Social Samosa Agency Feature - Grey Matter Entertainment

Who are we?

We are Grey Matter and we are a 7 years old company. The core team of Chandradev, Rahul, and Payal are media professionals with a collective experience of over 50 years across genres and geographies. Our connect is that all 3 of us were toddlers in a tiny hamlet in Eastern India by the name of Jamshedpur and yes, we went to the same school - Loyola School. Payal and Chandradev also happen to be married!! Close knit? Totally! Too close for comfort? Sometimes!

Conventionally speaking, we have done some mad things in life. Payal gave up her exciting stint as a start-up team of Sony Entertainment Television, and took a sizeable pay cut to work with Mansoor Khan in the making of his film - Josh. Ok - she also got to hang with Shah Rukh and Aishwarya Rai.

Chandradev was part of start-up team at IMG in India and founding team at Ten Sports. After10 years of working on Cricket and other top sport around the world, he was bored (!) and found the motivation to chase a film course in New York University.

Rahul, was bubbling over with energy, even while he was graduating from St Xaviers. He freelanced on live TV gigs and concerts while still at college and later joined MTV and was part of the founding team at Colors. In a nutshell,we love chasing a tornado. What's life without takinga few chances?

What's in the name?

When we started we had too much time and too little to do!

Apart from chasing jobs, our creative juices had to flow somewhere. They went into building content ideas that we are converting into IP today and yes, logo creation. Greymatter literally means brains! Guess that's sufficient explanation? The logo is a formation of the key letters GME (Grey Matter Entertainment) in the shape of a light bulb.

Look again! Did the idea click? Great. That's what we like to do. Bring ideas to life!

What we do?

We make content in all shapes and forms. We happen to be one of the larger content services companies in India and our TV format IPs are going global.

Our recent canvas of work looks like this:

We are producing a feature film in Vietnam with a Hollywood writer that premiers in November 2016. Live coverage of Premier Futsal involving Ronaldinho and Ryan Giggs.

'Remix', our music talent format that's among the top 5 shows in China with Gangnam Style - PSY as one of the judges.

Digital content for NBA has won us a nomination at the Asian Television Awards.  Apart from this, we have produced general eentertainment content like - Satyamev Jayate - Mumkin Hai with Star TV and Aamir Khan Productions as well as Mid-wicket Tales with Naseeruddin Shah - slicing the 100 year history of Indian cricket. We are still trying to find a thread through all of this. Guess we just chase what we enjoy doing most!

Why we do it?

Back in the mid 90s, electronic media was a nascent industry. The excitement was about participating in the shaping of a new industry around our personal interests in life. As individuals, we loved sport, performing arts and films. All that converged into a passion for content. That's why we manage to be present across platforms and genres today.

How we evolve?

Yes, the rate of change is mind boggling. Our attempt is to keep ourselves relevant in a world that's getting younger and younger. Therefore, we talk to and work with younger people while hoping that 'experience' will continue to be one of the pillars for growth!

Social responsibility in social media

The information super high way is an exciting terrain. There is much to absorb. People are scampering at breakneck speed. Any, information is available to people across age groups, sensitivities, cultures and mind-sets. It can be a double edged sword. We believe that this makes it imperative for everyone using social media to be responsible and cognizant of the impact of the medium.

We learned the hard way

Entrepreneurship is a humbling experience. Here, there is no reputed name or brand backing us. We are building our reputation from scratch and there is no room for complacency and in many ways you are 'as good as your last job '!

They work with us

We offer content solutions to a wide spectrum of clients. We work with broadcasters - Star, Sony, Viacom, entrepreneurs and promotes - Pro Sortify, CCL, Premier Futsal; we collaborate with film makers. We work with brands - Google, Pepsi, and Vodafone. We work with sport bodies and federations - NBA, Badminton Association of India, and Wrestling Federation.

Industry as we foresee

More and more physical time and mind space is being consumed by the social media. Disruption is the operative word. I see it as a powerful tool for India's growth story. The PM is using it for effective political and social connect with the masses. Technology will increase transparency and accountability. Rural inclusion is a real possibility

A day without Internet

If being connected is like breathing, a day without the internet should be 'nirvana' isn't it?

Lastly, are you hiring?

Yes, we are hiring...aggressively.

We are strengthening our thinking and delivery in genres like Digital and Drama. There is always room for smart thinking, action oriented individuals. If you are one of them, we might have something exciting for you.