The World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) was inaugurated kick-started on May 1, Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bharat Pavilion of the summit. The four day-long summit is happening at the Bandra Kurala Complex in Mumbai.
“The Bharat Pavilion at Waves showcases our cinematic tradition and the opportunities that await in our country. I call upon the world to come to India and explore the creative opportunities here,” Modi said in a post on X.
The summit aims to position India as a global hub for media, entertainment and digital innovation by bringing together creators, start ups, industry leaders and policy-makers from across the world.
The event attracted some of the biggest names from India’s entertainment industry as the likes of Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan on its opening day.
WAVES will bring together under one roof the stakeholders from films, OTT, gaming, comics, digital media, AI, AVGC-XR, broadcasting, and emerging tech. With the best of the minds from these fields coming together India will showcase its softpower though media and entertainment.
There will also be focus of India’s booming sports and e-sports market during the summit.
A panel discussion on “Intersection of Sports, Technology, Entrepreneurship & Media – The REAL STEM” has been planned. It will be hosted by Dheer Momaya who is a producer and entrepreneur. The panel will bring together Ravi Shastri (former cricketer and head coach of Indian cricket team), Prashant Khanna (head of production and Technology, Sports at JioStar), Nullah Sarker (Founder,Executive Director,Member of Board of Directors, Kosmos), Harsh Jain (CEO & Co-Founder, Dream11 & Dream Sports and Dhaval Ponda (Global Head of Media, Entertainment & Sports, TATA Communications).
Another panel discussion is on “Building a Global Powerhouse: Saudi Arabia’s Vision for Gaming and Esports”. It will be moderated by Girish Menon who is Chief Strategy Officer, Jetsynthesys. He will be discussing esports with His Excellency Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, the Chairman, Saudi Esports Federation.
The visitors of the WAVES will get to know more about esports in the panel discussion “Future of Gaming – Powering the Next Play”. This panel will have Shuji Utsumi (President & COO, SEGA Corp), Nitish Mittersain (CEO & Jt. MD, Nazara Technologies Ltd.) and Bimal Julka (Chairperson, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports). The panel will be moderated by Keiko Hagihara Bang who is the CEO, Bang Media Group.
Two more panel discussions that is likely to interest sports enthusiast are “Live, Immersive & Digital Experience: How Sports Leagues are Driving Innovation” and “Indigenous Sports: From India to the Global Stage”.
Along with these panel discussions there are also breakout sessions and master classes that have been planned right through the entirety of the event.
Do give WAVES a visit! Experience, learn and have fun along the way.
The Sportz Planet Desk
