Copac Media is a Communications Studio working out of Bangalore and Pondicherry. Started in 2019 by Aravinda Anantharaman and Preetam Koilpillai, Copac works primarily with NGOs, CSR Initiatives and Artisanal Brands.
Preetam and Aravinda, collectively, have backgrounds in music, theatre, film, writing and books. Much of what Copac does, draws from their experience in developing stories across a variety of media.
Aravinda Anantharaman
chose to pursue writing because of an early love for books. She has variously worked as a librarian at a children’s library, ghostwriter, author and editor. She spent several years working with children’s books and published two biographies for the Puffin Lives series, on the 14th Dalai Lama (2011), and on astronaut Sunita Williams (2012). Both titles are still in print. In 2017, she was guest editor for three titles for Pratham Books, mentoring first-time authors. She has been on the jury of the Crossword Book Awards (2016-18) and Publishing Next awards (several years).
An early interest in the Tibetan community led to collaborations with Tibetans in exile and explorations in recording personal histories. She wrote and published two children's books under the imprint, Lama Mani Books, to commemorate 50 years of exile in 2009. Lama Mani Books earned her a shortlist in the British Council’s Young Publishing Entrepreneur Award. Aravinda continues her association with the community as Publication Advisor, Manjushri Education Services.
In 2015, Aravinda started writing about tea, an interest she continues to pursue. She writes a fortnightly column on tea in the Mint Lounge (2019 to now) and is Editor, Tea Journey, a digital publication for tea enthusiasts.
Preetam Koilpillai
started learning the piano at the age of of 5 with Professor Janssens of the Geneva Conservatory, Switzerland. At 16 he was invited to give a piano recital at the NCPA, Mumbai, as part of the Young Musicians series organised by the Stop Gaps, Mumbai. He also started teaching piano at this time. A year later, he was awarded an Inlaks scholarship to study piano and composition at the Purcell School, London. Later, in India, he pursued a full-time career in music - teaching, performing and composing. These included performances with the violinist Jodie McComb, sitarist Gaurav Mazumdar, percussionist Sivamani and the band, Thermal and a Quarter. He was Organist and Director at the St. Mark's Music Academy in Bangalore, classical music radio host with All India Radio and Radio Midday and, in 2013, became part of Dr L Subramaniam's ensemble, accompanying him in concerts in India, the UK, mainland Europe, Africa, South America, Russia, and the Middle East.
In 1992, Preetam directed his first theatre production for public performance - a double bill of Mahesh Elkunchwar's plays, produced by Mahesh Dattani (Playpen). In the same year, he co-directed with Dattani, the premiere of Dattani's play, 'Final Solutions'. He also played one of the principal characters. A few years later Preetam co-founded two theatre companies - rafiki and Black Coffee - with which he acted, directed and produced over 25 theatre productions. Performances included appearances at the National Theatre Festival at Rangayana, International Artists Festival, Deccan Herald Theatre Festival, Suchitra Theatre Festival and Prithvi Theatre. Black Coffee's production of Harry Gibson's Filth, based on the book by Irvine Welsh, was invited to be part of the inaugural Rangashankara Theatre Festival in 2004.
In 2005, Preetam chose to pursue an interest in film, bringing with him learnings and influences from both music and theatre. His short documentary, Passport Photos (2010) was screened at 14 International Film Festivals in 11 countries, with 4 nominations for ‘Best Short Documentary’. In 2016, Preetam did a summer workshop at the Prague Film School, developing skills in film direction and writing, and reiterated his interest in filmmaking. Preetam made his screen acting debut in 2024, appearing in 5 episodes of the Netflix series, Killer Soup (2024) as 'Dr Sridhar'.
Preetam's dream is to set up a space that brings the contemporary performing arts together under one roof. He envisions the space to be as much an open public space as a space for original, free expression, letting people come in at any time and be able to witness rehearsals, performances and art experiences. In fact, COPAC is an acronym for Contemporary Performing Arts Centre, a reminder of what the dream is.