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What is the story about?
The Indian entertainment industry has long followed a familiar project development sequence: assemble marquee talent, then build a story around them. As the boundaries between representation agencies, creator networks, and studios blur, an alternative approach is emerging: developing intellectual property independently before attaching directors and actors.
One example of this transition is Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT). Founded in 2013 as a 140-character micro-fiction page on Facebook, the team spent a decade producing short-form digital content before expanding into streaming projects, including the Netflix titles Greater Kalesh and Musafir Cafe.
Behind this shift is a corporate integration: in July 2024, talent management company Collective Artists Network acquired TTT, moving directly into IP ownership alongside assets like youth platform Under 25 and creator tech firm BigBang.Social.
"Three or four years ago, thinking about the next phase, we started asking: what do we want to build around talent?" says Vijay Subramaniam, Founder and Group CEO of Collective Artists Network.
"We had spent years building strength in talent representation. But we knew that talent sits at the centre of some of the most valuable stories and IP in the world. So the next step was to start creating and owning more of that IP ourselves. The lines between a talent company, a creator company and a studio are becoming less relevant."
By housing a writers' room alongside its existing creative roster, the network aims to change how projects are pitched and packaged.
"The biggest advantage is that we can start with the story," Subramaniam explains. "If you start with the packaging, you can end up trying to make the story fit the talent. We can develop an idea, understand why it could connect with an audience and then find the right writer, director and talent to bring it to life."
For TTT, joining an established network provided an alternative to institutional funding.
"Vijay’s ambition and his faith in us to tell stories on a bigger canvas felt like the right move for TTT," says Anuj Gosalia, Founder & CEO of Terribly Tiny Tales. "We were a profitable, bootstrapped company and could have continued building the way we were. But at some point, I had to ask what would create bigger opportunities for the team we had built... Traditional capital would have given us funding, but Collective brought something more strategic: an ecosystem that understands creators, talent, brands, content and the larger entertainment landscape."
A key component of this pipeline is using digital channels as an active testing ground to evaluate concepts directly with audiences.
"Instagram and YouTube have given us the room to experiment constantly," Gosalia notes. "Today, we can test a character, premise, relationship or storytelling device and understand almost immediately if there is an appetite to take it further. Another advantage of being born on the internet is that we can use the audience as part of our R&D process."
Also Read: The ‘Doomsday’ hype engine: Why Marvel needs audiences back in multiplexes before December
However, both executives caution against relying solely on analytics to guide development.
"I won’t be calling it purely data-led," Gosalia says. "Data tells you what people respond to; it can't always tell you what you should create next." When determining whether an idea warrants long-form expansion, Gosalia applies a straightforward creative filter: "The question we keep coming back to is fairly simple: once the first hook is over, is there still enough story left to tell? That's when we start thinking about what the idea could become in another format."
Subramaniam agrees that engagement numbers cannot replace editorial judgment. "It gives you a better starting point," he says. "If you've seen millions of people respond to a particular story, emotion or character, you have some understanding of what is resonating with an audience... But I don't believe data can tell you whether a film will work. A story that works in 300 words doesn't automatically become a good two-hour film. You have to understand why people connected with it and then recreate that connection in a completely different format."
Beyond development, studios must balance different distribution avenues. Streamers offer production budgets and global reach, while open platforms allow creators to retain direct audience access.
"I don't think we see it as an either-or decision. Different stories need different homes," Gosalia says. "YouTube and also in our case Instagram, give us a direct relationship with the audience and the ability to experiment quickly... Streaming platforms allow certain stories to be built at a scale that would be difficult to achieve independently... So the balance really comes down to what is right for the IP."
That dynamic extends to vertical micro-dramas, where viewership is rising, but consumer monetisation remains in its infancy in India.
"In India, the economics are still evolving," Gosalia explains. "There is clearly strong audience behaviour around vertical storytelling, but the monetisation models are still catching up to that consumption... The bigger opportunity lies in building formats that can achieve both scale and repeatability."
Bringing writing, talent, and production under one roof is ultimately designed to capture value across an IP's full lifecycle.
"The real opportunity is in how these businesses work together," Subramaniam emphasises. "Storytelling creates IP. Talent and creators help that IP travel. Communities give you a relationship with the audience. Technology allows you to do all of this at a much greater scale... the bigger ambition is to own the IP and build a direct relationship with audiences rather than depend entirely on any one platform."
As Gosalia concludes: "Audiences don't care whether a story started as a tweet, a reel or a streaming show. If the story connects with them, they will follow it. Our ambition is to build stories and IP that can travel across formats, platforms and audiences."
Also Read: Meghna Gulzar and the cinema of moral ambiguity
One example of this transition is Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT). Founded in 2013 as a 140-character micro-fiction page on Facebook, the team spent a decade producing short-form digital content before expanding into streaming projects, including the Netflix titles Greater Kalesh and Musafir Cafe.
Behind this shift is a corporate integration: in July 2024, talent management company Collective Artists Network acquired TTT, moving directly into IP ownership alongside assets like youth platform Under 25 and creator tech firm BigBang.Social.
"Three or four years ago, thinking about the next phase, we started asking: what do we want to build around talent?" says Vijay Subramaniam, Founder and Group CEO of Collective Artists Network.
"We had spent years building strength in talent representation. But we knew that talent sits at the centre of some of the most valuable stories and IP in the world. So the next step was to start creating and owning more of that IP ourselves. The lines between a talent company, a creator company and a studio are becoming less relevant."
By housing a writers' room alongside its existing creative roster, the network aims to change how projects are pitched and packaged.
"The biggest advantage is that we can start with the story," Subramaniam explains. "If you start with the packaging, you can end up trying to make the story fit the talent. We can develop an idea, understand why it could connect with an audience and then find the right writer, director and talent to bring it to life."
For TTT, joining an established network provided an alternative to institutional funding.
"Vijay’s ambition and his faith in us to tell stories on a bigger canvas felt like the right move for TTT," says Anuj Gosalia, Founder & CEO of Terribly Tiny Tales. "We were a profitable, bootstrapped company and could have continued building the way we were. But at some point, I had to ask what would create bigger opportunities for the team we had built... Traditional capital would have given us funding, but Collective brought something more strategic: an ecosystem that understands creators, talent, brands, content and the larger entertainment landscape."
A key component of this pipeline is using digital channels as an active testing ground to evaluate concepts directly with audiences.
"Instagram and YouTube have given us the room to experiment constantly," Gosalia notes. "Today, we can test a character, premise, relationship or storytelling device and understand almost immediately if there is an appetite to take it further. Another advantage of being born on the internet is that we can use the audience as part of our R&D process."
Also Read: The ‘Doomsday’ hype engine: Why Marvel needs audiences back in multiplexes before December
However, both executives caution against relying solely on analytics to guide development.
"I won’t be calling it purely data-led," Gosalia says. "Data tells you what people respond to; it can't always tell you what you should create next." When determining whether an idea warrants long-form expansion, Gosalia applies a straightforward creative filter: "The question we keep coming back to is fairly simple: once the first hook is over, is there still enough story left to tell? That's when we start thinking about what the idea could become in another format."
Subramaniam agrees that engagement numbers cannot replace editorial judgment. "It gives you a better starting point," he says. "If you've seen millions of people respond to a particular story, emotion or character, you have some understanding of what is resonating with an audience... But I don't believe data can tell you whether a film will work. A story that works in 300 words doesn't automatically become a good two-hour film. You have to understand why people connected with it and then recreate that connection in a completely different format."
Beyond development, studios must balance different distribution avenues. Streamers offer production budgets and global reach, while open platforms allow creators to retain direct audience access.
"I don't think we see it as an either-or decision. Different stories need different homes," Gosalia says. "YouTube and also in our case Instagram, give us a direct relationship with the audience and the ability to experiment quickly... Streaming platforms allow certain stories to be built at a scale that would be difficult to achieve independently... So the balance really comes down to what is right for the IP."
That dynamic extends to vertical micro-dramas, where viewership is rising, but consumer monetisation remains in its infancy in India.
"In India, the economics are still evolving," Gosalia explains. "There is clearly strong audience behaviour around vertical storytelling, but the monetisation models are still catching up to that consumption... The bigger opportunity lies in building formats that can achieve both scale and repeatability."
Bringing writing, talent, and production under one roof is ultimately designed to capture value across an IP's full lifecycle.
"The real opportunity is in how these businesses work together," Subramaniam emphasises. "Storytelling creates IP. Talent and creators help that IP travel. Communities give you a relationship with the audience. Technology allows you to do all of this at a much greater scale... the bigger ambition is to own the IP and build a direct relationship with audiences rather than depend entirely on any one platform."
As Gosalia concludes: "Audiences don't care whether a story started as a tweet, a reel or a streaming show. If the story connects with them, they will follow it. Our ambition is to build stories and IP that can travel across formats, platforms and audiences."
Also Read: Meghna Gulzar and the cinema of moral ambiguity
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