Kerala launches first government-backed OTT platform ‘CSpace’ | Latest news India

Cochin: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday launched India’s first state-run over-the-top (OTT) platform ‘CSpace’ in Thiruvananthapuram.

The platform, which will be managed by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), will feature award-winning films, short films, documentaries and other content that have not had a wide theatrical release but have great artistic and cultural merit, they said. people. aware of the matter. Those screened at major international film festivals will find the opportunity to be screened at CSpace.

The KSFDC has chosen a curatorial panel of 60 eminent experts to evaluate the content submitted to the platform. A three-member panel will judge each piece of content and decide whether it is artistically worthy of being screened across the platform, the people said.

In the first phase, 42 films, including 35 feature films, six documentaries and one short film, have been admitted to CSpace and will be available to the public via streaming. CSpace is available for download on both Andriod and iOS.

The platform will operate on a pay-per-view basis. Users only have to pay Rs 75 to watch a movie and an even lower amount to watch short films. Half of the amount that the public pays for content goes to its creator.

In January this year, KSFDC president and renowned filmmaker Shaji N Karun told HT that CSpace was a parallel cultural movement.

He said CSpace would air the kind of “varied” or “different” films made in Malayalam that deserve to reach a global audience. “Our goal is to improve the quality of our audience. At the moment, Tamil and Telugu films are the highest grossers in Kerala cinemas. “We want to help change the behavior pattern of the audience,” he stated.

CSpace was launched at a time when Malayalam cinema is finding resonance in different parts and corners of India and the world thanks to existing OTT giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Known for their realistic narratives and content-driven scripts, Malayalam films directed by their new-age actors and technicians can transcend language barriers and cultivate new fans.

“There is almost a 50% cost that we bear to ensure the technical aspects of a film, the rental cost, quality improvements, website maintenance, etc. The remaining 50% of the revenue from a film that is broadcast will go to its producer. If it is a director who won a state or national award, a part of the income will also go to the intellectual rights of the film. This is a creator-friendly platform in that sense where we give them a share of the revenue,” Karun said earlier.