The Art of Content Creation—Sitting Down with Pulkit Kochar

On the 6th of November, the second day of TechTatva 2020, The MIT Post had the opportunity to talk to Pulkit Kochar, a content creator at Filtercopy and Dice. He elaborated on taking ‘The Road Less Travelled’ in the first episode of a podcast with the same name—an initiative by the Manipal Conclave, in association with Social Nation Campus. Following this, he spoke to The Post about pursuing a career in the digital industry, and how it differed from his former role as a social media manager at East India Comedy.

What inspired you to get into the path of digital content creation?

I was originally working as a designer. As an escape from my work, when I was bored, I started creating content and realised it was my passion. When I was working in Chandigarh, I used to watch FRIENDS during the half an hour lunch break. Inspired by that, I created the Friends mash-up, which became viral. That was when I began to consider content creation as a career. Before that, I didn’t even know that this could be a career.

These days, anything can be one if you are truly passionate about it. Even gaming is now an option where, ten years ago, you would be scolded for spending time playing games on your laptop. So, I think it is good to choose something you use as an escape as your passion. That being said, I would also like to mention that you don’t need to become a reviewer of movies just because you enjoy watching them. It is also important to consider the monetary aspects of choosing a passion as a career path.

Is there any content creator who inspires you or who you look up to?

José Covaco is a content creator I admire a lot. In fact, I was asked this when I joined PocketAces—if you could change lives with a content creator or anyone else, who would it be? It would be José because he does everything. He makes content that I love to watch and make, and his brand of humour is always subtle and outright funny.

How do you keep up with creating content every day? How do you get so many ideas?

Most of my ideas occur to my subconscious mind at 3 AM, while I am sleeping. It is tough to get up at that time and jot them down in a notepad. I used to think that I would remember the next morning, but invariably, I would forget. So, now I write the idea, anytime it occurs to me.

Throughout the day, ordinary instances inspire me. For example, one day, in office, I was asked to CC emails, and it was a laborious task. Suddenly the song lyric ‘sisi karti mein maru’ began playing in my head. My head is full of Bollywood references, so it becomes easier for me to connect everything to Bollywood situations. Furthermore, when I see something trending on a very level and realise that it is going to blow up soon, I pick it up and make sure that I am one of those making it go viral. When the fiasco between Arnab Goswami and Salman Khan occurred, I cut out bits of what Arnab was saying and made a video—‘Playing Hide and Seek With Arnab’. So, my usual process is to identify how a situation can be funny, how it can be put into various contexts, and whether it can be merged with other content.

Have you ever come across creator’s block, and how have you overcome it?

I came across this very recently, around 15 to 20 days ago and I even posted about this. It usually causes lower content quality. As a content creator, I am not answerable to anyone as such. Therefore, to be consistent, sometimes I put out lower-quality content. Since I realised this, I have started to not focus too much on this. Digital content creation is an escape for me from my job at Dice. I don’t force myself to sit and write a script. I jot down the idea when it comes to me, sometimes every day, or every 2 to 3 days. I had read in some book that the best ideas occur when one is doing nothing. Every artist should try spending a little time every day, doing nothing. In your subconscious mind, you keep thinking of ideas.

What is the best way, according to you, for a college student to get started on content creation?

Social media is your showreel. Earlier you would showcase your skills through CVs and resumes. Now everything is online. If I were to make my CV right now, it would be full of links and features in online articles. A good way of testing the waters is to put something up online. I always say that the Instagram stories are my open mic, and my feed is my Netflix special. I experiment via stories—to learn if my followers are aware of a joke or trend.

Always make a creator profile, so you get to know the insights of your account. If people are reacting to your stories, it is obviously worth a reel or a post. It is always better to ask the opinions of friends who are not in the content creation world. They will be able to judge as an audience.

Featured Image Credits: YouTube