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That’s what we firmly believe in the television
industry.The soul of any TV programme/serial is the script. If you
have a good script, you can hold your audience’s attention
episode after episode and, in the process, increase or maintain
your programme’s viewership rating.
The biggest problem that the Indian television
industry faces today is the paucity of good scriptwriters.
There are very few courses available to scriptwriting
aspirants, with the main ones being at the FTII and Asian Academy
of Film & Television, Delhi.
In their endeavour to fill the lacuna, Indian Television
Dot Com the portal for the small screen is organising a two day
workshop, Qalam 2001— The TV Scriptwriters Workshop, in Mumbai
on December 20-21, 2001.
It is an effort by Indian Television Dot Com to
create a platform where scriptwriters — be they newcomers or
experienced or even award winners — will be able to interact
and share their ideas with each other.
India is rich in literature and writing talent.
But it has to be tapped, polished and refurbished. And Qalam 2001
— The TV Scriptwriters’ Workshop hopes to do just that.
The workshop will not just be another run-of-the-mill
event. For the first time in India, a scriptwriter from abroad is
coming down to lead the workshop. That too from the renowned Canadian
Vancouver Film School.
The lady being talked about is Joyce Thierry —
a veteran who has conducted many scriptwriting workshops in the
US and Canada, apart from having written several shows and series
for television. Joyce has also been Script Coordinator for movies
and has been a jury member of several television awards, like the
Banff Television Awards.
There will be representation from the creme de
la creme of the Indian TV scriptwriting community to give insights
as well as a perspective of what the business demands today. Among
the writers short-listed are: Raman Kumar, Vipul D. Shah, Ravi Rai,
Javed Siddiqui, Dr. Achala Nagar, Rekha Nigam, Sanjay Chhel, Rajesh
Joshi, Javed Akhtar and Anjana Sood.
Qalam 2001 will be different because of the amount
of interactivity, which is being built into it.
The workshop will be conducted in the Thierry way
— she has conducted several such workshops in Canada, which
have been well received. Workshop attendees will be assigned exercises
testing their spontaneity and ability to write on any given situation.
These exercises will later be graded and the best
ones rewarded with Certificates of Excellence.
Some of the writers may even be offered internships at production
houses or with senior scriptwriters.
This will provide a unique opportunity to our participants
to showcase their talents and also learn about Scriptwriting-the
way it should be!
Qalam 2001 is designed to be an eight-hour event
with Thierry holding fort for three and a half hours giving you
insights in her inimitable manner. The rest of the time will be
devoted to the other scriptwriting professionals from India.
The venue is Time and Again, located close to Lokhandwala
Complex and in the heart of the Indian TV business the suburb of
Andheri (W).
The workshop will also be videotaped and recorded
to air on an educational TV channel later on. This workshop is a
unique learning experience, which shouldn’t be missed by any
scriptwriter.Just as a pharmaceutical company needs to invest in
R&D to produce new drugs, people associated with television
should invest in finding and honing talent!
Qalam 2001 — The TV Scriptwriters Workshop
is a pioneering effort from Indian Television Dot Com Pvt Ltd. which
believes in doing things innovatively. The Indian Telly Awards 2001
was one such event we conducted very successfully in July 2001.
We rewarded executives from the television industry for their professional
efforts. The four sponsors — Zee Telefilms, Sony, Star India
and Channel Nine — benefited tremendously from the event. The
Indian Telly Awards got coverage in close to 60 newspapers and video
clips of the show were aired on 10 TV channels. The full event was
finally aired on Star Plus on 9 September as a 45-minute show.
By being associated with Qalam 2001 — The
TV Scriptwriters’ Workshop — even the sponsor will be
seen as taking an innovative step for the television industry and
one, which seeks to fill a gap. The sponsor will benefit by being
associated with an effort to hone creative talent and writing efforts.
The event is expected to generate a lot of goodwill with participants
and others within the television industry.
The Speakers —Joyce Thierry — a veteran
who has conducted many scriptwriting workshops in the US and Canada,
apart from having written several shows and series for television.
Ravi Rai — A sensitive Director and writer, he has worked on
some of the most delicate projects on TV — Sailaab, Sparsh,
Thoda Hai Zaroorat Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai.
Raman Kumar — The person behind satellite
TV’s first hit soap — a trendsetter called Tara.
Anjana Sood — A talented lady, she’s
responsible for the Biggest hits today Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kalash,
Kundali and others.
Vipul D. Shah — He started off as a writer
for some of the best comedy serials such as Dekh Bhai Dekh, Philps
Top 10, Daal Mein Kaala and then turned Director/Producer for Chalti
Ka Naam Antakshari and Khulja Sim Sim respectively.
Vinita Nanda — Among the pioneers of Indian
TV writers she wrote the milestone of Indian Television — Buniyaad.
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