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Tag: Rahul Sarangi

  • Rahul Sarangi quits MX Player to join Disney+Hotstar

    Rahul Sarangi quits MX Player to join Disney+Hotstar

    KOLKATA: Senior media professional Rahul Sarangi has joined Disney+Hotstar as vice president- head of short form & new content initiatives.

    Last year, when streaming service MX Player branched out into short-format video through MX TakaTak , it had appointed Sarangi as MX Player new business vice president and head.

    Sarangi was earlier with TVF, one of the pioneers in the online content ecosystem of India, as global head-content and business.

    He is an Emmy nominated content creator with nearly two decades of experience across digital and linear content as well as production & content operations (short and long formats across scripted, unscripted & live Sports), with a comprehensive understanding of media business across geographies. He is also an active angel investor.

    In the early days of his career, Sarangi worked with MTV Asia as the senior supervising producer. He worked in India and Singapore in the content team and was also part of the MTV’s regional brand solutions team. Later, he was also a part of the launch team of Colors. 

  • Rahul Sarangi joins MX Player’s new business as VP and head

    Rahul Sarangi joins MX Player’s new business as VP and head

    KOLKATA: Streaming service MX Player is not only branching out into short-format video through MX TakaTak but also expanding its team. The Times Internet-owned platform has appointed Rahul Sarangi as MX Player new business vice president and head.

    Sarangi was earlier with TVF, one of the pioneers in the online content ecosystem of India, as global head-content and business. Recently, the core founding members of  TVF team quit the organisation.

    In the early days of his career, Sarangi worked with MTV Asia as senior supervising producer. He worked in India and Singapore in the content team and he was also part of the MTV’s regional brand solutions team. Later, he was also a part of the launch team of Colors. 

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  • OTT platforms need more passion projects, experimental content, original voices

    OTT platforms need more passion projects, experimental content, original voices

    MUMBAI: 2018 saw various OTT players in India gain massive popularity. There are more than 30 sites serving hours and hours of original as well as syndicated content, in various languages, genres, and tastes. During the third edition of Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub, sponsored by MX Player, representatives from some of the top OTT platforms in the country the need of good and meaningful content and the kind of programs that can work in this dynamic world.

    Part of the panel were Addatimes Pvt Ltd managing director Rajiv Mehra, The Viral Fever (TVF) global head of business and content Rahul Sarangi, Viacom 18 EVP and head content Monika Shergill, MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar and One Digital Entertainment COO and co-founder Gurpreet Singh. The panel was moderated by industry veteran and Hungama Digital Media Entertainment executive producer Sanjeev Lamba.

    The panel unanimously agreed on the fact that the greatest need of time is to procure and create high-quality original content that resonates with the audience. They stated that all the logistics; be it production or budgets, come only after people who can create and write quality content.

    Shergill said, “The competition to find good creators and partners to tell great stories is actually, by far, the single biggest challenge that we face because I feel that as a market, we kind of missed out on the golden age of content creation. While the world was producing a lot of mature content, we were leaning towards only soap opera kind of stories.”

    Sarangi chipped in with some fine examples of the work that TVF has created, “To see what kind of content people watch, we pulled out a few episodes of ‘Yeh Meri Family’ from YouTube and then put it on Netflix. The show became the second-most trending content in India and has a completion rate of 70 per cent. Because the writing was so strong, people came and watched it again and again. Similarly, with ‘Pitchers’, it wasn’t a grand show shot on high production budgets like ‘Sacred Games’. But it became the highest rated show on IMDB, just because of good writing.”

    He added, “I think the biggest thing we need to do right now is to invest in good writers. Also, we need to give them the time and pay them well. Groom the talent! Writers are going to be the prime thing that we need.”

    Moderating the panel, Lamba put another pertinent question forward asking what sort of content OTT platforms are willing to back. To this, the panel hailed the need of bringing original voices to the paradigm that are not just fresh but can also add on to the type of content that is already working on the web.

    Talwar mentioned that being the newest kid on the block, MX Player is currently trying to understand what the viewing pattern of the audience is. He said, “We have licenced quite a lot of content from people who have a high experience in actually creating successful web series, including TVF, Pocket Aces, and ALTBalaji. We have put this content online and now we are using a lot of data to understand what actually works in the space.”

    He continued, “Essentially, we are looking for content that is going to appeal to 18-30-old males, largely from North India. But it is genre-agnostic because I believe, people today watch everything. We are looking out for authentic stories from heartland India as they work well with the metro audience as well.”

    Mehra also agreed that the audience today loves watching all sort of content, be it long form or short form. He mentioned the need to experiment with the duration of the content and tell stories that the audience can connect to.

    While Shergill vouched for the need for passion projects and experimental content, Sarangi shared that they are looking for stories that touch the hearts of people. He stated that TVF will not indulge in violence or sexually explicit content, at least for a few more years.

    The panel also discussed the much-debated topic of IP rights. Shergill noted, “IP is something that is very important because this content is meant for posterity. You are believing in someone’s idea and paying to the last stream. So, the skin of the game for any platform is to have IP rights with them. But having said that, I also feel that when we know what kind of content creators we are speaking about, then there may be certain different models to work. But when you are working with teams of creators, and backing their idea, IP is the only asset you are creating and you should have the right to it.”

    Sarangi mentioned that as a company they do not sell their IP rights despite having worked with several OTT platforms. He said, “The reason behind this is that it is not only about production cost. It is also because of the time and effort put in by the creative team. We thereby do mostly an output kind of a deal or a licencing avenue. Also, we can do this at this point in time because we can guarantee a hit rate.”

    However, Singh shared a different angle and said, “IP has become a very crude word. Most people don’t even know what the value of an IP is. People are just fighting for it right now but they don’t even know what they are going to do of it after two or three years. So, I think if you are being compensated for the value, you must sell the rights to the platform.”

  • ShareChat, TVF team up in search of India’s next Viral Stars

    ShareChat, TVF team up in search of India’s next Viral Stars

    MUMBAI: Homegrown social media platform ShareChat and digital entertainment pioneers TVF are launching the first ever all-India digital-first talent discovery platform called The Viral Stars. The initiative aims to give millions of Indian youth across the country an opportunity to showcase their unique talent and become India’s next generation of Viral Stars along with multiple cash and other prizes.

    The 3-month program opened its online call-for-entries on 15 November. Users can participate by recording a short video (up to 30 seconds) on ShareChat across categories including humour, music, dance, fashion, beauty, or ajab-gajab till 15 February. The program will be supported by a nation-wide campaign “#ZorSeTalentAaya

    The entries can be submitted in eight languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. A digital leaderboard that will track audience reactions, engagements and votes on each video will determine the winners.

    Speaking about the concept behind the latest offering, TVF president and chief operating officer Karan Chaudhry said, “As Indians, we love video content – nine in 10 Indians watch videos on their phones, across the major Indian languages. Humour, music, beauty, dance, or reality are amongst top short-form genres that India loves to watch online. A new generation of digital stars is emerging with new styles of content created for their dedicated fan-bases from Shimla to Salem, from Daman to Digboi.”

    “The Viral Stars was conceptualised to provide a unique opportunity to these emerging creators to pursue their unique talent for life, aligned to our philosophy of being a platform for digital creators. Singers, dancers, writers, performers, or just talented creators with a smartphone camera are now just one viral video away from making it to the mainstream,” he added.

    The Viral Stars program will visit 50-cities and engage with youth at over 200-colleges to shine the spotlight on emerging and hidden talent across campuses. The program will include on-ground activations featuring popular digital celebrities and youth influencers like Ashish Chanchlani, Mukti Mohan, Pranitha Subhash, and more.

    The Viral Stars program participant submissions will be live on ShareChat app in the The Viral Stars category and will also be presented in a 200-episode series on TVFPlay’s The Viral Stars channel with a special focus on the youth from colleges.

    Commenting on the initiative and the partnership with TVF, ShareChat chief business officer Sunil Kamath said, “We are extremely pleased to be associated with The Viral Fever to launch India’s first ever all India hunt for the next Viral Stars.”

    He further noted, “ShareChat is India’s #1 regional social networking app developed keeping in mind the needs of Indian audience to communicate in their native languages. ShareChat has always endeavoured to provide a culturally relevant and truly Indian social media application for the country’s evolving internet users. Being a truly India social media app, we understand that our country is a pool of hidden talent that can be found in every nook and corner of the country. Through this association, we want to provide our users with a platform where they can showcase their talent and get an opportunity to become the next digital stars. As of now, we are a community of 50+ million people and we believe that our search for the next generation viral star would be a huge opportunity for our community.”

    Commenting on the partnership with ShareChat, TVF global head of business and content development, Rahul Sarangi said, “ShareChat and TVF share the vision of thousands of new creative faces finding their audience – language and genre no bar. Through a strategy covering digital content, social influence and live experience, we’re using our expertise to encourage more creators and rewarding great content with the recognition it deserves. With the range of our culture, geographies, and languages, Viral Stars will foster an environment of content creation with the youth.”

  • Rahul Sarangi – Greymatter Entertainment @ Mip Formats

    Rahul Sarangi – Greymatter Entertainment @ Mip Formats

    Mumbai, April 6, 2018: Co-founder & Director, Rahul Sarangi is the First Indian invited to be on the panel of Spot the Talent (Formats) @ MIP Formats – 7th April & 8th April 2018 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres de Cannes in Cannes, France. Rahul will be a panelist amongst renowned industry experts like Matt Steiner, MD, Primal Media, UK; Assaf Gil, CEO, Gill Formats, Israel; Roy Aalderink, Concept Street, Germany, David Flynn, Co-Founder, Youngest Media, UK; Meredith Chambers, MD, Electric Ray, Sony Pictures, USA; Ed Waller, ED, C21Media, UK.

    MIPFormats is the incubator for big ideas, the next wave of must-see formats. Taking place two days before MIPTV, MIPFormats is where the world’s leading producers, commissioners, buyers and distributors discover the very best in entertainment formats.

    Spot the talent – Indies Around The World – A platform to discover exciting formats that have just been commissioned (or are about to be) in this special spotlight, featuring independent format creators and producers from around the world.

    About US

    Greymatter Entertainment is a young media company that offers 360 degree media solutions. We produce LIVE sports, TV shows, digital content and focus on IPR creation. One of the few Indian companies to have sold original formats globally. Our energetic core team brings to the table over 60 years of corporate experience with companies like IMG, TWI, Sony Entertainment Television, MTV, Ten Sports & Viacom 18. With significant knowledge and experience of having produced shows all over the world, we thrive on pushing the evelope!

    Rahul Sarangi, Co-Founder & Director, Greymatter Entertainment

    Rahul has nearly a decade’s experience as a television professional. He has worked for top-of the-line media brands like Synergy and Contiloe in production and Colors and MTV Networks India. Rahul has been associated with shows like Roadies – India’s no.1 youth reality show, Fame Gurukul, Bluffmaster, Splitsvilla, MTV On the Job, MTV Style Awards, Music Awards Asia and many more.

    Apart from producing shows, Rahul also directs live events and has directed international events like the Shakira Concert, Roger Waters Live, the Standard Chartered Marathons, IIFA Celebrity Cricket Live, IPL Funfeed – Live on Youtube and Horse Racing among others.

  • RAHUL SARANGI – GREYMATTER ENTERTAINMENT @ MIP FORMATS

    RAHUL SARANGI – GREYMATTER ENTERTAINMENT @ MIP FORMATS

    Mumbai: Co-founder & Director, Rahul Sarangi is the First Indian invited to be on the panel of Spot the Talent (Formats) @ MIP Formats – 7th April & 8th April 2018 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres de Cannes in Cannes, France. Rahul will be a panelist amongst renowned industry experts like Matt Steiner, MD, Primal Media, UK; Assaf Gil, CEO, Gill Formats, Israel; Roy Aalderink, Concept Street, Germany, David Flynn, Co-Founder, Youngest Media, UK; Meredith Chambers, MD, Electric Ray, Sony Pictures, USA; Ed Waller, ED, C21Media, UK.

    MIPFormats is the incubator for big ideas, the next wave of must-see formats. Taking place two days before MIPTV, MIPFormats is where the world’s leading producers, commissioners, buyers and distributors discover the very best in entertainment formats.

    Spot the talent – Indies Around The World – A platform to discover exciting formats that have just been commissioned (or are about to be) in this special spotlight, featuring independent format creators and producers from around the world.

  • 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.  

     

  • 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.

  • Greymatter to debut at MIPCOM 2013

    Greymatter to debut at MIPCOM 2013

    Greymatter Entertainment – a 360 degree media company offering end-to-end creative solutions and production services for broadcast, celluloid and digital platforms – is debuting at this year’s MIPCOM with a host of new and innovative formats.

    For a company which produces content across genres, including reality, music, travel, lifestyle, game show and documentary, participating in the world’s largest content market is possibly a natural next step. Says Greymatter Entertainment owner Rahul Sarangi, “MIPCOM helps you network with global content buyers. The market is also a platform for companies with new formats.”

    We believe most of our formats are very differentiated yet palatable to the global audience, says Rahul Sarangi

    So what’s on offer at the fest? “We will launch a factual documentary titled ‘Tribes of the World’, an award winning show ‘Bikini Café’, a never-seen before music reality format named ‘Remix’ and a series about unconditional love christened ‘Thanks Maa’,” Sarangi answers.

    For the uninitiated, Tribes of the World is a factual documentary which explores the unexplored and unseen faces of tribal India. Bikini Café is about testing one’s entrepreneurial skills of owning a shack while Thanks Maa gives mothers a chance to relive their dreams.

    Elaborating on his plans, Sarangi says: “We are looking at co-producing interesting formats/content under the genres we specialise. As far as selling is concerned, one of our music formats ‘Remix’ has been sold to a few markets and is distributed by Global Agency. We have also recently concluded a very successful co- production deal with Novovision on 52 x 30 min non-dialogue humour episodes for the global market.”

    What does Greymatter expect to achieve at MIPCOM 2013? “As you would be aware, Indian broadcasters don’t give rights to producers, but we have figured that if we have a global partner, then we can retain rights and make it a global success. We believe most of our formats are very differentiated yet palatable to the global audience,” explains Sarangi, adding: “We expect to strike some interesting co-production, distribution or strategic partnership with global companies that suit our profile.”

    On the subject of markets, Sarangi says the company is open to any market, from America and Europe to the Middle East and Asia, as long as it shares Greymatter’s sensibilities. The firm will concentrate on platforms like IPTV, mobile and free to air.