iWorld
Netflix: DreamWorks’ Cobb to lead kids, family content team, deal with Orange renewed
MUMBAI: Two significant developments have taken place at Netflix, a leading internet entertainment service with 104 million members in over 190 countries, including India, enjoying over 125 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including originals.
Orange and Netflix have inked a major agreement and Melissa Cobb will lead Netflix kids and family content team.
Orange, one of the leading telcos with sales of 40,9 billion euros in 2016, and Netflix have renewed the agreement signed in 2014 for the distribution of Netflix for Orange TV customers in France, and have expanded their partnership to all countries in which the Orange Group is present.
This strategic partnership will enable the Group’s subsidiaries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East to distribute Netflix in the future, bringing their customers exclusive content of this service to all their screens.
Netflix will be offered to Orange Poland customers in the coming months as part of its TV offers. Other launches will follow in 2018.
“We want to offer the best content,” notes Orange CEO Stéphane Richard.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said, “This partnership offers the possibility for millions of our customers to enjoy the leading entertainment service seamlessly, in one place.”
Cobb has joined Netflix as vice-president, kids and family, overseeing the creation and acquisition of series and films for children and families. Based in the Los Angeles office, Cobb reports to the chief content officer Ted Sarandos.
In her role, Cobb leads the content team responsible for bringing kids and family titles to Netflix members with an expanded focus on high quality series and event programming across the spectrum of kids and family entertainment, including both animation and live action.
Cobb joins Netflix from DreamWorks, where most recently she was the chief creative officer and head of studio for Oriental DreamWorks. Based in Shanghai, China, she oversaw all aspects of running the studio and U.S./China collaboration including creative oversight of all projects in development and production, business strategy, production strategy and more for a slate of high quality animated feature films targeted to a global audience.
iWorld
Prime Video to stream Tamil thriller Exam from May 15
Seven-episode series from National Award-winner A. Sarkunam streams in India and 240-plus countries
MUMBAI: Prime Video announced on April 27th that Exam, a taut seven-episode suspense drama set against the crucible of high-stakes competitive testing, will premiere on May 15th in India and across more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Written and directed by A. Sarkunam, a National Award-winner, the series is produced under the Wallwatcher Films banner by the creative duo Pushkar and Gayatri, who have previously delivered Suzhal: The Vortex (both seasons) and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie for the platform. Dushara Vijayan and Aditi Balan lead the cast, with Abbas in a pivotal role.
The show will stream in Tamil with dubbed versions in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada, and subtitles in 15 languages, including English, a distribution sweep that underscores Prime Video’s push to globalise Indian regional content.
Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India, framed the series as both timely and commercially astute. “Exam is a very timely and relevant story that captures the emotional intensity of competitive exams and masterfully transforms it into a thrilling high-stakes drama,” he said. “We believe it is a story that will resonate deeply with millions.” Madhok noted that it was a privilege to once again collaborate with Pushkar and Gayatri following the success of Suzhal and Vadhandhi.
For Pushkar and Gayatri, the series is as much a moral reckoning as a thriller. “With Exam, we wanted to dig into ambition, injustice, and those moral crossroads that people face when pushed to the edge,” the creative producers said. “At the heart of this story is a young woman who refuses to remain powerless. Her journey is not about glamorising defiance, but about exploring the emotional and ethical cost of standing up to a system stacked against her.” They described Prime Video as “an incredible collaborator” and “the perfect home” to bring the series to global audiences.
Wallwatcher Films, which Pushkar and Gayatri founded and run, has been on a productive streak with the platform. Beyond Exam, the company is also readying Vadhandhi Season 2 for Prime Video, making the duo one of the platform’s most active regional creative partners.
The real exam, it seems, is for Prime Video itself: can a Tamil drama about systemic injustice and a young woman’s defiance crack audiences from Chennai to Chicago? If Pushkar and Gayatri’s track record is anything to go by, the answer is likely yes, and the results will be out on May 15th.
