MAM
Focusing on multi-facets of the industry, Goafest 2019 announces a stellar line up on speakers
MUMBAI: The advertising & marketing industry’s apex convention, Goafest has announced its list of illustrious speakers for 2019. The 3-day convention of the best minds in the industry will see prestigious speakers from premier global and Indian advertising, smart technology, software development, entertainment, sports and others. Renowned cricketer Virender Sehwag, Bollywood actors Pankaj Tripathi, Kalki Koechlin and Siddhant Chaturvedi of the recent Gully Boy fame, global advertising maven Gordon Bowen, boxing legend Mary Kom, creative genius Madonna Badger and authors Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu, will be amongst many others to address the knowledge sessions.
Nakul Chopra – Chairman Goafest said “At Goafest our aim has been to create a platform that provides learning, inspiration, collaboration and celebration. Content is the heart of the festival. Jaideep and his team have laboured from August last year to put up this stellar list of speakers. I am sure all delegates – especially the young guns – will have a lot to learn and be inspired from.”
Jaideep Gandhi – Chairman Industry Conclave and Knowledge Seminars said “Every year we try and bring an array of speakers that will provide a window to the current global perspectives in our ever-changing industry. As we do, to bring speakers, from allied fields and other arenas like sports who can inspire our young talent. I am confident that this year too the width and depth of our speaker panel will cover all of these facets.”
Here is a glimpse into Goafest 2019’s dynamic speaker list:
Knowledge Seminars
|
Name |
Designation |
Company |
|
Madonna Badger |
Chief Creative Officer/Founder |
Badger and Winters |
|
HarshwardhansinhZala |
Founder & CEO |
Aerobotics7 |
|
Barry Wacksman |
Vice Chairman and Global Chief Strategy Officer |
R/GA |
|
Gordon Bowen |
Founder and Global Chairman |
McGarryBowen |
|
Lt. Gen. DS Hooda |
Lt. General – Indian Army |
|
|
Virender Sehwag |
Renowned Indian Cricketer |
|
|
Kalki Koechlin |
Indian Born French Actress and Writer |
Duo Session |
|
Siddhant Chaturvedi |
Bollywood Actor & Writer |
|
|
Phil Kemish |
Co-Founder |
Disrupt Media LTD |
|
Mary Kom |
Boxing Legend |
|
|
Navi Radjou |
Author of famous books: Jugaad & Frugal Innovation |
|
|
Jaideep Prabhu |
Authors of famous books: Jugaad & Frugal Innovation |
|
|
Noelle LaCharite |
Director, Developer Evangelism |
Dev Collective- Microsoft |
|
Matt Eastwood |
Global Chief Creative Officer |
McCann Health |
|
Ambarish Mitra |
CEO and Founder |
Blippar |
|
Pankaj Tripathi |
Ace Actor |
|
Industry conclave
|
Name |
Designation |
Company |
|
Dr. A. Velumani |
Creator & Managing Director |
Thyrocare |
|
Ravi Desai |
Director, Mass and Brand Marketing |
Amazon |
|
Vijay Sharma |
Associate Director, Brand Marketing & Heads Digital Media |
Flipkart |
|
Achint Setia |
Vice President, Marketing |
Myntra |
Presented by the Advertising Club and AAAI the Goafest 2019 will once again see the entire advertising and marketing fraternity come together in Goa from 11thApril, 2019 to 13th April 2019.
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.
