MAM
Goafest firms up list of speakers
MUMBAI: The Goafest Committee has announced the first list of internationally acclaimed speakers for the event.
The speakers are: The Coca-Cola Company VP- global advertising strategy and content excellence Jonathan Mildenhall; Publicis Groupe SA COO and member of management board Jean Yves Naouri; Omnicom Group vice chairman Tim Love; ZenithOptimedia CEO Steve King; and Intel Corporation Apac director- strategy, media and integrated marketing Jayant Murty.
The advertising Conclave will be held on 19 April, which will be followed by two days of Goafest on 20-21April.
Goafest 2012 chairman Arvind Sharma said, “We have lined up a great festival and a fabulous line up of speakers for the Conclave as well as the seminars. The list of speakers addressing the Conclave have the width of vision and experience to make us think about ‘Ideas for impacting the full circle’- the theme of the Conclave. We will announce the seminar speaker names soon. I am certain that these speakers will present to delegates a rich future-facing perspective.”
Another aspect Sharma touched upon was the Marketing Wizards initiative in association with the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). Each member of the ISA can nominate up to two rising stars from their marketing teams under the age of 30 years to Goafest 2012.
“This year we are focusing on getting more clients to be a part of Goafest. Marketing Wizards was created as an initiative to drive young advertisers’ participation. I must share that our efforts in getting more clients participation through the Marketing Wizards initiative are delivering rich dividends. We have received a good response from young clients. Many seats have been filled and we are expecting the remaining seats to be filled in soon,” Sharma added.
Goafest 2012 is being organised by Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Ad Club Bombay in partnership for the fifth year.
Over the years, specialist areas like OOH and ambient, design, digital and mobile advertising, direct, and integrated advertising have been growing in importance. In recognition of this phenomenon, in 2012, Abbies at Goafest will have provision for Grand Prix in all the nine verticals- the Grand Prix is being introduced in media awards as well.
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.
