Renu Negi born and raised in a humble family in a small place Village Dubbling Kinnaur a Tribal area of Himachal Pradesh. The District of Kinnaur is renowned for its orchards, lovely meadows covered with forest and is a border district of Himachal Pradesh. The values like diligence, sincerity, integrity, and hard work got infused in the early formative days. My love for nature stimulated me to the creative side.
Her father and mother both were master craft artists and her mother even received a state-level award in 1991 for her masterpiece in LAVI FAIR in Himachal. However, her father was struggling to get his art pieces marketed for survival since there was no market in the handicraft sector. She being the eldest daughter was constantly thinking of how to support her family financially. She wanted to do some creative work but not in the handicraft sector because she had seen the financial worth of her family's art. There was a sense of determination to continue her education and learning and also to immediately start earning to assist my parents.
The life of a Tribal female child itself is full of struggle. Though the Tribal society is far more evolved in gender equity yet lack of economic opportunities is the limiting factor. It was rather at that early stage she decided to do something big and creative. In her pursuit to do something meaningful, she was constantly working hard to improve upon her creative side and her efforts were appreciated by a Delhi-based production house that offered her a role in a short film. That was the beginning of her exposure to the television industry. She did an apprenticeship with some of the well-known filmmakers which helped her in acquiring the finest nuances of filmmaking.
Gradually she developed a great interest in film making and she started doing some small films on tourism, art, and culture sectors. With some of her works in hand, she approached Doordarshan which ran her programs on royalty bands. Doordarshan anyway was a good platform where royalty bands and commission programs could give a good beginning. Doordarshan has given her the platform to start her career as a producer and director.
The self-belief, determination, and creative urges within her always made me restless. She first tried her hand at production and received appreciation. She got a sense that she could refine her creative quest and raise the level to do bigger projects. She then resolved to try her hand at filmmaking. It was a nostalgic moment when she saw her program being relayed for the first time on DD National.
She got started earning from her short films and soon started enjoying her work and decided to establish herself in this profession as a filmmaker with proper channels. She established her production house in 1997 named R.N PRODUCTION and got her production house empanelled with the Ministry of I&B and that was the beginning of her journey and recognition on the national scene and never looked back. She had a sense of pride in being a self-made woman.
Entrepreneurship is a game of mind so she decided to work in remote rural areas of India and especially on tribal subjects. Ms. Renu started doing production on women-oriented programs like women health issues and rural and tribal women empowerment-related subjects. She moved from state to state in these places in rural and tribal areas.
As she would reveal herself being tribal women it is then alone they would open up and be comfortable. They shared and discussed their issues and problems and looked upon her as a messenger to communicate their issues and problems to the Government. In this direction, she captured the lives of tribes like Arunachal Pradesh, Tribes of Himachal Pradesh, Tribes of Madhya Pradesh, Uttranchal, etc.
She got connected to work with various Government departments, Ministries, and States Government projects. In between, I also worked for DFID, UNFPA. This credit is recognition for her work at the National and International levels.
For her significant contribution in the field, she was awarded at various levels.
Achievements
Made more than 75 films on various subjects for National and international, Government / Private Agencies. Despite getting recognition and acclamation for my films. I continued my sincere effort towards improving the quality of the films assigned to me.
Her continuous zeal for learning and incremental improvement has been instrumental in her winning the National level two awards for her film “Yak the ship of Mountains' '. This film on Yak husbandry Bagged ”Silver Beaver Award” for best film on Science A Category in the 8th National Science film festival of India 2018 (8TH NSFFI 2018)
The film Yak The ship of Mountain got Best Cinematography Award for the best camerawork in the 8th National Science film festival of India 2018 (8TH NSFFI 2018).
Film the Lahaola tribe of Himachal got appreciation Certificate from the ministry and the Ministry sent the film to the International film festival in Mumbai.
Film on steel usage in rural and urban lifestyles got an appreciation Certificate from the Ministry of Steel.
Documentary film on Fishery also got an appreciation certificate from DKMA ICAR and was also shortlisted for the award in the 8th National Science film festival.
Renu says, The entertainment industry had expanded in an unprecedented way in recent times. The emergence of OTT platforms on the international, national, and regional levels has set new trends by way of the most innovative thinking in terms of content development. Nowadays for Indian filmmakers, it's far easier to create content and collaborate with creative people even from remote places which was not easy or feasible a few years ago.
Television, radio, and online channels including news are to run 24x7 content and therefore, are giving opportunities to brighter people to produce content. These platforms have thrown a big challenge even to the film industry as these have a far better reach and the audience can access them from anywhere. This has given rise to new and innovative business models for all stakeholders.
The journey was full of ebb and flow but my parents, husband and children's support had made it worthwhile and beautiful.
My contributions and dedicated hard efforts have profoundly benefited both the industry and the process of dissemination sought to be achieved through the medium. I have always been keen to work in a challenging and motivating work environment and my creative & administrative skills have contributed to the growth of newer horizons in the field of Film making on emergent subjects.
My film entrepreneur’s journey is never-ending. I am still doing many projects under the R.N Production banner with the government of India science Ott platform.
The emergence of New Trends in the Media & Entertainment Industry
The onset of the covid-19 pandemic has compelled the entertainment industry content developers to discover and invent new delivery channels. Continuous lockdowns for long periods have changed the behavior of the consumer. Due to the changes in consumer behavior, new and strong demand for the development of software and its delivery direct to the consumer through non-traditional delivery systems has emerged.
If you take a look at the share market, you will observe phenomenal growth in the media and entertainment industry shares which proves that the boon time for this industry is far from over.
As such the entertainment industry has expanded in an unprecedented manner in recent times. The emergence of OTT platforms on the international, national, and regional levels has set new trends by way of the most innovative thinking in terms of content development. These platforms have thrown a big challenge even to the film industry as these have a far better reach and can be accessed from anywhere. This has given rise to new and innovative business models for all stakeholders. This business model has been very successful in mobilizing and captivating large sections of the audience with great ease. So this model is catching up fast with an ever-increasing audience at all levels.
Due to the digitization and superfast internet, the service providers are aiding the entertainment industry which is evident from the ever-increasing number of subscribers. The challenge here lies in retaining the subscriber base and converting the free subscriber to a paid subscriber wherein the role of strategic marketing and personalized content delivery attains significance. The larger the subscriber base, the larger can be the share out of the ad revenue.
The latest developments in communication infrastructure have become the backbone of the media and entertainment industry. It has ensured delivery of the content directly to the consumer on any of his devices (portable or nonportable) anywhere in the world. This model is likely to sustain for the future and bring cheer to both the provider and the consumer.
