Writers’ Retreat – A Short Course on Screenplay Writing in Pune (12th Jan - 03rd April 2026)

Writers’ Retreat – A Short Course on Screenplay Writing in Pune from 12th Jan. to 03rd April 2026

 

Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune under its ‘Centre For Open Learning (CFOL)’ announces “Writers’ Retreat – A Short Course on Screenplay Writing” from 12th Jan. to 03rd April 2026 at Vijay Tendulkar Writer’s Academy, FTII Extension Campus, Rambaug Colony, Near Doordarshan Kendra, Kothrud, Pune .

Following are the details in this regard;

  1. Name of the Course: Writers’ Retreat – A Short Course on Screenplay Writing
  2. Dates: 12th January to 03rd April 2026 (Monday to Friday, except closed & public holidays)
  3. Timings: 08 am to 08 pm (any 06 – 08 hours. Lunch break = half an hour to one hour)
  4. Maximum no. of participants: 15 (Course will be conducted only if minimum strength of 12 participants is reached)
  5. Age: 18 years & above as on 01st Jan. 2026 (participants born on or before 31st Dec. 2007)
  6. Educational Qualification: Any graduate. In exceptional cases, 12th pass with sufficient industrial experience may be considered
  7. Nationality: Indian
  8. Medium of Instructions: English & Hindi
  9. Venue: Vijay Tendulkar Writer’s Academy, FTII Extension campus, Rambaug Colony, Near Doordarshan Kendra, , Kothrud, Pune
  10. Per participant application fee (Non – refundable): Rs 500/-

*Application fee of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred only) should be transferred online on FTII Account through SBI Payment Portal at https://onlinesbi.sbi.bank.in/sbicollect/icollecthome.htm

Application fee is non-refundable/ non - transferable/ non – adjustable etc under any circumstances.

  1. Per participant course fee: Rs 75,000/-

Those shortlisted after scrutinizing the applications and online interview, if required, will only be required to pay the course fees.

Fees should be transferred online on FTII Account through SBI Payment Portal at https://onlinesbi.sbi.bank.in/sbicollect/icollecthome.htm

     Course fee is excluding accommodation & meals.

Course fee of selected participants will be non-refundable, non-transferrable, non-adjustable, etc. under any circumstances. Course fee of all the non – selected participants will be returned within 21 working days of the course commencement.

However, due to any reason, if the course is postponed OR cancelled by the organisers, course fee will be refunded.

  1. Mode of fee payment: Online through SBI Collect (along with Google form).
  2. Due date & time to submit online application as well as application fee: 15th Dec. 2025, 6 pm IST. Application submitted after due date & time will not be considered.
  3. Selection Criteria: On statement of purpose of the proposed idea, brief bio, concept note for screenplay and online Interview, if required. List of selected participants will be published on our website and selection emails will also be sent to all the selected participants.
  4. Certificates: All participants would be given participation certificate on successful completion of the course.  Minimum 90% attendance is mandatory to get certificate.
  5.  Queries: For any queries contact Mr. Milind Joshi, Asst. Outreach Officer – 020 - 25580085, info(dot)cfol(at)ftii(dot)ac(dot)in
  6. Communication with participants: All communications with the participants will be carried out through email only. List of shortlisted participants will be published on FTII website and selection email will be sent to the selected participants on their registered email.
  7. Limited Hostel accommodation for outstation participants: Rs 25,200/- (Rs. 300/- per day for 84 days) on triple sharing basis at Vijay Tendulkar Writer’s Academy campus in Kothrud.

Hostel Accommodation Fee is excluding breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea/ coffee, snacks etc. Hostel accommodation fee payment details will be shared separately with the participants who are selected & who need said accommodation, on First come first served basis

  1.  Course Director: Dharmakirti Sumant
Dharmakirti Sumant is the youngest recipient of the “Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar”, awarded by India’s National Academy of Letters for his collection of published plays- one of the country’s highest literary honors. His is also the only Indian play to have received this distinction to date. An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), where he studied Screenplay Writing, Dharmakirti went on to complete his Master’s in Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia with a full scholarship from the Inlaks Foundation. As a screenwriter, his released works include CRD, Ashleel Udyog Mitra Mandal, and Maunraag. His films have been streamed on platforms such as Netflix and MUBI (CRD), and have been showcased at festivals including MAMI (India), the London Indian Film Festival (UK), the Stuttgart Festival (Germany), and IFFLA (USA). Ashleel Udyog Mitra Mandal had a theatrical release in Maharashtra, while CRD received a limited theatrical release across India and LA. He currently teaches Screenplay Writing at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
 
 
 
 

(20) How to apply:

1. Pay Application Fee of Rs 500/- as per instructions given in “How to pay Application Fee and Course Fee” at point no. 21 below.

2. Note SBI Collect Reference no. i.e DU number of the transaction. Take screenshot of successful payment. DU no. and screenshot is required while submitting application form (Google Form).

3. Before submitting online application form (Google Form), following must be kept ready:

(a) DU reference no. and screenshot of successful payment of application fee.

(b) Statement of purpose of the proposed idea (1 page)

(c) Brief bio (approx. 250 words)

(d) Concept note (1 pager)

4. Submit application form (Google Form) by clicking on following link:

https://forms.gle/bnqr7PxLPysHKfzX6

5. All communication will be made on submitted email id.

6. Application Form (Google Form) without receiving necessary application fee will not be considered.

7. Application Fee without Application Form (Google Form) will not be considered.

List of shortlisted participants will be published on FTII website and selection emails will also be sent to all the selected participants.

 (21) How to pay Application Fee and Course Fee:

1. Click open the link - https://onlinesbi.sbi.bank.in/sbicollect/icollecthome.htm  OR visit https://onlinesbi.sbi.bank.in/ and further click on “SB Collect” which is at the top left, vertically 06th from left to right.

. In the Search box, search/Find FTII Fees Account and click submit.

2. In the payment category select “Application Fee for Short Course on SPW” OR “Course Fee for Short Course on SPW” as the case may be.

3. Fill-up the application form with requisite details and proceed for payment.

4. Make necessary payment of Rs 500/- as application fee OR Rs 75,000/- as Course Fee.

5. Once payment is done, please note "SBI collect Reference Number" (mentioned in payment confirmation receipt). This may be required for future reference. 

6. Digitally store the receipt of payment(s). This can be carried out in one of the following ways;

(i) by taking printout of receipt of payment, scan & save it

(ii) by taking screenshot of payment (if using mobile) or print screen (if using computer)

(iii) by simply taking a photograph from mobile

7. No document/ certificate related to educational qualification, age etc. is to be attached. Participants’ self – declaration in the application form is sufficient.

8. Terms & conditions: By agreeing to the terms & conditions in the application form, participants are confirming that they have read & understood the website advt. They are eligible to apply and fulfil all the requirements as stated in the advt. Further, participants agree that decision of FTII regarding admission to the course and its conduction in all respect will be final.

 

  1. Course Contents

'Scene Precedes' - A Short Course in Screenwriting

About:

Every new idea commands a new way of writing it.

There is no 'One Method' of writing 'Any screenplay'.

Rather the 'methods' of writing a screenplay, should be dictated by ideas.

Vijay Tendulkar’s Writers’ Residency provides a specialised platform for each idea to develop its own unique writing style and cultivate it until completion.

The course will help the mentee to develop her own unique structure of the story, through her own unique process that she encounters, rather than the ‘apply to all’ method prevalent in the business.

Short Course in screenplay writing entails 'Scene precedes Structure' approach.

Scenes are specific and Plots are generic.

Attacking and mastering a scene helps the writer to realise the pulse of the nature of the idea, and a series of such scenes will dictate its own distinctive structure, and form a story on their own.

One can then imagine a different constellation & flirt with the structure.

We begin not with structure, but with sparks the smallest dramatic units that carry the fire of the idea.

  1. Participants:

The residency accommodates fifteen writers who are at various stages of writing their own original stories. Participants working across multiple disciplines: playwriting, literary narrative, poetry, visual art, and other forms of storytelling practice who want to ‘trans-form’ to Screenwriting are encouraged. Complete newcomers with promising ideas and having will and tenacity to complete them are specially welcomed. Within this heterogeneous cohort, writers develop projects across three designated frameworks: economically-scaled cinema (30-minute format), alternative feature-length narrative exploration (120-minute framework), or extended engagement with serialized storytelling, tele-scriptural development, or long-form conceptual work operating within resource constraints.