can sell it for $50-70.”

    Much of Indian content travels to Southeast Asia because it has a similar market. In India, shows are telecast for 5-6 days a week which is 260-312 episodes a year. It becomes difficult to sell so many episodes across the world because the appetite for such viewing is lacking. With Thailand emerging as a new market in the last two years, it helped cushion the impact from the other markets. Latin America is also a promising area but tough to crack which Tewary feels will open up soon.

    The genres that are doing well currently are animation, fantasy, mythology and the modern drama series. Experts also foresee a future demand for Indian horror thrillers on OTT platforms, because of their high production quality. Lath believes that GEC dramas are the fastest moving in the international markets across 60-odd countries.

    The deciding factor for content buying is the platform. MX Player head-content acquisition Mansi Shrivastav said, “I think for OTT there is more flexibility because there is an ability to programme for an individual customised experience. When you are buying for linear TV, you have to keep the overall target audience in mind and there is only one kind of programming."

    For OTT, there is still limited data available on usage and behaviour patterns. But sometimes, you follow your gut and take a risk. MX Player has just bought 100,000 hours of content which varies from two-minute videos to long-form series. “Movies in each language are important to us because there is a lot of traction for that. But we are buying across top ten languages; we are giving a lot of importance to regional markets including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, etc. and Hindi, of course, is a key language,” Shrivastav added.

    According to experts, the Indian content export business excluding movies is around Rs 400 crore as the syndication of Indian content started only from 2007 onwards. “I think in the future, animation is something which is going to add on a lot of export to India in the next 5-10 years,” Tewary concluded.   

  • Zee TV’s first fiction presentation of 2016: ‘Meri Saasu Maa’

    Zee TV’s first fiction presentation of 2016: ‘Meri Saasu Maa’

    MUMBAI: With its first new fiction offering for 2016, Zee TV is aiming for a fresh approach albeit with a much saturated concept. The channel is all prepped to launch Meri Saasu Maa on 26 January, which will be aired from Monday to Saturday at 7.30 pm.

    The new infinite fiction show comes from the makers of popular serials like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Navya and Mahabharat. The show will be produced by Mumtaz Saba Productions — a collaboration between Saba Mumtaz, Siddharth Tewary and Rahul Kumar Tewary of Swastik Productions.

    Explaining the concept behind the show, Mumtaz shares, “Our protagonist is a young 22 year old girl, whose biggest aspiration in life is to find a mother in her mother-in-law. Pari is a Cinderella troubled by her step-mother and siblings, but the only distinction is that she is looking for a mother in her marriage rather than a Prince Charming. She wants a world where her mother will embrace her with open arms every time she enters the house. Pari’s positive thoughts and belief in finding a mother in her mother-in-law will drive her actions. Meri Saasu Maawill be a highly relatable show and every woman out there will empathise with Pari.”
     

    Talking about the new show, Zee TV business head Pradeep Hejmadi adds, “For years, we have seen shows on television exploring the stereotypical relationship of a saas and bahu, where the two are placed at loggerheads, constantly scheming and plotting against each other. Times have changed now and so have relationships. Meri Saasu Maa is our attempt to showcase the changed relationships in society.”

    The show will replace Qubool Hai in the 7.30 pm time slot. Hejmadi adds, “Qubool Hai has been one of our longest running, successful shows with a glorious run of almost three years. We have introduced several exciting sub-plots that have intrigued the audience. It’s now time to make way for another interesting story.”

    With BARC rural inclusive ratings coming in the picture, the industry seems to have woken up to rural and Tier II and III towns, which still enjoy saas bahu sagas over modern contemporary shows. More so, advertisers and content producers are also keen to grab a pie of these eyeballs, which forms almost 50 per cent of BARC’s sample viewership. One can’t help but wonder if the need to cater to these freshly discovered eyeballs is leading broadcasters to return to their tried and tested ‘saas bahu’ formula for GECs.

    “I consider that we are leaders in rural. A lot of the shows we do, we curate from the point of view that the content should also work in LCs and smaller cities and towns, making sure that it resonates with viewers from across markets. We will continue in that direction, keeping our rural and Tier II and III viewers in mind. I feel that in order to achieve that there is no reason to treat a story very differently. Viewers in these pockets are very aspirational, so a familiar storyline that offers a different approach and solution to an issue they relate with, will resonate well with them,” Hejmadi opines on the matter.
     

    Having said that, Mumtaz asserts that she kept viewers beyond the metros in mind when curating content for the show. “With the rural viewership ratings coming in the picture, we tried to keep small towns and rural preference and taste in mind when conceptualising the show. The show also covers the majority of the demography in those markets who are more likely see the show at 7.30 pm. We do a general survey each time before coming up with a show on who’s watching what. We carry it out in metros as well as small markets, and accordingly the show is crafted,” she reveals, adding that the entire process took close to six months to complete.
     

    It is interesting to note that the show’s time slot of 7:30 pm too plays a vital role in targeting a mixed demography and preferred market for the show. “For us, 7.30 pm is an important time slot to place tent pole shows. While curating content we paid special heed to come up with something that resonated with the two demographies — the younger generation, the daughters-in-law and the mothers-in-law, who form the bulk of our viewership in that time frame,” says Hejmadi.

    With the show’s content carefully crafted to strike a chord with both metros and beyond, Zee TV is confident in keeping advertisers happy. The show has already got on board Patanjali as its primary sponsor. “We are in conversation with several other brands to come onboard as sponsors and advertisers for the show,” Hejmadi informs.
     

    “Since most advertisers move according to eyeballs, they are waiting for the numbers to come out as soon as the sow releases and and gains momentum. The response from consumers to the show’s promos has been good and we have received several letters from fans and followers who are eagerly waiting for the show,” he adds.

    So far the channel has released several TV promos that are being heavily pushed through its network channels. “Since the audience we are targeting is a domestic audience that we cater to, it only made sense to heavily promote our show through the network and our electronic arms. Going outdoors with hoardings didn’t fit in our marketing strategy for the show,” Hejmadi says. However, he adds that the show will see some digital presence to reach out to a younger audience that the channel feels can resonate with the contemporary outlook of the protagonist in the show.

    The shows that Meri Saasu Maa will be pitted against on other Hindi GECs in the time slot are: Ye Hai Mohabbatein on Star Plus, Crime Patrol Dial 100 on Sony, Adhuri Kahani Hamari on &TV, Sasural Simar Ka on Colors and Zindagi Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Ghost on Life OK.