YouTube Space Mumbai at Whistling Woods International opens for YouTube video creators

State-of-the-art facilities and academic expertise will let YouTube creators in India learn more about film production, connect with others in the industry, and create better quality and more ambitious video content, for free

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | December 4, 2015

YouTube is taking the digital industry to next level in India by officially unveiling the YouTube Space Mumbai at Whistling Woods International (WWI), a state-of-the-art collaboration and production facility for YouTube video creators, located at one of Asia's top film schools. The Space will allow YouTube creators and students at WWI to learn about video production, collaborate with other creators, and give them the tools they need to realize their creative goals.

Located in the heart of Mumbai's film and television production hub Filmcity at renowned film school Whistling Woods International, YouTube Space Mumbai is the latest to open after YouTube Spaces in Tokyo, Los Angeles, London, New York, São Paulo, Berlin, and Paris. The facilities are designed to help remove constraints on resources in order to give creators the opportunity to learn, connect, and create. Through YouTube Space, creators can access, at no charge, all the latest audio-visual and editing equipment to produce original and innovative digital video content for their own YouTube channels.

The Indian YouTube creator community is one of the world's most vibrant, and in the past year alone, the amount of content uploaded to YouTube in India has grown by 90%, while watch time in India has grown 80% year- on- year. To support this incredible community of YouTube creators as well as the next generation of Indian talent, YouTube and Whistling Woods International are excited to be partnering together on this project.

Located within Whistling Woods International's production facilities, the YouTube Space Mumbai encompasses a 1400 square feet home for YouTube creators. This includes a 400 square feet studio open to YouTube creators five days a week, a lounge area, and an edit bay with two machines capable of 4k video editing. This will also be an office for YouTube Space staff on campus, to interact not only with YouTube creators, but with Whistling Woods students. YouTube will organize events, workshops, and networking engagements in Whistling Woods' auditorium and classrooms that are open to all YouTube creators. In addition, YouTube creators have access to Whistling Woods' sound stages and post-production facilities, including two fully-equipped professional studios over 3000 square feet each.

The launch event featured a performance from Indian creator Aakash Gandhi, pianist and composer and founder of 88 Keys to Euphoria, and his collaborators Ash King and Shashaa Tirupati.

Lance Podell, Director, Global Head of YouTube Spaces, said, “The new YouTube Space Mumbai at Whistling Woods International marks the latest milestone in our efforts to support the incredible wave of creativity we have seen develop in the Indian YouTube creator community over the last few years. We're excited and proud to be partnering with a premier institution like WWI, that is truly an industry torchbearer in its  commitment to students and quality programming. By working with them, we hope to empower India's next generation of digital creators and WWI students to learn, connect, and to create new content. We look forward to seeing what video content will emerge from the Space and the community it fosters.”

Subhash Ghai, Founder and Chairman of Whistling Woods International, said, “Without doubt, digital platforms are the present and future of content creation and consumption in India. We, at Whistling Woods have always endeavored to bring the future to today's film and media industry and, by partnering with one of the largest and most respected companies in the world to set up the YouTube Space Mumbai, we have just taken another big step towards making India the content creation powerhouse that it deserves to be.”

In addition to physical studio space that is available to students and creators free of charge, YouTube and WWI are developing original courses to train the next generation of Indian filmmakers to succeed on digital and online media. Leveraging material from the YouTube Creator Academy and developed in tandem with YouTube staff, Whistling Woods has already launched its first course for YouTube with 120 students from their undergraduate and graduate schools.

Since the first YouTube Space opened in 2012, more than 1.5 lakh creators have visited the Spaces globally, creating over 10,000 videos from their visits. Videos created at YouTube Spaces worldwide have amassed 1.25  billion views thus far.

One can follow the latest updates about YouTube Space Mumbai at Twitter @youtubespacemum, or sign up for the newsletter at https://goo.gl/86M6fW to stay informed of the latest news about activities and events at YouTube Space Mumbai. Find more YouTube creator resources at youtube.com/creators and learn more about the YouTube Spaces across the world at youtube.com/space.

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