The Bhutanese Leading the way.
On 14th June 2022, the National Script Development grant was launched to help organize and accelerate the Country’s first National Script Development Grant initiated by Golan Pictures, a Film/TV and Media Production company.
The NSDG will provide Cash grants to talented upcoming Bhutanese scriptwriters or filmmakers to complete their idea or concept for their short or feature length or series fiction film scripts that are in development.
The script development grant can be used for the further development of a script (e.g.research, writing, translation or hiring a coach or script consultant), but can also be used to present a project to financiers or other potential partners at (international) co-production meetings or film festivals.
The maximum contributions for the National Script Development Grant will fund Nu 50,000 for two best scripts and Nu 25,000 for one special jury mention.
The event was graced by the Prime Minister, Tshoki Tshomo Karchung, Juries and the participants.
The Initiative was to create, promote, produce, enhance and support Bhutanese aspiring screenplay writers and filmmakers from all walks of life. The Bhutanese film industry approximately produces 20 to 25 commercial films annually.
However, there is a void in the technical aspect of filmmaking directly affects the quality of filmmaking and it is a result of filmmakers not being technically trained in modern craft of filmmaking, which is evolving at an overwhelming pace elsewhere in the world.
Mr. Chand, founder and head of Golan pictures said, “Basically this program is the first of its kind in Bhutan and it marks a historic moment moment with Lyonchhen blessing the occasion. What we are trying to do is to create a platform opportunities for aspiring writers to venture into professional screenplay writing. If you look at the Bhutanese film industry and the narrative, we have really grown in terms of quantity and not in terms of quality and the first root that we really need is the story”
Mr. Chand continued, “So what we did was to create a platform for competition, for people to put in their ideas and concepts and from there we were going to select the best ideas and national and international experts will train these people on the anatomy of the screenplay. Its important to create this kind of platforms so that we not only start from a local level but also be universally appealing on global platforms.”
The top ten participants and the grant winners would be trained to be fulltime in-house writers for Shangreela, an OTT Media and Entertainment Company in Bhutan.
