A lab to learn scripting

When Vinod Veera, Chennai-based film actor and director, came to know about  the Screenwriters’ Lab 2009 ‘competition’, he only had five days to write the script. He managed to hand it in script just 30 minutes before the deadline. Veera had little hope of being selected. He was therefore all the more thrilled when his script was chosen as one of the six most promising screenplays (out of 92 applications  across India) for the Screenwriters’ Lab workshop organised by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

NFDC’s Screenwriters’ Lab 2009, in its third year, is a two-part workshop designed to prepare participants for writing and selling Indian films in the international market. The opening session of the lab will take place at the Locarna International Film Festival, Switzerland from August 8-12, 2009. This will be followed by the closing session in Goa, at Film Bazaar, from November 24-26, 2009.

The workshop will be conducted by Binge FilmLab, an Amsterdam-based training centre for feature filmmakers. All the scripts will first be reviewed and polished by Binge FilmLab advisors, and then pitched to the international market. “I really look forward to having the script assessed and getting feedback at the international level,” says Priya Krishnraswamy, film editor in Mumbai and one of the selected participants.

“Apart from working on and making the selected screenplays production-worthy, the lab participants will get to know the business aspects of marketing their scripts and understanding the international co-production and sales market, both in Locarno and in Film Bazaar, Goa” explains Nina Lath Gupta, MD, NFDC.

 The festival will also be the occasion for the participants to meet production companies from around the world and present their work. “I think the main goal for scriptwriters going to festivals is to get financing and sell their script,” says Pratim D Gupta, a writer-journalist from Kolkata, who has already written short films.

However, not all the participants are seasoned scriptwriters. Aparna Pednekar, a Mumbai-based freelance journalist, had never written a screenplay before. “I will be happy to get insights on my script from non-Indians. If I get some financing, it would be wonderful, of course!” Others see this as a stepping stone in their career, like Somen Mishra, a CNN journalist. “I want to move to the film-writing industry full time.”

“The scripts were selected on the basis of originality, inventiveness, and ability to speak to a larger audience, and not just an Indian one,” says Sooni Taraporevala, writer-director, and member of the selection committee.