WPP license no. MR/TECH/WPP-82/North/2017 License to post without prepayment Postal Registration No. MCN/99/2015-2017. Published on 3rd of every month. Posting date: 5th & 6th of every month. Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai-400001. Total number of pages 68 Registered with Registrar of Newspapers under RNI No. MAHENG/2009/33418. Vol. 9 | Issue 8 | AUGUST 2017 | ` 50 www.digitalstudioindia.com OPINION BRINGING KILLER CONTENT TO VIEWERS THREE’S COMPANY RU EDIRIWIRA, VYNSLEY FERNANDES, AND JOHNJIT AHLUWALIA HAVE SET CASTLE MEDIA APART IN A CROWDED MARKETPLACE THE JOURNEY SO FAR A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SUCCESS STORIES OF INDUSTRY PIONEERS Published by ITP Media (India) VIEWPOINT Vol. 9 | Issue 8 | August 2017 ITP MEDIA (INDIA) PVT LTD Never Say Never 898 Turner Road, Notan Plaza, 3rd Floor Bandra (West), Mumbai - 400050 If one reads enough success stories, a common thread T +91 22 6154 6000 emerges–the never-say-never attitude of its protagonists. Even if they were often challenged in their chosen career paths, they Deputy managing director S Saikumar did not let it contain them. Instead, they pushed the limits Group publishing director Bibhor Srivastava Group consulting editor Shafquat Ali holding them back to tread new paths and triumphed. Our cover story this issue features such a dynamic couple, EDITORIAL Vynsley Fernandes and Ru Ediriwira, who founded Castle Editor Vinita Bhatia Media. Starting off as a broadcast journalist 25 years ago, Deputy editor Satyam Nagwekar Fernandes decided to learn the ropes of how studios were VINITA BHATIA designed and functioned in the face of adverse circumstances. ADVERTISING His eagerness to learn made him the go-to projects man for India Star TV in the late 90s. Over time, he displayed his prowess in Commercial director Manoj Sawalani M +91 98201 76965 [email protected] setting up the end-to-end technology and operations for Star South India News, became the principal consultant for News Corporations’ Director Sanjay Bhan DTH platform, and set up the entire technology platform for M +91 98457 22377 [email protected] INX Media. Later, he started his own company, along with Ediriwira and STUDIO Johnjit Ahluwalia. Starting from a four-member team at home, Head of design Milind Patil today Castle Media employs 78 people and works with Indian Senior designer Vinod Shinde as well as international corporate behemoths. And this was Contributor Sanjay Bandre possible because Fernandes not only believed in taking risks, but he knew that he could always add some value in every one PRODUCTION of the projects he was undertaking. Deputy production manager Ramesh Kumar SATYAM NAGWEKAR Talking about risk-takers and entrepreneurs, in this issue, CIRCULATION we are introducing a new initiative–The Journey So Far– Distribution manager James D’Souza wherein we have featured companies that have fostered and T +91 22 6154 6006 [email protected] nurtured innovation. While interacting with the companies, some of which were later included in this list, we began to Cover image Artnest Photography understand why some enterprises are better than others at .................................................................................................................................... letting innovation flourish. One of the reasons we figured is that The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error they are willing to invest heavily in technology and people; not or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The necessarily in that order. 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Vinita Bhatia, Editor [email protected] Published by and © 2017 /ITPDigitalStudio /DigitalStudioIn ITP Media (India) Pvt Ltd RNI No. MAHENG/2009/33418 MIB no. 10/50/2008 6 AUGUST 2017 | DIGITAL STUDIO www.digitalstudioindia.com COVER STORY THREE’S COMPANY In a marketplace littered with specialised services, the brains trust of Ru Ediriwira, Vynsley Fernandes, and Johnjit Ahluwalia have set Castle Media apart by providing a unique bouquet of offerings BY SATYAM NAGWEKAR ARTNEST PHOTOGRAPHY ARTNEST COVER STORY he brains behind Castle Media Private Limited BACKGROUND (Castle Media) may have had roller-coaster Fernandes, who is the de facto face of the company, has spent well T careers but running a company in a dynamic over 25 years in the media and entertainment industry. “I have been industry is the most exciting thing they have around since the time when television was limited to the VHS process. done. Castle Media’s three pillars—Vynsley DD was the only television channel around 1990. I kept job hopping Fernandes, Ru Ediriwira, and Johnjit Ahluwalia— and ended up trying my hand at journalism.” One thing led to another have remained steadfast in the face of myriad challenges thrown at and Fernandes, in the pursuit of new challenges, became the anchor of them. A power couple in the truest sense of the term, Fernandes Business Plus on CNN International for 200-odd episodes, ‘cutting his (executive director) and Ediriwira (CEO) founded the company teeth in journalism.’ in 2010. Ahluwalia, also an executive director, joined soon after. The story behind Fernandes’ move to the technology side of the The varied technical expertise and the operational excellence the business is intriguing by itself. “So, I moved to work with a company trio brings to the table form the cornerstone of the company. With that was looking to set up a business news channel in India. The day I their unique proposition, it was only a matter of joined CMM International, its global parents went bankrupt. Either time before the big clients made a beeline for I had to eat humble pie and go back to my old job or continue at the the company’s services. new place, which had studios. The owners said, ‘Why don’t you just hang around and help us fix the studios?’” At that point in time, Fernandes had no clue about operations but his best bet was to give it a shot working a double shift. “I moved to CMM Studios that had tied up with Asia Business News International. As I didn’t know the lay of the land, I had to work twice as much. I started learning technologies. I would offer to carry the camera on my shoulders to a shoot and learnt how to operate a camera because, as a journalist, you tend not to really.” This is how Fernandes gained an insight into the functioning of studios and designing them. It was at ESPN-Star Sports that Fer- nandes met Peter Mukerjea, who offered him a position with News Corporation. With his stock ris- ing, Fernandes quickly became the go-to projects man for Star in 1997. “I moved a lot of the post-production that was being done in Hong Kong for all the Star channels to India at a post- production facil- ity that I helped Vynsley Fernandes, Johnjit Ahluwali, and Ru Ediriwira at the Castle Media office in Mumbai. DIGITAL STUDIO | AUGUST 2017 19 COVER STORY One of the nerds, Ru Ediriwira feels cyber security will be foremost in set up.” He was also instrumental for putting the consumer mindspace in the time to come. in place a production kit that was used for Kaun Banega Crorepati. In 2002, Star TV parted ways with NDTV, which did the news for the network. That’s when James Murdoch and Mukerjea set into motion a plan for Star TV’s own news chan- nel. Consequently, Fernandes was appointed the operations director for Star News in India, a position that entailed setting up the end-to-end technology and operations. And that is also when Ahluwalia came on board. Fernandes and Ahluwalia set up Star News and ran the operations until they stabilised. When News Corporation was looking to set up a DTH platform along with Tata Sons in India, Fernandes was hand-picked to be the principal consultant for the project. He moved to Delhi for a couple of years to help set up Space TV, which was rechristened as Tata Sky, in the company of his good friend Ahluwalia, whose technical expertise paved the way for the DTH project. Fernandes’ travels to the UK to meet the Sky team for orientation with Tata Sky resulted in his meeting Ediriwira, who was a part of the Ac- centure team that consulted on the project. In 2003, they got married.