Govt creating umbrella body to provide assistance to filmmakers: Irani

The government is creating an umbrella body to provide assistance to filmmakers, Union I&B minister Smriti Irani said in Mumbai on Sunday.

Noting that organisations like the National Film Development Corporation are working in silos, Irani said the present mode of functioning makes the whole industry work in a fragmented manner.

"We are planning to create a committee that will bring all of these functionalities under one umbrellaWe would like to leverage technology to ensure that the distance between government and the a filmmaker needing assistance is lessened," she said inaugurating the media and entertainment industry annual gathering Ficci-Frames here this evening.

Speaking about the need for the media and entertainment to adopt technology at a faster pace, she said the industry must look at using artificial intelligence to enhance customer experience.

"Can we use data analytics to understand the needs of consumer because it tells us what kind of content they are consuming, what they want in terms of viewership etc. It might seem intrusive to a few people but with an expanding market, data analytics can help you create more content that the consumers want," she said.

Irani also said government is planning to make the Indian Institute of Mass Communication a deemed university so that it helps the students enhance their creativity by allowing them to pursue different subjects.

"Creativity is at its best when it is multi- disciplinary The IIMC as a deemed university can create an academic ecosystem where on its own it gives its students an opportunity to study every kind of subject so that the creative instinct of its students is not just inclined to one subject but enhances all of it," she said.