MAM
Supari Studios appoints Shirley D’Costa as chief business officer
MUMBAI: Award winning content studio, Supari Studios, appoints Shirley D’Costa as the company’s Chief Business Officer.
In her current role, Shirley will be responsible for building partnerships with current and new clients, in addition to developing growth and marketing strategies to drive the business further.
A MICA alumni, Shirley brings with her over 13 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Supari Studios, she was Digital Practice Lead (West Region) at MSL, the strategic communications and engagement division of Publicis Groupe, where she was responsible for driving the growth and adoption of digital communication in the region. In the past, Shirley has also been Business Lead at 22feet Tribal Worldwide, where she started off among their first set of employees and went on to lead a team of 70. In her extensive career, Shirley has spearheaded digital strategy for several global brands such as Axe, Disney, Marvel, Red Bull, TRESemmé and L’Oreal, to name a few.
Speaking on the appointment Manoti Jain, Chief Operating Officer, Supari Studios said, “We're extremely pleased to have Shirley on board with us as our Chief Business Officer. In addition to her industry experience spanning over a decade, she brings a business-oriented and strategic perspective to our organisation, further establishing the integrated content studio model that we are aiming to build. Her expertise will be instrumental in driving our growth in this dynamic marketplace, helping us stay ahead of the curve. We welcome Shirley to the Supari family, and look forward to creating an impactful experience for the company as well as for our clients, together.”
On joining Supari Studios, Shirley D’Costa said, “As a previous collaborator, I’ve known of the phenomenal work that Supari Studios has churned out in the branded content space. Now, having joined the company at an instrumental juncture, I’m excited to set up its business and strategy offerings as a full fledged Content Studio, further extending its influence in the content industry.
Apart from our aligned goals of creating impactful, effective, video content, I am eagerly looking forward to working with the very driven, hungry, talented team at Supari Studios.”
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.
