Directing for Directors

A Film Director is asked to be technician, poet, psychologist, artist and alchemist…. all at the same time.

NFDC LABS 2 week, fully residential workshop challenges and empowers directors to enhance, fine tune and balance these complexities.

Working with actors and script is at the core of this programme and each participant will workshop and develop his/her approach to scenes using scripts provided but also work-shopping scenes from their own upcoming films.

The full time two week programme lead by London based director Udayan Prasad (My Son the Fanatic, The Yellow Handkerchief) and professor of Directing at the UK’s  NFTVS -National Film and Television School, and LFS-London Film School among others.

The programme will include the following:

• Acting for Directors – being on the other side of the camera.
• Working with actors and the value of understanding the various processes actors employ in inhabiting their characters
• Preparing a scene: the building blocks for directing actors
• Casting – Masterclass & individual consultations
• Opening reels; a look at the 'set-up' from various movies.
• Point-of-View  - Masterclass
• Dialogue in cinema.
• Examination of story, structure and form
• Screenplay & Writing : Masterclass
• 1 to 1 script consultations on each directors script from internationally renowned script editors.
• Use of dramatic space and light in movies.
• Light, space, colour, framing and movement : Cinematography - Masterclass
• Music & Sound in film  - Masterclass
• Choice and manipulation of space : Production design – Masterclass
• Film screenings and analysis will be used throughout the lab.

The workshop is designed and will be lead by Udayan Prasad and he will be joined by top professionals* from the industry who will share world class knowledge of their particular discipline. 

Accomplished and acclaimed actors* will add their talent and craft to the scenes which will be work-shopped throughout the programme, and share their personal feedback and experience with the participating directors.

Profile of Directors: this lab is for working film directors with experience and/or training in the field.
Applicants: should be currently preparing to shoot a feature or short film script which is moving towards production, and be prepared to workshop scenes from their script within the lab.

Workshop Dates: January 19th to 31st 2014
Participants: Strictly limited to 12, by application and selection.

The Directing for Directors lab will be held within a hotel/resort style setting within driving distance of Mumbai, but outside the city to allow a full creative retreat experience to unfold.

Application fee: Rs 500
Full lab fee (on selection): Rs 1,50,000
Food & accommodation : all included in the fee.

* additional experts and actors will be announced in 1st week January.

Click Here to apply.

Biography:
UDAYAN PRASAD has been directing documentaries, television drama and feature films since graduating from the National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield, UK.

His first theatrical feature was Brothers In Trouble, 1995 (Golden Alexander Award for Best First Feature at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival), This was followed by My Son The Fanatic,1997 (Directors Fortnight Cannes Film Festival, Best Feature at the Potsdam Film Festival), Gabriel & Me, 2000 (Edinburgh Film Festival) and Opa!, 2005 Toronto International Film Festival). His latest feature, The Yellow Handkerchief (Sundance Film Festival) was released in the United States in 2010.

He is currently in development on a four-part mini-series, Mr 4%, for Channel 4 with Scott Free Films - expected to go into production in 2013 - and First Aid, a thriller set in the tribal areas of India, starring Om Puri.

When not actively involved in production, he is a frequent visiting lecturer on directing and screenwriting programmes at several film schools including The National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield, UK; The London Film School; The Wajda School in Warsaw and the National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź́́, Poland. He is also an advisor and mentor on various international directing and screenwriting workshops.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF
“Four terrific performances make the transition to a U.S. setting go smoothly for British director Udayan Prasad. There's a painful honesty in all the performances that gets across the hurt everyone endures in life and the helplessness one feels when the remedy is never clear, even when it's close at hand.”  The Hollywood Reporter

“A quartet of gifted actors who are captivating under Prasad's perceptive direction.”  Los Angeles Times

“Beautifully acted by a cast including William Hurt and a pre-stardom Kristen Stewart — as well as gorgeously photographed — THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF is a captivating film…brimming with humor and honest emotion...and the pitch-perfect direction of Udayan Prasad.”  The New York Post

“No movie nominated for an Oscar this year boasts acting as fine as THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF.”  The New York Press

“You don't need an original story for a movie. You need original characters and living dialogue. THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF, written by Erin Dignam, directed by Udayan Prasad, has those, and evocative performances.”  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times