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At the inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) of May 1-4, 2025, in Mumbai, Netflix took center stage by emphasizing the shift in the creator-audience relationship. The conclave, which sought to position India as the world’s media and entertainment capital, had over 10,000 delegates from more than 90 countries, including top-level executives, content creators, government officials, and investors. Netflix was represented in terms of star power and intent, with its creator team and talent attending panels and speeches that touched on innovation in storytelling, talent development, and global distribution.
One of the most influential efforts by Netflix was its “Unlocking Creativity: Trailer Making Competition.” This aimed at emerging directors and students, and the initiative encouraged them to re-think and re-imagine scenes from Netflix’s own original series in an effort to create effective trailers. Not only was it introduced to them professionally edited, sound design, and storytelling training, but a chance to showcase their skills at the summit. The top 20 were brought to Mumbai for the festival and were presented with Netflix merchandise, pointing to the company’s initiatives towards nurturing grassroots talent and bringing them nearer to mass entertainment.
WAVES Summit also launched WAVES Bazaar, a web-based e-marketplace designed to bring India’s creative talent in touch with buyers, investors, and distributors worldwide. The site will make global partnerships easy by allowing creatives to sell content, negotiate deals, and form partnerships across geography and industry. For Netflix, it is one of its strategies to boost Indian content globally, and the summit was a suitable platform for this.
Complementing corporate efforts, the Indian government announced a $1 billion fund to support the country’s burgeoning creator economy. It also revealed plans to establish the Indian Institute of Creative Technology in Mumbai’s Film City, reinforcing India’s ambition to become a world leader in entertainment innovation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with the WAVES Advisory Board—featuring icons like Shah Rukh Khan, AR Rahman, and Amitabh Bachchan—signaled high-level backing for this cultural and economic movement.
Netflix’s glitzy panels and creator-focused shows at WAVES 2025 were not just hype; they were part of a greater initiative to recast the way stories get made, distributed, and devoured beyond borders. WAVES left no one in doubt that the future of entertainment is not just global but profoundly collaborative.
