MoU signed to build capacity for digital storytelling

Islamabad: The Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) and RINSTRA Technologies Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together to build students’ digital storytelling skills.

The agreement would enable digital skills through interactive workshops, seminars, and courses, with RINSTRA providing its state-of-the-art platform for digital docu-film festivals and theme-based video competitions, said a press release.

As per details of the MoU, both organisations will work on improving digital storytelling techniques and creative thinking in students, helping them look at issues and challenges around them from a narrative perspective.

The organizations were also agreed to create research opportunities in the space of MediaTech.

Speaking on the occasion, Kamal Siddiqi, Director of the Center for Excellence in Journalism at the Institute of Business Administration (CEJ-IBA) said, “Partnership with Rinstra will help our students test their digital storytelling ideas and creative expressions.

We are hoping to generate new ideas around social challenges and economic opportunities with Rinstra through content competitions and documentary film festivals.”

Dr Adil Akhtar, co-founder and chairman of RINSTRA in his statement said, “Through this collaboration, CEJ-IBA and RINSTRA will create short-form storytelling techniques i e movies, dramas, music videos, theater, documentaries and videos for RINSTRA and other digital platforms.”

He further said, “RINSTRA is the gateway for Pakistani content and talent to the local and international media markets and digital platforms.

The state-of-the-art RINSTRA platform allows content creators to discover, create, showcase, and monetize their content creation and creative pursuits.”

Amir Jahangir, chief executive officer RINSTRA said, “This partnership is important to enable young storytellers to be equipped with digital skills that can help them sustain their creative pursuits and economic wellbeing. RINSTRA has a vision to create 1,000,000 content creators in the next five years, that can create a new digital creative economy surpassing $150 million in the country.”

RINSTRA is Pakistan’s first short-form digital media platform for on-demand streaming and for creation of user generated original content.

The organisation provides entrepreneurship opportunities to emerging and established content creators and film makers in Pakistan and beyond. RINSTRA gives content creators access to a large Pakistani community around the globe, and it has been able to create a unique platform that offers dramas and films, while enabling users to generate their own content on the same platform.

It also has a feature for Content Competition where, more than 100 academic institutions in the country are competing on various thematic areas.

The Fest feature of the application has provided some of the leading Film Festivals to partner with RINSTRA for digital viewing of their films and documentaries.

This has created an unprecedented experience for viewers in the country. Creative and independent content with premier shows and films can be accessed on RINSTRA by visiting the website http://www.rinstra.com or downloading apps from the Google Play Store and/or Apple App Store.