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Full of big promises

An international film institute right in the middle of Mumbai's Film City takes off this year, hoping to turn up trained talent for the film industry in India and abroad

NO QUICK-FIX Kurt Inderbitzin believes you can't become a director in two weeks or a producer in a month Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Networking, really is the name of the game, right? If you wanna make it big in films and be networking with the filmwallahs, it may not be too early to start at school! Film school that is.

That's really one big advantage at the Whistling Woods International, promises the institute's dean, Kurt Inderbitzin. Being touted as Asia's largest institute for film, television and media arts, it's backed by two Bollywood biggies — Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts and Mumbai's Film City.

Kurt was in Bangalore scouting for talent to join the school for its first academic year, with courses such as acting, sound recording, direction, cinematography, screenwriting, editing, the business of film and television and animation on offer.

"If you want to make a career in films you need to get to know successful film people. We are in the Film City and you can't get to school without passing the shooting sets of a few films. Working film professionals will teach courses. And imagine, the HoD for our acting course is Naseeruddin Shah! I mean he's the De Niro of acting here... We are thinking big," says Kurt, who's been in the filmmaking business for channels like HBO, TNT, NBC and many others for the last 20 years and has been teaching at various American universities. Currently, he also runs an agency that funds small independent films, back home in Los Angeles.

Misleading

He instantly dismisses any suggestion that there are too many acting and film schools in Mumbai already. "These are just programmes. And at best they are misleading. You can't become a director in two weeks or a producer in a month. Making a film is as complicated as building a skyscraper. I wouldn't trust a person who has just one month of training with five million dollars to do my film!" So Whistling Woods offers two-year courses in almost all disciplines. Preference will be given to students who've completed their degree, but students found to be having genuine interest and creative skills will be picked even if they are fresh out of high school. The first batch of courses will accommodate 127 students in all and by four years they hope to grow to a strength of 600. "We are going to assess the seriousness and creative skills of each student. I'm not interested in a kid who wakes up one morning, sees a Tom Cruise film and thinks it's a glamorous life," says Kurt.

The best of infrastructure and equipment, 150 computers, 3D graphic consoles — stuff that rivals major Hollywood studios, await students, promises Kurt. And endlessly rattles off names of techie bigwigs they are tying up with including Apple, Avid, and more. "We will also have a monopoly of the best jobs in India," he proudly smiles.

Pitches in Ashish S. Kulkarni, head of the animation department: "We are negotiating for tie-ups with universities in the US and Australia to get our students to do a semester there in animation courses. Even companies like DreamWorks and Disney are talking to us."

International stamp

While Mukta Arts decided to set up the school to meet the shortages they had in their own production units, they wanted to make sure the institute had the "international" stamp. So they even brought in a dean who finds himself "shockingly welcomed" and at home with the samosas, tennis and cable TV here. Kurt sees himself as a gatekeeper between the U.S. and Bollywood, rather than as a foreigner in an industry that churns out the world's biggest bulk of films. "I'm no different than a company like Disney... I see this as a business opportunity. I can't make these contacts over the phone from the US. It is definitely cheaper to make a film here," he says frankly, triggering off a deliberation on outsourcing filmmaking to India. Kurt doesn't mince words when he points that out as the precise problem for India — that it shouldn't be limited as an outsourcing destination for cheap animation and post-production work only. "India needs to be creative and export this in entirety to other countries. I want India to find its own path but one they can exploit globally. We don't want to create people who'll just draw the hair on Donkey in films like Shrek!" He hopes to keep going back and making films and take students with him as interns.

He's travelling to various parts of the country to draw students from everywhere. The team is heading to Delhi, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Kolkata on the next leg of promo tours, to include students from all kinds of backgrounds.

"We don't want to be elitist," he declares.

By the way, the two-year courses cost Rs. 11 lakh.

The last day to submit applications is May 25, 2006. Courses begin on July 15, 2006.

For details log on to www.whistlingwoods.net

BHUMIKA K.

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