Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday launched the country's first government-owned over-the-top (OTT) platform, ‘CSpace’, in Thiruvananthapuram. The platform aims to provide people-oriented meaningful infotainment to viewers and leverage the various opportunities in the sector, India Today reported.
People will be able to download the CSpace app from the Play Store and App Store starting from March 7.
Managed by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), CSpace will provide a platform for filmmakers to feature their award-winning films, short films, and documentaries that did not receive a wide theatrical release but have been critically acclaimed.
It will also screen films that have been showcased at various international film festivals. KSFDC is a state-owned company, which has been entrusted with the promotion of the Malayalam cinema on behalf of Kerala's Department of Cultural Affairs.
Shaji N Karun, film director, and KSFDC Chairman, said the platform is essentially a response to the "growing imbalances and multifarious challenges" in the sector in terms of content selection and propagation.
KSFDC has chosen a curator panel of 60 eminent experts to select and approve the content for the platform. Among these are eminent cultural personalities like Santosh Sivan, Benyamin, Sunny Joseph, OV Usha, Shyamaprasad, and Jeo Baby.
As per reports, a three-member panel will watch and judge each piece of content and decide whether it is worthy to be screened on the platform.
In its first phase, CSpace will feature 42 films, including 35 feature films, six documentaries, and one short film.
CSpace will operate on a pay-per-view basis wherein a user will be required to pay ₹75 for watching a film. For short films and documentaries, the amount will be less. Half the amount paid by users to watch a film on the platform will go to its original creator.
CSpace has been launched by the Kerala government at a time when the Malayalam cinema is making its presence felt in various parts of the country and around the world via existing OTT giants like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
The launch of CSpace will also address the major concern of the exhibitors and distributors regarding their dwindling profits due to producers opting for direct release across OTT platforms, KV Abdul Malik, MD, KSFDC said.
“To accommodate their concerns, CSpace has decided to showcase only those feature films that have been released in cinema halls," Malik added.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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