About first december films

Anup Kattukaran, a cinematographer, starts First December Films in Bangalore and his brother Atul joins as director. No roster, no reel, no agency relationships. The partnership behind it is older: Ganesh Pareek met Atul years earlier at a student film audition in Bengaluru and thought one thing, what an execution. Ganesh is in Bombay for this chapter, on Indian Idol, an eighteen-month National Geographic documentary and a BBC production. He joins four years later.

Before a single client film, they make one for themselves. Five minutes, a love letter to their home city, directed by Atul and shot by Anup, with no brief and no budget.

• Still the most watched film the house has ever made, fourteen years on
• Over 94,000 plays, more than any commercial in the archive
• The credits thank JWT Bangalore, the agency that hands them Nike two years later

One continuous bowling action, built from 1,440 photographs crowd-sourced from 225,000 submissions by young cricketers across India. Made with JWT India, co-directed by Atul Kattukaran and Senthil Kumar, shot by Anup. It is also the first film to carry Ganesh Pareek as Executive Producer.

• A record 7 Cannes Lions for a single film
• India's first 3 One Show Gold Pencils, in Film, Film Craft and Film Innovation
• 6 D&AD pencils, 5 Clios, 2 Spikes Asia Golds, 10 Goafest awards
• Anup Kattukaran becomes the first Indian DOP to win a Clio for cinematography
• Over 50 international awards. 11 million reached online, 13 million on television

Microsoft Lumia 830, the NEXA Maruti Suzuki Baleno launch, Microsoft 25 and Phive River. The Star Sports Women's Day film takes a Silver at PromaxBDA Asia. Then in September, three beauty tutorials made with Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai and Make Love Not Scars, fronted by an eighteen-year-old acid attack survivor named Reshma Qureshi. Within two weeks the petition has 200,000 signatures.

The most decorated Indian campaign of the year, and one of the most decorated of the decade.

• Cannes: the Glass Lion for Change, a Gold Lion in Film, and nine Finalists
• D&AD Impact White Pencil, plus two Wood Pencils
• One Show Gold Pencil. Two Spikes Asia Golds. Kyoorius Black Elephant for Best of Show
• Two India Effie Golds, an APAC Effie Silver and an AMES Gold
• "How to Get Perfect Red Lips" named one of Adweek's World's Best Commercials of 2016
• Written about by the New York Times, Time, the BBC, the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian
• 300,000 petition signatures. Reshma Qureshi walks New York Fashion Week

The Cannes Global Creativity Report 2017 ranks him in the global Top 10. He remains the only Indian ever to appear on it. By the end of the year the house has produced work carrying more than 150 international creative awards.

• Cannes Silver Lion for Creative Effectiveness
• Kyoorius Golden Elephant, plus three Blue Elephants
• Promax Gold for a Channel V promo
• CNBC-TV18 names Make Love Not Scars Brand of the Year

The festival run ends and the house turns commercial. Google Pixel with Twinkle Khanna, and again with Vicky and Sunny Kaushal. Reebok "I AM THE NEW". MuscleBlaze "Whey for India". HRX "Turn It Up" with Hrithik Roshan. Levi's. BookMyShow. National campaigns for global brands, made back to back.

Facebook "Roar Together" runs to eight minutes and forty-eight seconds, written and directed by Atul with screenplay by Atul and Ganesh. It is the longest piece in the archive. The same year, Myntra's celebrity series with Hrithik Roshan, Kiara Advani, Vijay Deverakonda and Dulquer Salmaan is directed by the duo Shivin and Sunny, the first major campaign not led by Atul.

YouTube #JavRun with Neeraj Chopra. YouTube Shorts 360. The iQOO 9 Series. Pepperfry's Ten Year Rap. Unacademy Teachers' Day. Ather, directed by Shiv Parameswaran. #ManikeMove with Yohani, Jubin Nautiyal and Nora Fatehi. Three named directors working under one roof in a single year.

A short film about a ten-year-old empath in a Kolkata family, set across a single Gangaur festival day. Written and directed by Ganesh, produced by Ganesh and Atul, scored by Christian Meyer. It is the first narrative fiction from the house since little Bangalore, eleven years earlier. Alongside it: Reebok with Taapsee Pannu and Suryakumar Yadav, Licious Infinity, and the YouTube Shorts regional films.

Google #SearchSomethingNew, a four-film series directed by Shiv Parameswaran, takes a Kyoorius Baby Blue Elephant for Film Craft and Editing. It is the first significant festival recognition since 2017, and it goes to a director who is not Atul. Alongside it: Performax with Jasprit Bumrah, Thums Up Toofan, Thums Up with Allu Arjun, the IGP festive series and Cars24.

Vivo X200 FE. Peter England with Kapil Dev and Vivian Richards. Campa Cola, KFC, Thums Up and Schweppes with Jazzy B. The Wonderla festive trilogy by Nitin Menon. The Big Basket trilogy by Siddharth Sengupta. Pantaloons Durga Puja by Ishani Das.

• Manu wins the Jury Award at the 15th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
• exchange4media's Director Economy feature calls Atul and Ganesh "exceptional"
• The directors' roster passes ten names

Google Gemini, a seven-film series on everyday Indian life directed by Ronak Chugh. Meta "D-Cut" by Sukriti Tyagi. Cars24's Promises campaign by Shivang Monga. Malaysia Airlines. Vivo X300 FE. Twelve years after Nike, the house is busier than it has ever been.

• Razorpay: fourteen films in a single campaign, the largest the house has ever produced
• Zee Entertainment's FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign
• JioStar's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign
• Open Magazine profiles Ganesh Pareek, the biggest press since Reshma