New school of thought

Updated on: Friday, July 01, 2011

“Imagine studying in a film and media school that is set up amidst a thriving studio where you get to see film and television content being shot and you can also learn postproduction,” said Kurt Inderbitzin, CEO of the International School of Film and Media (ISFM), which begins operations in Annapurna Studios today. The first batch of students is expected to join in September.

Kurt Inderbitzin was the founding Dean of Subhash Ghai's Whistling Woods International. “I quit the institute in 2008. In the last few years that I've been in India, I've had the opportunity to visit some of the top film schools in the country,” he said, talking to us on the sidelines of the launch of the ISFM.

The ISFM is the brainchild of Akkineni Nageswara Rao. A career that spans seven decades began without formal training. Much before Nageswara Rao made his on-screen debut, he had donned the greasepaint for plays. The veteran actor said, “I wasn't trained in film craft. I learnt on the sets, improvising through retakes.” The

87-year-old Nageswara Rao retraced his early years in theatre and cinema. He had lost his father when he was barely three or four years old and his mother, seeing him sing, dance and enact with ease, realised his potential to be an actor. Nageswara Rao's first role was that of a young girl when he was in IV Standard. “Years later, when I was cast as hero of a play, I was paid Rs. 5,” smiled the actor, who has more than 250 films to his credit.

With his forthcoming film slated to release in September, Nageswara Rao talks about his long-cherished dream: “I wanted to start a film school even before my son Nagarjuna entered the industry. At that time, I didn't have the organisational powers to execute the idea. Today, when most of my family members are involved in different departments of filmmaking, we are able to give back to the society through a non-profit school.” Elaborating on the non-profit model, he stated that the revenue earned through the tuition fees will be invested in the school and the profits will not go to the Annapurna Studios or the Akkineni family.

To begin with, the film school will have short term courses, targeted at attracting 500 students at the end of five years. Graduation programmes for film and media studies are also on the anvil, and the institute is working towards getting an accreditation from a leading university.

“The uniqueness lies in having custom-made programmes to suit specific needs. If a media house wants its photographers to be trained in a certain way or a film production house that is planning a period film wants its actors to be trained, we can tailor-make programmes for them,” said Nagarjuna, talking to us post the launch. The actor has been actively involved in the setting up of the film school, along with his family members for the last two years.

With an insight into other film schools in India, he points out, “We found that some of the courses were designed 10 or 20 years ago and are not relevant to the demands of the industry today.” The film school is in talks with media and film industry experts to rope in regular and guest faculty. “In fact, half of our budget will go towards faculty. We are willing to pay since it's important to have the best faculty,” he reiterated.

Graduation programmes for television journalism and new media is also on the anvil. “Not just anchoring and reporting, we want to train students on professional standards of writing news,” says Inderbitzin.

Expect global exposure through tie-ups with international media houses in the long run. “We'd like to take one step at a time rather than promisethe sky and not deliver,” said Nagarjuna. Classrooms, editing suites et al have been set up and plans are afoot for the construction of the film school on a space of one lakh square feet.

New school of thought

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