![\"<p>FILE](\"\/Themes\/Release\/images\/responsive\/ettelecom-default.jpg\")
Pocket Aces Pvt has raised $14.7 million from Sequoia Capital<\/a>, DSP Group, 3one4 Capital and others to bankroll content aimed at pushing Indian shows beyond hackneyed Bollywood formulas -- like “saas-bahu” or mother-in-law versus daughter-in-law dramas. It’s one of a band of startups moving away from familiar staples to try and hook an exploding population of mobile viewers. Pocket Aces plans to use the funds to get into gaming content, make strategic acquisitions and boost production to 30 shows a year from the current dozen.
India has become a battleground for global streaming giants from Netflix Inc. to Amazon.com<\/a> Inc. and Walt Disney Co.-owned Hotstar. They’re drawn by a market that could hit 829 million smartphone users by 2022, compared with about half a billion now, according to Cisco Systems<\/a> Inc. estimates, many of them first-time Internet users consuming entertainment via their mobiles.
Last week, Netflix raised the stakes, announcing one of the world’s cheapest streaming subscriptions: an under-$3 monthly mobile-only plan for India. On Monday, two of its leading homegrown streaming rivals -- ALTBalaji<\/a> and ZEE5 -- announced they were joining hands to create more than 60 original shows, share audience insights and grow subscriptions.
The Mumbai-based, 145-person Pocket Aces uses artificial intelligence<\/a> and machine learning to test genres, actors and plot lines in pilots before spinning them into longer shows for streaming platforms, social media channels and its own apps. \"Our shows garner 500 million views per month and we aim to hit 1 billion monthly views by 2020,\" said co-founder Aditi Shrivastava.
The business was conceived out of dorm-room conversations between co-founders Anirudh Pandita, 34, and Ashwin Suresh, 35. From engineering undergraduates at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the pair went on to work on Wall Street before starting their company in 2014. They were joined later by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. alum Shrivastava, now married to Suresh. Pocket Aces’ first show was launched in 2015.
Unlike studios tied to traditional distribution channels, Pocket Aces focuses on mobile consumers and syndicates content to a variety of companies, from Emirates Airline to ride-hailing service Ola and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s video-streaming service Youku Tudou. It has several originals lined up for Amazon and Hotstar in India and recently signed a global deal to create several shows for Netflix. It’s negotiating with multiple Hollywood production companies to create content. The firm’s average employee age is 23.
“Most studios still suffer from the HIPPO effect,” said Suresh, invoking the acronym for highest-paid person’s opinion or a tendency to defer to the most senior decision-maker. “Ours is decentralized and very data-driven.”
Pranav Pai, managing partner at venture backer 3one4 Capital, calls the startup’s approach a “data-driven, continuous feedback loop” that helps improve stories and production.
That has allowed Pocket Aces to steer clear of the clubby Bollywood scene populated by the offspring and relatives of established actors, producers and directors. Pocket Aces crunches data to gauge the popularity of actors, who then get cast in bigger shows. “We don’t have people sitting in a room taking decisions,” Pandita added.
Pocket Aces’ content tends to avoid the hero-always-wins happy-endings favored by big-budget Bollywood films, or the slower-moving plots of Indian television’s family dramas. “Young people have moved on,” Suresh said.
The startup’s most successful show is Little Things, which follows an unmarried couple as they navigate emotional upheavals, career trauma and personal aspirations in fast-paced Mumbai. It started off as a short video but went on to become a multi-episode series and is now streamed worldwide on Netflix to audiences from Turkey to Latin America.
Ananya Ivaturi, an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, is an ardent fan. \"It’s a modern take on a cute relationship,\" said Ivaturi, 19. \"Most of the family dramas on TV are exaggerated and irrelevant to the younger audience. They have regressive portrayals of women.\"
Pocket Aces subtly delves into subjects such as homosexuality, cohabiting outside of marriage and divorce. In a show called What the Folks, the protagonists -- a young couple -- debate onscreen whether or not to have children, unheard-of in most Indian families. In Adulting, about two young women traversing relationship and financial crises, the characters discuss what lines can be crossed in an office romance.
“There is a great hunger for good content,” Pandita said.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":70443286,"title":"BSNL launches Rs 1,188 prepaid plan: Here's how it compares to Reliance Jio's Rs 999 plan","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/bsnl-launches-rs-1188-prepaid-plan-heres-how-it-compares-to-reliance-jios-rs-999-plan\/70443286","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[{"msid":"70443215","title":"netflix","entity_type":"IMAGES","seopath":"industry\/media\/entertainment\/three-ex-bankers-win-netflix-backing-to-shake-up-bollywood\/netflix","category_name":"Three ex-bankers win Netflix backing to shake up Bollywood","synopsis":"The Mumbai-based, 145-person Pocket Aces uses AI and machine learning to test genres, actors and plot lines in pilots before spinning them into longer shows.","thumb":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/thumb\/img-size-104679\/70443215.cms?width=150&height=112","link":"\/image\/industry\/media\/entertainment\/three-ex-bankers-win-netflix-backing-to-shake-up-bollywood\/netflix\/70443215"},{"msid":"69534390","title":"Don't want to pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime and other content? Here's how","entity_type":"PHOTOGALLERYSLIDESHOWSECTION","seopath":"slide-shows\/dont-want-to-pay-for-netflix-amazon-prime-and-other-content-heres-how","category_name":"Slide-Shows","synopsis":"Telcos like Airtel, Jio, Voda Idea are offering free Netflix, Amazon Prime and other OTT content as part of their special packs which happens to be a win-win for all stakeholders.","thumb":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/thumb\/img-size-200637\/69534390.cms?width=150&height=112","link":"\/slide-shows\/dont-want-to-pay-for-netflix-amazon-prime-and-other-content-heres-how\/69534390"}],"msid":70443411,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"Three ex-bankers win Netflix backing to shake up Bollywood","synopsis":"Pocket Aces plans to use the funds to get into gaming content, make strategic acquisitions and boost production to 30 shows a year from the current dozen.\n","titleseo":"telecomnews\/three-ex-bankers-win-netflix-backing-to-shake-up-bollywood","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[],"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"Bloomberg","artdate":"2019-07-30 08:48:20","lastupd":"2019-07-30 08:48:20","breadcrumbTags":["Cisco Systems","amazon video","Sequoia Capital","ALTBalaji","Amazon.com","the Walt Disney Company","MVAS\/Apps","artificial intelligence"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/three-ex-bankers-win-netflix-backing-to-shake-up-bollywood"}}" data-authors="[" "]" data-category-name="" data-category_id="" data-date="2019-07-30" data-index="article_1">
口袋ace Pvt已经筹集了1470万美元红杉资本DSP组3 one4资金和其他资金内容旨在推动印度显示出超越平庸的宝莱坞公式——就像“saas-bahu”或婆婆和儿媳戏剧。创业的一群远离熟悉的斯台普斯,试图钩呈爆炸式增长的人口移动的观众。口袋ace计划使用资金进入游戏内容,进行战略并购和提高产量每年30显示从当前打。
印度已成为全球流媒体巨头的战场从Netflix inc .Amazon.com公司和迪斯尼公司拥有Hotstar。他们由市场将在2022年达到8.29亿智能手机用户,而现在约十亿,据思科系统公司公司估计,很多人第一次互联网用户通过手机消费娱乐。
上周,Netflix提高赌注,宣布世界上最便宜的流订阅:下一个- 3美元每月只用手机印度的计划。周一,两大本土流——竞争对手ALTBalaji和ZEE5——宣布他们携起手来创建60多个原创节目,观众分享见解和成长订阅。
孟买,145人的口袋ace用途人工智能测试类型和机器学习,演员和情节在纺丝前飞行员不再显示为流媒体平台,社交媒体渠道和自己的应用程序。“我们的节目获得每月5亿的观点和我们的目标是到2020年达到10亿每月的观点,“联合创始人Aditi Shrivastava说。
宿舍的业务构想了合伙人之间的对话学历Pandita, 34岁,Ashwin苏雷什,35。从工程本科生伊利诺伊大学香槟分校两人继续在华尔街工作开始前他们的公司在2014年。他们被高盛集团(Goldman Sachs Group inc .)加入后明矾Shrivastava现在嫁给了苏雷什。口袋ace的第一个节目是在2015年推出。
与电影公司与传统的分销渠道,口袋ace关注移动消费者和集团内容各种各样的公司,从阿联酋航空ride-hailing服务Ola和阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd .)优酷土豆网视频直播服务。它有几份原件排队亚马逊和Hotstar在印度和最近签署了全球协议创建几个Netflix的显示。它与多个好莱坞制片公司的谈判创造内容。公司的员工平均年龄是23岁。
“大多数工作室仍然遭受河马效应”,苏雷什说,调用缩写薪水最高的人的意见或倾向于听从最高级的决策者。“我们是分散的和数据驱动的。”
Pranav Pai,合资公司的管理合伙人支持者3 one4资本,调用启动的方法“数据驱动的,连续的反馈回路”,帮助改善和生产的故事。
允许口袋ace避开了排外的宝莱坞场景填充的后代和亲戚成立演员、制片人和导演。口袋ace仰卧起坐数据来衡量受欢迎的演员,然后得到更大的显示。“我们没有人坐在房间里采取的决定,“Pandita补充道。
口袋ace的内容倾向于避免hero-always-wins大团圆结局的大制作的宝莱坞电影,或者速度块印度电视台的家庭剧。“年轻人,”苏雷什说。
创业公司最成功的节目是小事情,它遵循一个未婚夫妇,他们在情绪剧变,职业创伤和个人愿望在快节奏的孟买。它开始作为一个短片,但后来成为一系列多次发作,现在Netflix上全球观众从土耳其到拉丁美洲。
Ananya Ivaturi,本科学生在温哥华的英属哥伦比亚大学的,是一个狂热的球迷。“这是一个现代的可爱的关系,“Ivaturi说,19。“大多数的家庭电视剧在电视上被夸大了,无关紧要的年轻观众。他们有递减的女人。”
口袋ace巧妙地深入研究课程,如同性恋、婚外同居、离婚。节目叫什么人,主人公——一个年轻夫妇——辩论屏幕是否有孩子,在大多数印度家庭前所未闻的。在成人,两遍历和金融危机的关系,年轻女性角色讨论可以在办公室恋情了。
“有一个伟大的渴望好的内容,“Pandita说。
评论
现在评论 阅读评论(1)所有评论
找到这个评论进攻?
下面选择你的理由并单击submit按钮。这将提醒我们的版主采取行动