MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has recently appointed Rakesh Jain as creative director. He joined the company in July 2020. Recently, he was one of the key people in launching FTA GEC Shemaroo TV during the pandemic.

He comes with over 18 years of experience in the media space where he has led the programming teams from the inception stage and has launched two successful Hindi GECs. He has also been instrumental in creating channel driver properties for Star group, Zee group, and Turner group from the broadcasting ecosystem. Jain worked as a vertical head for the commissioning team of one of the flagship channels of ZEE Network (&TV), he was responsible for shaping the content strategy of the channel. His main task was to identify the viewing needs of consumers and shaping stories and content to meet their expectations.

Jain comes with a great experience of launching GEC channels. He earlier served as associate vice-president in &TV, and helmed the team of Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain at the time of its inception. Jain was responsible for revamp of a GEC Channel on STAR network twice.  

From 2001 to 2007, Jain worked in Star Plus as the executive producer and from 2007 till the day Imagine TV shut down, he held the position of the deputy creative director. Jain, who was in Sameer Nair’s core team during the days of Imagine TV’s inception, has also worked as a creative director for JD Majethia and Aatish Kapadia’s Hats Off Productions. He had joined the studio in May   2012 and worked till August 2013

For the uninitiated Ramayan happened to be his first show on Imagine, and he went on to work with various shows like Jyoti, Chandragupta Maurya, Beend Banoongaa Ghodi Chadhungaa. He also worked on a show called Ganga – a family drama dealing with the prejudice against widows in one of the holiest places in India – Varanasi. Later, he took up the role of editor – vice president at Life OK in 2015.