YouTube's ambitious 'YouTube Space' enters Mumbai in collaboration with Whistling Woods International

By Siddharth Aalambayan

Mumbai, the hub of movie making in India will now also be the base for the new talent pool of video creators via YouTube Space.

YouTube in collaboration with Whistling Woods International, has opened its 8th (one of a kind) Youtube Space in Mumbai’s Film City. YouTube Spaces are a known phenomenon amongst YouTube creators and video generators abroad, but the medium, the content on it and its user experience is still very fresh, yet aggressively growing in India. As YouTube’s head Lance Podell puts it – Learn, Connect, Create – which simply means that anybody and every body can be a video creator in the world that we live in.

The internet touches 300 million people in India. It’s now a mainstream phenomena – exclaimed Lance as he introduced the creators, press and the students of Whistling Woods to YouTube Space. Two of the studio spaces inside the institute, their sound design labs and professional equipment will now be available for creators who collaborate with YouTube. To be able to collaborate with YouTube and access the space, one will have to start their own channel and gain 1000 followers, before reaching and wait for a revert. Once on board, creators will meet with other collaborators and people who have successfully made their YouTube channels to flourish. The creative team and alumni will guide anyone who needs help and churn better content, in a more professional way.

“As our PM Modi dreams of a Digital India; I’m proud that we are leading it” said Ajay Vidyasagar, Regional Director, YouTube Partnerships, India. What’s interesting is, that the famous video bloggers, beauty and style video creators have already spent a lot on upscaling their homes/rooms/spaces they video-log out of. I can’t come here for every video that I shoot, plus bookings will be a hassle, since there’s more than just one YouTuber, said Larissa D’sa ( @larissa_wlc ). It will add to the amount of things we can do. The scopes to collaborate and move up are now available to any Youtuber, said Jaisal Rathee (of SorteddTV ) and Sonal Sagaraya.

The space has some sets that have been made and ready for shoots, but they will become redundant once someone has shot here. We will then have to create our own sets depending on our requirement, said Amrit Raj Gupta of ScreenPatti, a sister concern of the The Viral Fever studios.

Subhash Ghai declared the space open, as he disclosed how he had made a short film which never got a platform. “I’d created a 8mm short film from a camera I’d borrowed from a friend, that was 11 minutes long; I wish I had a platform to upload it, which you now do”.

The YouTube space should open up opportunities to beginners, but for the folks that are established and have their channels up and running, we are not sure how helpful it will be. A space to work in, lights to use and professional gear to go with will be a pro, but getting a team that can make full use of it, might be the first con that this place churns. Also, a theatre enthusiast Jay (name changed on request) exclaimed how, the YouTube space might just end up becoming a Prithvi Theatre where the big names, get chances to present and the newbies just end up waiting in the long lines.

YouTube has come a long way since its inception and the YouTube Space, has cleverly played the, ‘Lets get more hits’ card. By providing a professional space, they are sure of garnering great amounts of content, which they will be able to display ads on. Well done YouTube, well done.

So, YouTube will provide you with the space and resources to make your content/video look professional, but will that affect the revenue sharing deal between a creator to the site? Will someone who does Vox Pop, or someone who already has a setup in place, really benefit from the venture, are questions that will linger, till this has become a usual thing for YouTube content creators to opt for.

Lance Podell, Director, Global Head of YouTube Spaces, said, “The new YouTube Space Mumbai at Whistling Woods International marks the latest milestone in our efforts to support the incredible wave of creativity we have seen develop in the Indian YouTube creator community over the last few years. We’re excited and proud to be partnering with a premier institution like WWI, who are truly industry torch-bearers in their commitment to their students and quality programming. By working with them, we hope to empower India’s next generation of digital creators and WWI students to learn, connect, and to create new content. We look forward to seeing what video content will emerge from the Space and the community it fosters.”

Subhash Ghai, Founder and Chairman of Whistling Woods International, said, “Without doubt, digital platforms are the present and future of content creation and consumption in India. We, at Whistling Woods have always endeavoured to bring the future to today’s film and media industry and, by partnering with one of the largest and most respected companies in the world to set up the YouTube Space Mumbai, we have just taken another big step towards making India the content creation powerhouse that it deserves to be.”

In addition to physical studio space that is available to students and creators free of charge, YouTube and WWI are developing original courses to train the next generation of Indian film-makers to succeed on digital and online media. Leveraging material from the YouTube Creator Academy and developed in tandem with YouTube staff, Whistling Woods has launched its first course for YouTube with 120 students from their undergraduate and graduate schools. Since the first YouTube Space opened in 2012, more than 150,000 creators have visited the Spaces globally, creating over 10,000 videos from their visits.