MUMBAI: In another move to widen its wings internationally, Whistling Woods International (WWI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Calgary and SAIT for a co-production partnership.
This will be an exchange program between select students from the joint University of Calgary (UC) and South Albertan Institute of Technology (SAIT) Bachelor of Film Studies Program and Whistling Woods International (WWI) film school, Mumbai.
This agreement is poised to mark an important milestone in education and training in Digital technology and knowledge exchange related to different facets of film production. This initiative is spread over six months, including pre-production, production and post-production process shared equally between WWI and UC. 10 students (5 from Mumbai, 5 from Calgary) and 4 instructors (2 from Mumbai, 2 from Calgary) will participate in this venture.
Speaking on the occasion, Whistling Woods International, founder and chairman Subhash Ghai said, "It is a great privilege for Whistling Woods to be associated with universities of this stature internationally. I am truly grateful that UC and SAIT have extended their support to us for this new exchange programme and look forward to a long-standing, strong working relationship together."
The WWI team will travel to Canada for part of the principal shoot and the rest will be executed in India with the Canadian counterparts in Mumbai. The project will create greater cross-cultural and mutual understanding of each other‘s work processes, values, approaches and ways of working. Additionally, the project will encourage possibilities of curricula and faculty exchange in the future.
Students and faculty involved in the project will be the first to participate in this cross-cultural exchange and have the opportunity to gain international work experience. This cooperative initiative will evaluate the feasibility of future collaborative ventures related to the training of professionals in the film industry.
These select students along with selected instructors from both campuses will work together to produce a short 20-minute film that shall be premiered at the 2013 Banff World Media Festival, one of the biggest International gatherings of short films in the world.
Recently, WWI had announced that it would, in collaboration with Trend Media City Ltd (TMC), set up a film and media training institute in Nigeria that would mark Africa‘s first world-class film institute to be called Whistling Woods International Nigeria (WWIN).
