Private film schools fulfilling dreams

The growth in the film and entertainment industry is leading established players to take steps that might be termed as ‘backward integration’ in the retail sector.

One of the largest production houses of the country, Balaji Telefilms, is set to start its media school in mid-September. Balaji is starting with three-month long vocational training programmes and will offer courses in seven specialisations — acting, production, direction, script writing, editing, sound recording and cinematography. With its on-floor and to-be-launched slate of TV and film projects, the students could be absorbed in home productions, said a senior Balaji official.

Balaji will set up the first centre of ICE (Institute of Creative Excellence) in Andheri and will then move to other cities. “The pilot course will start in a month and we want to start with a small batch of students. Fees for the three-month courses will be around Rs 2 lakh. We will start the second batch closer to March next year. The peak intake capacity will be 600 students,” said Puneet Kinra, group CEO, Balaji Telefilms. Balaji’s move follows Whistling Woods International, the film school promoted by Mukta Arts and Filmcity, which started three years back and has trained 250 students till date.

Apart from its main campus in Filmcity, Goregaon, Whistling Woods is also planning centres in Delhi, Haryana and Kolkata. At present, it has an intake capacity of around 140 students for its two-year diploma course in film-making with specialisations in direction, editing, cinematography, production, screen writing and sound recording & design. WWI also offers an acting course in Actors Studio and another course in Animation and graphics.

In the absence of well recognised TV and film training institutes, new institutes from production houses are getting a number of queries from wannabe actors and technicians.

Most students, who wanted to follow a career in films, would apply to the government-sponsored Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. The institute has, in the last two years, received applications more than 20 times of its capacity. “The growth in the film and entertainment sector has opened up new avenues for students and they are looking for quality education,” said Meghna Ghai Puri, president, Whistling Woods International.

Given the number of students who apply to Whistling Woods, the institute is proving to be a good business proposition for its promoters. “We will break-even in the next year of our operations,” said Puri.

Whistling Woods has spent around Rs 75 crore in building the infrastructure and procuring equipment. “Most of the expenditure has been incurred and now we hope to start making money,” said Puri. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai-promoted Mukta Arts holds 85 per cent stake in the institute, while Filmcity, which has given the land for the institute, holds 15 per cent equity stake. “There are 600 film institutes in North America alone and in India where we make the maximum number of films compared to any other country the number of institutes is abysmally low. There is a huge potential for growth as the film and television industry need trained professionals,” she added.

Whistling Woods charges around Rs 5.5 lakh for its eight-month certificate courses and upto Rs 15 lakh for its two-year courses. However, FTII charges less than Rs 1 lakh for its popular three-year diploma in direction, editing, cinematography, sound design & recording.

However, Puri said students are willing to pay a price for the quality of training they get.“There is actually a dearth of skilled people in the industry. Mukta Arts is also looking at grooming and use the talent pool. For example, our students are directing and acting in the in-house production Paschim Express,” Puri added.

According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report on the outlook for the media and entertainment industry, the TV industry is expected to grow at a stable CAGR of 12.9 per cent and the film industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12.4 per cent till 2014.