Prasad Group, Asia's largest provider of post-production services, has announced the launch of L.V.Prasad Film & TV Academy in Chennai being set up at a cost of over Rs 5 crore. The academy, which is named after the group's founder, .L V.Prasad, has been taken up in the golden jubilee year (50th year) of the Prasad Group to produce professionally trained film-makers and TV producers with a global perspective. 

Located on the sprawling Prasad Studios campus in Chennai, the L V Prasad Film & TV Academy offers a two-year, full-time, postgraduate diploma programme in film and television in the four different streams of direction, cinematography, sound recording and editing.

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K Hariharan, director, L V Prasad Film & TV Academy, said, "Film-making has been a part of our Indian culture and instrumental in creating a strong national identity. With globalisation, the trend is changing at a rapid pace. Digital cinema, catering to a worldwide audience, and a more professional team effort, will be the pre-requisites for the development of our film and TV industries. In order to address these needs, Prasad Group has initiated this 'global university' to produce trained film-makers and TV producers with technical skills and expertise."

The academy will provide state-of-the-art classrooms with multimedia capabilities, exclusive sound recording theatres, editing suites, shooting floors, auditorium, high quality outdoor shooting equipment, a well-equipped library featuring a wide range of books and DVDs and many other facilities. During the two years of study, each student, as part of a team, will produce many short films: from documentaries to fiction, from computerised animation to music videos.

"The best advantage for our students is that, during their learning period, they will be situated in the busiest film production facility in India which gives them the chance to interact with working professionals on a daily basis. The academy will focus on healthy integration of strengths of the allied arts like painting, dance and poetry with the aesthetics of cinema and television. We will encourage our students to learn from all the four disciplines in the first year so that when they branch out, they get to understand the true meaning of cinema as a collaborative effort," noted Hariharan.

Supporting this global thought and endeavour, international universities like Brooklyn University and Arcadia University have come forward with offers of collaboration with the academy. As part of this collaborative initiative, these universities will be sending their students to the L V Prasad Film & TV Academy from 2007 for a student exchange programme.

The academy will have teachers from amidst a wide.variety of practising film-makers, television producers and other technicians who will share their rich experience and also "mentor" the students to develop their own creative talents and pursuits. In addition, an array of film-makers and film scholars will be regular visitors to the campus and would hold interactive discussions with the students on various aspects of cinema and television. The students will have access to interact, in a structured manner, with top film technicians and creative artistes providing them with an opportunity to develop their creative talents.

The academy also plans to conduct an international film festival devoted exdusively for the films made by students all over the wortd, recognisng their efforts and giving them a platform to exhibit their talents, R Venkatanarayan, Head, HR. 

Application forms for the postgraduate diploma course offered by the academy are now available on the Internet at www.prasadacademy.com.

Prospective students may, alternatively, get their application forms through post or in person. The last date for submitting filled-in application forms is May 30, 2005.

There will be an entrance test for the applicants on June 11, which will be conducted at Prasad Lab campuses across the country. Based on the application form and the performance of the students in the entrance test, short-listed candidates will be called for a personal interview to be held in the second/third week of July. Classes commence at the academy on Independence Day, August 15, 2005.

The course fees at the academy would be primarily for defraying the material costs involved in conducting the various practical exercises for the students, since students will be working on 16 mm film, 35 mm film and high-definition video formats. The course fee for the two years will be Rs 2 lakh for the first year and another Rs 2 lakh for the second year. Scholarships are also offered by the academy on a merit-cum-means basis. Students who perform creditably over a period of time will be invited to apply for scholarships. Bank loans will also be arranged for those students who may require it.

The L V Prasad Film & TV Academy is the fruition of one remarkable individual's dream and vision. L V Prasad had always stated his desire to begin a film and TV academy to impart high-quality technical education. It is, therefore, very apt that in the golden jubilee year of the Prasad Group, the L V Prasad Film & TV Academy is now open, Venkatanarayan added.