Mela Partners With New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine-Fest to Provide Independent Film Makers a Global Distribution Platform

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mela, a global multi-platform consumer entertainment service with one of the largest aggregations of premium South Asian video content, has partnered with the New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine-Fest, a film festival that promotes and recognizes talents of independent South Asian filmmakers from across the globe.

The upcoming NJISACF 2011, scheduled to take place from October 21-23 in Edison, New Jersey, USA, will highlight the benefits of NJISACF's partnership with Mela to both the participating audiences and independent filmmakers.

The new alliance reflects the converging interests of both parties, as Mela and NJISACF share the goal of promoting independent filmmakers from South Asia. A majority of independent films from the region find it extremely challenging to obtain wide distribution and reach the millions of fans who are eager for quality content from both new & under-represented as well as well respected, established filmmakers. Traditional theatrical distribution has failed to adequately serve independent films, especially in international markets; where the limited number of screens available for South Asian films are almost entirely devoted to mainstream cinema from Bollywood: the largest movie industry in the world, in terms of the number of movies released annually.

Mela leverages its unique technological capabilities and Internet distribution system to allow its subscribers to instantly enjoy an unlimited number of film and television content directly on their televisions.

"We are extremely optimistic about the possibilities that this development presents," expressed Sab Kanaujia, General Manager of Mela. "Non-mainstream content owners could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Mela's global distribution platform. We are committed to allowing content to reach an audience anywhere in the world, on any screen. We are looking forward to making available on Mela all the films that screen during NJISAC 2011. These great independent movies, along with Mela's mainstream content from three of the top movie studios from India, will provide our subscribers an unmatched product in the marketplace."

Collaboration with Mela further propels the "long term goals of NJISACF to extend the life of the films that it has screened in the past, in addition to those it will feature in upcoming years," according to the NJISACF director, Sakti Sengupta, who has spearheaded the event since its inception in 2007. Transferring content directly from the festival to Mela's library will ensure that fans have immediate access to the cinema that would otherwise have limited reach. "It's a perfect marriage, especially since Mela and NJISACF are equally passionate about promoting films that aim to entertain, educate, challenge, and inspire," Sengupta added.

The partnership, above all, is a boon to all the South Asian filmmakers, whose efforts to bring their projects to a wider audience has as yet been fruitless. In a burgeoning media landscape where traditional modes of distribution have given way to outlets that are greater in number but less secure in terms of legality and profitability, Mela and NJISACF hope to take programming to a better, more dependable and durable level. With their combined efforts, they promise a safe, relevant, and economically viable stage on which filmmakers may showcase their work.

Mela recently announced its launch with an overwhelmingly positive response during a series of events in New York City on August 21, 2011 in conjunction with the annual India Day parade. Mela officially launched its service to the consumers in the U.S. and Canada this week.

About Mela

Mela is a multi-platform entertainment service that provides consumers worldwide one of the largest collections of premium South Asian video content. Mela brings together content from diverse sources by combining dozens of live television channels covering news and entertainment, hundreds of hit Bollywood and regional movies, with first-ever streaming in high-definition, and hundreds of independent films and selected premium videos from the Internet.  Mela's content partners include several premium film studios and television networks including Sun TV Network, Yash Raj Films, Eros International, ETV Network, Raj Television Network, Shemaroo Entertainment, and several others.  The Mela service is now available to consumers in the U.S. and Canada.  At launch, Mela is available directly on consumers' television through Mela's high-definition set-top-box. Mela plans to later roll out its service on all major platforms including PC, tablets, Internet connected televisions, video gaming consoles, phones, Internet connected Blue-ray players, and other over-the-top devices. Mela is owned by Verismo Networks, a Silicon Valley based company that offers business customers worldwide solutions to bring seamless convergence of IPTV linear channels, video-on-demand, Internet videos, social networking and personal media playback directly to consumer's television. Verismo is backed by Intel Capital. To learn more about Mela, please visit www.mela.com. To learn more about Verismo, please visit www.verismonetworks.com. 

About NJISACF

The mission of NJISACF will be to promote and recognize the talents of the new, the established, the underrepresented, the best and the brightest Independent South Asian filmmakers from across the globe. Our line-up of great films covers a wide spectrum of genres and lengths. They reflect the diverse experiences, cultures and histories of the South Asian diaspora in the USA and elsewhere, thereby encouraging cross-cultural dialog and understanding in a multicultural society like ours. The festival's mission is also to facilitate a thriving and dynamic interaction and dialog among filmmakers, writers, actors, producers, film critics, film scholars, film industry professionals, the movie-loving public, and the American society in general. We believe that these films can inspire, inform and unite South Asian filmmakers and people across the tri-state area, and reaffirm our identity. We believe in our cause, we truly believe that this occasion will soon become an integral part of the heritage of New Jersey.

SOURCE Mela