CHANDIGARH: Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday night to discuss the growing global influence of Indian storytelling capabilities. Sarandos invited creative Indians to use the platform for storytelling and said he cannot wait to see what India creates next.
The meeting coincided with Netflix’s 10th anniversary in India. To mark the milestone, Netflix announced the launch of the Netflix India Storytelling Initiative.
According to Netflix India, the initiative will work in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to strengthen education and skill development in the country’s creative ecosystem.
"Celebrating 10 years of Netflix in India! It was an honour for our Co-CEO Ted Sarandos to meet Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to discuss their shared vision to take India’s media and entertainment industry global. To this effect, we unveiled the ‘Netflix India Storytelling Initiative’, an investment that will help nurture the next generation of India’s creative talent through skilling and education partnerships with IICT and NFDC. We can’t wait to see what India creates next," Netflix India wrote on its social media platform X.
In a post on X, PM Modi said, “Glad to have met Mr. Ted Sarandos. Discussed the immense potential of India’s media and entertainment sector. India has a rich tradition of storytelling and an extraordinary pool of creative talent, which can be leveraged to strengthen our nation’s position as a global hub for content creation.”
In phase one of the India Storytelling Initiative, Netflix will partner with The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) to co-develop an industry-ready curriculum in Visual Effects Mastery and Media Technology Workflows, ensuring that students have skills aligned with evolving production needs.
It will also provide scholarships to 100 Indian students for in-person programmes at IICT, including Interactive Comics and Sequential Art, Virtual Art Department Content Creation, Art of Character Animation, E-Sports and Gaming Management.
In the second phase, Netflix will join forces with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to build a talent pipeline for the latest jobs created under the Prime Minister’s accessibility agenda.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism have partnered with Netflix India to promote India’s cultural heritage and tourism destinations through authentic storytelling. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched a new ‘As Seen on Netflix’ section on the Incredible India portal on Wednesday.