MAM
Moe’s Art gets a reel deal as Shantanu Anam joins as creative director
MUMBAI: When storytelling meets strategy, the screen just got sharper. Moe’s Art, the creative-first communications consultancy, has appointed Shantanu Anam as its new creative director, signalling a bold push into video-led content across brand films, commercials, and original productions.
With over a decade of experience spanning OTT content, digital media, theatre, and screenwriting, Anam rose to prominence with the viral web series Baked. He has since worn multiple hats writer, actor, director across platforms like All India Bakchod and Arre. Most recently, he served as content head at the Jio-backed media company NEWJ, where he wrote Hotstar Special’s Pariwar and produced Happy Hour. He also starred as Debu in the critically acclaimed dark comedy Dilli Dark, praised for its razor-sharp social satire.
A Syracuse University alumnus, Anam is tasked with strengthening Moe’s Art’s video content vertical, while also expanding the consultancy’s footprint as a brand solutions partner. The focus will be on multi-format storytelling digital-first videos, on-ground activations, and original IPs such as Happily Never After and The Anti-Agency Show aimed at building deeper audience engagement and meaningful brand connections.
Moe’s Art co-founder Vishaal Shah said, “In an increasingly cluttered world where AI often adds to the noise, it has become more important than ever for brands to truly connect with their audiences. Shantanu’s versatility across theatre, digital, and OTT brings a fresh creative edge to what Moe’s Art can offer its clients. With his leadership, we aim to craft storytelling that resonates deeply and sets new benchmarks in branded content and audience engagement.”
Adding his perspective, Shantanu Anam said, “Storytelling is the heartbeat of meaningful communication. At Moe’s Art, I am excited to build on that belief by pushing creative boundaries to craft original, compelling content. My goal is to create work that builds a genuine connection between brands and their audiences’ stories that audiences embrace, and brands can be proud of.”
With Anam on board, Moe’s Art is poised to turn up the volume on video-first storytelling, proving that when creativity and strategy collide, even brands get a standing ovation.
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.
