Deadline extended: New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters 2013(Dear Cinema)

The deadline for submission of applications for the New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters 2013 has been extended to December 31. The earlier deadline was December 15.

Under the programme, six independent screenwriters with an original story are selected for a grant of Rs 2,00,000 with regular guidance from mentors. The program lasts for eight months. Indian citizens residing in India and over 18 years in age can only apply. There is no application fee.

How to apply?

Applications can be made online or sent by post. The submissions should include, the application form, a one page covering note, the story in 3000-45000 words, synopsis of the story in 300 words, the objective of the story in 150-200 words and first three pages of the script.

The name, address, or any information about the applicant should not appear on any page of the story and the proposed script. All submissions should be made in English or Hindi. The story and the first three pages of the proposed script should both be registered either with any film writers association or with the Indian Copyright Office.

Collaborative stories by two writers will be considered, though the Fellowship will only accept one collaborator per application.

Schedule:

Twelve shortlisted candidates will be notified on February 1, 2014 followed by the first residential scriptwriting workshop in Khandala, Maharashtra from February 12-16, 2014. Interviews of all shortlisted candidates will be held on February 17, 2014 and the names of the final 6 Fellows will be announced on February 18, 2014. The second residential scriptwriting workshop will be held in Khandala, Maharashtra from May 28 – June 1, 2014 and the closing ceremony on September 15, 2014.

Rules:

The selected Fellows will sign a contract with the Asia Society. They will receive a stipend of Rs.2,00,000. 25% of the money will be released at the beginning of the project, 25% on completion of five months and the remaining 50% on successful completion of the Fellowship. However, if the candidate is not able to fulfil his/her responsibilities, he/she is liable to return the full amount of the stipend to the Asia Society.

The programmers will not hold the copyright of the submitted story and the script; it will be the sole responsibility of the participant. The applicant should have the rights to all the material used and permission to use the same, if borrowed from any source.

Until the final script with dialogue is not delivered to the Asia Society, the Fellows are not allowed to pitch any of the material developed under the Fellowship to any professional producer/director/screenwriter/film financer.

For more information see here or write to fellowship@asiasociety.org.in

Mentors:

Juhi Chaturvedi, Ashwini Malik and Sriram Raghavan will guide the Fellows during the programme.

Juhi Chaturvedi is a screenwriter, dialogue writer and advertising professional. She wrote the story, screenplay and dialogue of Vicky Donor and wrote the dialogue forMadras Cafe. Juhi is also the Executive Creative Director of Leo Burnett in Mumbai.

Ashwini Malik is an FTII graduate and is a screenwriting teacher, screenwriter and an independent filmmaker. His writing credits include I Am, Sorry Bhai, Bas Ek Pal andRoad.

Sriram Raghavan is an acclaimed writer-director and some of his known works include Johnny Gaddar, Ek Hasina Thi and Agent Vinod. He is an FTII graduate.

The Asia Society organises the Fellowship with a grant from the Time Warner Foundation.