Vinta Nanda
Managing Director
Asian Center for Entertainment & Education

THE EYE OF THE STORM

THE EYE OF THE STORM is a weekly newsletter and this is its first edition being released from THE ASIAN CENTRE FOR ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (ACEE) via its project THE THIRD EYE, a venture in partnership with Hollywood Health and Society (HH&S) at the Norman Lear Centre, University of Southern California (USC).

THE THIRD EYE is one of the Global Centres launched by HH&S to support two of the largest Industries of Media and Entertainment in the world, Nigeria and India.

In India the Global Centre primarily addresses creative communities across all performing and non performing arts, with expert advice on key health, sustainable development and climate change issues so that the portrayal of information about critical realities carried across to the massive numbers of viewers and readers, is accurate and factual and so that the entertainment as well as media consumed by millions of devoted followers translates to best practices across all social, economic and policy parameters which then, eventually must reflect across all indicators.

The program is funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

THE THIRD EYE builds bridges between the creative communities at large and industries of media and entertainment in India, in general, and the PRIORITIES OF OUR TIMES.

India is a complex geography, and the viewership across all media and entertainment platforms is a complicated demographic because of the myriad of languages and cultures that cohabit the space.

Realizing the common thread to be the universality of issues of development to be addressed, our approach became simpler, therefore the roadmap could be comprehensively defined.

When counting numbers and outreach, there is no parallel to India in the rest of the world and the consumption of its entertainment is far beyond the comparable.

We, ACEE and HH&S through THE THIRD EYE ventured out earlier this year to set up systems to engage with the spectrum through traditional as well as direct methods of communication, with practitioners of public health, unrelenting frontline workers of the development sectors, social activists, the Government of India and film studios, television networks, associations that govern the film and television industries of India, print and new media, to make them aware of the FREE- ON-DEMAND service and resource we offer to creative communities, for them to have access to important information they require from time to time. As we surged forward with the intention, what fuelled the process was the absolute support of filmmaker and activist Mahesh Bhatt, who has pledged his leadership to the process and who aptly puts it as this, ??t ACEE, we believe that stories backed with solid research can create content which will enter popular culture and have a profound social impact.??/p>

March 2013 was the launch of THE THIRD EYE at FICCI Frames, the annual three day conference for the business of media and entertainment, organized by the Federation if Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries where a panel discussion on socially provocative media and entertainment led the project to its next stage. The panel comprised of filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Gautam Ghosh, Producer Actor Kiran Juneja, Sandra de Castro Buffington, then the Director, HH&S, Jonathan Taplin, Director, Annenberg Centre for Innovation and University of South California, School of Communication & Journalism and Colin Macay, MD, Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, Harvard University. We have Leena Jaisani, Director, Media & Entertainment, FICCI, Kulmeet Makker, CEO, Producers Guild of India and Mukesh Bhatt, President, Producers Guild of India to thank. Without their support, it would not have been possible.

In July 2013 was launched the annual conclave ELEVATE, which was attended by over 200 writers and journalists from the media and the entertainment industries of India, who participated in various panels comprising of thought leaders, public health practitioners, social activists and frontline workers. This was followed by a workshop that showcased methods of integrating key health, sustainable development and climate change issues with entertainment, which was led by writers and producers from both Hollywood and the Indian Film & Television Industries. The participants at the conclave were stalwarts like Mahesh Bhatt, Kamlesh Pandey, Anjum Rajabali, Karen Tenkhoff, Carol Barbee, Sandra de Castro Buffington, Chris Dzialo, Augustine Veliath, Kalpana Lajmi, Soni Razdan, writers Rohan Joshi, Pubali Chakroborti, Shagufta Rafique, television industry leaders Shashi Ranjan, Anu Ranjan and Mukesh Bhatt, Producer and President of Producers Guild of India. Gratitude is due from THE THIRD EYE to Mukesh Bhatt, Kulmeet Makker, Leena Jaisani, Kamlesh Pandey (Film Writers Association) who made it a success.

THE STORY BUS TOUR, launched by THE THIRD EYE is a retreat for writers and in 2013 it took creators from Hollywood Karen Tenkhoff (Co-producer Motorcycle Diaries) and Carol Barbee (Touch) and creators from The Indian Film & Television Industries, Kalpana Lajmi, Soni Razdan, Nirav Vaidya (commissioning editor Star Network), Murzban Shroff (Author: Breathless in Bombay), writers Shiv Bhalla and Pratik Panjabi to Bodhgaya, Bihar, where they interacted with frontline workers of Mahila Samakhya (a program that was launched in 1988 in pursuance of the goals of the New Education Policy, 1986, and the Program of Action for the education and empowerment of women in rural areas, particularly of women from socially and economically marginalised groups), its founder Sister Sujitha and extraordinary women who had faced challenges and brought reform in their societies over the last 25 years.

With the screening of MANGO GIRLS (Produced by Robert Carr and Directed by Kunal Sharma) in September, 2013, THE THIRD EYE started to engage with creative communities and media through discussions post screening of compelling media and films. Filmmaker and Activist Mahesh Bhatt spoke to a mix of filmmakers, writers and media about the need for films to explore solutions to the various problems that Indian Societies face, like the film Mango Girls does. The film is about an obscure village near Bhagalpur, Bihar where for over 200 years, villagers have followed the tradition of planting 10 mango trees at the birth of every girl child. This practice enables the families of the village not to find girls to be a burden, on the contrary to educate and empower them. Simultaneously, the creative team at THE THIRD EYE is developing Safed Doli, a full length feature to be directed by Kalpana Lajmi, Sapna, a daily soap opera, and MADAT, a talk show to be co-produced with Soni Razdan, all three that will be produced, released/broadcast in 2014.

The website acee-thethirdeye.org engages with creative communities across the board through regular features like THOUGHT FACTORY, TRUE REVIEW, IN THE NEWS and PRIORITIES OF OUR TIMES. The resources enable writers to tap information on priority issues from tip sheets, videos, films and write ups. THE THIRD EYE radio inspires creative communities and encourages musicians and composers to create content that motivates and moves the creative leaderships of the film, television and media industries to address concerns. THE THIRD EYE also engages with creative communities through social media via its pages facebook.com/thethirdeyeacee and twitter.com/thethirdeyeacee.

As we get closer to publishing the first issue of THE EYE OF THE STORM our focus remains on the various levels of engagement with the world of media and entertainment which are being planned and/or executed in the near future and for long term.

Our team Deepa Bhalerao, Program Outreach Manager, Hans Kapadia, Business Strategy & Development, Shiv Bhalla, Creative Director, Pratik Panjabi, Content Strategy & Design, Neil Batavia, Head Digital, Bhisham Makhija, Manager Operations and others, continue to come together every day to discuss possibilities and find innovative solutions for reaching out to the industries of entertainment and media which can become that storm when aligned together in motivation and intent and which has the collective force that has the power to wipe out the various issues that plague our country, and ring in a new India that is aware and informed.

As we go to print the first edition of THE EYE OF THE STORM, we understand that despite the revolution of technology, entertainment and media today, 63% of India lives in the dark and a gigantic number of villages, about 85000 today, live without electricity. THE THIRD EYE is finding ways and developing innovative audience engagement strategies to reach media and entertainment to those beyond the horizon of the present media and entertainment landscape and you will see them unfold in the next few issues of THE EYE OF THE STORM.

THE EYE OF THE STORM

THE EYE OF THE STORM is a weekly newsletter and this is its first edition being released from THE ASIAN CENTRE FOR ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (ACEE) via its project THE THIRD EYE, a venture in partnership with Hollywood Health and Society (HH&S) at the Norman Lear Centre, University of Southern California (USC).

THE THIRD EYE is one of the Global Centres launched by HH&S to support two of the largest Industries of Media and Entertainment in the world, Nigeria and India.

In India the Global Centre primarily addresses creative communities across all performing and non performing arts, with expert advice on key health, sustainable development and climate change issues so that the portrayal of information about critical realities carried across to the massive numbers of viewers and readers, is accurate and factual and so that the entertainment as well as media consumed by millions of devoted followers translates to best practices across all social, economic and policy parameters which then, eventually must reflect across all indicators.

The program is funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

THE THIRD EYE builds bridges between the creative communities at large and industries of media and entertainment in India, in general, and the PRIORITIES OF OUR TIMES.

India is a complex geography, and the viewership across all media and entertainment platforms is a complicated demographic because of the myriad of languages and cultures that cohabit the space.

Realizing the common thread to be the universality of issues of development to be addressed, our approach became simpler, therefore the roadmap could be comprehensively defined.

When counting numbers and outreach, there is no parallel to India in the rest of the world and the consumption of its entertainment is far beyond the comparable.

We, ACEE and HH&S through THE THIRD EYE ventured out earlier this year to set up systems to engage with the spectrum through traditional as well as direct methods of communication, with practitioners of public health, unrelenting frontline workers of the development sectors, social activists, the Government of India and film studios, television networks, associations that govern the film and television industries of India, print and new media, to make them aware of the FREE- ON-DEMAND service and resource we offer to creative communities, for them to have access to important information they require from time to time. As we surged forward with the intention, what fuelled the process was the absolute support of filmmaker and activist Mahesh Bhatt, who has pledged his leadership to the process and who aptly puts it as this, ??t ACEE, we believe that stories backed with solid research can create content which will enter popular culture and have a profound social impact.??

March 2013 was the launch of THE THIRD EYE at FICCI Frames, the annual three day conference for the business of media and entertainment, organized by the Federation if Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries where a panel discussion on socially provocative media and entertainment led the project to its next stage. The panel comprised of filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Gautam Ghosh, Producer Actor Kiran Juneja, Sandra de Castro Buffington, then the Director, HH&S, Jonathan Taplin, Director, Annenberg Centre for Innovation and University of South California, School of Communication & Journalism and Colin Macay, MD, Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, Harvard University. We have Leena Jaisani, Director, Media & Entertainment, FICCI, Kulmeet Makker, CEO, Producers Guild of India and Mukesh Bhatt, President, Producers Guild of India to thank. Without their support, it would not have been possible.

In July 2013 was launched the annual conclave ELEVATE, which was attended by over 200 writers and journalists from the media and the entertainment industries of India, who participated in various panels comprising of thought leaders, public health practitioners, social activists and frontline workers. This was followed by a workshop that showcased methods of integrating key health, sustainable development and climate change issues with entertainment, which was led by writers and producers from both Hollywood and the Indian Film & Television Industries. The participants at the conclave were stalwarts like Mahesh Bhatt, Kamlesh Pandey, Anjum Rajabali, Karen Tenkhoff, Carol Barbee, Sandra de Castro Buffington, Chris Dzialo, Augustine Veliath, Kalpana Lajmi, Soni Razdan, writers Rohan Joshi, Pubali Chakroborti, Shagufta Rafique, television industry leaders Shashi Ranjan, Anu Ranjan and Mukesh Bhatt, Producer and President of Producers Guild of India. Gratitude is due from THE THIRD EYE to Mukesh Bhatt, Kulmeet Makker, Leena Jaisani, Kamlesh Pandey (Film Writers Association) who made it a success.

THE STORY BUS TOUR, launched by THE THIRD EYE is a retreat for writers and in 2013 it took creators from Hollywood Karen Tenkhoff (Co-producer Motorcycle Diaries) and Carol Barbee (Touch) and creators from The Indian Film & Television Industries, Kalpana Lajmi, Soni Razdan, Nirav Vaidya (commissioning editor Star Network), Murzban Shroff (Author: Breathless in Bombay), writers Shiv Bhalla and Pratik Panjabi to Bodhgaya, Bihar, where they interacted with frontline workers of Mahila Samakhya (a program that was launched in 1988 in pursuance of the goals of the New Education Policy, 1986, and the Program of Action for the education and empowerment of women in rural areas, particularly of women from socially and economically marginalised groups), its founder Sister Sujitha and extraordinary women who had faced challenges and brought reform in their societies over the last 25 years.

With the screening of MANGO GIRLS (Produced by Robert Carr and Directed by Kunal Sharma) in September, 2013, THE THIRD EYE started to engage with creative communities and media through discussions post screening of compelling media and films. Filmmaker and Activist Mahesh Bhatt spoke to a mix of filmmakers, writers and media about the need for films to explore solutions to the various problems that Indian Societies face, like the film Mango Girls does. The film is about an obscure village near Bhagalpur, Bihar where for over 200 years, villagers have followed the tradition of planting 10 mango trees at the birth of every girl child. This practice enables the families of the village not to find girls to be a burden, on the contrary to educate and empower them. Simultaneously, the creative team at THE THIRD EYE is developing Safed Doli, a full length feature to be directed by Kalpana Lajmi, Sapna, a daily soap opera, and MADAT, a talk show to be co-produced with Soni Razdan, all three that will be produced, released/broadcast in 2014.

The website acee-thethirdeye.org engages with creative communities across the board through regular features like THOUGHT FACTORY, TRUE REVIEW, IN THE NEWS and PRIORITIES OF OUR TIMES. The resources enable writers to tap information on priority issues from tip sheets, videos, films and write ups. THE THIRD EYE radio inspires creative communities and encourages musicians and composers to create content that motivates and moves the creative leaderships of the film, television and media industries to address concerns. THE THIRD EYE also engages with creative communities through social media via its pages facebook.com/thethirdeyeacee and twitter.com/thethirdeyeacee.

As we get closer to publishing the first issue of THE EYE OF THE STORM our focus remains on the various levels of engagement with the world of media and entertainment which are being planned and/or executed in the near future and for long term.

Our team Deepa Bhalerao, Program Outreach Manager, Hans Kapadia, Business Strategy & Development, Shiv Bhalla, Creative Director, Pratik Panjabi, Content Strategy & Design, Neil Batavia, Head Digital, Bhisham Makhija, Manager Operations and others, continue to come together every day to discuss possibilities and find innovative solutions for reaching out to the industries of entertainment and media which can become that storm when aligned together in motivation and intent and which has the collective force that has the power to wipe out the various issues that plague our country, and ring in a new India that is aware and informed.

As we go to print the first edition of THE EYE OF THE STORM, we understand that despite the revolution of technology, entertainment and media today, 63% of India lives in the dark and a gigantic number of villages, about 85000 today, live without electricity. THE THIRD EYE is finding ways and developing innovative audience engagement strategies to reach media and entertainment to those beyond the horizon of the present media and entertainment landscape and you will see them unfold in the next few issues of THE EYE OF THE STORM.