Amazon Pacts with India’s MIB

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Amazon India is working with the country’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) on a range of initiatives to help foster the local creative economy.

Prime Video and its free streaming app miniTV in India will provide internships and scholarships to students at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTII). In addition, classic content from the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), state broadcaster Doordarshan and the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be showcased on Prime Video and miniTV. Plus, masterclasses will be provided to students at a range of film and TV institutes and 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow, an annual talent enrichment program under the umbrella of IFFI. In addition, the NFDC and IMDb will work together to help enable the discoverability of India’s creative talent.

“At Prime Video, we have always looked at ourselves as the enablers of the creative ecosystem,” said Gaurav Gandhi, VP for the Asia Pacific at Prime Video. “As an entertainment hub, there is room for every story to be told, which are only enriched if more passionate storytellers find the training, platform and resources required to bring their best work forward. 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.”

Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, said, “The partnership with Amazon India is unique on a number of counts and the Letter of Engagement spans across various aspects of the creative industry. 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.”

Chetan Krishnaswamy, VP of public policy at Amazon India, noted: “As the Indian economy expands at a fast clip, Amazon is uniquely placed to contribute to the nation’s growth journey on multiple fronts, including e-commerce, logistics, digital skilling, cloud computing, payments, artificial intelligence and in building the creative economy. Over the years, we have been working with the Indian government to create a meaningful impact at scale through our various collaborations and initiatives. As we celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, this milestone Letter of Engagement with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting strengthens our commitment to globally promote and showcase India’s creative talent and stories through our multiple services such as Prime Video, miniTV, Amazon Music, Alexa, IMDb and our marketplace business.”