Aug 24: The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies and Netflix have announced scholarships for 100 students, offering up to 80 percentage financial support across six professional programmes comprising two one-year diploma programmes and four six-month certificate programmes.
The six programmes covered under the scholarship initiative are the Diplomas in Interactive Comics & Sequential Arts and Visual Effects Mastery, Certificates in Virtual Art Department Content Creation, Media Tech Workflow, Art of Character Animation, and E-Sports & Gaming Management.
The announcement follows Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ meeting with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his India visit, where Netflix launched the Netflix India Storytelling Initiative. The initiative is aimed at investing in India’s creative talent pipeline by helping equip the next generation of storytellers with industry-relevant skills across the Animation, Visual effects, Gaming and Comics ecosystem, which serves as a key driver of India’s ‘Orange Economy’.
The scholarships, supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, will be available to students and working professionals across India.
Netflix has also helped shape the curriculum for IICT’s Visual Effects Mastery and Media Tech Workflow programmes, to align the courses with contemporary industry workflows and practices.
Shri Chanchal Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Chairman, IICT Board, said,
“India’s creative economy is at an inflection point. As technology transforms the way stories are created, the institutions shaping the next generation of talent must evolve with it. IICT was envisioned as a bridge between India’s enormous creative talent pool and the rapidly changing needs of the global AVGC-XR industry. Partnerships with leading global players are an important part of building that bridge. Such collaborations will bring industry knowledge into the classroom and help develop India’s talent into the creative workforce of tomorrow.”
Monika Shergill, Vice President, Content, Netflix India, said,
“We’ve seen Indian stories travel further than ever before, and that’s just the beginning of what’s possible. India has an incredible depth of creative talent, and the most exciting stories of the future will come from people who are finding their voice today. Our role is to help unlock that talent. This partnership with IICT gives the next generation of storytellers real tools to tell the stories only they can tell – training in animation, VFX, gaming and comics, backed by people who know the industry. We are nurturing the next generation of India’s storytellers and are excited to step into the new worlds they create.”
Dr. Vishwas Deoskar, CEO, IICT, said,
“The purpose of an institution like IICT is not only to impart skills, but to ensure that those skills remain relevant to the way the industry is evolving. This collaboration with Netflix brings that industry perspective directly into our academic framework, from curriculum design and professional workflows to the standards students will be expected to meet. By combining structured education with direct industry inputs and financial access, we aim to create a stronger pipeline of talent that is ready to contribute to India’s growing creative economy.”
Munjal Shroff, Chairman, FICCI AVGC-XR Forum & Co Founder and COO, Graphiti Studios, said,
“The FICCI- IICT- Netflix collaboration marks an important shift towards making industry aligned talent development a cornerstone of India’s AVGC – XR growth. By connecting education with real world creative workflows and global industry standards, this partnership can help turn India’s vast talent pool into a future ready creative workforce equipped to create for the world.”
IICT is India’s national centre of excellence for the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality sector, established by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra, FICCI and CII. The institute currently operates from the NFDC Complex, Pedder Road, Mumbai, while its permanent 10-acre campus is being developed at Film City, Goregaon.