Kommune India is set to host SpokenFest 2024, a two-day event that brings together personalities from diverse performing arts to showcase talent in a range of fields ranging from poetry and music to theater and comedy, next month in Mumbai.
Scheduled to be held on February 3rd and 4th, this year's artist line-up includes names like Zakir Khan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj, Abish Mathew, Kanan Gill, Nikita Gill, Varun Grover, Niharika NM, Dutt and Dolly Singh. For example but not limited to.
“I remember that in the first year, we had only three brands supporting us – HSBC, Asian Paints and Vodafone (VI), apart from a host of food and liquor brands,” recalls Roshan Abbas, maverick founder of the company. Kommune India in a candid conversation with Campaign India.
“When we created Kommune in 2015, we were looking for a simple format through which we could prove our hypothesis that people care about art,” Abbas said.
“It was to be more than just a platform for artists. We were very keen to connect amateur artists across India as they do not have collaborators or any business idea on how to finance their passion. The most important part is that they may not have a final consumer to connect with.” “It arose from seeing the lack of all of that in all of the performing arts, whether it's music, theatre, poetry or the spoken word.”
Abbas co-founded Kommune with actor and presenter Gaurav Kapoor and singer-songwriter and musician Ankur Tiwari, in 2015 as a group of creatives looking for a platform.
Abbas also founded and led experiential marketing agency Encompass in 1996 (now Geometry Encompass) as Managing Director. He was also an initial investor in The Glitch and remains a mentor partner in it. Both projects have since been acquired by WPP.
Speaking about the early years of the platform, Abbas said: “It was the early days of video on all social media platforms. We would bring people together in a small room, film their stories, and then show them. We realized that in first-person storytelling, where there are no filters between people, communication is more real. This is something that people today are probably much more aware of.
Abbas said the collection quickly gained a reputation for “authentic storytelling” that young audiences found interesting. “From that moment on, we were lucky because within about a year or two, we had an audience of close to a thousand on our YouTube channel,” he added.
This was in the pre-Instagram days, but there was also Facebook that they were using, and Abbas estimates that about 10% of them are a “genuine interested audience,” and he estimates that this means they have an audience of at least 10,000 people that are real and decided to take Take the initiative and build a festival on the ground.
“So, we took a leap of faith in 2017 and organized our first festival. We had huge support from the artist community. Gaurav and Ankur also came on board. I often joke that I invested a child’s education in this, but ultimately, it all came together because It was an education in itself,” Abbas recalls about SpokenFest’s first event.
To this day, the festival is limited to 20 city branches, through which various activities are conducted and new ideas and thoughts are obtained. “Somewhere, I think we have become the 'cultural whispers' of this generation,” Abbas said.
Kommune also recently announced the launch of the second edition of its Voices of Tomorrow initiative in collaboration with Netflix India. The project aims to diversify the country's dubbing talent by literally giving a voice to often underrepresented groups from the LGBTQIA+ and senior community. The ongoing initiative, which will run until March 2024 in Mumbai, has seen collaborations with queer groups, NGOs, artist organizations and talent agencies to audition the voices of around 500 individuals, shortlisting around 200 for character auditions towards this end.
Speaking about how Netflix came into the picture, Abbas said: “The money needed to fund an organization, fund the festival, etc., has to come from brands that believe in us. “That's how our regular Spoken Fest meetups in 20 cities began, and over the past few years, Netflix has become an early supporter.”
“They would either hold panels with us or they would ask some of the key influencers to come and speak to the audience. There was already an understanding between us and Netflix, where we had an overlapping audience. That's when we heard about this amazing project last year, which is now Voices of Tomorrow.” .
Highlighting the problems with the voice-over space in India, Abbas said that most of it is local (in Mumbai) and the opportunities for professional voice-over artists are very limited.
“There are two problems that arise because of this,” he said. “The first problem is that you don't get new voices and the second problem is that you don't get trained voices. Most of the talents dubbing for films, or OTT shows, are professional talents between the ages of 25 and 40. We didn't have representation of older people over the age of 55 years old, and we have no representation of the LGBTQIA community. What usually happens during voiceover is a 30-year-old will play a 55-year-old, or there will be someone speaking with the accent of someone in the LGBTQIA community. That's why we focused on those two now
“And because we have a network of over 30,000 artists across India that we interact with, and over a million people that Kommune interacts with online, it has tipped the scales a little in our favour,” Abbas said.
Emphasizing the role that “trust” plays in the platform’s vision, the veteran media personality shed light on his method of work. “There are two main components to what we do – one is creators, one is brands, and playing the middle between the two rarely happens with confidence on both sides. So what the vision has come to play well over these years is that we've been able to play this trustworthy platform.” For both parties – whether that's through work in comedy, voices or podcasting.
Regarding the agencies of the future, Abbas mentioned that they will be small agencies that understand creators and new forms of content.
“When podcasting came, everyone was skeptical. But we anticipated its potential and were able to reach it. Likewise, when it comes to audiobooks, and now when we work on Voices with Netflix, these are all ways of playing the 'new age medium' for brands.
The serial entrepreneur dismissed fears that a crowdsourced platform for creators like Kommune would lose relevance in today's creator-led economy that has seen a growing number of content creators, and social media influencers with user-generated content collaborating with brands.
Pointing out that no one is training anyone on the best way to create and upload content or linking it with other people to create collaborations, Abbas said that these activities need “trustworthy” organizations.
“And that's what we do. For someone sitting in a remote corner of Jharkhand or Odisha, or for someone from the LGBTQIA community who wants to connect with like-minded people, where will they go? Do you train them to become part of the creator economy? There are very few,” he explained. People who can dive into the depths of a pool and survive.
He also stressed the importance of “physical contact” in the digital age.
“Social media will always be one step away from life. So, while I'm a big believer in technology, I'm also a believer in physical connection. We're social beings. Theater can only survive if you see it in person. You might enjoy a rerun from there, but it's been done.” Created directly with people, it has a powerful energy – something unique.”
With films being dubbed in at least 8 to 10 languages nowadays, Abbas says the need for “quality dubbing voices” is ever-increasing, adding that a similar model can be replicated anywhere across the country.
A multi-faceted personality who has worn many hats, including those of actor, TV and radio presenter, producer, event manager, creative, film and theater director, CEO, angel investor, serial entrepreneur and author. , a public speaking coach during his more than two-decade career, what role defines him most, we asked Abbas.
He replied: “I enjoy being a creative person. I am lucky that my creativity has given me a career. From being a storyteller in the early days to today being the person who can be the medium for others to tell their stories.”
“In life, one reaches a point where one is no longer a 'railway engine' – one is a 'railway line.' I am now a 'railway track' or a 'crossroads' because I love connecting people and creating opportunities for them. And the 'Commune' It is an expression of the same thing,” he revealed, speaking metaphorically.
Abbas appeared on Campaign India's A-List in 2018, where he revealed his obsession with the work and life of Steve Jobs. So much so that he wrote a half-finished play about the life of the tech entrepreneur, which he hopes to one day direct, he said at the time.
We asked him when the project would come to fruition, and he revealed his desire to complete this dream project by August 2024, in time for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world – which takes place every year. year in August.
“I want to show that by writing it because I want the play to open internationally if I can. I'm working on that.”
This was part of his “crazy, crazy” idea that he intended to start working on when he turns 50 in 2020, and which “may not have a business plan behind it,” the narrator revealed, adding that the plan was postponed a few years due to the pandemic. .
“Like any creative, I have a movie, a book, and a play in my head. But right now, this play is an idea that really needs to be done, so I embraced it. Because even though we've all seen his (Steve Jobs) life on film, it would be interesting Very nice to see it in the theater. “That will be something else,” he signed off.
