“We want our viewers to feel that they are a part of our creative process, and that our videos are more than just something to watch to kill time. We believe that viewers’ suggestions have been crucial for our YouTube channel and that we have been able to put more thought when making videos because of them,” say the members of the YouTube channel, ‘Kuppa Cinema’.
It is a unique and interesting name. Started about an year ago, the channel has been able to create something novel for viewers. The story behind ‘Kuppa Cinema’ is what we are bringing you this week.
Whose idea was it to start making videos?
Sajith : I used to watch foreign vines and wanted to create those ever since. However after some time Arun and I got together and started to make videos. But we did not post it anywhere. We did this video called, ‘Singithi Paathale’ and it was the first one from vines we posted on social media. Initially we used a Samsung phone to make our videos and now we use a tripod and an iphone to create the videos.
What was the response to the first video you created?
Arun : We got a decent number of views and we were thrilled. After that we actually loved making videos. So we started making them every weekend. We posted our videos on FaceBook and got immense support from several page admins too. Gihan joined us during this time and we made the video, ‘Pora Talk’. We figured that our combination worked really well and that we could do better videos with the ideas we have.
How did the name come about?
Sajith: We wanted the name to be something a person can easily remember and not too complex. Those were our main concerns when we were brain storming for names for our channel. After several discussions we came up with the name, ‘Kuppa Cinema’. Which we think is unique and easy to remember.
How do you create content? Do you plan it out?
Gihan: 75% of our videos are based on things that have happened to us. Others are from viewers suggestions. We actually do not plan our concepts in a very serious way. Most of our videos are based on things that came about spontaneously. We normally do not write scripts.
We prefer to just make videos from the things we feel and think during the time of the making of a video. It is instant. Most of the videos which became popular among people are the ones for which we had no script whatsoever. So far it has worked for us and hopefully it will in the future as well. However, when we do videos on current issues we do plan it out since it is to make people aware about a certain thing.
Who are the members of ‘Kuppa Cinema’? How do you manage to make videos while being occupied full time ?
Arun: Sajith Madushanka, Gihan Lakshitha, Arun Madumadawa, Sanuja Amarasiri, Theewaka Malinga and Nimesh Randika are the members of our channel.
Yes, we all do full time jobs but we manage to find time and get together to make videos. It is something we do with great interest so we find time anyhow to create videos despite our busy schedules.
How important are the viewers for you? How do you engage with them?
Gihan: They are extremely important to us and will always be. We actually changed the set up and the costumes of our videos with the comments we got from our viewers. We value their feedback and we make sure that we only use decent language since we do not want to offend anyone or depict a bad example to society. We always have that in mind whenever we make a video. We try our best to make sure that something good is given to the viewers which they can enjoy without being embarrassed.
‘Kuppa Cinema’ was mainly posting videos on Facebook. What made you to start a YouTube channel?
Sajith: After we put the new name, we saw several YouTubers like ‘Gappiya’ making videos and posting them on YouTube and we liked how it was done. We studied how to create content and realized we needed to build our channel gradually.
What are your most viewed videos?
Gihan: On YouTube It is ‘Kella Issraha Rangana Yaluwa’ and on Facebook is the video we did during the floods for which we got one million views. It was more of an awareness kind of video. Later, it lead to some controversy due to some misunderstanding and our work was heavily criticized for no particular reason. We did not even respond to any of those comments or criticism. However everything worked in our favour and people got to know us better.
Who do you wish to thank for supporting you all this time?
Arun: We have so many people to thank. Especially our parents. They have always been supportive and encouraging with everything we do and we are so grateful to them.
Also our viewers for being with us throughout and helping us to improve and do better.
We would like to thank our friends Nipun, Hasarel and Anjie for being so supportive throughout.