"Instead of trading stocks and currencies, now we do films," VMC co-founder Abhayanand Singh spills the beans on some important film financing facts.

In this age of beaucoup de consumption, if a store told you it sold only a single flavour of cheese, life would be boring. A store, after all, has to ensure variety and sometimes certain sections are more attractive than the others; the same applies to the content market. “The content boom is a very recent phenomenon, say the last 3-5 years,” says Abhayanand Singh, co-founder, Vistas Media Capital.

Since the market for streaming services has increased by 37% in 2020, he feels that people are eager for more content as much as better content.

The content boom means demand, which implies the supply system works overtime. But the systems that fund content in India haven’t changed in years, falling behind in international standards.

To change the ye olde ways of film financing in India, Singh proposes a solution, which is an amalgam of his expertise in finance and his passion for films through which he looks to shape the film financing structure of the country.

The Bridge Between Creativity and Finance: A Disruption or A Blessing?

Having worked in financial institutions and born and brought up with a love for films (his father owned a film theatre) Abhayanand makes a profound observation, “We've interacted with a lot of creative guys. They are very good at what they do, they can make great content, but obviously, they don’t know how to structure the financing of a film. On the other hand, when we speak to finance guys in India, they haven’t dealt with the financing of content.”

Therefore, the gap is rather obvious that VMC wants to bridge. But India doesn’t have institutionalised structures for financing movies. While Hollywood has a robust financing structure, Indian film financing is light years behind. Abhayanand explains, “What I am trying towards is disrupting the financing of content and production in the country. Institutionalised funding is not available for content.” VMC is the revolution film financing needs in India.

Content Boom and OTTs: The Rise of Regional Platforms

The announcement of the OTT Planet Marathi and VMC’s contribution to it is well-known by now. So, we had to ask: why regional? Abhayanand answers, “Numbers; if you look at the consumption of content in India, it’s heavily skewed towards regional content consumption whether that’s news or any other form of media. So, the next wave of content boom will happen through regional languages. It will happen in not just the OTTs, but in every industry segment.”

In fact, regional streaming platforms have been proven to capture the hyperlocal market in ways giants like Amazon or Netflix cannot.

Films and Financing: The Faithful Connection

Abhayanand Singh, born in Bihar and educated in many cities, decided to change tracks and pursue his passion. But he wasn’t a filmmaking student, so he simply played to his own strengths and had the idea of creating a “film studio with a different financing model.” He truly made the best of both worlds: “I have continued doing what I used to do in the past, just instead of trading stocks and currencies, now we do films.”

In 2021, the connection will go further as VMC has plans for a film festival and even more projects in the pipeline.

Abhayanand Singh in conversation with Harshita Dagha