With the advent of Over-the-top services, filmmakers now have a number of options to sell and distribute their content. With every video streaming service having a diverse viewership nowadays, having subscribers of all kinds, from different regions, and even countries, filmmakers now are a step closer to ensure that their content reaches the right audience.
The Ever-growing OTT Market
With the country going into lockdown in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, OTTs in India have seen a tremendous rise in subscribers. There has been a 30% rise in paid subscribers between March and July 2020 (source: ibef.org). Even before the Pandemic took over, due to the increased and easy accessibility to the internet and smartphones, popularity for top, as well as several regional OTTs, had started to stretch. And in the coming years, when technology is only expected to be more advanced and accessible to a larger population, the OTT scene in India is only expected to bloom.
This leaves filmmakers and content creators, not just with a handful of options, but much more than they can keep track of, providing them with a well-made audience base for their content.
So, if you are a filmmaker looking to sell your content, here is a list of some of the most popular OTT Platforms in India, that openly support Independent Filmmakers by providing them a home for their content.
1. Netflix: Streaming in more than 30 languages and 190 countries, Netflix is one of the most popular online video streaming platforms. A pool of diverse content, panning across genres, Netflix as a platform actively supports independent as well as art cinema. Needless to mention, it is filmmakers’ most sought-after platform to get their content on.
How to connect with Netflix: Netflix India has appointed agencies for the fulfillment of its creative requirements.
Design: https://npaa.pc.netflix.net/en/
Quality Check and Tech Fulfillment: https://npfp.netflixstudios.com/
It's best to reach out to Acquisition Team in Netflix for your completed films.
2. Disney + Hotstar: Owned and operated by Star India, Hotstar is India’s one of the first video-on-demand streaming services. In 2019, it integrated with international streaming brand Disney + and became Disney + Hotstar. As a platform that gained its popularity in the Indian market primarily because of IPL, it currently offers over 1,00,000 hours of movies and television content across 9 languages, and every major sport covered live.
How to reach: Acquisition Team
3. Amazon Prime Video: Another American over-the-top streaming and rental service, Amazon Prime Video gives access to thousands of titles to all its Prime members across the globe. It offers the cheapest subscription rate in India as compared to its global prices, which is why it is also the second most subscribed OTT platform in India.
How to reach: Acquisition Team
If you wish to syndicate your film on Amazon prime yourselves, then you need an account on Prime Video Direct, and a presence in either UK or USA with a local bank account and address.
4. MX Player: A video streaming service of Times Internet, MX Player currently has a streaming library of over 150,000 hours across 12 languages. The platform offers a large collection of movies, TV shows, music videos, web series and even short films!
How to reach: Acquisitions Team, or Creative Team (For Scripts)
5. SonyLiv: Owned by Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd, SonyLiv has so far been a host to some of India’s greatest web content like Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, JL50, among others. With a presence across 167 countries and a reach of 700 million viewers in India, it offers 40,000+ hours of television show coverage in 4 languages.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team of Sony India
6. Voot: Voot, Viacom 18’s video-on-demand platform, hosts over 35,000 hours of video content with varying choices and preferences in multiple Indian languages. A platform with a variety of original content and one of the most user-friendly interfaces, Voot is a popular choice among the Indian audience.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
7. Zee5: Zee5, a subsidiary of Zee Network, offers an exhaustive array of content with 12 navigational and featured languages. One of the fastest-growing OTT channels, its content pans across a range of original content of films and TV shows added regularly.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
8. Eros Now: Another Indian video-on-demand entertainment and media platform, Eros Now has more than 12,000 digital titles that include television shows, movies, music videos and music tracks. With thousands of Indian hits, exclusive series and originals, it is considered to be Bollywood’s biggest movie collection.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
9. BigFlix: India’s first movie on-demand service, BigFlix is owned by Reliance Entertainment. With over 4 million registered users across platforms and 2000+ HD movies across multiple Indian languages, it offers a seamless and personalized blockbuster experience to all its users.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
10. Alt Balaji: ALT Balaji, a subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms, offers one of the largest media libraries in India and has access to a number of original as well as Indian content. It aims at providing fresh, exclusive and tailor-made content to its users that they can access at their fingertips.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
11. Jio Cinema : Jio Cinema is an on-demand video library of movies, TV shows, documentaries, shorts and music videos. It offers aggregated content from its various content partners like Viacom18, ALTBalaji, Zee Entertainment, Sony, Eros Now among many others.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
12. ShemarooMe: ShemarooMe has access to more than 3700 titles that include Bollywood content (premiere as well as classic), Regional content, devotional content, etc and places itself as a family platform, containing something for everyone in the family, with content across multiple genres and languages.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
13. Sun Nxt: Run by Sun TV Network, Sun NXT is an online video-on-demand platform that offers content in 5 Indian regional languages - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali. It offers the latest and popular movies, TV shows and music from South Indian Cinema and is home to some of the longest-running and highest-rated TV content in the country.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
14. Ullu: Ullu is a 18+ video streaming service offering a variety of genres from drama, comedy, horror, suspense, thriller and beyond. They have a collection of movies, web series as well as originals that are tailor-made for their audience, that they have an option to access in their regional language as well.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
15. Arre: Arre is an Indian OTT platform with its niche in all kinds of multimedia content that includes fiction and non-fiction videos, documentaries, web series, podcasts, doodles and more.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
16. Spuul: Spuul is a leading OTT platform, with its headquarter in Singapore and presence in the UK, Middle East, Australia, North America, New Zealand, South and South East Asia and India. It offers content to over 47 million registered users in Hindi, Punjabi, Malayalam and other Indian regional languages, across all mobile and connected devices with download capabilities to facilitate offline consumption.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
17. TVFPlay: Started originally as a youtube channel, The Viral Fever (TVF) ventured into having its own OTT platform, centered around providing youth-oriented content. It was also one of the first platforms to bring fresh, cult web shows like Permanent Roommates, TVF Tripling, Pitchers, etc. to the Indian audience.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
18. Mubi: Mubi is a one-of-a-kind OTT platform, dedicated to classic and art house cinema. Available in over 190 countries, this platform introduces a new film each day, giving a chance to new as well as award-winning directors to showcase their work on a global level. Their hand-picked content includes films from festivals all across the world.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
19. Discovery+: Discovery+ houses documentaries and shows from a range of brands such as Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, and more. It also gives access to unique, never seen before shows from around the world as well as short videos. Moreover, all the shorts and a selection of documentaries are free to watch.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
20. YuppTV: One of the world’s largest internet TV and on-demand service provider for South Asian content, YuppTV offers 250+ TV channels, 5000+ movies and 100+ TV shows in 14 different languages.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
21. Hungama Play: Providing content on smartphones, tablets and other smart devices, their video-on-demand platform boasts of an extensive collection of long-form and short-form content in multiple languages across various genres that include 5000+ films in English, Hindi and regional languages, 1500 short films and more than 1,50,000 short-format videos.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
22. Viu: Viu boasts of faster, fresher and shareable content, offering localized regional and local premium TV shows, movies and originals. They believe in providing opportunities for local talent to showcase their skills on the global stage, thus making it easier for content creators to reach out to them with content in all forms.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
23. Airtel Xstream: The Airtel Xstream App is available for all Airtel Prepaid, Postpaid, Broadband and Digital TV users. The entertainment app offers 350+ live TV channels across genres. It also offers more than 10,000 movies and 100+ TV Shows in Hindi, English and other Indian languages.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
24. VI Movies: Available to VI (Vodafone-Idea) subscribers, VI Movies and TV features a vast collection of 50,000+ hours of content which includes 470+ Live TV channels, 8500+ latest Bollywood and Hollywood Movies, Top rated TV Shows & Original Web series, spread across 13+ languages.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
25. EPIC ON: This streaming service offers free and premium videos-on-demand and other exciting content including but not limited to Indian TV shows, short videos, documentaries, etc. in a number of genres ranging from fiction to non-fiction to even mythology, history, and more.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
26. Docubay: A video-on-demand platform dedicated solely to documentaries, Docubay offers mainstream, engaging, relevant and insightful content across genres from leading creators across the globe. Laying emphasis on curation and discovery, it offers a new documentary every day.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
27. Passionflix: An OTT service dedicated to one single genre - romance. They offer original movies, series, and shorts, adapted from bestselling romance novels, along with an impressive library of all-time favorite romance classics.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
28. Dekkoo: Dekkoo features an impressive collection of new and original programming made exclusively for gay audiences. They provide a platform to filmmakers belonging to the LGBTQA+ community, emphasizing on content for and by gay audiences. Not only this, their responsive team makes it easier for content creators to reach them and collaborate with Dekkoo. They aim to provide a strong, reliable partner for filmmakers to make their work available to the public.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
29. NIRI 9: Recently launched, NIRI 9 is the first-ever original OTT platform of Northeast India. It is focusing on promoting multi-language content gathered from across states and country including Assamese, Hindi, Bengali, Bodo, Odiya among many others. Currently available on Android and iOS, it is aimed at producing fresh and original content every week.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
30. Kooku: In their own words, KOOKU is the latest entertainment hub, built to get your heart racing. They offer content in a range of genres such as drama, comedy, romance, etc and also provide a platform to a number of short films and web series. With easy and flexible pricing options, content in various local languages and easy accessibility, they have an audience base worldwide.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
31. Zenga TV: ZengaTV brings to its users diverse content offerings in different languages in the form of Entertainment, News, Movies, Music, Regional, Shopping & Lifestyle Channels which are absolutely free to watch.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
32. Lyca TV: Lyca TV is an entertainment app for Android phones and tablets. It has an extensive offering of the latest TV series, movies, music, news, reality shows, sporting action and more.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
33. Filmzie: Filmzie is a high-quality worldwide platform for streaming free movies & TV series. It is on a mission to provide a platform to independent, extremely talented filmmakers that just don’t get seen by the general public so that their work can get the acknowledgment and appreciation they deserve.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
34. Cinemapreneur: Cinemapreneur is a pay-per-view OTT platform for curating the best of Indian independent cinema, whether it’s shorts, features or documentaries. The OTT follows a model where viewers can directly watch the film by paying for it, without having to subscribe to the platform. Cinemapreneur curates hand-picked independent films from India, offering some rare gems to the film lovers. It is trying to empower filmmakers by providing a platform that is easily accessible while keeping the spotlight on individual films through the pay-per-view system.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
35. Movie Saints: Another amazing platform for independent filmmakers, Movie Saints calls itself the Online Box Office for curated independent films. Being a viewer-friendly platform, they offer the opportunity to discover new films, across several classical and emerging genres. They are also a Distribution Solutions Provider, helping in maximizing the audience reach by playing the film simultaneously across theatrical screens through local distributors and online on their website.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
36. ShortFlix: ShortFlix is an exclusive app dedicated to short films, series and web films. It provides space to original and award-winning short films thus creating a platform for upcoming and creative filmmakers.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
37. AK Online: Another OTT for independent films and filmmakers, AK Online is a community for artists and art lovers, and features a number of unique movies, short films, documentaries, series and much more.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
38. DigiPlex: Digiplex is a diversion from the mainstream OTT platforms which indulges its audience with all kinds of content ranging from crime, thrillers, to murder mysteries, comedy, drama and much more.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
39. Hyflix: HYFLIX offers the latest and popular TV, movies, and knowledge-based content from India and around the world. With content in many languages, spanning TV channels, HYFLIX is home to some of the longest-running, and highest-rated TV content in the country. The best part is it's absolutely free!
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
40. Flipkart Video: Like its e-commerce rival - Amazon, Flipkart too, has come up with its own video streaming OTT called Flipkart Video. Available within the video section of the shopping app, Flipkart Video is a free video streaming service and offers over 5000 TV shows, movies, and short films in a variety of languages, including Flipkart Originals.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
41. DON Cinema: Newly launched in 2020, DON Cinema aims to cater to all common people who want to enjoy high-quality and entertaining content on the Internet. This revolutionary OTT offers around 2000 movies from around the world that include internationally acclaimed classics from Iran, Brazil, Korea, and many other countries. It also aims to give creators a platform to showcase their content easily on the internet.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
42. Viventra Streaming: This relatively new streaming service is a digital video-on-demand platform. They offer premium content on their website and aim to connect content owners with the right audiences. Their website features a diverse range of movies, shorts, etc. from around the world. This Chennai-based platform is focused on transforming the lives of people. They aim to bring great content to life and their core values are empowerment, creativity, and collaboration.
How to Reach: Visit https://stream.viventra.in/ to learn more.
That's not it! Keeping India's diverse audience in mind and their individual cultural and lingual background, there are a number of regional OTTs that cater to the need of certain sects of audiences wanting to consume culturally relevant content.
BENGALI OTTs
43. HoiChoi: A regional OTT platform, HoiChoi provides on-demand video streaming of Bengali content. With a library of over 500 Bengali Movies, hoichoi also showcases exclusive Original Shows and Shorts, with new content being added every month.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
44. KliKK: Another Bengali video-on-demand streaming service, KLiKK offers original Web Series, Short Films, Kids Animation along with a library of over 2000+ Bengali Movies from Classics to Blockbusters, all in HD format to Bengali audience all over the world.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
45. Bongo: Bongo is the world’s largest Bangla entertainment library. Their diverse collection includes blockbuster movies, latest shows, dramas, and much more including Bongo originals, with new content being added every now and then.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
46. Addatimes: Clearly, the number of options available to Bengali creators as well as viewers is ever increasing. Addatimes is another such platform directed towards providing a platform to Bengali filmmakers to showcase their content and help them reach the world audience.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
MALAYALI OTTs
47. Manorama Max: An online subsidiary of a Malayalam general entertainment channel - Mazhavil Manorama, Manorama Max provides a window to watch all their GEC content which includes fiction, reality and other shows. It also brings MAX originals, content created in Malayalam for its users.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
48. Prime Reels: Launched in August 2020, Prime Reels is the first OTT platform in India, exclusively dedicated to screening Malayalam movie premiere. With easy accessibility through Mobile, Tablet, Television, Laptop or Desktop and great subscriptions on offer, they claim to provide an immersive experience to all its subscribers.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
49. Neestream: It is another OTT platform targeting the global Malayalee diaspora. The platform currently streams entertainment and news content and is available on smart devices, both Android and iOS as well as through website.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
50. Asianet Mobile TV: Providing its services through a mobile app, Asianet MobileTV Plus is the OTT division of Asianet Satellite Communications Ltd. It is aimed at catering to the Malayalee diaspora with a range of content such as movies, TV shows, web series, and more. It also plans to diversify its services to other Indian languages too.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
TELUGU OTTs
51. Aha: An exclusive Telugu on-demand video streaming platform owned by Arha Media & Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd, Aha’s extensive content library includes original web series, shows and movies across diverse genres. They keep updating their content regularly, which is tailor-made for the Telugu audience.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
KANNADA OTTs
52. Namma Flix: Namma Flix is the first and the only Kannada on-demand video streaming platform for Kannada content lovers all over the World. It is dedicated to showcasing a number of Kannada movies and series, including originals, to its subscribers. Its easy accessibility allows users to watch it on the go or at home, however and whenever they like.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
TAMIL OTTs
53. BS Value: An OTT Platform launched by an extremely popular Tamil Youtube Channel, Black Sheep Value, is aimed at providing 100% original Tamil content. It currently is home to yesteryear Tamil classics and a few web series, and plans on providing family-friendly content to its subscribers.
How to Reach: Acquisitions Team
Indian Film Institute will keep updating the list for more platforms, contacts, and how to reach. Feel free to bookmark this article and share it with fellow filmmakers!
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