In 2023, Friday Filmworks will put a lot of emphasis on sports: Devendra Deshpande

With thrillers like "Special 26," "Baby," "A Wednesday," "Special OPS 1.5," etc., Friday Filmworks has established a name for itself. "It's been a truly thrilling roller-coaster ride. According to Devendra Deshpande, CEO of Friday Filmworks, "We have had five significant releases since the year began. He is currently in charge of advancing Friday Filmworks and all of its other divisions (Friday Storytellers, Boot Room Idea Lab) portions of his interview with Sociapa.

What do you see as Friday Filmworks future? Where do you envision it in two years?

In all of our verticals, including movies, series, documentaries, and sports, we are working to create global, scalable, and sustainable assets (IPs). Sports will receive a lot of attention in the upcoming years, and BootRoomSports has some really exciting plans in the works.

How has the production company's 2022 been so far? What are your intentions and expectations for 2023?

In every way, it's been an exhilarating roller-coaster ride. There have been five major releases. When the year began, we had:

‘Kaun Pravin Tambe?’ which aired on Disney+ Hotstar and was a direct-to-digital movie.

‘Operation Romeo’ - Netflix broadcasts after a theatrical release.

‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’ - A four-part Voot documentary, which was based on the well-known India-Australia test series of 2020–2021, was released.

‘Secrets of Kohinoor’ - A two-part documentary series with Discovery Plus that is a continuing installment of the "Secrets" series.

‘Khakee - The Bihar Chapter’ - Netflix is currently streaming.

With KPT and BMTD, we officially launched BootRoom Sports. We'll soon be announcing the schedule of sports content. The year 2023 promises to be challenging and exciting.

What upcoming projects do you have? Have you already partnered with any streaming services? Any plans for international collaborations?

We have a digital thriller action that was shot overseas and is based on real events that will be released in the second quarter of 2023. "Special Ops Season 2" and the upcoming "Secrets" instalment (Discovery Plus) will both be accessible in the second half of the year. We'll be working on our upcoming full-length movie and a new web series, both of which should go into production. We can only hope for another busy year!

It doesn't get more international than our partner slate, which includes Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, Discovery Plus, Viacom, etc.

What are your creative marketing and promotional initiatives?

One will always need to be disruptive and innovative in a world of many launches and growing clutter. With our partners, we looked at more contemporary approaches to audience engagement without compromising on scale, putting special emphasis on communication (creative)/media selection and utilizing digital for maximum impact. Our most recent launches have been an effort in that direction.

(Credit to Netflix) "Khakee - The Bihar Chapter" was heavily promoted throughout metropolises and "B" centres, and for the first time, the programme had a vernacular logo to establish the connection. Accordingly, creative suites were created and distributed as the medium that went beyond just reach and towards relevance.

With the advent of digital movie distribution, the traditional ideas of the box office have changed. What do you think about movies being released in both formats? How are theatres and OTT compatible?

As long as the experience is worthwhile for one's time and money, cinematic experiences are a social necessity that everyone yearns for! In my opinion, there are enough opportunities for both forms of entertainment to coexist, so neither the OTT nor the theatre should be considered substitutes. Some of the most recent releases support it.

Piracy is still an evil that exists. How can the tide of piracy be halted? Is the sector sufficiently united in this regard?

Everyone is affected by this important problem.

Within hours of its airing, "Khakee - The Bihar Chapter" was accessible via Torrent and Telegram. Technical teams are putting in a constant effort to stop it (50-plus sites have been flagged off so far). Sadly, it seems like the pirates are always one step ahead. To stop this, the industry is remarkably united.

OTT platforms have access to audience data, allowing them to comprehend audience trends and behavior. Will you be using data or market research to determine whether your projects have a chance of succeeding?

We firmly believe that good stories will always find an audience. Stories take longer to develop than trends, which would have changed several times during that time. For us, stories define the trends rather than the other way around. Trends are immediate and constantly evolving.

Understanding audience habits and behavior is especially crucial when planning a marketing campaign and distribution strategy. And we are constantly interested in comprehending and applying those lessons. We also work with organizations like Vitrina A.I., who aid in our comprehension of international content trends and strategies, allowing us to concentrate on the bigger picture.