In an evening of learning, interacting and associating, Dish TV’s OTT Platform Watcho launched the Watcho Storytellers Conclave, with an aim to empower filmmakers and content creators. The evening witnessed insightful masterclasses and interactive sessions which can be credited for creating and opening up new avenues for both emerging and established talents allowing them to share their unique narratives and freely showcase their artistic expressions.

Watcho held its inaugural launch of the conclave in Kolkata, featuring eminent filmmakers and creators such as Prosenjit Chatterjee, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Prasun Chatterjee, and Indranil Roy Chowdhury, among others. This platform will foster an environment that encourages creativity and innovation helping emerging talents overcome traditional barriers to success and enhancing the overall entertainment landscape.

The organisers claimed the effort will revolutionise content creation with Watcho, Dish TV’s popular OTT aggregation platform. This event is part of a series, with the next editions planned for Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Manoj Dobhal, CEO and executive director of Dish TV India, in a chat with The Statesman, shared, “We have been known to take groundbreaking ideas. We have been creating and showing content for years. We want to change the perception now and tell the world that content creators can generate content and share with us. We want to come across as someone who can amplify content and enable the growth of good content.”

The CEO said that India is buzzing with talent in the fields of art, literature, storytelling, short and long-form content. “Everyone is vying for a platform. This platform allows them to have complete freedom and ownership. To reach a larger audience, without compromising on their creativity or diluting their thought process, this kind of platform is unique,” said Mr Dobhal.

The platform only insists upon consumable content, which is not vulgar or objectionable. We are not constraining your imagination. We will move to the south and west with Watcho. In Mumbai, we will have a confluence of national and regional content, informed Mr Dobhal.

With a vast audience combining 10 million+ households, this platform’s diversely curated content will enhance audiences’ visual experience with fresh, hand-picked programmes.

The launch of the visionary platform was graced by eminent filmmakers, actors and creators with the first session hosting Prosenjit Chatterjee as a panelist engaging in a discourse on ‘Masterclass on Crafting Local Stories for Global Audiences’. Prosenjit Chatterjee shared his insights, stating, “DishTV Watcho is a game-changer for emerging filmmakers and creators. It levels the playing field, making it easier than ever to share your vision with the world.”

The second session featured Indian film-makers Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, a National Award-winning director as well as Prasun Chatterjee, Filmfare award-winning director, Romi Maitei, National award-winning director, contributing their insights in the session ‘Beyond Box Office and OTTs: Emerging Filmmakers Breaking Barriers’. While talking to The Statesman, Prasun Chatterjee shared, “The initiative that has been taken by Watcho is not just appreciative but an effective one. For films and emerging filmmakers for whom huge-scale film budgets or star casts are unfeasible, but come with exceptional storytelling and narrative content, this platform is an ideal one to showcase such talents and work.”

This platform would not only initiate meaningful conversations within the film community but would help emerging filmmakers and creators better understand the journey towards traversing and overcoming the challenges associated, fostering an environment where creativity can easily thrive. Sharing the experience with The Statesman, Tanmoy Dey, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, whose work has travelled across 50+ film festivals, winning him several awards and accolades, states, “The masterclasses and sessions with such visionary personalities were extremely insightful, while the evening also paved a way for connecting and interacting with several other fellow emerging filmmakers, creators and several others.”