Amazon India, Govt sign pact to boost creative talent, showcase made-in-India content

Amazon India announced on April 5 that it has signed a Letter of Engagement with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to promote creative talent in India, create capacity across film and TV institutes, and globally showcase Made in India creative content, as the company looks to expand its entertainment ambitions in the country.

As part of this initiative, content from National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Doordarshan, and International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be showcased on the company’s subscription-based streaming platform Prime Video and ad-supported service miniTV to commemorate the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.

Speeches of Indian President and Prime Minister will be made available via Amazon Music and Alexa, as well as content related to key events of national importance and public interest campaigns, and daily news bulletins, Amazon India said.

Amazon.in will also curate a special storefront feature to promote books and journals across genres reflecting India’s heritage from MIB’s Publication Division.

Online movie database IMDb will work with NFDC to boost the discoverability of India’s creative talent by listing their profiles and skill sets. Prime Video and miniTV will both work towards providing internships, and scholarships to students at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTII) to offer real work exposure, and make them “industry-ready”, the company said in a statement.

Amazon also plans to organise masterclasses to young artists that are part of the ministry’s 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow initiative, which was introduced in 2021. Through this initiative, 75 artists across various aspects of filmmaking are shortlisted every year to learn and attend workshops from movie industry veterans. Amazon said it also plans to organise masterclasses for students across various film and television institutes.

“The partnership would help to strengthen industry-academia linkages through provisions for scholarships, internships, masterclasses, and other opportunities for students at Film and Television Institute of India and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India, and help to reduce the period of struggle for the talented artists coming out of prestigious film institutes of India” said Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports.

Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President, Asia-Pacific, Prime Video said “Our rich cultural diversity offers immense potential, to drive a thriving creative economy and further India’s soft- power, internationally. Our holistic collaboration with MIB, looks at every life stage and every-corner of integration to stimulate the growth of the industry, and we are very optimistic of the pathways that it will create,”

Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President Public Policy at Amazon India said the company is uniquely placed to contribute to the country’s growth journey on multiple fronts including e-commerce, logistics, digital skilling, cloud computing, payments, artificial intelligence and in building the creative economy.