Now showing, a startup for feature films

The group of techies who plan to launch an integrated film production house as a corporate entity.

Filmmaking is the last thing you would expect a startup firm to do. But that’s what Kerala’s first media startup incubated at the Startup Village in Kalamassery is up to. On its agenda is the launch, next year, of an integrated film production house as a corporate entity, where you walk in with an idea and come out with a well-made feature film.

Cinema and Technology (CAT) Entertainments Pvt Ltd, formed by techies Amarnath Sankar, Chachu Jacob, Ebin Ephrem and Arun Nair last year, has already made waves with its ad films and corporate movies for reputed clients; the film it made for the Kerala government on ‘Entrepreneurship Day’ last month clocking 4,59,783 views on YouTube till Tuesday.

“The ad, ‘We believe in building a new dream for a great future’, was a huge hit with over 4 lakh views in just a week’s time. And it was done without superstars or extravagant sets,” beams Mr. Sankar, a cyber security expert who is managing director and chief executive officer of the company.

Mr. Sankar, who has been contracted by the DRDO for cyber security projects, chooses not to respond to calls and text messages when he is at a cinema hall. He says the passion is shared by the whole team. After graduating in engineering from a college in Madurai, they got together to do a television programme, Tech Zone, which was instrumental in winning them a berth in the Startup Village.

The firm has come a long way ever since and attained a turnover of Rs.1 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal. CAT Entertainments, which employs a dozen technicians, now boasts an impressive list of clients including BlackBerry India and Kerala government. It has also become the official media partner of Startup Village, FWD Life Style Magazine, MobMe Wireless and Exit77Music, a US-based startup company. “CAT got tremendous visibility through its work for Kerala Strikers in the Celebrity Cricket League. The creative fire in our belly has gotten us into making corporate videos on products besides profiles; ad films; and TV shows. The ultimate passion, however, is to launch a one-stop-shop for filmmaking. We already have a few scripts and will hopefully launch our dream project next year,” he reveals.

Part of the group is CAT Cyberlabs, a cyber security research and development division, in Hyderabad.