Shyam Kurup, representing the Indywood Distribution Network, is on a mission to broaden global understanding of Indian cinema. While Bollywood dominates the global narrative, Kurup reminds viewers that Indian film is far more diverse—home to rich industries in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada. As a sales and distribution company, Indywood bridges the gap between India’s vast film output and international markets, spotlighting underrepresented voices and stories.
Kurup's appearance at StreamTV Studio revealed an unexpected opportunity: the scale and focus on FAST channels and CTV. Unlike traditional film markets like Cannes or Berlin, StreamTV connects content creators directly to a digital-forward distribution model. For Indian cinema, this is a game changer. “I’m getting hundreds of leads here,” Kurup said. He believes more Indian media companies should embrace this space, particularly as the connected TV market grows across India. His takeaway? StreamTV isn’t just an event—it’s a launchpad for global discovery.
Shyam Kurup:
Hi, I am Shyam, and I represent Indywood Distribution Network. It's an Indian company. You can obviously guess it's an Indian company, and we are like a sales company. We are also a distribution company. So what we do is we sell Indian contents globally. India being one of the largest producers of movies in the world, we are yet to have a full-fledged sales outfit. So we are just trying to bridge that gap, and we are here just to tell the world that India is not just Bollywood. India has lots of other industries. We have Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada. So when we go out, people ask us, "Are you Bollywood?" So we are just going to tell, "No, it's not Bollywood, it's Indian cinema." That's why we have come here.
Usually, we go to all the movie markets like Cannes, Berlin, AFM, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Saudi, Indonesia. I came here expecting it to be a cinema market, but I found it to be very different. I've never found a market which focuses on FAST channels and CTVs. Usually, maybe, you get one or two clients in other markets. I'm getting hundreds here. So, it's a new area which I think Indian cinema should explore. India is growing in terms of CTV markets, but I think more Indian companies should come to Stream TV because it's so popular here. It's popular in the US, actually. So, in India, it's coming up. So the more we get information about the technologies available, the companies who support such ventures, it's better for us. So, I believe StreamTV is a very unique event and fabulous. What I can say is I was just asking my friend Joe, "How did you manage such a big, massive event with a small team?" It's impressive.