Over 550 books were up for Optioning at the 4th edition of the ‘Word to Screen Market’ of Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival with Star
This edition brought together 28 publishers, over 30 authors and over 40 visual content creators ~
The Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival with Star successfully hosted the fourth edition of its ‘Word to Screen Market’, yesterday at JW Marriott Juhu in Mumbai. A first of its kind platform in India, the Word to Screen Market gives publishers and the literary community an opportunity to engage directly with content creators to option stories for films, TV and digital. In its 4th edition, the platform witnessed unprecedented growth with over 550 titles ranging across 30 genres, in eight languages being presented.
The day-long event was filled with electrifying energy as stalwarts from the literary, film and digital industry engaged in one-on-one sessions, truly celebrating the coming together of the best of both worlds. Renowned authors such as Amazon number 1 bestseller Sundari Venkatraman, Jagran-Nielsen bestseller authors Satya Vyas and Nilotpal Mrinal, bilingual bestseller authors Pankaj Dubey and Anukrti Upadhyay, among others were seen interacting with heavy weights from the content and publishing world.
A total of 28 of the most eminent publishing houses from across the country such as HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Juggernaut Books, DC Books, among several others were a part of this market. The event saw over 30 authors pitch their stories to over 40 of the biggest buyers such as Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar Times Studios Originals, KA Productions to name a few, from the industry in a bid to have their stories translate onto screens.
“The platform has only grown since its inception, and I am thrilled to have been a part of this journey. The Word to Screen Market aspires to bring together the best of two industries. The turnout today, once again proved that the literary world is an untapped source of inspiration. I saw tremendous potential in the stories that were pitched, and I’m excited to see how we can work together to bring these narratives to life.”, said Zoya Akhtar, Filmmaker and MAMI Board Member who attended the event.
Vishal Bhardwaj, Filmmaker and MAMI Board Member added, “The Word to Screen Market is a platform that gives content creators, the opportunity to seek new, refreshing ideas and work with some spectacular narratives from the literary world. I am happy to have had the chance to interface with new voices from the industry, exchange ideas and look forward to collaborate and create impactful cinematic experiences in the future.”
Novelist Rana Das Gupta said, “It’s thrilling to see everyone coming together and exchanging ideas at the MAMI Word to Screen Market; its furious, its fast. Right now, we are at this moment where all the worlds are coming together – publishing, writing, TV, cinema, streaming. Everyone needs to talk to everyone else and this is the place that brings everyone together. Everyone is trying to work out what’s going on in the rest of the media industry and being at the Word to Screen Market facilitates that so well.”
Aparna Purohit, Head of Originals at Amazon Prime Video India said, “The MAMI Word to Screen Market is an incredible place; the gems that you discover here! This is Amazon’s second consecutive time at the Word to Screen Market. I feel like we chase good stories all the time but when you come here your chase stops because all those beautiful gems are surrounding you. In addition to that, just interacting with some of the best minds from the publishing and content creation industry and from across the country is phenomenal.”
Parth Phiroze Mehrotra, Commissioning editor, Juggernaut Books said, “The 2019 edition of Jio Mami with Star Word to Screen has been by far the most productive marketplaces till date. The new format — and the diligence of the organizers — made it a stellar success.”
Anupama Chopra, Festival Director, MAMI said, “Since the market’s inception, our ambition has been to create a platform that gives filmmakers and authors an opportunity to collaborate. We have significantly grown over the past three years and are constantly striving towards growing bigger and better. Today was yet another celebration of the coming together of the best of both worlds – with over 500 books across eight languages pitched to directors and production houses, we look forward to witnessing the magic they will create.”
Smriti Kiran, Artistic Director, MAMI said, “We have outgrown the one-day format and our venue. The response is staggering and humbling in the best possible way. The new team and approach have taken the market notches higher. In 2020, the market will happen twice a year, the workshops around it will be year-round and our involvement in propelling this relationship and laying the foundation for way forward will be consistent, constant and deep. Word to Screen Market is the crown jewel for Jio MAMI with Star.”
An industry-first initiative, the ‘Word to Screen Market’ is conceptualized and creatively helmed by Kiran Rao, Anupama Chopra and Smriti Kiran.
ABOUT JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star is the most immersive and comprehensive program that celebrates the diverse cinematic voices of our country through an international annual platform that instills pride in audiences and unites the film fraternity. The festival is organized by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), which was founded by a group of film industry stalwarts in 1997 and was conceived and created with an aim to engage film lovers from all walks of life, and to foster an ideal climate of good cinema across the country by presenting the best of global and Indian cinema. The academy’s vision is to celebrate cinema by hosting the annual international film festival in Mumbai, India’s film and entertainment capital.
Apart from the Festival, the academy hosts the Year Round Programme – a unique initiative which is run under the aegis of MAMI, which brings the latest films, workshops and conversation sessions to film lovers throughout the year.
