00:00:01 – 00:00:10 Nitin Bajaj

Hey everyone, welcome to the Industry Show. I’m your host, Nitin Bajaj, and joining me today is Awadhesh Kumar. Awadhesh, welcome on the show.

00:00:11 – 00:00:16 Awadhesh Kumar

Thank you, sir. Really appreciate it, and I’m happy to talk to you about everything we’ve talked about in person.

00:00:17 – 00:00:22 Nitin Bajaj

Love it. Let’s do this. Let’s start with the big question: who is Awadhesh?

00:00:23 – 00:00:38 Awadhesh Kumar

Wow. Okay, so let me — I’ll just address this in two, three ways. Professionally, I’m a film producer. I’m also an engineer and double MBA, last one from USC Marshall and USC Cinematic School of Arts. I produce very arthouse and genre films.

00:00:39 – 00:00:48 Awadhesh Kumar

Personally, I’m married, with two kids. I have a big family with siblings as well as my parents, so I’m totally blessed on that front.

00:00:49 – 00:01:05 Awadhesh Kumar

And philosophically, if I say I’m a work in progress, but also I’m in a pursuit of greatness. I am really, with the films and the adventure I’m on, I really want to leave something behind through my company, as well as the films I’m approaching and making.

00:01:06 – 00:01:33 Nitin Bajaj

Love it. And I must say, in the last few years that I’ve gotten to know you, you are doing pretty amazing on all three fronts. Looking forward to unfolding some of those layers in the next few minutes. Let’s start with AK Studios. Give us a sense for what it is, what’s the mission, vision, but most importantly, why do it?

00:01:33 – 00:01:58 Awadhesh Kumar

Okay, so I think let’s start with why do it. I would say, you know, my life throughout has — good or bad, highs and lows — have revolved around movies. While growing with teens, 20s, 30s, now I’m in early 40s, everything in my life has revolved around movies. So I think that’s the beginning of it all. It has to be romantic, and that’s how it started. But professionally, things become different, which we’ll talk about.

00:01:59 – 00:02:38 Awadhesh Kumar

The vision for AK Studios came because I — before I came to Los Angeles, I have also worked in the film industry in India, worked across, like, you know, commercial as well as independent films, and worked with some great companies. So I had built a network of talents, as well as distribution and production infrastructure. Came to the US, built my infrastructure similarly in the last decade here. And now what I’m trying to do is have this dialogue or connection between Los Angeles and the rest. India. India is like many India. It’s like, you know, many Indias, and it’s like many Europes. We are producing in multiple languages, like Assamese Bengali, Tamil. We have, like, expansion plans in other countries in South Asia as well.

00:02:39 – 00:03:07 Awadhesh Kumar

So I think that’s what we are trying to do, because there is — it’s like a great time for independent movies, because distributors really love it. That something which is, like, not very polished, but huge, good content, bold content, unique storytelling with, like, smart money, which is like, you know, you are not bloating the budget. I think those are the kind of movies which will really do. Audience across the world, including India, like, and America, as well as UK and Europe, they all want these kind of content.

00:03:07 – 00:03:24 Awadhesh Kumar

So I’m trying to bridge that gap. The production, very tight financial budget, great talent, both like director as well as cast and crew, and then marry it with, like, international film festivals as well as distribution infrastructure between Hollywood and Bombay. I think that’s what I’m trying to do, and that’s my vision.

00:03:25 – 00:03:54 Awadhesh Kumar

Speaking of that, like, you know, in terms of impact, AK Studios almost — like, we have, like, a slate of 8 films and almost, like, upwards of 250, I would say, people have worked on some of the films which we have done. So that’s, like, kind of like an economic impact. Some of the films have been smaller awards, but I think our mission is growing, and the two films which are coming out, they will have, I would say, impact on bigger festivals, and that’s how we are growing. So I would say, all in all, great, aggressive, very ambitious plan, and we are on it.

00:03:55 – 00:04:24 Nitin Bajaj

I love it because, one, you have deep experience and expertise in this ecosystem. You spent many years in India in the heart of filmmaking, and you then moved to the US, and as you said, you started building your network, your connections, the resources around it, and now you’re essentially merging these different worlds and taking this around the planet.

00:04:25 – 00:04:38 Nitin Bajaj

So I really love the mix, the experience, the exposure, and what you’re doing is you’re bringing the rawness in the creativity that is typically missing if it’s too polished a product.

00:04:38 – 00:04:38 Awadhesh Kumar

Yes.

00:04:39 – 00:05:21 Nitin Bajaj

And you are very strategically creating a portfolio around shorts. You have these no-language barrier movies and productions, and then you’re creating some very unique products that can go and fit into any market, whether it’s streaming or even on the mainstream, the big cinema. So I really love how you’re strategically picking on all of these unique but also mainstream avenues, leveraging your experience and the connections and relationships you’ve built over the years in this space.

00:05:22 – 00:05:52 Awadhesh Kumar

I mean, you have summarized it better than me. I am, like, at a one-inch level, very operationally deep down, but I think you have summarized it really well. And I can tell you, there is, like, immense opportunity. Initially, as I started, as I told you, like, this dream is almost 25 years in the making, almost two decades of actual work across the value chain. I have worked everywhere and at a strategic level, at a one-inch level, to just know, like, what it takes. And I have built my network very strongly in the US as well as Europe, India, and APAC.

00:05:52 – 00:06:20 Awadhesh Kumar

So that — because the film business is very huge and vast, and each of them require — it’s a highly relationship-driven business. So you have to be there. I go to all these film markets to build those relationships with distributors who are the decision makers ultimately, who are going to bring this to audience. So, and with that, I am learning. And generally, I would say that probably there is some God-gift in me as well as some things I have learned that people like to work with me, and I take a lot of pain.

00:06:21 – 00:06:51 Awadhesh Kumar

I am used to it, but also somehow I am able to create this order in the chaos. Because, you know, film business, you have to have people who are not normal, because then you can make — you can build something unique. The creativity requires a certain level of chaos, and my job as a producer is to bring that order to the chaos so that at least all of these individuals are, like, at least directed to a particular direction and we are able to create something beautiful. So that’s what I am in the pursuit of it.

00:06:51 – 00:07:13 Nitin Bajaj

I love how you painted that picture. That brings me to my next question. Amongst this chaos and everything that’s happening, the multiple visions, the multiple creative aspects, there’s a lot happening, right? And multiple challenges that come with it. What is the one big challenge you would like to call out?

00:07:13 – 00:07:31 Awadhesh Kumar

I would say, you know, as a startup guy, as a film producer, we are dealing with challenges one hour. There’s something happening, you know, with the spans which we are dealing with in multiple productions as well as some in development. So let me just flip this question around and say, what kind of challenge I am looking at, you know, in the near future?

00:07:31 – 00:07:51 Awadhesh Kumar

Because in the last couple of years, I have really built the use case, built the infrastructure that really good films can be made with ambitious, let’s say, directors who are very motivated, who have a unique storytelling approach, and matched with Hollywood-level independent distributors who would like to distribute those movies and take it to the audience. So we have built that infrastructure.

00:07:51 – 00:08:21 Awadhesh Kumar

Now, my thing is, like, I want to scale up. I have ambitious plan, and I want to raise some money in terms of a film fund where we have, like, this barbell strategy, which is, like, prestige movies which can bring accolades, which can bring name and earn media in the international festivals, and some commercial movies which can actually — there will be some moonshot which can, you know, recover for the film fund, like the, let’s say, a 5 or 6 film slate which we are trying to do.

00:08:21 – 00:08:28 Awadhesh Kumar

So I think that’s the challenge I’m looking at. I want to take that challenge in my life, and I am manifesting it through you, through this platform, and just to the world.

00:08:29 – 00:08:49 Nitin Bajaj

Love that. And I am looking forward to that coming true in the very near future. Now, let’s flip that around, and maybe you started touching on that, but I want to go deeper in it. On the flip side of challenges come opportunities. What’s the one you’re most excited about?

00:08:51 – 00:09:08 Awadhesh Kumar

My personal dream, my personal goal in this decade, or probably the next two decades, is two things. One, take a real good shot at getting an Oscar for my film. And second, take a media tech startup all the way through Series ABC to the IPO in NASDAQ. That’s my two overarching goals.

00:09:09 – 00:09:46 Awadhesh Kumar

Now, how do we do that? How do we approach that in terms of — and all the infrastructure of, like, you know, if you see, like, talent development script, like, getting the instinct as a producer, like, what kind of script subjects will work? Similarly to, my job is mostly similar to a VC, where they are doing two things. One, idea or the concept, and second, the founder. And for me, the founder is the writer-director. And it’s like an instinct. It is, like, years of experience. You develop a taste and an instinct in terms of, like, how do you approach and find those kind of founder-directors is something which I have done, and I think probably I will only get good at it.

00:09:46 – 00:10:05 Awadhesh Kumar

And then matching with finances, either investors, individuals, as well as film funds which are looking at, and then obviously through the distribution and production partnership which we have built over the last decade. So this is, I would say, an approach we are taking. I am seriously looking to just build and scale up.

00:10:05 – 00:10:28 Awadhesh Kumar

The second part would be that, obviously, I think there have been some, I would say, interest, probably in deep in the regional cinema of India, regional languages of India, and we are trying to approach some of the big OTT names on that front. I would say in the near term, AK Studios would be, like, king of regional cinema, which is, like, we are going to make films in multiple languages, very original, again, authentic.

00:10:28 – 00:10:53 Awadhesh Kumar

People, like, which people in India, in the cities, in the metros, tier one to tier four also, and plus audience in America, audience in South America, Europe, they would also love it. Because it’s like, the more authentic and personal you make, the more global it becomes. You know, and we have that texture and the tonality we have developed so that we can make those kind of films. So maybe this is the answer, probably, what we are looking at next.

00:10:54 – 00:11:22 Nitin Bajaj

I love that. And as we look forward into the future, I’d like to take this moment and make you look back in history. And I’d love to invite you to share two moments. One where things did not work out as you had expected. There was disappointment, failure, lessons. And another instance where things exceeded your expectations and became a success beyond your imagination.

00:11:23 – 00:12:04 Awadhesh Kumar

I think failures is a part of life. I have been, like, running at maybe 200 miles per hour since my teens and 20s. 30s, I became a little more like, you know, it was like flying a, like, a commercial plane rather than a fighter pilot. So I became, like, more, you know, age and experience does that. But, yeah, I mean, one example would be my first startup. I didn’t found it, but I was a huge contributor because I was looking after sales. And as a startup guy, you wear multiple hats. And this company was founded by Karan Bedi. He’s the blue-eyed boy of Indian entertainment. Now he was the co-founder and CEO of MX Player, which is folded into Amazon Prime now.

00:12:05 – 00:12:42 Awadhesh Kumar

And in MBA, we always hear two things: cash flow and cash, okay? But I did not get that. What was the difference? And I came from Jamnal Bajaj, which is, like, top tier, okay? So, but the difference, we were — we quickly grew to about a 100-people company. There was, like, every month there is outlays, and we had, like, a good group of, like, almost 20, 25 clients. These are some of the big names, some public companies in India, you know, which were our clients. But we would not get paid on time. So the thing was, like, we imploded. And painstakingly, we tried to further it as much as we can, but we ultimately we had to fold.

00:12:42 – 00:13:21 Awadhesh Kumar

And I learned the difference between cash flow and cash the very hard way. And kid you not, I think that learning of how do you run a company or a startup has stayed with me. Because what the pain and the, you know, the difficult times, it defines your character, you know? And it has helped me when I was head of distribution at NFDC. It really, like, you know, I was able to do a lot because of the learning experience, plus here coming to US and trying to establish myself, you know, how do you pitch yourself, as well as I worked with Deloitte and also. It really helped throughout my life and even in my company. So I think that’s one, I would say, learned. There are many, but I think probably that comes to me.

00:13:21 – 00:13:49 Awadhesh Kumar

In terms of the good part, I would say that I am still, like, probably next year, maybe with one of our films, An Idiot, it might go to, according to me, like, you know, maybe like a success. I have had some very high moments in life. Being head of distribution at NFDC was a big thing, like, you know, just leading a company and with the prestigious titles which NFDC has globally as well as in India.

00:13:49 – 00:14:19 Awadhesh Kumar

It was amazing to learn with, and it was very high because, you know, we were able to bring a lot of revenues because that time streaming platforms were coming in India. We were able to do a lot of deals. I’ve traveled almost, like, four continents, I would say. 25-plus countries, 60-plus cities. I’m well-traveled, quite knowledgeable guy. So I think that might be the — but the real high will come through this, the films which I am making. And probably next year onwards is something I am considering myself that might be the one.

00:14:20 – 00:14:38 Nitin Bajaj

I love that. Now, switching gears, this is all fun. You know, you obviously enjoy this. There’s a lot of passion. There’s a lot of experience going into all of this. But what do you do to de-stress?

00:14:38 – 00:15:12 Awadhesh Kumar

De-stress? I would say right now, the de-stress is the kids and the actual work. Trust me or not. Like, you know, when we are growing up, especially, I come from a very normal family. Growing up, it was like, you would have hobbies, you would go on vacations, you would travel, you would do reading and all of — I have done that. I was, like, I have read all the bi — most of the biographies in my 20s because that’s what the kind of, like, you know, motivation and all of that. I’ve done that, and then I stopped reading. Suddenly it just didn’t come to me. You know, I was not — 30s were about building NFDC as well as building myself as an executive. I think that gave me a lot of peace.

00:15:12 – 00:15:58 Awadhesh Kumar

And then now, here, after Deloitte, like, you know, I am just working and trying to build this company between India and Los Angeles. I think that’s, like, the most fun part. And I work, it’s like work-life harmony. I work seven days. I’m not required to. I don’t expect anybody to, but I just do it and I have my kids around. So it’s like the most peaceful time, to be honest, in this chaotic moment, because, you know, it’s not just easy to manage four or five projects. But, yeah, this is it. I don’t have — I have — maybe it might be a boring life, but I think boring life is very, very efficient. And it takes away time from anything I don’t want to do, you know? Because, yeah, that’s what it is now.

00:15:59 – 00:16:06 Nitin Bajaj

I think boring and chaos are oxymorons. When you live in the midst of chaos, it cannot be boring.

00:16:07 – 00:16:25 Awadhesh Kumar

Yeah, totally. Yeah. No, if you talk, like, you know, the thing which we are talking about is, like, you need to have, like, work, then you have to separate your life, then there has to be some hobbies and all of that. I did that in my 20s when I was working with bigger MNCs and all of that. But after that, both of these, they are not separate.

00:16:25 – 00:16:36 Awadhesh Kumar

And that’s why I said work-life harmony, because there’s no, like, work-life balance, like, you 9 to 5, you do this. It’s not happening in this day and age. If you have ambition and if you want to do something, I think it’s like harmony.

00:16:36 – 00:16:44 Awadhesh Kumar

And I, for me, success is both, you know, professional as well as, you know, raising the kids, my beautiful wife, you know, my siblings and all of that. So I think that’s, like, the best thing.

00:16:45 – 00:16:46 Nitin Bajaj

Yep. We are on the same boat.

00:16:47 – 00:16:54 Awadhesh Kumar

Yes. No, I see you. I mean, you know, I met you, you know, offline, and I’ve seen you. I think, yeah, same thing. I’m just imbibing in myself.

00:16:55 – 00:17:05 Nitin Bajaj

Yeah. Now, onto my favorite part of the show. We call this the one-line life lessons. Awdhesh, I would love for you to share your life lessons with us.

00:17:06 – 00:17:39 Awadhesh Kumar

Yeah. I think probably I would say first say now, because I have my own company and startup. Startup is kind of a lifestyle. There is no, like, point in life when you reach and then you suddenly switch the button and you are in the — no, it’s not. You never know, like, you have already been in the startup phase if you are — if somebody wants to. It’s not for everybody. And whoever is in it, you cannot, like, switch the button and suddenly you are a startup guy. It’s not, you know? So it’s like a lifestyle. And when you have a family, the whole family also goes through the sufferings, highs and lows. So I think you have to balance that.

00:17:39 – 00:18:30 Awadhesh Kumar

And second, I would say is probably, like, you have to choose between the two pains in life. One is either the pain of discipline or the pain of regret, rather than the other way to think about what the best. Because I think these are part of it. And probably, like, you know, if you have ambition, then probably you have to work longer. Because the beauty of success is, like, it usually is, like, you are doing the work consistently, you are perseverance, and over a long period of time, that then creates the beauty. Or the success doesn’t happen at 70% or not even at 90%. It starts happening at 91%, but towards the 99% is when the magic happens. And that 99% maybe less than 1% are on it. So I think I’m in that. I am in the pursuit of that. I’m still not there yet, but I’m in pursuit of that.

00:18:31 – 00:18:51 Awadhesh Kumar

There is one more thing which somebody told me. As you grow up, you want to have mentors in life. I do have some mentors, but there are many mentors in life which I have never met, you know? Your mentors could be somebody you are watching them on podcast, somebody, like, let’s say you have been reading it. Those are also your mentors. So it doesn’t have to be, like, physically somebody is mentoring you. So that’s one thing.

00:18:52 – 00:19:21 Awadhesh Kumar

And somebody also told me, like, I was, like, young guy and I was trying to figure out, like, what to do next. I was very, like, overexcited. And he told, he’s like the producer of, you know, a big Hollywood film and The Aviator. And he told me, Awdhesh, you have figured your life till now. You will figure it as you go along. And that really calmed me down. I was like, I should more focus on the process and the work. Things will happen. So I think that’s one thing which just probably.

00:19:22 – 00:19:34 Nitin Bajaj

I love that. Awdhesh, thank you so much for making the time to share your journey, your story, and your life lessons with us. And congratulations on all of the success you’ve had so far.

00:19:34 – 00:19:50 Nitin Bajaj

But I know you’re just getting started, and there are many, many more projects you’re going to bring to life and scale them to newer heights. I am really excited to see what more you have in store for us and really enjoyed this discussion.

00:19:51 – 00:19:57 Awadhesh Kumar

Nitin, as I said, you are in zen mode. I want to be in your radar. And thank you for doing all of this.

00:19:57 – 00:20:07 Awadhesh Kumar

I think the other contemporaries who have been on this, I have listened to them. I think probably you are bringing the best of the resources and the leaders to be on the podcast.

00:20:07 – 00:20:11 Awadhesh Kumar

And it’s, like, good for all of us to, you know, learn from everybody’s, you know, experiences.

00:20:11 – 00:20:18 Awadhesh Kumar

So thank you for doing all of that, what you’re doing for the Asian American community at large and for the impact you are creating. I really appreciate our friendship.