FC Studios to continue Film Companion's legacy: Anupama Chopra

After providing credible film reviews and insightful interviews for 10 years, Film Companion called it a day in July. The website branched out into FC Studios—a speciality division for long-form storytelling.

Founder Anupama Chopra, in an interview with afaqs!, says the idea evolved while working on the documentary Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli. During the process, she realised the potential for more such series, unearthing fascinating aspects of Indian cinema.

“For the past 30 years, I've dedicated myself to documenting Indian cinema in every way possible—through magazines, television, YouTube, books, and articles. As a journalist and film critic, creating long-form storytelling about Indian cinema, entertainment, and pop culture felt like a natural progression,” she says.

She believes Indian cinema hasn’t been well archived. Now, with the reach of streaming platforms, there is an opportunity to share incredible stories about Indian cinema and its artists with a global audience.

“When I wrote my Sholay book in 2000, it was hard to find non-academic books on Indian films—everything was steeped in semiotics or academia, with little for the casual film lover. Thankfully, this has changed over the past 24 years,” she says.

Netflix released the documentary on the filmmaker's life last month. It is the first creation of FC Studios. Chopra says the idea came from her former colleagues, Bharadwaj Ranjan and Avinash Prakash, who created Film Companion South. They presented the idea to her and then began planning. Eventually Applause agreed to finance it since FC Studios didn’t have the resources. 

“We wanted to start with someone whose work has significantly shaped Indian cinema. For us, Rajamouli was the top choice. If he had said no, I’m not sure who we would have started with,” she says.

Chopra compares working on a documentary with writing a book—both take a long time. This documentary took around two years from ideation to release. However, she found this to be more satisfying because she knew people were watching it, and with Netflix, there is global reach.

"I’m a passionate book lover and have written several myself, but the challenge with books is that so few people read them. Despite pouring so much time, love, and effort into writing, reaching a wide audience is difficult. People all over the world, including non-Indian audiences who loved RRR, are watching this project. Someone even sent me a screenshot from a South American country where they dubbed it, and I was amazed by the reach—it’s so magical and gratifying,” she says.

After Modern Masters, FC Studios has several exciting projects in the works. However, one project in particular has been in the works for at least four years. 

“This part of my work requires enormous patience, unlike the instant gratification of YouTube and social media. These projects often take two to three years,” she explains.

However, Chopra is clear that she wants the company to embody the same values as Film Companion: engaging, informative, and credible storytelling about cinema and pop culture, with rigour and integrity at its core. 

While Chopra is the founder and editorial partner at FC Studios, she has also joined The Hollywood Reporter-India as its editor. The RP Sanjiv Goenka Group publication has allowed her to stay involved since it's non-competing, “and the long timelines are comforting, as they don't interfere with my other work.”

In a recent interview with Humans of Bombay, Chopra said she should have hired a chief business officer for Film Companion as numbers were not her forte. With FC Studios, she has roped in Tanvi Ajinkya to steer the ship. “She is a brilliant producer and much better with numbers than I am!” she quips.

Ajinkya was earlier heading branded content at Film Companion. In fact, the entire team is from Film Companion. “It has literally been remoulded from the same clay as Film Companion,” she says.

The publication’s legacy also helps FC Studios establish itself. People already associate the brand with certain qualities, so it doesn’t need to explain what it stands for.

FC Studios will largely be creating long-form content for streaming platforms. However, these platforms, in a bid to reduce costs, have cut down on their content acquisition and creation spree. How does FC Studios plan to sustain?

“FC Studios isn't just about documentaries. It's also a boutique studio handling special projects. We're running a program for Diageo, where two filmmakers—one of whom we took to Cannes—are creating short films. We're in the second year of Take 10 for Netflix, as well as running the O Womaniya! project for Prime Video. I hope that between documentaries and other work, we'll navigate through the inevitable dry periods,” she says.

It will also work on creating branded content. For instance, it created a show called Through the Lens for ARRI, the camera brand, where Chopra interviewed top cinematographers like Anil Mehta, Senthil, and Sudeep Chatterjee. 

“That was a brand partnership, but not the typical kind. Having ARRIFLEX as a partner enabled us to highlight key figures in storytelling who don’t get enough attention. We will be working on projects that go beyond obvious brand integration. It's not daily journalism or promotional interviews like I’d typically do for Film Companion,” she explains.