A residential mentoring experience for emerging
screenwriters of India
Who is it for?
The Process
Writers ready with a script idea and a detailed outline, looking for feedback to refine their scripts. Rewrite Screenwriter's Residency
Independent producers looking for new scripts to co-develop with participating writers. Rewrite Screenwriter's Residency
A guided writing experience to arrive at a refined version of a screenplay relying on interpersonal conversations with a personal mentor.
"Rewrite was a wonderful experience for me as a mentor. Apart from open and friendly environment created by rewrite, it was really rewarding for me to share knowledge with the writers."
Aastha Tiku
Mentor, Rewrite 1.2
Rewrite 3.0 Dates: 27th August - 1st September 2024
Selection Criteria
01
Novel Ideas
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Progressive Themes
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New Approach to Writing
Motivation to Participate
04
Mentors for Rewrite 3.0
Rajulah Shah
Writer-Director
Rajula Shah is a Visual artist, Poet-Filmmaker. After a Masters in English Literature, she studied filmmaking at FTII, Pune majoring in Film Direction. She has won the Horizonte Preis at Dokfest Munich Germany for Word within the word; Signs jury award for Beyond the wheel, John Abraham National Award twice for the Best Experimental film 2013 for Katha Loknath/ ReTold by Loknath & for short fiction Aisa Nahin Hua tha Tahera/ Jumbled Cans in 2014. Her film At Home Walking was awarded the Best Long Documentary prize at IDSFFK, Trivendrum 2021. At present, she’s working on a book on cinema focussing on the being of a Director and working on the translation of Khalil Gibran & Mary Haskell’s love letters. Her work is located in the interstice of Poetry, Cinema, Philosophy & Art. She has created intensive courses for FTII like Film appreciation/ orientation, Being Director, Alocana/ Film Criticism, Cinema Aesthetics etc. Has been on various juries including the National Film Awards, on panels for seminars, talks and conferences for Cinema, Fine Arts and integrative Media and continues to mentor young scriptwriters and Film directors in various Film & media schools in India including alma mater FTII.
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Jaydeep Sarkar
Writer-director
Jaydeep Sarkar started his journey in the movies, as a writer, working on films like 'Khoya Khoya Chand,' 'Shaurya,' the iconic television series ‘Remix’. He directed the acclaimed short film 'Nayantara’s Necklace,' starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Tillotama Shome. Jaydeep has made more than two hundred television commercials for some of India’s leading brands. He has been fearlessly challenging gender norms and dismantling patriarchal structures through his work. He has also written the official Hindi adaptation of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ that has had more than two hundred shows across India. His recent highly acclaimed Amazon Original series 'Rainbow Rishta’ premiered at the prestigious MAMI Film Festival in November 2023. Jaydeep’s work has won several accolades across the world, most notably the Cannes Lion and The One Show award and the esteemed Laadli Award and The Kyoorius Blue Elephant.
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Jeo Baby
Writer-Director
Jeo Baby is an Indian film director, scriptwriter and actor who works in the Malayalam film Industry. Director of Kaathal -The Core starring Mammooty and
Jyotika produced by Mammootty Kampany released worldwide on November 23rd , 2023 and received Pan Indian critical acclaim and gained a box-office hit. His directorial debut ‘2 Penkuttikal’, won State Award for the Best Child Artist. His second movie Kunju Daivam won National Award for the Best Child Artist. In 2020, his film ‘Kilometers and Kilometers’ starring Tovino Thomas skipped theaters due to COVID-19 pandemic and premiered directly on Malayalam satellite channel Asianet. His fourth Malayalam film ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ starring Suraj Venjaramoodu and Nimisha Sajayan screened at UK Asian Film Festival and won Making Waves Digitally Award. It was also selected at Shanghai International Film Festival, China, Stuttgart International Film Festival, Germany and lots of International and regional Film Festivals and also won 3 Kerala State Film Awards including Best Movie, Best Screenplay and Best Sound Design.
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Pushpendra Singh
Writer-Director
Pushpendra Singh is an award winning filmmaker whose latest film, 'The Shepherdess and the seven songs' which premiered in the Encounters Competition at Berlin International Film Festival. He also won the Best Director at Hong Kong Film Festival and the NETPAC Award at Jeonju Film Festival. The film was also rated as the Best Film of the year 2020 by the U.S Magazine, 'The Week' and got a theatrical release in New York at Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA). His creative documentary, 'Pearl of the desert' received Golden Hejnal at Krakow Film Festival. His debut feature, Lajwanti (The Honour Keeper) also premiered at Berlin International Film Festival in 2014. Pushpendra is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, and has also taught there. He is a visiting faculty at many film schools including FTII Pune, SRFTII Kolkata and Whistling Woods International, Mumbai. He has also trained actors for the films, 'Sir' by Rohena Gera, 'Song of the Scorpions' by Anup Singh and the Netflix series', 'Class' and 'Kohra'.
Mentors for Rewrite 1.1
Ashish Mehta
Screenwriter, Story Consultant
Ashish Mehta's recent projects include the forthcoming Amazon mystery-drama series Hush Hush directed by Tanuja Chandra, and an untitled horror feature by Bishal Dutta. He has worked for 8+ years as a script reader and story consultant, covering screenplays for Spec Scout, Slated, and RSVP/Ronnie Screwvala, among other clients in the US, UK, and India. He has also served as an Additional Producer for the critically acclaimed short film Sisak, directed by Faraz Arif Ansari.
Gurvinder Singh
Director
Gurvinder Singh is an Indian film director. He is best known for his Punjabi language films Anhe Ghore Da Daan, and Chauthi Koot (The Fourth Direction) which premiered at Venice and Cannes Film Festival, respectively. His recent, Adh Chanani Raat, is the third film in his Punjabi-language trilogy. Gurvinder is an alumnus of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.
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Atika Chohan
Screenwriter
Widely known for penning Bollywood’s most progressive, inclusive, and unflinching stories, screenwriter Atika Chohan won immense critical acclaim for co-writing Chapaak, a film based on the life of acid attack survivor, Laxmi. Her stellar work also includes ‘Margarita with a straw’ (2015)” ‘Waiting’ (2016) and ‘Guilty’ (2020) with MWAS bagging a National Award among many other laurels.
Picture Courtesy: Tejinder Singh Khamkha
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Tushar Paranjape
Film Writer
Tushar Paranjape is a screenwriting alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. His first feature film as a writer was the critically acclaimed Marathi film ‘Killa’ (The Fort) directed by Mr. Avinash Arun which had won the Crystal Bear award at Berlin International Film Festival (2014) and a national award for best Marathi film (2015). He was also the creative director of the Marathi feature film ‘Picasso’ (2020) directed by Mr. Abhijeet.
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Mentors for Rewrite 1.2
Aastha Tiku
Film Writer
Aastha Tiku is the writer of the Vidya Balan starrer, SHERNI (2021). A film about tiger conservation and human-animal conflict, the film received rave reviews for its sensitive depiction of the subject in one of a kind ecological fiction genre. Currently based in Mumbai, Aastha is the co-founder of Critical Mass Films where she develops feature film projects.
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Ajitpal Singh
Director
Ajitpal Singh is a self-taught filmmaker living in Mumbai. His first feature film, Fire in the Mountains, premiered at Sundance Film Festival in the world cinema dramatic competition. Tabbar has topped most of the Indian list of best series from 2021, and it was at number five in the Variety magazine’s list of best International series of 2021. Earlier, his short film Rammat Gammat won an award at the prestigious Oberhausen International Short film festival in 2018.
Bikas Mishra
Screenwriter-Director
Bikas Mishra is an award winning screenwriter-director known for his debut feature Chauranga that won Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was declared Best Indian Feature at Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) in 2014. Bikas, currently a Global Media Makers (GMM) fellow of Film Independent, Los Angeles, is a recipient of the prestigious Hubert Bals Fund for his upcoming project.
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Mentors for Rewrite 2.0
Abhijeet Deshpande
Director-Writer-Actor
Abhijeet Deshpande is an award winning Writer and Director who has won accolades for his written work as well as his directorial films. A product of FTII, Abhijeet started his career with writing Marathi blockbusters and critically acclaimed films like Nattsamrat which changed the grammar of Marathi Industry. He has also written successful OTT series such Breathe 1 & Breathe 3. Abhijeet debuted as a director with his first film “Ani Dr. Kashinath Ghanekar” a blockbuster Marathi drama about the first superstar of Marathi theatre. Apart from working on various writing assignments, he has been mentoring writers and students over the years.
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Pubali Chaudhuri
Screenwriter
Pubali Chaudhuri is a graduate of the Screenplay Writing department of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) and is best known as the screenwriter for Rock On (National Film Award for Best Hindi Film in 2008), Kai Po Che (Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay in 2014) and Rock On II. She has served as Mentor and Honorary H.O.D at the Screenplay Writing Department at FTII and has previously been a faculty member of the Screenwriting department at Whistling Woods International Ltd. More recently Pubali has directed and produced an indie short film ‘Chithi’/ The Letter which premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival in 2023.
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Ridham Janve
Director
Ridham Janve trained as a communication designer before finding his calling in the medium of moving images. His debut film as a writer-director-producer, The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain, featured at leading international film festivals and won several awards. Apart from making films, he writes, paints and sculpts, pushing the boundaries of form and often landing in unexplored territories.
How to Apply for Rewrite 3.0
1 / Fill out the application form that includes:
Your Introduction
Story Logline
Short Synopsis
Long Synopsis
Writer's Statement
​Treatment note that includes:
Beat sheet, character details & story setup
Screenplay (full script or first 25 pages)
2 / Share not more than two past works as a writer and/or filmmaker.
3 / Application fee
Join as an Observer!
This year, the observer seat is open only for producers.
As an observer, you will:
Partner with a scriptwriter and witness the journey from development stage.
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Be a keen observer of the process of constant feedback and revisions that the writers and mentors go through.
Develop the script with the writer and support the project as a producer.
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Additionally, you reside at the venue and enjoy amazing food and stay!
Writers
Rewrite
Screenwriter's
Residency
Mentors
Observers
Fee for Rewrite 3.0
Scholarships
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The idea is to make the residency inclusive and not let the fee be a deterrent for emerging writers from diverse backgrounds. For this reason, we have adopted the Pay What You Can model for select writers.
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The ones in need of scholarship will be evaluated on the basis of merit and their request for the same in their application.
Our Ask:
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All works submitted should be registered.
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Credit to rewrite residency and the mentors for each mentored script is mandatory.
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Commitment to general sense of decorum during the stay.
The fee includes:
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Expenses for boarding and lodging at the residency venue in Jaipur city, three veg meals a day of excellent quality, mentoring and operations fee.
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A well-maintained double occupancy room on a shared basis. Single room available on request at an additional fixed cost on the basis of availability.
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The fee is inclusive of 18% GST.
