In an effort to widen and deepen the talent pool of quality TV writers, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) will roll out a 21-week intensive course on Writing for Television Fiction.
The application process began from Monday and the last date for receipt of application is May 9, 2017. Only 15 candidates will be finally selected for the course which will begin from July 3.
The course will be writing-intensive, with constant instruction and mentorship from leading TV screenwriters. Students will come away not only with the knowledge of episodic writing, but also with two full 'bibles' for two TV programmes, in two different genres, ready to be pitched to broadcasters.
Together with episodic writing, the course will cover all essential fundamentals of TV screenwriting, including non-fiction, equipping students to professionally take up the kind of writing that interests them.
In the Indian situation, discerning viewers do not respect most of what has been featuring on Indian TV. The daily soaps, dumbed down story-telling, black-and-white characters leave space for quality content.
In the international situation, an entirely different story exists. Some of the finest screenwriting has been happening on TV. Game of Thrones, Newsroom, House of Cards, Homeland, Breaking Bad, Narcos and countless other shows have created their huge legions of followers.
The big problem therefore is that India still doesn't have enough writers qualified to write such high quality series.
According to an FTII release, the minimum eligibility for the course is graduation. Experience of writing a blog, copy-writing for advertisement or scripts for film, TV or web has been kept desirable qualifications.
"The participants will be well trained in the fundamental of TV writing, which will put them on par with working professionals in the TV Industry. They will have a professional approach while dealing with producers, directors and broadcasters. They will also be exposed to different streams of thoughts in TV writing which will help them come up with out of the box ideas and stories," an FTII spokesperson said.
The participants will be capable of taking someone else's (producer/director/ broadcaster) idea and developing it into a full-fledged script.