In the US, Latin America, Europe, and India, almost 70 million households have access to ShortsTV, a 24-hour HD TV channel devoted to short films. The annual theatrical distribution of the Oscar-nominated short films is produced by ShortsTV and released to cinema theatres worldwide as well as digital sell-through platforms including iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play since 2006. The Oscar-nominated Shorts’ theatrical releases are now a regular occurrence in US and Canadian theatres, and in 2019 they brought in more than $3.5 million at the US box office.
Carter Pilcher, CEO of ShortsTV, has a rambunctious conversation with Adgully in which he discusses his passion for Indian cinema, the extent of the short film industry’s rise in India, and how advertisers react to short content, and much more.
Speaking about Indian short films, Pilcher remarked, “One of the things that leapt out at me since we have been coming to India was that India had a fantastic cinema culture. Despite having one of the largest film businesses in the world, they are not very well known abroad. India has essentially stayed to itself. Filmmakers who succeed in Bollywood don’t get any attention outside of the Indian diaspora because Bollywood is in no way related to Hollywood. They are not well known outside of India.
But, Pilcher said, “Since I have been in India, I have realised that I have kind of made it a goal to help as much as we can in the realm of short films,” he added, “that is starting to change.”
Additionally, he added that the films are undoubtedly more potent and also significantly more global, so whether it is a narrative about a family, a tragedy, or something amazing that occurs between two people, everyone in America can understand it.
“While some people may not fully get the cultural allusions in the classic Bollywood films, everyone can agree that love, hate, fury, and happiness are universal human emotions. These are the things that transfer well, and emerging Indian filmmakers are making wonderful films by doing just that. Anurag Kashyap is credited with starting this new trend. He began producing short films and began depicting what occurs between two people, including their anger and bad deeds, realistically. And that’s altering how people view a film,” he continued.
Pilcher remarked about bringing short TV programming and subscription services to the Indian market, “We have developed an app, which we are starting to roll out gradually. Although we are not Disney or Netflix, who just release an app and advertise on billboards, we are beginning to launch with partners. They have all made announcements with significant app groups, conglomerates that are assembling groups of apps to launch, and one of the most recent OTT partners in Delhi.
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