New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters 2015 - 2016

In 2015, Asia Society India Centre launched the Third Edition of New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters (NVFS). The programme was designed to identify, mentor, and support 7 talented independent screenwriters in India. NVFS

By helping them find their own creative voices, enabling them to incubate their ideas and refine their craft. By working in collaboration with and taking guidance from eminent screenwriters and filmmakers, the programme sought to nurture the diversity of contemporary Indian writing. The platform for screenwriters to develop powerful, nuanced, and well-crafted scripts, encouraged them to explore new approaches to the art of writing for cinema. Appplications for writers from across India to submit an original story closed on 10 August, 2015.

The 2015 - 2016 edition focused on scripts with a difference. We sought stories that are gender sensitive, women centric AND driven by well-defined women characters. By Making the Heroine the New Hero, NVFS promoted new writers to the experience of writing from a female character’s point of view and increase the number of women-oriented scripts in the film industry.

Speaking on the launch of the third edition, Bunty Chand, Executive Director of Asia Society India Centre said, “The third edition of NVFS boldly steps forward and invites women centric, gender sensitive stories into the spotlight. Made possible by Time Warner Foundation and coordinated by Asia Society’s offices in New York and India, this fellowship represents Asia Society’s commitment to fostering creativity, nurturing new talent, building knowledgeable communities, addressing shared challenges, and bringing fresh perspectives to the age-old art of storytelling.”

Anjum Rajabali, Head of the Advisory Council of NVFS and noted screenwriter, added that "NVFS is indeed a very worthy and important initiative that Asia Society India Centre has undertaken. It offers so many wonderful things to aspiring screenwriters - full creative freedom, continuous mentoring by knowledgeable seniors, intensive workshops, no copyright lien of any kind, and a healthy fellowship amount!! It's a win-win process for them. And, this year’s brief is important and exciting: Scripts with multi-dimensional women characters who are individuals in their own right and whose issues and energy drive the story. The time has come for these stories to flood the film industry!"

NVFS was made possible by a grant from the Time Warner Foundation.

"Our mission is to find innovative and powerful ways to discover, nurture, and celebrate the next generation of storytellers," said Lisa Garcia Quiroz, President of the Time Warner Foundation. "Asia Society is an important, globally recognized partner who continues to help us further our reach in talent development. We are excited to expand this groundbreaking programme in India."

Cause Partner: Laadli, a media advocacy initiative of Population First.

The third edition of the fellowship will conclude in April 2016.

Each participating Fellow received:

• A stipend of Rs. 2,00,000
• Regular guidance from eminent mentors who are screenwriters and writer-directors, for the duration of the eight-month long programme
• Two five-day-long intensive workshops conducted by Anjum Rajabali, with the active participation of mentors, advisors, and other industry professionals
• Recommendations on how to approach production houses and studios, how to pitch, and how to navigate other professional and legal aspects such as contracts, copyright, and safeguards