Amazon India and Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) join hands to boost India’s creative economy

Varun Dhawan

Amazon India today announced that it has signed a Letter of Engagement (LoE) with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Government of India, with an objective of growing India's creative economy. As part of this collaboration, Amazon and MIB will help build pathways to promote creative talent in India, create capacity across film and TV institutes, and globally showcase Made in India creative content. The LoE was signed at The National Media Centre, New Delhi in presence of Hon'ble Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India, Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President Public Policy at Amazon India and Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Prime Video. Hindi film actor Varun Dhawan was also in attendance.

As part of the LoE, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and IMDb will work together to help enable discoverability of India's creative talent by listing their profiles and skill sets on the ranking's platform. Prime Video and miniTV will both work towards providing internships, and scholarships to students at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTII). This will enable students to gain real work exposure, and become industry-ready. Additionally, to commemorate the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations, iconic content from NFDC, Doordarshan, and International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be showcased on Prime Video and miniTV, reaching a vast majority of Indians, furthering its cultural influence and expanding its soft-power. Furthermore, skill-based masterclasses will be organized for the students of various film and TV institutes and 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow - an annual talent enrichment program under the umbrella of IFFI where 75 young, talented artists, shortlisted by MIB will be selected and coached.

Amazon.in will also curate a special storefront feature to promote books and journals across genre reflecting India's proud heritage from MIB's Publication Division. The Alexa All India Radio skill published by Prasar Bharti will help disseminate news bulletins, and educational content. The collaboration will also help in broadening the reach of Prasar Bharati's, rich and diverse music via Amazon Music and Alexa.

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Speaking about the partnership with Amazon, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India, 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"

"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," said Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President Public Policy at Amazon India. "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," added Chetan.

"At Prime Video, we have always looked at ourselves as the enablers of the creative ecosystem. 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," said Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President, Asia-Pacific, Prime Video. "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," added Gaurav.

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