Under the agreement, content from National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), International Film Festival of India (IFFI), and Doordarshan will be screened on Amazon’s streaming platforms Amazon Prime and Amazon miniTV.
There will also be a dedicated storefront for books and journals from I&B ministry’s publications division on Amazon’s site. The company’s virtual digital assistant Alexa will be able to disseminate Prasar Bharti news bulletins, and Prasar Bharti music will also be available on Alexa and Amazon Music.
“The LoE with Amazon also includes aspects on promotion of Indian heritage through a dedicated catalogue of publication division’s books on India’s culture on the Amazon e-commerce website, and promotion of Indian music on Amazon Music and Alexa. Speeches of the president and prime minister, content related to key events of national importance and public interest campaigns, and daily news bulletins would be disseminated through Alexa and Amazon Music,” an official statement from the I&B ministry said.
I&B minister Anurag Singh Thakur said: “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 (FTII) and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India (SRFTII), and help to reduce the period of struggle for the talented artists coming out of prestigious film institutes of India”.
According to a statement issued by Amazon, Prime Video and miniTV will also work towards providing internships, and scholarships to students at FTII and SRFTII.
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Further, skill-based masterclasses will be organised for the students of various film and TV institutes and an annual talent programme under the umbrella of IFFI will be conducted, where 75 artists, shortlisted by the I&B ministry will be selected and coached.Gaurav Gandhi, vice-president, Asia-Pacific, Prime Video, said, “Our collaboration 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”.
At the event in New Delhi where the LoE was signed, Thakur also said that over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platforms “have the responsibility of ensuring that their platforms do not propagate vulgarity and abuse camouflaged as creative expressions”.
“OTT must reflect the collective conscience of the country,” he added.
