Last year, filmmaker Anand Raaj launched Open Theatre, an audience-driven OTT platform that houses indie films. He says the platform was born out of the frustration he felt at indie movies constantly being sidelined by streaming giants and distributors. “We’re building a community-driven platform, where the audience isn’t just watching the film, but also contributing through backing and crowdfunding,” says Raaj, who tried the experiment with the platform’s first original, Andaman, last year.
Encouraged by the response, Raaj and Smita Singh, the platform’s director, are now setting the stage for their second film, Arjun Bewakoof, starring Sanjay Mishra.
Their business strategy is simple — through social media, they spread the word about the film in development, and invite investments from the audience. When the film is made and eventually released on Open Theatre, the profits generated by its pay-per-view system are directed to the investors. Raaj adds, “With Andaman, we had sold more than 50,000 tickets in two months, and we made the audience profit partners.”
Anand Raaj
Singh reveals that they have started Arjun Bewakoof’s marketing, even though pre-production hasn’t started yet. “We’re targeting five lakh viewers before the film is even made. If we can make a film and recover the cost through our audience, it becomes a viable model. There is a studio in the US [Angel Studios] that makes films primarily through audience participation. We believe we can create that kind of community. Since we started the campaign for Arjun Bewakoof, more than 30,000 followers have joined our page,” says Singh, adding that they have got investments from at least 1500 members and are aiming for a capital of at least Rs 2 crore.
Rs 59
Cost of a ticket in Open Theatre’s pay-per-view model