ABOUT CONTENT INDIA COPRO PITCH 2026

The Content India Copro Pitch is designed to uncover the most exciting new project ideas from the Indian production community that will resonate locally, while also looking for international coproduction partners to help the projects achieve global success.

The Content India Copro Pitch 2026 will bring C21’s tried-and-tested pitch competition format to Mumbai for the first time, awarding each winner a prize of £10,000 worth of marketing across C21Media’s digital, print and event products to support development and pre-sales promotion of the show.

The competition was open to early-stage scripted and unscripted series and from the submissions received this year, seven finalists have been selected to pitch live at Content India on Monday March 16 at 5pm. The winning projects, selected by an esteemed panel of judges, will be announced the same day at the Content India opening cocktail party.

TIMELINE

16/03/2026
Live pitch at Content India

EVENT DETAILS

This event is taking place at:
Content India 2026

To purchase a Content India 2026 ticket, please CLICK HERE.

2026 FINALISTS

SCRIPTED

DIRTY MINDS

Locomotive Global

India

SYNOPSIS

An Indian therapist returns home from London with a dark secret, and against the wishes of her employers, secretly begins a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) therapy clinic in Mumbai. The show follows her and her patients as they seek to resolve their various traumas which include murder, terrorism, suicide and assault.

Dirty Minds is about ordinary Indians and how they are affected by extraordinary trauma. It is a show that demonstrates how morality can be thrown out of the window when human beings operate in the wake of intense mental trauma. This show is about a determined, driven woman, KAREENA KOHLI, a therapist who is willing to break the rules to help people suffering from emotional trauma – without realising that she is blind to her own demons.

PITCHING

Vikas Sharma

As Head of films, Vikas drives the entire film business, overseeing all aspects from development to production. With a decade of experience in the media and entertainment industry, he brings a unique blend of creative vision and commercial acumen to the table. His expertise lies in identifying compelling narratives, fostering collaborations, and executing projects that balance artistic integrity with profitability.

PROJECT INFORMATION

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERS: Sunder Aaron

LOOKING FOR: We are looking for funding coproduction and studio

COMPANY PROFILE

Locomotive Global is a premier content creation powerhouse dedicated to developing, producing and distributing original scripted series, films and non-fiction content. Founded with a vision to tell compelling stories rooted in India, Locomotive masterfully bridges the gap between local narratives and global audiences.

CONTACT

Ramandeep Singh

[email protected]

DJINN PATROL

MFF&CO

SYNOPSIS

In a smog-choked Delhi neighbourhood along the Purple Line metro, nine-year-old Jai escapes daily hardship by obsessively watching a sensational TV crime show and imagining himself as a brilliant detective. In Jai’s world, mysteries make sense: clues add up, villains are exposed, and justice always arrives on time.

That fantasy is shattered when a boy from Jai’s basti, Bahadur, disappears in the maze of nearby Bhoot Bazaar. As fear spreads, Bahadur’s mother wants to go to the police, a risky move in a community living under constant threat of eviction, harassment and demolition. Convinced the adults will only make things worse, Jai decides to investigate himself, pulling in his sharp, skeptical friend Pari and street-smart Faiz.

What begins as play quickly turns serious. Following fragile clues through schools, alleys, rumors of djinns, and adult indifference, the children encounter bullying, corruption and a system that quietly shrugs at missing kids. Police prefer bribes and easy explanations. Teachers look away. Political leaders exploit fear. When Bahadur’s disappearance is dismissed as a runaway case, Jai realises something chilling: no one is really looking.

As the pilot ends, another child vanishes. The danger is no longer abstract, and the stakes are unmistakable. Jai, Pari and Faiz make a pact to work together – not as kids playing detective, but as a real investigative unit determined to find the missing before the system erases them.

PITCHING

McKenna Stephens

Stephens is senior director of development at MFF&CO, where she oversees a slate of international content for the global marketplace. Prior to joining the team at MFF&CO, McKenna was director of global television at the now shuttered Participant, a leading media company dedicated to entertainment and activism, where she handled episodic projects at all stages, from inception through production and going to air including Hulu’s Interior Chinatown.

Stephens joined Participant as an assistant senior VP of Global Television, from The Gersh Agency, where she worked in the literary department. She is passionate about telling stories that help compel positive social change and finding emerging talent.

Neha Sharma

Sharma is a filmmaker and series creator with experience across development, writing and direction.

She co-wrote and co-directed Ziddi Girls, a young-adult political coming-of-age series released on Amazon Prime Video, and served as Head Writer on Netflix’s The Royals, a dysfunctional family romantic comedy series whose first season has released. She is currently head writer for S2 of The Royals and is also developing a book-to-series adaptation of an Edgar Award–winning novel as head writer for MFF & Co.

A National Film Award–winning filmmaker, Neha wrote and directed the children’s short Little Magician. Her feature screenplay Under the Skin was selected for NFDC’s National Script Lab, while The Shrimp & the Big Fish was long-listed for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. She also wrote and directed Devmasa, winner of Best Film at the Epic Games × Unreal Engine Shorts Program (India).

PROJECT INFORMATION

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERS:Neha Sharma (Writer), Miura Kite (Producer), Kilian Kerwin (Producer)

LOOKING FOR: We are looking for distribution, production financing and potential studio partners.

COMPANY PROFILE

MFF & CO is an LA–based entertainment studio creating premium, impact-driven stories for global audiences. In collaboration with Maria Farinha Filmes (São Paulo) and Violet Films (London), the group develops and produces high-quality scripted and unscripted content with international reach.

Founded as the international expansion of Maria Farinha Filmes – Latin America’s leading impact entertainment company – MFF & CO builds on a legacy that includes the scripted series Aruanas and the globally influential documentary franchise The Beginning of Life. Since 2007, the group has produced more than 50 titles that use storytelling to spark dialogue and drive positive social change.

Launched in the US in 2024, MFF & CO was named by Variety as one of the fastest-growing global studios. The company is led from LA by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media, with executive producer credits including Interior Chinatown (Hulu/Disney+), Noughts + Crosses (BBC), and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey (Netflix).

CONTACT

McKenna Stephens

[email protected]

KANPURX X SATORI

Metaphysical Lab

India

SYNOPSIS

2022: 14-year-old Ashish, is walking through the crowded New Delhi railway station. It’s 1am. He has a rucksack filled with 1.5m rupees cash. He is anxious but seems relaxed. He looks at the ticket counter wondering if he should get a ticket; if he does, he might get caught. He has skilfully masked his face, as people are used to masking post-Corona.

He decides to get inside the train, second-class compartment, so he does not need to buy the ticket. Since his face is masked and he is tall enough, he can pass for a 16-year-old adult. The train is crowded, but an old woman spots him and calls him to sit next to her. Ashish tells her he is looking for his father, who has been missing for days. The cops cannot find him and his mother is very upset. The old woman blesses him and tells him he will find his father soon.

Finding himself in the ghats of Varanasi early in the morning, Ashish, being a tech and video game addict, realises that the cops are tracking him through his cellphone.

He decides to have some fun and lets his phone be tracked. He lets the cop track him while playing his game on them. The video game Kanpurx, on which he is hooked, has blurred the reel and the real.

PITCHING

Suchita Bhhatia

Bhhatia is an Indian filmmaker, writer and producer working at the intersection of cinema, psychology and emerging technology. Her storytelling explores identity, mental health, digital intimacy and the moral ambiguities of contemporary life.

She has directed high-profile commercial and branded films, developing a strong command over performance-driven narratives and large-scale production environments. Alongside this work, she has cultivated a distinct independent voice through fiction and documentary projects that examine vulnerability, loneliness, and the evolving human condition in a hyper-connected world.

Her short documentary Orange, an intimate exploration of caregiving and mental health, has received powerful responses at private institutional screenings. She is currently in post-production on a feature-length AI-driven film that reimagines historical narrative through emerging technology.

PROJECT INFORMATION

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERS: Suchita Bhhatia

LOOKING FOR: International coproduction partners to elevate the series to premium global standards.

Platform and commissioning relationships for early development conversations.

Creative collaborators (showrunners, VFX/game design consultants) experienced in hybrid tech-thrillers.

Global sales and distribution partners to position the series beyond the Indian market.

This series is conceived as a globally resonant techno-thriller. While rooted in contemporary India, its themes of digital addiction, surveillance culture and youth alienation are universal. We are looking to build it as a cross-border streaming property with strong international travel potential.

COMPANY PROFILE

Metaphysical Lab is an independent creative studio founded by filmmaker and podcaster Suchita Bhhatia (www.suchitabhhatia.com), working at the intersection of cinema, philosophy, mental health and emerging technology.

The studio has produced 200-plus longform podcast episodes, building a thoughtful archive of conversations with artists, scholars and cultural thinkers. In film, Metaphysical Lab produced the independent feature Americano, released on Tubi, marking its entry into global digital distribution.

It has recently completed the short documentary Orange, an intimate father–daughter story exploring mental health and caregiving, now being positioned for wider screenings.

The studio is currently in post-production on an ambitious AI-driven feature film that blends historical inquiry with innovative visual storytelling.

Metaphysical Lab continues to develop bold, future-facing projects across podcasts, films and technology-integrated narratives, aimed at both festival platforms and global audiences.

CONTACT

Suchita Bhhatia

[email protected]

THE AGE OF KALI

Shibani Bathija

India

SYNOPSIS

When an American serial killer chooses the teeming mishmash of India as his new hunting ground, a tightly wound FBI agent of Indian origin sets out to get him. The hunt throws her into the chaotic extremes of the country, unwittingly cutting open her own violent and repressed past.

PITCHING

Shibani Bathija

Bathija is an Indian-born, US-educated screenwriter; a world nomad who tells stories that explore a shared human experience from a multidimensional cultural lens. A prime example is the Indo/US film My Name is Khan, a 20th Century Fox production, for which Shibani won multiple awards. The film went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film in the international market. Shibani’s other theatrical releases, Fanaa, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Kidnap are also known for blending the traditions of Indian and Western cinema. Shibani’s under-development projects include works for streaming and theatrical releases in English and Hindi.

PROJECT INFORMATION

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERS: Shibani Bathija

PARTNERS: Marc Lorber – The Art of Coproduction

LOOKING FOR: International partners

COMPANY PROFILE

Shibani Bathija is an independent producer and award winning screenwriter who has been writing professionally since 2001. She won writing awards for theatrical feature My Name is Khan, produced by 20th Century Fox and Dharma Productions.

CONTACT

Shibani Bathij

[email protected]

UNSCRIPTED

RESPAWN : INDIA’S ESPORT REVOLUTION

Sangram Awari

India

SYNOPSIS

Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution charts the extraordinary rise of competitive gaming in a country that went from dial-up dreams to digital dominance in less than two decades. What began in cramped cyber cafés, where teenagers saved pocket money to play Counter-Strike and GTA, has evolved into packed arenas, professional boot camps, million-dollar prize pools and global recognition.

Powered by affordable internet and rapid smartphone penetration, e-sports in India has transformed from a hobby into a viable, aspirational career for millions.

Through the journeys of three leading players, the film explores the human stories behind the headlines of young men who rose from small towns and modest beginnings to become national icons in a rapidly expanding industry. Their victories symbolise opportunity in a new India, where geography and background no longer define potential.

Yet behind the fame and flashing lights lies a more complex reality. As children as young as 13 enter competitive gaming, identity becomes intertwined with rankings, followers and digital validation. Families struggle to understand careers that exist entirely online. Financial rewards arrive early, often before emotional maturity. The internet opens doors to global competition; and to unfiltered exposure, pressure and risk.

At its heart, this is a story about the transformation of individuals and families, and of a country redefining what success looks like in the 21st century.

PITCHING

Sangram Awari

Awari is an independent filmmaker and visual storyteller based in Mumbai, with over eight years of experience in the media and film industry. His work focuses primarily on non-fiction storytelling, exploring human narratives, social realities and contemporary cultural shifts.

Over the past four years, he has worked extensively on documentary and observational films, contributing to multiple international non-fiction projects and longform documentaries.

Awari’s approach combines journalistic curiosity with cinematic storytelling, allowing him to uncover intimate, character-driven stories within complex social environments. His work often examines the intersection of technology, society and human behaviour, bringing nuanced perspectives to subjects that shape modern life.

With experience across development, research and production, he continues to pursue documentaries that resonate globally while remaining rooted in authentic, ground-level storytelling.

George Mangalath Thomas

Thomas is a veteran filmmaker, writer and storyteller with nearly four decades of experience crafting compelling visual narratives. Beginning his career in advertising in 1986 and later founding Crossfire Films, he has built a distinguished body of work spanning commercials, documentaries, fiction, music videos and television.

Known for conceptualising and scripting his own films, he combines disciplined advertising strategy with cinematic storytelling to create impactful, brand-building content. His long-standing client relationships, many extending over two to three decades, reflect both creative excellence and strategic insight.

A recipient of multiple national and international awards, including Golds at the Indian Documentary Producers Awards and Asia Pacific Advertising Awards, he continues to produce socially driven short documentaries that amplify unheard voices and bring meaningful attention to important causes.

PROJECT INFORMATION

GENRE: Documentary

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERS: Sangram Awari

LOOKING FOR: The right platform, the right mentorship, and potential financial backing to shape it at the highest level. This story has scale and relevance, but it needs strategic guidance and strong partners to realise its full impact.

COMPANY PROFILE

Sangram Awari is an independent documentary filmmaker with over 8 years of experience in the film and media industry, including 4 years dedicated to non-fiction storytelling. He has worked on multiple international observational documentaries, collaborating across diverse cultures and production environments. His work focuses on grounded, character-driven stories that reflect social change and contemporary India, blending strong field research with a cinematic, human approach to storytelling.

CONTACT

Sangram Awari

[email protected]

SCARY GOOSE

GAMERS HUB MEDIA EVENTS

United Arab Emirates

SYNOPSIS

Scary Goose is a horror reality competition built around a simple but powerful question: how brave are gamers when horror becomes real?

In every episode, self-proclaimed fearless gamers enter a fully immersive haunted house inspired by iconic survival horror video games. The environment is designed like a real-life game level, complete with dark corridors, environmental traps, hidden actors, unsettling sound design and unpredictable jump scares.

Contestants must progress through multiple escalating levels. Each level combines:

• Real-world horror challenges
• Game-inspired missions
• Puzzle-solving under pressure
• Psychological pranks
• Survival-based objectives

At each stage, contestants will be required to play horror games inside the haunted environment itself, intensifying the experience as reality and gaming collide.

Their reactions are captured through cinematic multi-camera setups, night vision, body cams, confessionals and biometric responses where applicable.

Some will laugh. Some will panic. Some will quit. Only the bravest will complete all levels.

Scary Goose blends haunted house immersion, gaming culture, competitive progression and authentic fear-driven entertainment into a scalable format that can be localised internationally while maintaining its core concept: gamers vs real-life horror.

PITCHING

Mohammed Huzaif

Huzaif is the executive producer of Scary Goose and a gaming format specialist with over a decade of hands-on experience designing immersive entertainment at scale.

At Gamers Hub Media Events, he has led the development of large-format gaming festivals, multi-camera e-sports broadcasts, and competitive IP concepts across the Middle East and India, working directly with publishers, developers, influencers and live audiences.

Unlike traditional producers entering the gaming space from television, Huzaif comes from inside the gaming ecosystem. He has built physical gaming environments, structured tournament mechanics, designed broadcast-ready competition formats and managed real-time audience engagement across thousands of participants.

On Scary Goose, he bridges gaming authenticity with cinematic structure, architecting the three-level progression, puzzle mechanics and real-world horror integration to ensure the format feels true to gamers while remaining commercially compelling for broadcasters and OTT platforms.

His strength lies in translating subculture into mainstream entertainment, turning gaming behaviour, fear psychology and competitive dynamics into premium, scalable screen content.

Samar Iqbal

Iqbal is a director and producer currently working at the intersection of cinematic storytelling and gaming-driven entertainment. In collaboration with Gamers Hub Media Events, he has recently produced e-sports and gaming-led content, combining large-scale broadcast execution with immersive genre concepts tailored for youth audiences.

Alongside his work in gaming, Iqbal continues to direct feature films and premium digital series. His directing credits include Tara vs Bilal (T-Series & JA Entertainment), Bobby Jasoos, Dev DD and Girl in the City, which surpassed 400 million views. He has directed for leading platforms and companies including ALTBalaji, Zee5, MX Player, Sony and Disney.

Earlier in his career, Iqbal began with Yash Raj Films, contributing to major productions such as Dhoom, Dhoom 2, Chak De! India, Fanaa and Dhoom 3. He later served as associate director on India’s first collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures, the National Award-winning animated feature Roadside Romeo, working closely with Disney’s Burbank team.

This progression across gaming, streaming and mainstream cinema brings both scale and narrative depth to Scary Goose.

PROJECT INFORMATION

GENRE: Documentary

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERS:

Samar Iqbal – Producer 1
Saad Khan – Producer 2
Mohammad Huzaif – Executive producer

PARTNERS:

USPTV Global – International representation partner

Gamers Hub Media Events – Production company

Key Personnel:
Samar Iqbal – Producer 1
Saad Khan – Producer 2
Mohammad Huzaif – Executive producer

LOOKING FOR:

• Development fund for the show
• Coproduction partners
• Broadcaster or OTT commissioning

COMPANY PROFILE

Led creatively by producer Samar Iqbal, Gamers Hub Media Events (GHME) is a gaming-native production company specialising in broadcast formats, e-sports coverage, and original IP development.

GHME has produced large-scale gaming broadcasts, competitive tournaments and screen-based entertainment properties across MENA and India. Over the years, the company has built strong relationships with international game publishers, developers and influencer networks, giving it direct access to gaming IP and youth-driven digital audiences.

Beyond live production, GHME operates with in-house studio capabilities and multi-camera broadcast expertise, enabling it to create immersive, technically complex formats rooted in gaming culture. With an engaged community exceeding 250,000 registered gamers, the company understands the behaviour, psychology and entertainment expectations of modern gaming audiences.

Scary Goose represents GHME’s expansion into premium unscripted reality formats designed for international coproduction and OTT adaptation.

CONTACT

Mohammed Huzaif

[email protected]

THE MASALA QUEST

Sarina Kamini PTY LTD

Australia

SYNOPSIS

Masala is more than a flavour agent. Much more. What makes masala extraordinary is the ordinary stories it contains for the more than one billion people across India’s regions. But knowledge of the art form is receding – and Indian-Australian cook, author and spice evangelist Sarina Kamini is on a bid to petition UNESCO to champion its preservation. This three-episode series documents her journey.

Kamini communicates masala via a unique lens that’s earned her the title of Spice Mistress, inspired her new book (What We Call Masala, Murdoch Books, 2025), and a growing global audience. But even as she teaches masala masterclasses to curious strangers in her Western Australian home of Margaret River, her Bengaluru-based cousin-sister Shivani confesses to buying packet masalas, while her nieces and nephews from Haryana to Karnataka prefer pizza to paneer. Observing this erosion of masala’s perceived value through her work led Kamini to question: UNESCO sanctioned the French table as Intangible Cultural Heritage. So why not masala?

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status can’t be a cure-all, but it can be a call to fire up our kadais and share the secrets tucked inside every family’s ancestral spice tin. Through this series, Kamini meets a community of characters and allies who champion her efforts, question her perspectives and offer unique insights into her quest. Will UNESCO recognise the need to document India’s intangible cultural legacy? Or will it be left to us to tell its story – one person, one dish, one connection at a time?

PITCHING

Sarina Kamini

Kamini is a Kashmiri-Australian journalist, author, cook, spice evangelist and filmmaker whose 30-year career has focused on the intersection of food, culture and human nature.

For the past 15 years, she has worked almost exclusively translating the art of masala for both Western and Indian audiences via her books, masala masterclasses and now her upcoming docuseries, The Masala Quest. Kamini has lived and worked in India, Spain, France, the UK, North America and Australia. The mother of two grown sons, she now splits her time between India and Western Australia, where she also serves as a volunteer firefighter.

Along with seeking funding and Indian and UK distribution for The Masala Quest – set to premiere in Australia on SBS this November – Kamini and her team are currently developing a second series concept for global streaming that shifts the traditional spice route paradigm. This project is in the development stage, has strong attachments and is seeking interest from commissioning partners and financial producers.

PROJECT INFORMATION

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCERS: Sarina Kamini.

Coproducer: Sudeshna Ghosh

LOOKING FOR: Distribution partnerships, financing opportunities to support the remaining production, and future growth partnerships and connections for further Indo-Australian coproductions. We are looking for visibility for our production house, our team and our work.

COMPANY PROFILE

Sarina Kamini PTY LTD is a boutique production company created by Indo-Australian author, journalist and filmmaker Sarina Kamini. The production house specialises in factual content with a specific focus on documentation, research and preservation around masala and the cultural importance of the culinary arts of India’s regions. The production house is based in Western Australia, with coproduction connections in Bengaluru and Mumbai.

CONTACT

Sarina Kamini

[email protected]