Partnering with local Indian talent, Riverland Entertainment will offer premium non-fiction and documentary programming to streamers and broadcasters in India and around the world
(Singapore – September 27, 2022) – Beach House Pictures, a Blue Ant Media company, announced today a significant expansion of its operations, bolstering its position as one of Asia’s largest indies. The company has partnered with Raghav Khanna, former head of Netflix’s documentary productions in Asia-Pacific, to launch Riverland Entertainment in Mumbai. The newly formed production company will partner with local Indian talent to create content for global and Indian audiences, while leveraging Beach House Pictures’ international expertise and reach, with access to its post-production facility, Space Lion Studios. Tasked with developing a slate of compelling unscripted series and documentaries from India for streamers and broadcasters, co-founder Raghav will serve as Managing Director of Riverland Entertainment and work closely with Beach House Pictures founders Donovan Chan and Jocelyn Little.
“Indian storytellers have been important players in the global film industry for decades and we believe India will continue to grow more prominent as it becomes a vital market for international and regional streamers. We want to work with the country’s amazing creators and platforms to produce a range of new and unique premium stories that will shine a spotlight on its most fascinating characters and celebrate its rich history and culture in diverse ways,” says Donovan Chan, Creative Director, Beach House Pictures.
“Partnering with Raghav and entering India is critical to Beach House Pictures as we expand across Asia, but it’s also crucial that we work with the country’s most exciting storytellers to ensure our projects are truly authentic to the region and its communities,” says Jocelyn Little, Managing Director, Beach House Pictures. “We have worked with Raghav for many years and have grown to admire his excellent leadership, experience and expertise. By joining forces with him, together with Blue Ant Media’s distribution network, we have an incredible opportunity to find a wider audience for our projects.”
Riverland Entertainment will also focus on providing line-production services to incoming international productions and help them unlock access to local talent, crews, permits and tax incentives in a region now booming with global productions.
“It is an unprecedented time to be a creator as local stories told with authenticity are transcending regional and linguistic boundaries. We want to partner with the Indian creative community, and tap into Beach House Pictures’ genre expertise, to tell stories that are true to their milieu for Indian and international audiences,” says Raghav Khanna, Managing Director, Riverland Entertainment. “India’s geographical diversity, robust entertainment industry and recently announced filming tax incentives make for an attractive destination for incoming international productions.”
Raghav Khanna is a multifaceted creative professional with over 12 years of experience in the non-fiction genre. Prior to his role at Riverland Entertainment, Raghav Khanna led the production of documentaries for Netflix in Asia-Pacific. He is also the writer and creative director of the acclaimed food series Raja Rasoi aur Anya Kahaniyaan (available on Netflix). He has been an Executive Producer with Fox and National Geographic for their flagship series such as Masters of Taste with Gary Mehigan and Mega Icons. Raghav has also worked with various Indian celebrities and talent agencies to bring top tier talent to non-fiction shows.
Beach House Pictures is one of Asia’s largest independent production companies and uniquely produces series and films for buyers in the US, Asia and internationally. Headquartered in Singapore, the company has also been established in Beijing for 15 years and is one of the leading foreign co-producers in China. Over the past three years, Beach House Pictures has rapidly acquired Tokyo-based Vesuvius Pictures and Singapore’s Southeast Asian scripted producer Momo Film Co. The company recently launched Space Lion Studios, a Dolby-certified, state-of-the-art post production facility in Singapore and Mumbai-based Riverland Entertainment, which creates premium factual programming from India for streamers and broadcasters globally. Beach House Pictures has grown to become a multi-cultural and multi-genre expert in creating and owning original IP across scripted, factual, unscripted and branded programming for regional and international platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Warner Bros Discovery, Youku, Bilibili and Tencent. The company’s recent productions include The Raincoat Killer (Netflix), Evolve (Curiosity, Amazon Prime), Best Dog India (Netflix), Uptown Otters (Animal Planet, Love Nature), MasterChef Singapore (Mediacorp, Motion Group), Bake Off Japan (Amazon Prime), Ed Stafford: First Man Out (Warner Bros Discovery) and Wild City with David Attenborough (Sky, BBC America). beachhousepictures.com
Blue Ant Media is a privately held, international content producer, distributor and channel operator. We own and operate numerous production companies in North America and Asia-Pacific, creating content for broadcasters and streaming platforms in multiple genres including factual entertainment, natural history, documentary and adult animation. Our distribution business, Blue Ant International, offers a substantial catalogue of content, including one of the world’s largest 4K natural history offerings. Blue Ant Media operates linear and free streaming channels under several brands including Love Nature, Smithsonian Channel (Canada), BBC Earth (Canada), BBC First (Canada), HauntTV, Homeful, CrimeTime, TotalCrime and HistoryTime. Blue Ant Media is headquartered in Toronto, with eight international offices in Los Angeles, New York, Singapore, Tokyo, London, Washington, Mumbai and Beijing. Blueantmedia.com Twitter⼁Instagram⼁LinkedIn