A Boston-based non-resident Indian is all set to launch an OTT platform service where viewers could watch movies without the need for a subscription
Great news for all those who don’t want to miss out on any new movie release. Ranjit Kollu, a techie born in Vijayawada, and his childhood friend, Venkat who lives in Hyderabad, have come up with a new digital Over-the-top (OTT) platform called Hit.movie, that is going to enable viewers watch movies of their choice at the click of a button. The platform also allows producers to directly publish their films and have control over the number of countries it can be screened to.
“It is a simple platform, whereon one can buy a ticket and watch a movie of his choice – on mobile or tablet or laptop or television or a home theatre. All that one needs to have – is an internet connection. One doesn’t have to subscribe to the platform, unlike in the case of other OTTs like Netflix, Amazon or Zee-5, where one has to take subscriptions monthly, half-yearly or annually,” said Ranjit, speaking to Hindustan Times.
An OTT platform is a service that lets someone deliver video and live stream feeds to any internet-enabled device. The video content can be delivered and monetized without the help of any third-party platform like cable or satellite pay-TV providers. All that a customer require are a high-speed internet connection and a connected device that supports apps and browsers. Popular services that use OTT technology include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney Plus, HBO Now, iTunes, and many others.
Ranjit Kollu’s Hit.movie is also essentially a producer-friendly OTT platform, where they don’t have to sell their digital rights, like they have been doing with other OTTs.
“They don’t need to give up their ownership rights and there are no middlemen,” Ranjit said.
He explained the process in detail: producers have to fill in some forms describing the movie details, submit KYC (Know Your Customer) documents, pay the listing fee and upload the Master File of the film on the site.
Ranjit’s platform will then verify the documents and contents. If approved, the film could be released for streaming within 72 hours of uploading. He also stated that Hit.movie would take up the job of digital marketing and publicity for the films uploaded on the site as well, adding that movies could be streamed in over 150 countries.
“It is for the producers to decide whether he wants the film to be streamed across the world, or a select few countries or only the native country,” he said.
The platform also promises content security, so that there would be no copyright issues and stream films up to 4K HDR cinematic quality. Ranjit assured that Hit.Movie works on all major browsers and the apps are available for Google TV (Android TV), Apple TV and Firestick among others.
He feels his platform will benefit small budget films most because these films do not find theaters for release nor do the big OTT platforms give them any preference. Moreover, it could be a bonanza for overseas audiences who do not get viewing access to these films on their local OTT platforms, he added.
