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Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday to unveil the Netflix India Storytelling Initiative, a multi-phase investment in the country’s creative talent pipeline.
The initiative builds on more than a decade of partnership between Netflix and India’s creative community, during which the streamer has produced over 200 originals and shot in more than 100 locations across the country. It is designed to prepare emerging talent for careers in animation, visual effects, gaming and comics, an area Netflix describes as a key driver of India’s “Orange Economy.”
Netflix said the program supports the Indian government’s “Viksit Bharat @ 2047” ambitions, and is designed to strengthen education, industry partnerships and creator training with the goal of establishing India as a global storytelling hub.
The initiative’s first phase centers on youth skilling and includes two new institutional partnerships. Netflix will work with the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) to co-develop curricula in Visual Effects Mastery and Media Technology Workflows. The streamer is also funding 100 scholarships for Indian students to attend in-person IICT programs, including Interactive Comics and Sequential Art, Virtual Art Department Content Creation, Art of Character Animation, and E-Sports and Gaming Management.
Separately, Netflix is partnering with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to build a talent pipeline supporting the Prime Minister’s accessibility agenda. That program will train audio description writers and voice talent to make films and series more accessible to audiences with visual and hearing impairments, aligning the skilling effort with international standards as well as local storytelling traditions.
“India has always been one of the world’s greatest storytelling nations. Over the past decade, we’ve had the privilege of seeing Indian stories connect with audiences not just across India, but around the world. As we begin our next decade here, we believe our greatest investment is in the people who will tell India’s next generation of stories. The Netflix India Storytelling Initiative reflects our long-term commitment to strengthening India’s creative ecosystem by creating more opportunities for emerging creators, because investing in creators is investing in India’s creative future,” said Sarandos.
Netflix pointed to productions such as big-budget Indian Air Force-themed patriotic series “Operation Safed Sagar” as evidence of what Indian creators and production talent can achieve at global scale. As the company enters its second decade in India, it said it remains focused on expanding the country’s creative workforce and helping more Indian stories reach international audiences.
