EORTV celebrates the emotions & stories of the LGBTQ community: Deepak Pandey

“We are creating stories which highlight that every human being has a right to love, express, live the way they desire and should be respected for their choices and feel free to do so,” says Deepak Pandey, CEO of EORTV. Pandey started his career as a cinematographer and is famous for shows such as ‘Ashoka’, ‘Saraswati Chandra’, ‘Qubool Hai’, ‘Bepanaah’, ‘Jhansi Ki Rani’, and many others, including films such as ‘Pink Mirror’.

In his career spanning 20 years, Pandey made his directorial debut with ‘I love US’, which received 150 million views on YouTube. His venture, EORTV, has a differentiated philosophy and focuses on the stories revolving around the LGBTQ community, providing original, exclusive and premium content from leading publishers and producers in the domestic and international entertainment industry.

In conversation with Adgully, Deepak Pandey talks about his objective behind EORTV and his future expectations around the same. Excerpts:

How did the idea of EORTV originate? Describe your journey that culminated in the setting up of EORTV? 

While we are all living on the same planet, under the same sky, the acceptance of LGBTQiA+ community has always been questioned. The idea was originated when nobody was willing to accept the challenge to showcase content based on the emotion of this community on their very own platform. This led to the creation of EORTV, to create equality, acceptance, care, respect and love for the community. The journey has been phenomenal, setting up an entire channel based on one idea has surely been a challenge, but at the same time it has been a lot of fun as well. Now that it is finally as live, we are continuously releasing new content and getting amazing responses. It feels like all the efforts are finally paying off. It is just the start, and we still have a long way to go.

What are your targets in terms of growth projections, subscriber base, etc., for 2022?

We are ambitious, but realistic as well, so a subscriber base of 1 million with 12 originals is what we are targeting for the foreseeable future.

What are your plans, including content strategy and audience engagement for 2022?

There are studies that say that out of every 20 women, one woman is attracted to other women and this is not a trend, but it is in the genetics of women ever since. Even history tells us stories of the LGBTQIA+ community; but it has been treated as a taboo and people are unaware of the actual facts. The strategy is to give all such stories, which have been shut behind the doors all these years, a fresh start and a positive treatment, where it is celebrated and not hidden.

Stories are the true base for audience engagement and the audience is smart with their choices and very discerning at that. So, our strategy is to come up with the best content, stories that will be told truthfully.

What are your views on the current streaming business in India and the reception of streaming platforms? Is OTT going to rule over television?

Yes, absolutely. The simple reason being the variety of content one gets by sitting wherever on earth they want just on the tip of their fingers, including the TV content.

The current streaming business is experiencing the golden era due to the pandemic; people have become more informed about various streaming platforms and are happy to use it. Due to this, directly or indirectly, people’s views are broadening, and they are accepting unusual content, even out of their comfort zone and have started liking and supporting the same. Social media is a big influence in this, as word of mouth through social media is playing a crucial part.

Do you think specialised niche streaming is the future?

The market is flooding with content of different genres, but people are also seeing what interests them the most at a personal level. Where they are getting resonated, the specialised niche market comes in the picture here. Where the audience feels connected and they stick to the content which is of their personal liking and for which they don’t have to keep finding and searching, instead it is readily available.

What is your content strategy? Do you have your own originals or do you commission content?

We have our own originals, and we are also commissioning content related to our vision for the channel.

What are the trends that you have observed in the streaming industry?

Everyone in the OTT business is following the same route; the same trend of genres get followed on all OTTs at the same time. But we are creating stories which highlight that every human being has a right to love, express, live the way they desire and should be respected for their choices and feel free to do so. By creating stories to uplift such oppressed human beings by showing and concentrating only on the positive and beautiful side of their lives, which shows them just as humans as all others. And where their personal choices are celebrated and are just normal as any other. I would say ours is purposeful content.

How did your transition from being a cinematographer to being a director happen?

I’m a storyteller, and have always been one. I have done that through my lenses, by using the best of my knowledge and creating the magical world as needed in the script. This journey through lenses further pushed me to become a director. To envisage the entire story and sharing it with my audience is what I feel made the transition. My years in cinematography helped me understand the medium better for the stories to unfold better. I cherish the great grounding that I have had.