Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar (The big three, if you will – for now anyway) have been heavily recruiting film makers from all over the world. Actors, directors, writers, producers – you name it, these big name OTTs go for them, providing them with two or three year contracts (sometimes even more) to work for their platform (this includes the ones available in India like Apple TV+, YouTubeTV, etc. and the ones not available in India like HBO Max, Hulu, etc.) at their own pace (usually). But in 2020, nearly every major OTT platform in India (both international and regional) has been targeting social media stars and influencers to sign for their digital streaming services.
2020 has been the year for influencers (along with OTTs) – not just in India but all over the world, because of the worldwide pandemic. Influencers and social media stars have really helped a lot of people during these troubling times – especially the people between the age demographic of 16-35 years. Their encouragement to wait out the lockdown, their funny sketches which they would upload regularly to help us pass our time and the various shenanigans they get upto so that we could forget about the pandemic and this horrible year for just a moment, have been inspiring. And OTTs have been noticing these guys for over a year now.
Social media star Saloni Gaur got a contract from the broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks for a show on its streaming service SonyLIV. YouTubers Dolly Singh and Prajakta Kohli were featured in a web series and Youtube comedian CarryMinati have already signed on for a feature film. Stand Up Comic Vir Das has even released two Netflix standup specials this year.
This focus on trial-and-error, niche stories which do not have to face the wrath of the producers for box office numbers will be a good place for these social media icons to start. This will help them in getting more sponsors and will lead to brand endorsement (in many cases, it already has). Mother Dairy and Mobile Premier League got Stand-up artist Zakir and YouTube star Amit Bhadana and featured them in their ads, respectively.
The Malayalam Indie OTT platform – Koode, which was launched earlier this year, specifically aims to create independent films with popular social media stars and other digital influencers as their primary targets for creating content around. They are currently only aiming for Malayalam influencers, but with enough time, money and subscriptions, they hope to work with more popular Indian influencers to create content in multiple/ other languages.
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