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Pix launches film-based reality show with Whistling Woods

By Indiantelevision.com Team
(22 January 2008 6:30 pm)

MUMBAI: After months of preparation, English movie channel PIX is all set to kick off its film-based reality show Gateway. The show goes on air next month.

For this, the channel has tied up with filmmaker Subhash Ghai’s film training institute Whistling Woods International. The show will give the winner a chance to direct a Hollywood film with Ashok Amritraj as producer.

The 12-episode show is being shot at the Whistling Woods campus from today. It will make use of the infrastructure and technology that the institute offers. The channel claims to have chosen 18 contestants from among 1,000 aspirants. The chosen ones will be put through a variety of tasks. Besides Amritraj, the judges include filmmakers Anurag Basu (Gangster, Life in a Metro) and Rajat Kapoor (director of Bheja Fry and Mixed Doubles). Milind Soman’s production company Face Entertainment is producing the show for PIX.

The winner of the show will receive an eight-week internship in Los Angeles with Ashok Amritraj's company Hyde Park Entertainment. In Hollywood, he will learn about film making as well as the business practices and challenges involved, whereupon he will start making a film.

"I am confident that the winner of the show will make an impact abroad. After all, young filmmakers are increasingly getting exposed to international culture and international films. They can tell the difference between, for example, a French film and a Spanish film. I hope that Ashok and I can take this partnership forward where maybe our students can get involved,” says Ghai.

Amritraj notes that the facilities available at Whistling Woods compare with what is offered abroad in places like UCLA. He says that the tasks that participants will perform on the show will give viewers an idea of how the process works in Hollywood.

“I am looking for a director with heart and passion. He must be a contemporary filmmaker capable of producing cutting-edge work. This work must be able to survive in a digital world as that is where the entertainment industry is heading towards,” adds Amritraj.

Vodafone, Westside, Sony Handycam and Swift have partnered with PIX for the show. The channel's business head Sunder Aaron notes that the show is in line with the channel's aim to celebrate the craft of filmmaking.