My thought was to create a much bigger product: Siddharth Kumar Tewary of One Life Studios

Unlike the matured markets, where the content creators hold the IP (intellectual property rights), almost all the content rights especially in the Indian television industry, are owned by the broadcaster. The broadcaster commissions a show to a content maker for a fee and holds the entire IP. This method of commissioned shows is also followed by the new age OTT companies. From Amazon Prime to Hotstar and Alt Balaji, most of the OTT platforms are following the commissioning model.

This model of commissioning content is typically an emerging market phenomena. However, Swastik Productions, makers of TV  shows such as Mahabharat and Suryaputra Karn, for their upcoming historical drama, Porus, known to be television's most expensive show (supposedly a Rs 500 crore project, which will debut on Sony Entertainment Television) ever, has decided to retain the IP of this historical drama. In a conversation with Ajita Shashidhar, Siddharth Kumar Tewary, Founder, One Life Studios and Sawstik Productions, talks about how IP ownership will help him to take his business to the next level.

Excerpts:

Tewary: Monetising the IP is the biggest challenge, as at this point of time we are not too experienced. It's been a great learning.