iWorld
discovery+ unveils new documentary ‘Reaching the Sky’ ahead of Tokyo Olympics
Mumbai: Discovery’s streaming service platform discovery+ has unveiled an exclusive documentary ‘Reaching the Sky’ featuring skateboarding prodigy Sky Brown. The documentary complements Discovery’s existing Tokyo Olympics content and it will be available for streaming on discovery+ from July 21.
Reaching the Sky charts the 12-year-old’s journey from being a child skateboarder to representing Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics. The 45-minute film includes never-before-seen footage of her family time, skateboarding training, and surfing practice sessions, giving viewers a peek into the life and personality of the talented, young athlete.
Currently ranked third in the world, Sky will be Britain’s youngest ever summer Olympian. In the documentary, she speaks candidly about her life, training, the accident, and her ambition of winning the Olympic gold medal for Great Britain in the Women’s Park Discipline scheduled on Wednesday, 4 August.
Reaching the Sky also features other well-known names from the world of skateboarding and surfing. This includes world number one street skateboarder Nyjah Huston and surfing pro Rob Machado who share their thoughts on Sky’s achievements and potential.
“I’m excited that people across the world are going to watch Reaching the Sky on discovery+,” Sky Brown said. “It was fun to film, and I got to do some really cool stuff like training with Nyjah Huston and Rob Machado. I want to be in the Olympics to inspire girls to get out there. I hope when they see me, a tiny girl just like them, going high, they’ll think they can do it too. I hope to get gold; that’s the dream, but if not, I still got in the Olympics and that’s really cool.”
“Sky Brown is a supremely talented young athlete whose breath-taking skills, fearlessness, and personality make her a true star with an amazing dream,” Discovery Sports’ head of sports production and content, Scott Young said. “Her story is captivating, and we are excited to have been able to collaborate with Sky on the hugely entertaining documentary which charts her incredible rise to success and includes exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of her challenging road to the Tokyo Olympics 2020.”
iWorld
Anirudh Ravichander and Universal Music India join forces to take South India’s sound to the world
The composer behind 13 billion streams launches Albuquerque Records with UMI as its exclusive global partner
MUMBAI: Universal Music India has struck an exclusive partnership with Albuquerque Records, the freshly minted independent label of singer-composer Anirudh Ravichander, in a deal that bets big on South India’s booming pop and hip-hop scene going global.
The arrangement, announced on 17 March, will see Universal Music India handle future pop and hip-hop releases by Anirudh himself, as well as artists signed to the new label. A first release is already in the pipeline for April, featuring Anirudh.
The numbers behind the man are hard to ignore. Debuting in 2012 with the viral sensation “Why This Kolaveri Di”, Anirudh has since clocked over 13 billion audio streams across more than 770 tracks, cementing his position as the No.1 South Indian artist on Spotify by total streams. His fingerprints are all over some of the Tamil film industry’s biggest musical moments, from Hukum and Vaathi Coming to Arabic Kuthu and the A23 Theme.
But Albuquerque Records is a different beast. Built for the non-film space, it is designed to nurture independent talent and champion the next wave of Indian pop voices. “Universal Music India’s leadership in pop and hip-hop made them the natural partner,” said Anirudh. “I’m excited to take independent voices to audiences around the world.”
Universal Music India’s chairman and CEO Devraj Sanyal was equally effusive. “Anirudh represents the future of Indian music, bold, original, and with enormous potential,” he said. “Identifying transformative talent is our superpower, and this partnership reflects that belief.”
Sanujeet Bhujabal, managing director of Universal Music India, framed the deal as more than a distribution play. “Albuquerque Records represents Anirudh’s bold artistic vision in the world of pop and hip-hop,” he said. “True to his legacy of innovation, this partnership is set to establish yet another landmark creative space, this time for the emerging world of iPop and beyond.”
For Universal Music India, the deal deepens a long-running push into South India’s four key language markets: Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. The label already has regional imprints, film partnerships with Maddock Films and Excel Entertainment, and a growing non-film roster. Landing Anirudh, arguably the south’s most bankable music brand, is a statement of intent. South Indian music has the streams. Now it is coming for the world.
