Renowned Hollywood storyboard artist from Czechia, Mr. Kurt Van Der Basch, conducted a two-day skill development masterclass on "Creating Storyboards for Live Action Movies" with BA Creative Arts and Media students at RTC. With over 25 years of experience working on blockbuster films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, Jurassic World: Fallen Empire, Rings of Power, and Bollywood's Brahmastra Part 1. Mr. Kurt shared his expertise with our 29 young, enthusiastic students from the Creative Arts and Media Programme. This workshop provided invaluable insights into visual storytelling, boosting students' creative confidence and enriching RTC’s academic environment by offering direct exposure to industry-leading techniques, further strengthening the college’s Creative Arts and Media Programme.

I look forward to seeing one of their names in the credits of a film at an international festival one day!

In early October, I was given the opportunity by the Honorary Consul of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in New Delhi to teach a two-day workshop on storyboarding for live-action film to selected media students and a few outside guests at RTC. This was my first trip to Bhutan, and I arrived with no expectations regarding the students. To my delight, I found them worldly, curious, and highly media-savvy. They answered my questions with confidence and posed excellent ones of their own.

Over the two days, the students combined their newfound knowledge of film language with their imaginations and drawing skills to create some really fantastic film scenes. The classroom atmosphere at RTC was polite but also fun, with intense stretches of thinking and drawing punctuated by a lot of laughter especially when I called on volunteers to demonstrate in front of the class. While there were a few standout illustrators, I also encountered students with unique and remarkable creative ideas, even if their drawing skills were still developing.

The talent and imagination of the students selected for the workshop created a special energy. When we wrapped up and displayed the final work in one of RTC's public spaces and stood back to look at all the scenes they drew, all of us were surprised at just how high the quality of their work was. I look forward to seeing one of their names in the credits of a film at an international festival one day!

Mr. Kurt Van Der Basch