India’s National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), a unit under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has joined hands with Netflix India to launch an upskilling programme for voice-over artists, called ‘The Voicebox’, in India.

‘The Voicebox’ programme will offer Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) training for voice-over artists, focusing on English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Gujarati languages, an official statement from MIB stated yesterday.

As part of the initiative, structured workshops, which would include training (featuring guest lectures and mentoring sessions), followed by an assessment, will be conducted in seven major cities of India — New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kochi.

Each batch would accommodate up to 30 candidates, with 210 participants selected through preliminary screening. At least 50 percent of the participants will be women.

Pearl Academy, a leading Indian design institute, will join as a Training Partner for this programme. Seven top participants from every batch will be chosen to contribute to Netflix’s special project, ‘Azaadi ki Amrit Kahaniya’, where they will lend their voice to narrate stories reflecting the Indian independence movement.

The event organised to announce the initiative was attended, amongst others in New Delhi, by MIB Secretary Sanjay Jaju; MIB Joint Secretary (Films) Ms. Vrunda Desai; Aditya Kutty, Legal Director, Netflix; Freddy Soames, Head of Competition Policy, Netflix; NFDC MD Prithul Kumar and Sharad Mehra, Chairman, Pearl Academy.

A memorandum of understanding was signed to formalise the partnership, which aligns with NFDC and Netflix’s combined vision to promote Indian cinema and nurture talent in the Media and Entertainment industry.

The programme is open to professionals, preferably women, with more than two years of experience in the media and entertainment sector, who are eager to enhance their skills in voice-over.

‘The Voicebox’ programme is sponsored by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, which has dedicated $100 million a year over five years to setting under-represented communities up for success in the TV and film industries through programs all around the world.