Caught in a web

BENGALURU : The pandemic has seen an ever-evolving cycle of new innovations. As theatres were declared unsafe, movie producers and creators swiftly turned to the online space to bring out new content. So much so that even Friday’s theatrical releases saw openings on OTT platforms. While these mediums, which were traditionally started to provide a platform to independent movies, have seen a huge change in content over a period of time, many independent filmmakers say it still is difficult for them to sell their movie to leading platforms.

City-based filmmaker Vivek Ram, whose works are usually animated, says the right networking matters when it comes to selling content to the bigger OTT platforms. “If you want to sell your product to players like Netflix or Amazon, it’s always about having the right connections who will green light the project. There are many smaller platforms too but getting costs retrieved through them is difficult,” says Ram, who is currently working on an animated web series.

Animation movies, he says, cost more, making the search for a buyer difficult. “A one-minute animation movie will cost close to a few lakh of rupees. For example, the animated web series I am currently working on, has production charges close to `2 crore. Whenever we pitch the concept to a platform, they back out due to the cost,” explains Ram, who is choosing to focus on various festivals to make a profit out of the work. 

Agrees Prateek Prajosh, whose last movie, Mrs. Nambiar: More Than Just A Teacher, was based on the National Award-winning teacher, Meenakshi Nambiar. He narrates his experience of his short movie, Rawas, based on the topic of male rape, and says it was not picked by bigger platforms because of the sensitive topic.

“It was an eight-minute long movie made in 2019. But I didn’t get any platform release so the movie got delayed and was released in 2020,” says Prajosh, who finally released it on a YouTube channel called Humaramovie. Such issues make it difficult for filmmakers to make a profit out of their passion projects. “Usually, if the movie is bought by a bigger company like Netflix or Amazon Prime, then you can retrieve most of the cost. My movies are low-budget, but even then breaking even is a big thing,” adds Prajosh, emphasising that digital platforms are being overrun with commercial content. 

So how do independent filmmakers meet their financial needs? Pooja Sampath, a filmmaker who has been living in Bengaluru for one year, says smaller projects like ad films helps. Sampath – who directed Beauty and the Feast on Disney Hotstar, featuring Sumukhi Suresh, and whose short film Notary won best LGBTQ film at Independent Shorts Awards in LA – says, “Apart from that, sometimes you are called to direct a web series or movie, which is not your own script. But if it comes to getting a go-ahead for your personal project from any big OTT platform, then there’s a long way to go.”