2019-08-11_Business_Today

INTERVIEW > JENNIFER SALKE

78 I BUSINESS TODAY I August 11 I 2019

produced by Abundantia Entertainment. There will be

multiple seasons.

Is there any particular film of Akshay Kumar that

you liked?

We watched all the films he has done on social issues (Toi-

let, Ek Prem Katha and Padman) and I was in tears. We

hope to do more such shows with him.

You have been acquiring films

in festivals such as Sundance.

What is the intent?

When we went to Sundance, I de-

cided that if I find something the

customers love, I should move ag-

gressively to get those things. I saw

films like Late Night, Brittany Runs

a Marathon, Honey Boy and One

Child Nation. There is a large vari-

ety, but mostly Late Night and Brit-

tany Runs a Marathon were crowd-

pleaser movies. I was happy with the

slate we ended up with. We have var-

ied release strategies for them, but

all of them will be seen in theatres.

We announced the Director’s Service

strategy, and that’s a very specific

strategy to just release movies on

the platform that we will market in a

programmatic way. If a movie comes

through that pathway, and we feel it

should have a theatrical release, we

will pivot towards that. We are not

there yet but continue to move ahead

with that strategy. We could end up sourcing movies from

other places as well. We haven’t started but there will be

18-24 movies a year.

How many original shows and movies do you plan

in a year?

We are not committing to a number but expect to produce

6-10 original movies in-house in a year, in addition to our

acquisitions. This is on the top of our direct-to-service.

The really important part of our business is the one-hour

series which are thrillers and keep you on the edge of

your seat. We have limited series, comedies, documen-

taries, big global unscripted shows that are also coming

out (three-four of them are under production) and then

we have the movie slate. The idea is to make Amazon

Prime Video a home for good talent. We can be work-

ing with people like John Piel, who created Get Out. He

is making a show called Hunt for us, which is a one-hour

series, a thriller. He also did Darky Drama. It’s all about

connection to Indian originals but still liked the show. Ev-

ery culture has its sensitivities, but at the end of the day,

it’s about characters, characters you care about. I feel that

crosses all cultures and lines.

Your biggest competitor in the US is Netflix, but
outside the US, Amazon Prime Video has taken over
Netflix in many markets. Will international strategy
be the way forward for you?

Yeah, it is the key way forward. We

are in the middle of a global ex-

pansion into so many countries.

However, India has always been an

important, huge market for us. We

were here early. The best artistes are

working with us here. We have an-

nounced seven new shows. You can

look forward to more global expan-

sions. We have this show, Hanna,

which came out of Europe and is a

big hit. It was promoted in the Su-

per Bowl, it’s a huge opportunity.

The way we are looking at content,

it doesn’t matter where it has come

from. If it’s great content we are go-

ing to get behind it in a global way.

The other thing that is important to

know is that for us it’s not about vol-

umes, it’s about quality over quantity.

For us, global presence is an exten-

sion of our home for talent, which is

building relationship with talent, not

in a way that involves micromanag-

ing creativity but in a way that is sup-

portive and collaborative. It’s not so

much a transactional arrangement, it’s very much about

building relationships with talent that we hope comes

back and creates more shows for us.

Which are the markets other than India where you
see potential?

We see huge potential in Europe, in countries such as Italy.

We are making shows in Latin America. We have a great

operation in Japan. We are investing heavily in content

in US, adding to shows such as Homecoming and Jack

Ryan. We have a movie slate as well. We have announced

20 new shows, of which seven are from this market.

Can you tell us about your upcoming Indian show?

Akshay Kumar is the star of the show. It’s been about

cultivating a long relationship with him. It’s an action-

thriller. It will have superhigh production value, inter-

esting characters. It will have high stakes. It is being

For us, global

presence is an

extension of

our home

for talent