What makes a story great? A smashing start? A happy ending? Plot? Characters? Drama? Detailing? Jokes?
In this series, we get different perspectives on stories and storytelling from the best in the business – from journalists and writers to filmmakers and artists – to help our users think a little bit more about the art of storytelling.
This week, we reached out to Neha Jain – co-founder of Trampoline Media, which touches the lives of children and parents in India by bringing them the best of children’s media from the country and across the world.
What are the three main ingredients for a great story?
- Plot & treatment
- Strong Characters
- Relatability
What’s an advertisement that has really stayed with you? Could you try and break down why it struck a chord?
Amul’s Doodh Hai Wonderful ad has stayed on with me since childhood. It was quite refreshing when it had launched, very different from what was being made then. I loved the way it made something as boring as milk into something fun and cool
One classic – book or movie – that you wish you had written…
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
One movie/ TV show you recommend to anyone who asks – and why you loved it.
Friends. It’s timeless! I see teenagers watching it today and completely relating to it. For me, the reruns are nostalgic of course- it’s like pakodas and chai on a rainy day, but it still makes me smile
Audiences have a lot of choice today, and one common challenge as a storyteller is breaking through the clutter. Have you faced this? Have you had to adapt?
I make films for kids, so yes it’s a constant battle trying to compete with the Disneys and Chhota Bheems (and much more!) of the world… I also feel that even if the basic concept seems familiar at times, it’s the way one treats it and presents it, that’s what matters. And that’s what adaptation means to me at one level.
What do you do when you have a deadline and your brain stops working? Any go-to hacks to get past the block?
That’s the time I step away from my desk and take at least a half hour break where I take a walk/ get a drink/ have ice cream/ watch mindless TV
Last one. When you read or watch something you’d written/ worked on more than 10 years ago, you…
Cringe a little, because, you know…
