Assam’s first movie streaming platform Movietonne got a boost from the state government as it was selected for incubation under IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and the Assam government at Start-up Nest.

A group of youth from different backgrounds started the platform for an ailing regional film industry, last year.

“We are excited and happy for this development. It will give us the much needed boost to achieve the goals. It is a great news for all the movie buffs. It is now infused with even more vigour by the support of the government,” Spandan Keot, co-founder of Movietonne and a computer engineer, told The News Mill.

Though these youth are not from film backgrounds, they happen to be movie lovers and want to do something to upgrade regional cinema.

“We will get the mentoring, capacity enhancement training and gain access to the market and funding connects and other key networking opportunities. I think it will be a great help for us to move towards the next level,” Keot added.

Currently, the platform has 34 movies on board, mostly Assamese films. These films would be primarily available at the minimum price which could be displayed, with the help of mobile apps, computers or smart TV, even at the remotest corners.

“Next we are planning to go live with five short films. Very soon we will move to free subscription model with web series and our own content production. We are also planning to have a web portal for the filmmakers and other film technicians to communicate among themselves. Rating based user accounts will be there, with functionality to showcase their previous works. That would be a collaborative platform for the film associates to find, communicate, help themselves,” said Keot.

The other members Sangita Kalita, Uddipta Gogoi and Gunajit Sharma too are hopeful that in a short period of time they will be able to arrange other northeastern films for the viewers across the globe.

With the regional films struggling to get a space in the theatres and other platforms, start-ups like Movietonne are expected to bridge the gap of the films and the viewers.

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About Abdul Gani

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Abdul Gani is a Guwahati-based journalist