MAM
First global edition of EEMAX Awards ropes in 19 sponsors
MUMBAI: Indian event industry’s apex body – Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA), which will be taking its annual awards global this year, has roped in as many as 19 sponsors.
Some of the brands that have come on board are Renault (Automobile partner), Colors (Conclave partner), Maharashtra Unlimited (State partner), CNBC TV18 (Official broadcast partner), Videocon (Support partner), Pepsi (Beverage partner) and Bacardi (Beverage partner) amongst others.
The EEMAX Global Awards are scheduled for 20 September, 2015 in Mumbai and will be preceded by the EEMAX Global Conclave on 19 and 20 September. The awards aims to identify, celebrate and honour the best events and experiential marketing projects from India and around the world.
EEMA received a huge number of entries for the EEMAX Global Awards. Agencies across India, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the US have send in their entries and registered for the event.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com EEMA president Sabbas Joseph said, “The number of entries has been over whelming. It is certainly beyond expectation. We will give away 30 awards and I am looking forward to the awards night.”
The three level selection process, involves taking the award entries through a screening jury, a global jury and peer voting by members of EEMA to choose the winners in 29 categories that span entertainment events, social events, sporting events, weddings, exhibitions, digital events, government events, education programs and CSR.
“Indian event companies, which run operations globally is what triggered us to take the awards global. For the first year, we will be honouring a chosen few international icons,” informed Joseph.
The EEMAX Global Awards are a clear sign of India’s event industry going global. Indian event companies are being retained by international clients and brands for development of activation programs as well as corporate events, mega public events and also sporting galas.
The event industry in India has grown exponentially over the last two decades with multiple entities operating in this space, in various segments and levels across 100+ cities in India. “Not long back companies used to spend only two per cent of their marketing budget in experiential marketing, but now they spend 15 to 20 per cent and that shows the progress of the sector,” added Joseph.
Adding entertainment to the awards night will be performers like All India Backchod (AIB), Shaan, Ustaad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shillong Choir.
“The positive side of the event sector will be discussed and portrayed throughout the conclave, and taking India international will be the theme this year,” Joseph summed up.
Interestingly, the international jury for EEMAX Awards includes the likes of Parineeti Chopra, Dia Mirza, Vikas Bahl, Vivek Oberoi, Prasoon Joshi, Neha Dhupia and others.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
