“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” – Rudyard Kipling, Writer
Our days of childhood would have been boring had there not been stories. They helped us grow, imagine, paint our own world with every possible colour, and showed us a way we wanted to live when we grew up. Comic books, cartoons, movies were and are an integral part of growing up and learning. Those characters and their vivid pictures stood them out as our virtual friends. We learnt more about the world and life using our vision and visual memory than just plain reading and writing. With age and responsibilities, the stories fade but remain buried in our memories waiting to surface with time. But some, like Ajay Prakash and Prathap Reddy, refuse to let the stories die and grow up to be Storytellers.
The Protagonist
The entrepreneur bug bit Prathap early on and even while he attended Animation School, he couldn’t help but dream about making movies, all kinds of movies. Be it animation, 2D, 3D or the largest of them all, that big magnum opus releases on every Friday. The only way forward to chase that dream was to start a venture which would take him all the way there. So in 2013, he convinced Ajay to put down papers at Tata Elxi to start Tattva Studios.
Tattva as a name stands for principles, truth and just. The same ideals are passed on to the company by the Founders. When servicing its clients, the team goes out of the way by working extra hours and helping them achieve their goals which makes them happy and gives the team satisfaction.
Developing the Story
It all started with one project without even a team. The early days saw the team managing it out with a small office, which had a place for three but six people were stuffed. The Studio has grown in an organic way and is looking forward to building a team doing works on par with MPC’s, Dream Works and Technicolors of the world.
Adapting to challenges is an essential part of being a creative agency. Tattva started off by making brand videos, corporate videos using mainly motion graphics, and had to build the company with two verticals. The First Vertical -Motion Graphics managed all the marketing video requirements of our clients, right from social media videos to their brand videos, events, product videos etc. The second Vertical focused at Visual Effects and Ad films which helped it to get clients in the film industry and Advertising industry where the potential to be a large player is higher. At Tattva, the client knows one thing for sure, anything to do with a video that helps them market their service or products be it for Social, Television or just branding video, or a complete film or web series, it’s a one-stop solution at Tattva.
The Central Characters
Tattva believes in empowering its employees and adopting a solution-oriented approach. Every individual, from the top line management to the employees, everyone must solve any problem based on work and keep the show running. Until and unless they fail to resolve, that’s when they should approach the management. This keeps the company productive and every individual has to work responsibly. Supporting this approach, Ajay says, “My vision for any company to grow is to help your employees grow along with the company. Be it their financial growth, or engaging them with new skills or a new creative talent which helps them contribute and end of the day they feel complete.”
The company always encourage its teams to balance their work and personal life and keep the primary focus on their physical health by encouraging indoor and outdoor games, team outing etc, Ajay says, “I tell the employees to love what they do, to learn what they like to do and being a creative company, keep dreaming till they become a reality.”
The Message to be Shared
It’s been five years since Tattva started contributing to the industry. As an entrepreneur, Prathap understands the situations that fellow youngsters face. He counsels them saying “First important thing is to dream big and believe in it, stay put and get your strategies right from day one.” He advises them to be quick to adapt to changing market demands and not shy away from taking risks. A company should be flexible with the way changes happen. It should change strategies if it’s not working, trying different keys and figuring out which works. Making partnerships is equally important as in the industry; partners grow faster than individual companies.
Story… To be continued
It’s been five years that Tattva has worked with the IT giants like Infosys and TCS. They have helped it grow from its first project. The Studio’s 2020 goal is to set up its business in LA in the US and London for the UK market. Both these markets are quintessential for it to build and grow, also tapping into these markets which have multibillion-dollar opportunities. Currently, VFX business is ruled by the bigwigs from the industry, but said that their cost of operation is so high that big filmmakers are slowly looking the outsource way, and India is the place for their films to get all the VFX done without losing on quality. This trend has already begun; it’s a matter time when 30 to 40% of that business will come to companies like Tattva. It is about to release its in-house VFX film and is looking forward to work with Hotstar and Junglee Pictures for a web series and a feature film. And so, Tattva continues to create characters and build stories that will continue to inspire generations.
Tattva Studios: Let No Story Be Untold
