GUIDELINES

Project Focus

Mentoring and evolving Indian projects at an early stage of development through robust incubation labs. The fellowship is expected to be in residency mode where participants spend substantial time, at least 10 hours a day in Kolkata.

What the fellowship offers

The Letʼsdoc Fellowship offers two sessions of mentoring by four mentors of four days each to twelve Indian filmmakers selected from the open application process. The sessions will take place in Kolkata during September and November 2019.

During each session, mentors will work closely with fellows to guide them evolve the current work, offering hands-on advices, creative approaches and relevant input.

Mentoring process will be followed by screening of films each day.

On successful completion of the mentoring sessions and submission of the required deliverables within the stipulated time frame, the two participants will be eligible for selection of Seed Grant for further improvement of projects. The available grants are only for two participants as decided by the faculty jury based on the prospects and merit of the projects.

The two winners of the Seed Grant grant will additionally be provided with individual online mentoring for their respective projects for further creative assistance.

Stories& Subjects

Letʼsdoc is open to socially relevant, creative reality narratives, told with unique personal viewpoint. The proposed film may be Short or Feature length.

Eligibility

This fellowship is created to support documentary filmmakers (directors only) working on refreshingly new ideas. We want to hear innovatively treated stunning stories from the documentary community. The ideas/concepts are expected to have the potential for a socially engaging and human interest creative documentary with universal appeal.

Applicants may be filmmakers of any age but at an early stage of their filmmaking careers. Applicant must be an Indian citizen willing to travel to Kolkata for the workshops for mandatory participation in two sessions during September to November 2019.

Maximum No. of participants

Finally, maximum 12 selected participants will be invited to attend as fellows.

Grants

Two out of 12 selected projects will be awarded a Seed Grant of INR 1,00,000 each after the successful completion of the second mentoring session subject to compliances on submission of deliverables.

Selected fellows will be provided with accommodations, breakfast and working lunch.

DRI will take care of accommodations of all participants on twin sharing basis.

Disbursement of Grant

The Letʼsdoc Fellowship (Seed Grant) will be disbursed as per the following phases:

60% - On signing of the agreement.
40% - On submission of the final deliverables as stipulated.

Deliverables

After Session 1

The fellows need to work on clear delineation of the Narrative Outline of their projects within 4 weeks of attending the first session of mentoring.

The fellows will need to submit revised Logline, Synopsis and Treatment of the project along with a Revised Visual Clip of 3-5 minutes (it is expected that the trailer is further developed with inclusion of new elements/footage for greater clarity) within four weeks after the first session.

After Session 2

The Fellows need to submit final logline, synopsis, treatment and the revised visual clip within two weeks.

Commitment to Seed Grant

Each filmmaker who is selected for Seed Grant will be required to submit an ‘edited cut’ of 10 to 15 minutes max. of the project as mandatory Final Submission for the Grant received.

The filmmaker will also have to submit a final revised written proposal of their projects complete with the Logline, Synopsis, Treatment, Character Sketches and Directorʼs Statement on or before 15 December 2019.

Grantee is responsible for regular update to Let’sdoc team on further development of project for creative and possible coproduction guidance.

Obligations

All the sessions are mandatory. Filmmakers failing to attend any of the sessions will not be eligible to attend remaining sessions.

Filmmakers are required to make their own arrangement for travel to attend the Fellowship Programme sessions in Kolkata.

The timeline for the sessions and their deliverables are non-negotiable.

Selected participants are required to confirm their participation by September 1, 2019.

The grantee will be eligible for the final instalment of the grant only after satisfactorily submitting the required deliverables at the end of the first instalment.

The grant winners will be required to include Letʼs Doc/DRI Logo along with the following text in the credits of their final films.

Incubated and developed at Let’sdoc Fellowship Programme 2019

APPLICATION

How to Apply

The application for Letʼsdoc can be made only through the online application process. The online application will be available till 23:59 (IST) of August 16, 2019. Applications made over mail or not submitted before the deadline will not be accepted

Application Requirements

Logline: The brief idea in one line only (max 25 words).

Synopsis: 500 words max.

Give a clear description of your film, the intended story, briefly elaborating characters, story-space, theme, issue and subject it deals with.

Treatment: 1200 words max.

The treatment may include background information, story outline, visual approach, main protagonists, artistic vision to evolve the story and ensuing moments that reflect the story flow. Provide a clear overview of what’s going to happen (or what you think will happen) with regard to the core conflict and resolution in the story.

Visual Clip: Visual Trailer of the applied project (3 to 5 mins. max.)

Make sure the visual clip is representative of the intended film you have in mind and that the visuals compliment the written proposal.

Selection Process

The selection (by an independent jury) will be based on the filmmaker’s creative and artistic vision, besides the relevance of the subject. Unique/innovative point of view and artistic approach of the Director/filmmaker will be given additional consideration.

The selection is final and no communications will be entertained with regard to the evaluation process after the final selection is announced.

IMPORTANT DATES

Application Call Opens		July 12, 2019
Application Call Closes		August 16 (23:59 - IST), 2019
Selection Results		August 25, 2019
Session 1 (Kolkata)		September 16-19, 2019
Session 2 (Kolkata)		November 13-16, 2019
Seed Grant Announcement		November 17, 2019
Fellows’ Mandatory Submission		December 1, 2019
Signing of the Agreement		November 21, 2019
Disbursement of grant - 60%		November 30, 2019
Online Mentoring		December 9-11, 2019
Final Submission as required		December 15, 2019
Disbursement of grant - Final 40%		December 27, 2019

(The dates and other conditions are subject to change)