Flipkart brings an Oscar-winning producer on board as it starts producing video content

• Flipkart aims to produce and deliver “mobile first” and “interactive” video content.
  
• It has brought on board Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga to curate content.
  
• The first series to go live on the platform is a celebrity interview based show with Bollywood producer Farah Khan.
  

Flipkart announced the launch of Flipkart video originals, which will mark the e-commerce giant’s official debut in original content.

With its foray into original content, Flipkart aims to produce and deliver “mobile first” and “interactive” video content.

It has brought on board Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga to curate content for it. It also partnered with production houses like Studio Next, Frames and Sikhya Productions for original films. The first series to go live on the platform is a celebrity interview based show with Bollywood producer Farah Khan.

“When we launched our Video platform earlier this year, our agenda was clear and we were keen to play a role in on-boarding new customers who are not necessarily new to the internet, but are new to e-commerce. There is an existing gap that needs to be filled and at Flipkart, we saw an opportunity to create great video content which is easier for people to consume, that is mobile-first,” said Prakash Sikaria, Vice President - Growth & Monetization at Flipkart.

Flipkart’s entry into the OTT space comes at a time when the sector is heavily crowded by big players like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar among others.

In August this year, when Flipkart had announced its video platform, it marked an entry into the exact sweet spot where its competitor Amazon was. Amazon Prime Video bundles content with a prime membership for its e-commerce platform. Prime Video shot to popularity because of its affordable plans which offered all its benefits – free and faster shipping of products, video and music – all in one membership.

Amazon Prime also produced Indian shows like Made in Heaven, 4 More Shots Please, tailoring them to local needs.

But it's not the only new-age company to venture to an OTT platform. Zomato too launched ‘Zomato Originals’ in September where it offered 18 original shows each of which had episodes ranging between three to fifteen minutes.

See also:
Zomato launches its own video platform with original shows
Flipkart wants to be an ‘Indian’ company even though Walmart owns it