By a majority of people, movies are considered the highest art form. And as time is changing, this art is also evolving. Improved writing, story, editing and narrative techniques, photography, concept art, animation, visual effects, etc., have provided a diverse transformation in modern cinema.

Despite these improvements in this art, a majority of young and budding filmmakers find it difficult to showcase and monetise their talent without additional monetary implications.

Providing a platform for these independent filmmakers is ABC Talkies, a film tech startup bringing the Cinema Revolution by enabling independent filmmakers to monetise their creations.

ABC Talkies | World’s First Cinema Marketplace

Launched by Shalibhadra Shah, Siddharth Sinha and Jaideep Abichandani, ABC Talkies, in its present avatar, is an open-access streaming platform and a marketplace for cinema.

The platform enables filmmakers to upload their films free-of-cost or overheads, get a non-biased rating, and monetise their films on their terms. In addition to this, ABC Talkies further allows for monetisation through sales to other OTT platforms and licensing of rights.

This DIPP recognised StartUp under the StartUp India Programme of the Government of India recently got approved for Rs. 35 Lakhs Seeding funding under SISFS (StartUp India Seed Funding Scheme) through AIC-RNTU, Bhopal (Atal Innovation Center – Rabindra Nath Tagore University, Bhopal).

Need For The Platform

ABC Talkies addresses a major pain point for young and budding filmmakers and a long-felt void in the industry, i.e. Marketing & Monetisation. As per the founders, there is tremendous potential in independent cinema, but due to monetary implications and production issues, budding filmmakers are unable to showcase their talent.

“As of today, there is no existing platform dedicated to films that allow young and budding filmmakers to showcase and monetise their talent without additional monetary implications. This is the single most unique feature of the solution. Box-office from ABC Talkies not only fulfils this big VOID but also offers additional industry-first services not offered by any other platform so far,” says Shalibhadra Shah in an exclusive conversation with The StartupLab.

USP Of ABC Talkies

ABC Talkies is working to create a film marketplace eco-system, which will bring all stakeholders of the films production industry on a single platform. Presently, the startup offers a completely free hosting platform and provides moviemakers with the freedom to decide the price.

USP and other benefits that ABC Talkies provides filmmakers are:

• Opportunity to sell various rights that help in monetising the film
• Opportunity to monetise further by licensing to other OTTs.
• First-of-its-kind UNBIASED RATING SYSTEM for films using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
• High level of regional content, which is the fast-growing market today.

The media-tech startup has also planned several major disruptions in the way people consume and experience films.

Present Situation And Future 

Presently focusing on content acquisition and network building, ABC Talkies has onboarded 270+ filmmakers. Additionally, the film tech startup has 200+ Films on its platform and 10 Nationwide Channel Partners. Working with a team of 10 members, the film tech startup has also received a funding commitment of Rs 2 Crore, of which Rs 1 Crore has already been disbursed to the startup.

Bringing revolution in the digital entertainment space, ABC Talkies is on a mission to be a Unified Marketplace for Film Industry and aims to cater to Global Film Makers and Talent, thus setting a new benchmark for Indian Technology solutions on a global scale.

The startup has aggressive expansion plans and signed an MoU with African entrepreneurs for establishing ABC Talkies Africa. It is also in discussions with a virtual event company for a white labelling platform and partnership.

ABC Talkies is in the process of announcing its first original production in its anniversary month, and it has plans to pursue kids content aggressively in the coming year. The startup may also announce its first major industry-wide disruption this year.

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