Asia’s premier film school launched with the first batch of students
- Whistling Woods International - Asia’s largest film institute inaugurated-

July 18, 06, Mumbai: Whistling Woods International – Asia’s largest film, television and media arts institute in Asia was unveiled by Chief Guest Shri Dilip Kumar and Guest of Honours I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi & Civil Aviation Minister Shri Praful Patel. A host of other dignitaries were present to congratulate and convey their best wishes to the Whistling Woods management and the first batch of students. These included Anand Mahindra, Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, Hema Malini, Shabana Azmi, Jeetendra, Tusshar Kapoor, Gautam Singhania, Govind Swarup, Suresh Kalmadi, Zeenat Aman, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and many other respected personalities from the film, media and business sectors.

Based in Film City (Goregaon, Mumbai) and promoted by Mukta Arts Ltd & Filmcity, Mumbai, Whistling Woods International will provide world-class training across all technical and creative aspects of filmmaking, television, animation & other media arts as part of a two-year intensive hands-on training program.
The institute is headed by Kurt Inderbitzin, the Dean, a producer-director from Los Angeles with twelve years of experience in developing, writing, directing and producing movies and TV shows for major studios and networks. Other key faculty members include Shyam Benegal (Chairman Academic Council), Arunaraje Patil (VP, Academic Affairs), Naseeruddin Shah (HOD, Acting), Anjum Rajabali (HOD, Screenwriting), Rakesh Ranjan (HOD, Sound Design), Rajen Kothari (HOD, Cinematography), Umesh Gupta (HOD, Editing) and Ashish Kulkarni (HOD, Animation).
Speaking about the institute, Mr. Subhash Ghai, Chairman, WWI said, “A dream of 10 years has finally been realised. In a way, Whistling Woods International (WWI) is my way of repaying the film industry for what I have received from it over the last 27 yrs. WWI will act as a stepping stone for anyone who wants to make a career in the world of Television, Cinema or Animation. It has been designed to meet the highest international standards - be it in terms of technology, faculty or resources. We are also fortunate to have a strong academic and management team with Heads of Departments who will make this institute one of the best film schools in the world.”

He further added, “I also thank all friends and professional colleagues, especially the Chief Minister, Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh, the I&B Minister Shri Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Cultural Minister of the Government of Maharashtra & Mumbai’s Film City who have extended such unstinting support to WWI, and without whose commitment and encouragement this dream could never have been realised.”

The Institute offers state-of-the-art training facilities, an internationally developed and structured curriculum, affiliations with highly respected global media corporations and a faculty that combines the best in Indian and international professional experience.

The full-time two-year program includes 84 weeks of comprehensive training and hands-on project experience in almost all specialized streams of filmmaking, viz.:

• Acting
• Direction
• Cinematography
• Editing
• Screenwriting
• Business of Film & Television
• Sound Recording, Design & Music Production
• Art & Technique of Animation.

The institute also has international affiliations with Seneca College, Canada and the Australian Film, Television & Radio School in addition to technology partnerships with Apple Corporation, SONY, Digidesign, AMD, NVIDIA, and several other reputed companies, enabling it to offer students the very best education in frontier technology.

Whistling Woods International will train students in top-of-the-line digital and analogue systems using the latest, state-of-the-art equipment. Driven by the conviction that only the best available infrastructure and environment can aptly prepare students for the ever-changing technological development sweeping the industry, WWI has a dynamic and contemporary approach to media instruction. A mastery of the newest equipment would enable students to enter the global entertainment industry as leaders with a firm grip on latest technology. The student community at Whistling Woods International would also have the unique opportunity to experience technologies and systems long before other students and professionals do, as the institute will include an onsite R & D centre which would work as a potential Beta Testing Site for its technology partners.

Teaching takes place in lecture halls, studios, video viewing theatre, seminar rooms, classrooms as well as rehearsal studios. In addition to these, WWI will conduct regular drama and script workshops, design workshops and computer labs. The institute will also offer production support for student projects.

In the near future, Whistling Woods International will conduct workshops/short-term courses tailored specifically to meet the needs of practicing industry professionals who wish to upgrade their skill-levels and specific creative proficiency – whether in the field of aesthetics, film and music appreciation, photography or a selection of other technical & non-technical subjects. Additionally, Whistling Woods International plans to expand its full-time programs to include Art Direction, Still photography, Gaming & VFX, and Radio within the next few years.

Whistling Woods International is the first professional education establishment anywhere to combine instruction and research facilities on such a large scale, and also the first that is backed by a reputed and credible production house such as Mukta Arts Ltd.

Technical, Audio-visual & IT facilities at WWIL

Digital Video Library - Film Appreciation and Film Study software - Streaming of Audio (sound clips including songs) & Video (video clips and full-length feature films) to 600 nodes from a single A/V server at speeds of over 200 MBPS accessible to all students whenever they are connected to the network.
By means of this application, the faculty will be able to impart film-making knowledge in a lucid manner. Every film / clip will be tagged or marked as ideal footage from a film-making or technical perspective.
WWIL will be able to transmit an exhaustive & rich film & audio archive to students to enable them to appreciate the great works of art of past and present via this medium.

Log onto www.whistlingwoods.net for more information
For further information, please contact Buzz. Tel: 66681930/1 or email at buzzkaro@gmail.com