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Maverick Minds

London’s Raindance Film Festival has unveiled its 13-title longlist for the BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) Raindance Maverick Award, recognizing independent films made with budgets under £1 million ($1.3 million).

The lineup includes “Grand Theft Hamlet,” shot entirely within “Grand Theft Auto,” following two unemployed actors staging Shakespeare in the game’s virtual world, and “Strike: An Uncivil War,” which won Sheffield DocFest’s best documentary audience award for its examination of the 1984/85 miners’ strike.

Raindance founder Elliot Grove said: “The Raindance Maverick Award longlist captures the essence of independent cinema at its purest, rebellious and unapologetic best.”

Full longlist:

“The Ceremony”

“The Flight of Bryan”

“Grand Theft Hamlet”

“King Baby”

“Reawakening”

“Restless”

“Satu – Year of the Rabbit” (Joshua Trigg)

“Silent Men” (Duncan Cowles)

“The Stimming Pool”

“Strike: An Uncivil War”

“Tops”

“Treading Water”

“Witches”

The nominations will be announced Nov. 5, with winners revealed at the BIFA ceremony on Dec.

Cricket Rights

Sony Pictures Networks India (Spni) has acquired TV and digital rights to all New Zealand-based men’s and women’s cricket matches into India and associated territories for the next seven years. The deal is valid from May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2031, encompassing India’s tours of New Zealand in the 2026-27 and 2030-31 summers, as well as all other bilateral Tests, ODIs, and T20Is played in New Zealand during the period. All matches will be broadcast across Spni’s sports channels and streamed on SonyLIV. Spni’s digital rights in India will be co-exclusive with Prime Video for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. While a value for the deal was not disclosed, industry sources estimate it at $100 million.

Spni MD and CEO N.P. Singh said: “New Zealand is renowned for its exceptional sportsmanship and strength; it’s one of the most respected cricket teams globally. It is our...

Paramount Names Australia/New Zealand Chief

Paramount Global has named Beverley McGarvey President of Network 10, Head of Streaming and Regional Lead for Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately. This comes after the exit of the UK-based Maria Kyriacou, Paramount’s former President of Broadcast and Studios, who counted Australia among her responsibilities. It also follows a local restructure that saw the departure of Executive VP, Chief Operating and Commercial Officer and Regional Lead Jarrod Villani. McGarvey, previously EVP, Chief Content Officer and Head of Paramount+ Anz, will now report to Pam Kaufman, President & CEO of International Markets, Global Consumer Products and Experiences. Kaufman said Australia was one of Paramount’s “most important, priority markets,” with McGarvey’s promotion reflecting that fact. McGarvey will have commercial and creative leadership of Paramount’s business in Australia, with oversight of Network 10 and its portfolio of brands, including streamer 10 Play. She will also retain her current duties,...

Exclusive: A war biopic chronicling the life of India’s first field marshal has become the all-time biggest Hindi weekend opener on the ZEE5 Global streaming platform.

Based on the life of Sam Manekshaw, the first Indian Army officer promoted to the rank of Field Marshal, Sam Bahadur stars Vicky Kaushal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub.

In the first three days of its digital release on ZEE5 Global, the film has risen to the top position among all Hindi titles released on the South Asia-focused platform, surpassing figures for 2023 blockbusters like Gadar 2 and Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai.

Sam Bahadur

Like most other streamers, ZEE5 Global doesn’t break down viewing data, but it said viewers from over 190 countries have watched Sam Bahadur on the streaming platform, with the U.S., Australia, UK, United Arab Emirates and Canada as the top performers outside of India.

India is on the verge of producing a global breakthrough streaming hit, leading industry players said over the past week across two panel discussions.

The mood in the country has been celebratory, even self-congratulatory, albeit with some justification, after the Oscar wins for S.S. Rajamouli’s “Rrr” and Karthiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s “The Elephant Whisperers.” On the streaming front, all the major players have had several hits. SonyLIV scored an International Emmy nomination for “Rocket Boys,” for lead actor Jim Sarbh. Netflix won the International Emmy for comedy for “Vir Das: Landing” and “The Railway Men” cracked the streamer’s global non-English TV top 3 in addition to topping the South Asian chart. Locally, Netflix dominated the Filmfare streaming awards with 26 wins including prizes for “Trial by Fire,” “Kohrra” and “Scoop.”

Prime Video’s “The Panchayat Season 2” won best series at the International Film Festival of India’s inaugural...

Bollywood personalities such as Manoj Bajpayee, Vishal Bharadwaj, Pratik Gandhi and Guneet Monga talked about how South Asian content has broken barriers and gone ahead creating waves internationally.

ZEE5 Global has announced a strategic move to aggregate multiple South Asian streaming platforms within the ZEE5 Global platform with the launch of Add-ons in the US.

The ZEE5 Global Add-ons will offer subscribers in the US a single-window to access South Asian entertainment platforms on the platform itself.

In a panel, when asked how the audiences have changed viewing content, Manoj saidthat earlier he would visit his friends or relatives in the US, “there was someone in that crowd and in that party who would come and talk to me and there was one person who always came to me and not just to me but to whole lot of people who were making the kind of cinema that the whole...

Bollywood personalities such as Manoj Bajpayee, Vishal Bharadwaj, Pratik Gandhi and Guneet Monga talked about how South Asian content has broken barriers and gone ahead creating waves internationally.

ZEE5 Global has announced a strategic move to aggregate multiple South Asian streaming platforms within the ZEE5 Global platform with the launch of Add-ons in the US.

The ZEE5 Global Add-ons will offer subscribers in the US a single-window to access South Asian entertainment platforms on the platform itself.

In a panel, when asked how the audiences have changed viewing content, Manoj saidthat earlier he would visit his friends or relatives in the US, “there was someone in that crowd and in that party who would come and talk to me and there was one person who always came to me and not just to me but to whole lot of people who were making the kind of cinema that the whole...

ZEE5 Global has struck a series of deals to carry several smaller Indian streamers in the U.S. on its service, as it bids to become the top aggregator from South Asia in the States.

The deals add several new languages to the Zee5 Global streaming service, which is available internationally. Simply South (all Indian languages), Oho Gujarati (Gujarati), Chaupal, NammaFlix (Kannada), Epic On (Hindi) and iStream (Malayalam) have been added, with at least six more being onboarded in coming months. We hear there’s an ambition to announce at least one more each month.

Billing and payment will be made through the single ZEE5 platform, which will offer personalized recommendations across languages.

The services will be made available as part of a branded ZEE5 Global Add-ons options. ZEE5 Global, soon to be part of the merged Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Pictures India business, is holding...

Streamer ZEE5 Global is taking a leaf out of the Prime Video Channels playbook by aggregating six South Asian streaming services within its platform in the U.S.

Branded as Add-ons, the streamers are Simply South, which offers content in the South Indian languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, Oho Gujarati in the Gujarati language, Chaupal in the Punjabi, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi languages, NammaFlix in the Kannada language, the Hindi-language Epic On and the Malayalam-language iStream. There are ongoing discussions with six more streaming platforms. The streamers can be added on to an existing ZEE5 Global subscription, which costs $79.99 annually for 4K or $59.99 for standard or $12.99 monthly for 4K.

The Add-ons are all on monthly subscriptions and NammaFlix is at $1.49, Oho Gujarati at $1.99, Epic On at $1.99, Chaupal at $4.99 (or $3.99 for 10 days every month), Simply South at $4.99 and iStream at $1.99.

The flagship shows from the Add-on partners are “Mark Antony” (Simply...

Salman Khan starrer “Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan” is set to have its streaming world premiere on ZEE5 Global.

The film, a remake of 2014 Tamil-language Ajith Kumar hit “Veeram,” was released theatrically worldwide in April during the Eid holiday frame. Directed by Farhad Samji and produced by Salman Khan Films, “Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan” revolves around Bhaijaan (Khan) who has committed to live a bachelor’s life so that he can take care of his three younger brothers. Meanwhile his brothers, who’ve already found their life partners, come together to find a perfect match for Bhaijaan. The story takes an unexpected turn when a beautiful woman (Pooja Hegde) walks into his life.

The cast also includes Daggubati Venkatesh, Jagapathi Babu, the late Satish Kaushik, Vijender Singh, Shehnaaz Gill, Vinali Bhatnagar and Palak Tiwari and a cameo from “Rrr” star Ram Charan.

Archana Anand, chief business officer,...

Exclusive: South Asian-focused streamer ZEE5 Global will roll out Sooraj R. Barjatya’s first feature in seven years on January 6, 2023.

ZEE5 snapped up streaming rights to the film, which stars Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan among others, in November. It is already in cinemas in India and will roll out in 190+ territories on ZEE5 Global next month.

Uunchai marks director Barjatya’s first film since 2015 Salman Khan blockbuster Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and is billed as a “heart-warming tale of friendship.”

Produced by Rajshri Productions in association with Mahaveer Jain Films and Boundless Media, it follows the journey of three aged friends, Amit (Bachchan), Javed (Boman Irani) and Om (Anupam Kher), who decide to embark on a trek to the Everest Base Camp to fulfil the wish of their late friend Bhupen (Danny Dengzongpa).

“Uunchai is a labor of seven years of passion, hard-work and above all, love and after a successful run at the box-office,...

The year is nearly up and ZEE5 Global Chief Business Officer Archana Anand is headed into 2023 in bullish mood. The South Asian streamer, which operates in 190+ territories including the U.S. and offers about 200,000 hours of content, is coming off “our best year yet, and we’re ending it on a high,” she says.

In a wide-ranging interview with Deadline, Anand explains how India’s biggest film in memory, Rrr, helped catapult the service to new heights globally this year, with a 209 year-on-year increase in consumption from January to October 2022 recorded. In the U.S., it has become the streamer of choice for many Indians and South Asians.

The New York-based Archana also reveals South Asian content is picking up audiences where even Bollywood hasn’t, with languages such as Telugu dominant among ZEE5 Global subs in the U.S. (a 20 share of local subs) and Australia (13). While the Telugu...

The world digital premiere of the action-packed patriotic movie – Rashtra Kavach Om starring Aditya Roy Kapur 11th August on ZEE5. Punctuated by power packed performances of Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanjana Sanghi and Jackie Shroff, the movie revolves around an important mission of getting the Rashtra Kavach back in safe hands and saving the nation.

Directed by Kapil Verma and produced by Zee Studios and The Paper Doll Entertainment Production, Rashtra Kavach Om is the story of a special force Para commando officer on a mission to save his country and to find answers to questions that have clouded his entire existence. This adrenaline pumping action thriller blends personal sacrifice with the valor of a patriot who stops at nothing when it comes to protecting his country.

Aditya Roy Kapur commented, “Rashtra Kavach Om was a challenging film as it demanded a lot from me physically and mentally. I am glad...

South Asian focused streamer ZEE5 Global has ambitious growth plans for the U.S., where it has just completed a year of operations. It envisages local commissions, English- and Spanish-language dubbing and subtitling and reaching deep into the South Asian diaspora through grassroots promotions.

“We want to be the one that is at the forefront of creating the crossover for South Asian content — the one that makes South Asian content go mainstream,” Archana Anand, chief business officer, ZEE5 Global, told Variety. “We want for the global audiences sitting in the U.S. to now start watching ZEE5 Global, including the Spanish audiences. So when we dub or when we subtitle we want to start subtitling in English and Spanish, and have those stories cross over.”

To achieve this, Anand is planning a two-pronged approach — to identify the ZEE5 content that has the ability to crossover, and commission local productions, something...

Exclusive: South Asian content streamer ZEE5 Global has unveiled a slate of 11 Telugu originals. The titles featured at as star-studded event an event in Hyderabad and comprise comedies, dramas, romantic stories and thrillers.

The likes of screenwriter and director Harish Shankar, Indo-American director Praveen Sattaru and producer Kona Venkat were in attendance at the event, which was titled ‘Hooked.’

They comprise crime thriller Recce, featuring Shiva Balaji, Sri Ram and Dhanya Balakrishna among others; rom com May Nell Tank, set in a small village and marking actor Sushanth’s Ott debut; heist comedy Atm, starring Subbaraju, Prudhvi and VJ Sunny; and Aha Nee Pellanta, a romance-theme show about man’s failed attempt to find a spouse.

Also featured were Hello World!, which is based on the life and trials of youngsters on the cusp of careers in Hyderabad’s prominent It sector; Mission Tashaffi, an “adrenaline-pumping” spy drama. The others were Paruvu,...

ZEE5 Global, announced the release of Jhund, starring Amitabh Bachchan on 6th May exclusively on the platform. The film is an autobiography based on the life of Vijay Barse; a real-life hero and founder of Slum Soccer, an organisation which works for the wellbeing and development of children from underprivileged backgrounds with an acumen to play football.

Jhund brings to the fore the life of a slum dweller and his struggle to achieve his dream. The protagonist uses his life experience to make a way for himself and his community to break the social barriers, inspiring millions of youths to be passionate about their dreams and making them a reality with dedication and determination. Portraying their roles flawlessly, over a dozen kids and young adults, like Ankush Gedam, Akash Thosar, Rinku Rajguru to name few make the film larger than life. Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan has nailed the role as...

ZEE5 Global, the streaming platform specializing in South Asian content, has inked an agreement with local content studio Applause Entertainment that will see the latter create multiple Hindi shows for the streamer as ZEE5 originals.

The first project under the agreement will be Kaun Banegi Shikharwati, a dramedy series with a unique take on a dysfunctional royal family, that will launch in January 2022.

The show will feature a host of Bollywood stars including Naseeruddin Shah, portraying the role of the King, while Lara Dutta Bhupathi, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh play his daughters. Raghubir Yadav, Cyrus Sahukar, Varun Thakur and Anurag Sinha also feature.

ZEE5 has existing partnerships with Tvf (The Viral Fever), Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari, and Red Chillies Entertainment. The company is one of the biggest local streamers in India.

Commenting on the partnership, Punit Misra, President – Content & International Markets, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, said,...

Coming this December is a crime-drama Bob Biswas starring Abhishek Bachchan. Set against the backdrop of a love story it showcases the dual life led by contract killer, Bob Biswas. The ZEE5 Original film has been directed by Diya Annapurna Ghosh and is produced by Gauri Khan, Sujoy Ghosh and Gaurav Verma.

The film is a Boundscript production presented by Red Chillies Entertainment and set to premiere on India’s largest homegrown Ott platform, ZEE5 on 3rd December. Shot in Kolkata, Bob Biswas also stars Chitrangda Singh in a pivotal role.

Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, said, “In line with our commitment to bring our viewers the best stories across genres and from master storytellers, we are happy to announce yet another direct-to-digital release ‘Bob Biswas’ in association with Red Chillies Entertainment and Sujoy Ghosh’s Boundscript. A crime drama with Abhishek Bachchan playing the character of Bob Biswas,...

Helmet, a social, quirky comedy is all set to release on 3rd September on Zee5. Produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions and Dino Morea’s Dm movies, Helmet is directed by Satramm Ramani with Screenplay & Dialogues by Rohan Shankar.

Starring Pranutan Bahl, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee and Ashish Verma the film is a quirky depiction of the entrenched taboos and diffidence surrounding the simple act of buying condoms in the nation’s heartland.

The film is a hilarious exploration of small-town naivety and offers insight into a milieu where even accessing a birth-control device is wrought with multiple social challenges and psychological hang-ups.

Check out the trailer!

Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, says, “South Asia is full of fascinating narratives and from the heartland of India comes yet another one. We’re thrilled to launch the trailer of Original social comedy film Helmet. A strong entertainer that also carries a subliminal message,...

ZEE5 Global, the largest Ott platform for South-Asian content, has received a warm response to its ZEE5 Original web series Sunflower. The innovative series stars Sunil Grover in a new screen avatar alongside a stellar ensemble cast that has been winning over audiences and critics alike.

Sunflower is the story of a middle-class housing society in Mumbai called “Sunflower”, home to a plethora of quirky characters. From thrill, comedy and drama centred around the characters with their relatable stories, everything revolving around the housing society takes you on a roller-coaster ride that is keeping viewers hooked.

Along with Sunil Grover as Sonu Singh, the eight-episode web series also features Ranvir Shorey as Inspector Digendra, his team-mate Girish Kulkarni as Inspector Tambe, Ashish Vidyarthi as Dilip Iyer, Mukul Chadda as Mr. Ahuja, Radha Bhatt as his wife Mrs. Ahuja joined by Ashwin Kaushal as Raj Kapoor, Shonali Nagrani as Mrs. Raj Kapoor and Saloni Khanna,...

Here is some exciting news for our U.S. readers! A huge streaming service for South Asian content is now available throughout the US. ZEE5 recently launched an Ott platform for the streaming service in the U.S., opening up a world of multicultural entertainment for the South Asian diaspora and mainstream audiences across the United States. Boasting an existing library of 130,000 hours of content, there are over 50+ Theatrical releases and 40+ Originals planned for this year.

In a special virtual event, Priyanka Chopra Jones announced the new platform.

‘Streaming is not the future, it’s the present’

–@PriyankaChopra talks about the freedoms of streaming and why she loves streaming.

Subscribe to ZEE5 Now: https://t.co/U6DfIdWGKM #ZEE5NowInUSA | #WelcomeToSouthAsia | #ZEE5USA pic.twitter.com/eH5nsiY54J

— ZEE5 – The United States Of America (@ZEE5USA) June 25, 2021

According to Zee5, “A plethora of fantastic tales evoking an array of emotions have been lived through,...

OTTPriyanka Chopra, who made her digital debut with Netflix movie ‘The White Tiger’ this year, was speaking at a virtual press conference of streaming platform ZEE5’s launch in the US.PTIFacebookActor Priyanka Chopra Jonas says that people should embrace streaming platforms because they have not only allowed the audience to consume diverse stories but also democratised the film industry. Priyanka, who made her digital debut with Netflix movie The White Tiger this year, said that streaming services have made artistes think outside the “formula” of a Bollywood film. “That’s what you’re seeing in Indian cinema – the freedom of streaming services is allowing people to have larger thoughts than the formula that existed before. That there should be five songs, a fight sequence. That formula has gone away. Now people want to tell great, real stories with which they identify,” the actor told reporters. Priyanka was speaking at...

The 21st Asia TV Forum & Market (Atf), Asia’s leading entertainment content and conference, capped off the first week of its digital edition – Atf Online+, with 2,320 unique attendees from 60 countries and regions as of 4 December 2020. The platform is available on-demand until 28 February 2021.

Atf Online+ kicked off with an Opening Ceremony at the new state-of-the-art Hybrid Broadcast Studio located in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore on 1 December 2020. Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information, Singapore officiated the launch in front of a physical audience of key industry players. The event was concurrently streamed live to a global audience watching via Atf Online+ and on Facebook. The ceremony was followed by a fireside chat between the Minister and Mr. Steven Chia, Presenter/Senior Editor of Channel News Asia, on the future of the media and entertainment industry, where he mentioned how companies need to create a wider variety of content, and the...

Although Asian Ott players have seen a big increase in viewership, speakers also discussed the challenging economics of streaming.

Coming right at the end of the year, this week’s Asia TV Forum & Market, which took place virtually from Singapore, reiterated may of the themes that we’ve been hearing globally throughout this Covid-hit year.

Speakers at the event’s ‘Mornings with Industry Leaders’ sessions agreed that the pandemic has just accelerated the trends that were already there, truncating into months the changes in consumer habits and business practices that were otherwise going to take a few years.

“We’re...

Bringing in a much-needed dose of entertainment to audiences in these unprecedented times, ZEE5 Global has rolled out Supermoon Live to Home, in international markets for the very first time. The initiative, one of the flagship IPs of Zee Live, is an international comic and music festival bringing together some of the biggest artistes from across India in a series of riveting performances, with new performers now announced.

The festival features 24 artiste performances over a period of 12-weeks every weekend for viewers across 190+ countries to stream on any device of their choice. The incredible virtual performances will encompass a mix of power-packed music and stand-up comedy acts from India’s best loved artistes.

Launched especially for viewers who are missing out on live shows during these lockdown times, this brand new content is available for ZEE5 audiences around the globe to stream for free on any device, without any subscription charge.