by NR INDRAN / INT

Further to the announcement of its campus in Nigeria last month, Whistling

Woods International announced it’s other global campus in the United Kingdom. Whistling Woods International and Bradford College, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to join forces to create one of the best film schools in the world. This co-branded jointly set up Whistling Woods International Bradford College Film School, will provide undergraduate courses in filmmaking and animation to the students from across the world. The two institutions will come together, work together and pool in strengths and resources together with an aim to make this film school the number one destination for Film & Media education globally.

The MoU was signed between Trevor Griffiths, Associate Director Innovation & Projects – Bradford College and Ms Meghna  Ghai Puri, President, Whistling Woods International in the presence of Subhash Ghai, Founder & Chairman, Whistling Woods International.

This jointly set up film school will be set up in the main heritage building of Bradford College, UK and is expected to commence operations in April 2013 and accept its first batch of students in the Autumn/Fall 2013 intake in August-September 2013. The two programs that the school commences with area 3-yr Bachelor’s Degree in Film  and a 3-yr Bachelor’s Degree in Animation. This venture will also include a twinning model where students studying in these courses may spend 1 or 2 semesters at the Whistling Woods Mumbai campus and thereby be exposed to the financial & cultural giant that is the Indian Film industry.

Announcing the alliance with Bradford College, Subhash  Ghai, Chairman of Whistling Woods International, said “It is a great privilege for Whistling Woods to be associated with a university of this stature internationally. Over the past year or so, we have been aggressively exploring opportunities to expand globally and in the proposed jointly set-up film-making school with Bradford College in the UK, we have found a perfect partner. Whistling Woods is here to stay and this is one step towards expansion and many more to come.”

Meghna Ghai – Puri, President, WWI, commented, “Our relationship with Bradford College has been one of trust and great success so far. We share the same vision of having a truly International Film School in the UK. It is exciting to be associated with a renowned Institution such as Bradford College & we are humbled by the support offered to us by the British Council in India and the UK.”

This move comes as a natural progression in the four-year affiliation between Bradford College and Whistling Woods International. In 2009-2010, Whistling Woods and Bradford College jointly put forth a bid to the UKIERI (UK-India Education Research Initiative) for support in a proposed student film co-production. The bid was accepted and over the next year, students from both the colleges came together in a first-of-its-kind international student co-production of a stop-motion animation (clay-mation) film. Since the co-production, WWI and Bradford College have continued to be in conversation for various alliances and partnerships in Photography, Prosthetics Hair & Make-up, Animation and Fashion Design.

Speaking on the partnership between WWI and Bradford College, initiated through UKIERI, Sam Harvey, Director West India, British Council, commented, “The British Council is pleased to support the fruition of this partnership which was initiated through UKIERI. India and UK have a lot to learn from each other and in the last five years, UKIERI has played a pivotal role in establishing a step change in the educational relations between the two countries. Collaborations such as this one with WWI and Bradford College help create the right platforms and opportunities for the exchange of ideas and knowledge – something that is at the heart of our work.”

Recently, Bradford was named as the world’s first UNESCO City of Film in June 2009. The title was awarded because of the city’s rich film heritage, its inspirational movie locations and its many celebrations of the moving image through the National Media Museum and the city’s annual film festivals.

Trevor Griffiths, Associate Director Innovation & Projects – Bradford College signing the MoU  stated, “The setting up of this film school at Bradford College will cement Bradford’s standing as the number one destination for film. It’s a fantastic offer that will put Bradford College centre stage and we’re thrilled to be working with some of the world’s most renowned experts in film.”

Also Mr. David Wilson, Director of Bradford UNESCO City of Film said, “Bradford has a fantastic film heritage and a fast growing young population. This is a great way to live up to our UNESCO title with a truly international partnership and help to develop the film makers of the future”.

Over its six years of operations, Whistling Woods International (WWI) – a globally recognized Institute for Film, Communication, Animation & Media Arts from India, has sustained international relations with several countries across the world like Spain, Bermuda, Argentina, Australia, UK, Dubai and many more. WWI strongly encourages cross cultural exchange between film professionals across the globe and hence has several academic affiliations with reputed universities across the world to promote the same. WWI had been invited by the Government of Spain in 2009 to set up a campus in Alicante, Spain within the Spanish Film Industry and Trend Media City Limited (TMC) – a Nigerian development company has invited WWI to set up the first world-class film & media institute in Africa – Whistling Woods International Nigeria (WWIN).

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