Balaji Tele to launch chain of academies

MUMBAI: Seeking to tap a growing demand for trained personnel in India?s vast entertainment industry besides meeting its own needs, Balaji Telefilms is soon going to launch a chain of academies under the banner of Institute of Creative Excellence (ICE) that will train students aspiring for a career in TV and film entertainment industries.

The new academies are likely to come up in Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad besides Mumbai where the ICE?s pilot project was launched last year. The academies will offer courses in acting, direction, editing and scriptwriting, sound recording, cinematography and production among others, divulged ICE CEO Anurag Gupta.

The company will employ graduates to work on its content; it will also help meet the needs of the rest of India?s vast entertainment industry. The fees of the academies will range between Rs 300,000 to Rs 600,000 per semester.

Gupta, however, refused to divulge on the kind of investments that will go into the setting up of the academies as a matter of his company?s policy.

ICE offers three-six-month certificate programmes.