Imtiaz Ali launches project for budding content creators

Five most viewed videos would be judged by the film maker and the best will win Rs 100,000

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali is giving a chance to aspiring filmmakers and content creators to showcase their talent on a digital platform through a project, "SPOTLight".

Entertainment mobile app nexGTV has partnered with the Tamasha helmer for the initiative, which will allow people to develop original short videos across a variety of genres, including horror, satire, drama, social, comedy fiction and reality.

The selected videos will be carried under SPOTLight. Imtiaz will judge top five-viewed videos on the app every month and select one video for the prize of Rs 1akh.

"India, today, is brimming with talented individuals just looking for ways top express themselves through their creativity. SPOTLlight gives them the perfect stage to channel their genius to create something that resonates with the public. I am glad to be involved in such a wonderful initiative and look forward to seeing the best entries," the filmmaker said.

He added it can be any aspect of the videos, from music to the story, which can be a parameter for judging the entries but as a director, he will be looking at the script, storytelling and presentation. "Because of this endeavour very few people are going to complain that, they did not get any chance to prove themselves. It doesn't cost any money also," said the film maker.

The director often gets request from budding filmmakers to look at their content and stories, and Imtiaz said he will now direct those people to "SPOTLight", which will help their talent reach to a wider audience.

Interested individuals can get started by creating their account on the app and uploading their content.

Speaking at the launch, Abhesh Verma, COO of nexGTV said, every content uploaded would be moderated and would make sure they follow the guidelines. He added that "The second prize winner would get his next video produced by us (nexGTV)."

Verma said that SPOTLight is just an inabler at this point, the talented can upload their video and promote them using social networking sites but, the content would be available only in SPOTLight.