Gold House launches South Asian shorts fund at its biggest Diwali event yet
What's the deal? Gold House VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has launched the Gold Stack Shorts Fund, a partnership with South Stack StudiosDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to back proof-of-concept shorts and micro-series built on South Asian stories. The initiative was unveiled at the group's largest Gold Diwali event to date, held at The Majestic Downtown in Los Angeles. Submissions are open through Nov. 30, with selected projects named Jan. 10, ahead of Sundance.
Why now? The launch landed a week before the worldwide release of "Ramayana: Rise of a Legend," which Gold House pitched as the biggest film ever produced out of India. Its stars, Ranbir Kapoor and Yash, opened the evening alongside filmmakers Nitesh Tiwari and Namit Malhotra.
What's the endgame? Gold House is expanding from advocacy and talent programs into direct entertainment financing. It launched Gold House Studios in July and has previously backed independent films, including "Dìdi" and "Lucky Lu." The new fund extends that model to seed stories that could help filmmakers attract larger production backing.
By the numbers: The fund's size and the number of projects it will support were not disclosed, making it better understood as a pipeline-building effort than a major financing round.
Co-hosts spanned entertainment, media, fashion, and business, including Tan France, Freida Pinto, Blumhouse president Abhijay Prakash, and Poshmark chairman Manish Chandra.
"Diwali is a celebration of light, community and connection, and we wanted to bring that spirit to our Gold Diwali while honoring how culture shapes who we are and the possibilities we create," said Bing Chen, Gold House's executive chair and chief executive officer.
The signal: By seeding early-stage South Asian projects, Gold House is moving upstream from cultural celebration into the business of financing stories — using star power to draw attention to a quieter bet on the industry's talent pipeline.
Read more: Variety
Image credit: sowri
