Winner of the SuperPitch 2003: Wandering Fables by Inter News

Singapore: Six finalists from Hong Kong, Singapore and India in the third annual SuperPitch competition took to the stage recently to pitch their programming ideas to a panel of commissioning editors from across the region in the Asia Media Festival in Singapore.

The SuperPitch contests are designed to be as much entertainment as a real opportunity for local producers to present new ideas to the people with the power to get their shows made. The winner for the year 2003 is:

"We are delighted to joined this SuperPitch competition in Asia Media Festival. It provided this precious opportunity to exchange ideas with so many participants who have created such great ideas," says Arun Kumar T R, director, Inter News.

The idea of Wandering Fables is that most people believe that the fables travelled from the West to the East. Nothing could be further than the truth.

They trace the migration of the fables, where you discovered that Cinderella was originally a Chinese story. And discover how William Shakespeare heard of Buddhist Jataka Tales, and the world discovered the fables Aesop Fables — some stories culled from Buddhist Jataka Tales. And how Rudyard Kipling assimilated stories from the ancient Indian tales of Katha Sagar, and wrote Jungle Book.

The evolution of the story first began before man could write. To aid himself in constructing and memorising tales, the early storyteller often relied on stock phrases, fixed rhythms and, consequently, many of the oldest narratives in the world. Myths, folktales and legends overlap and shade into each other, at times punctuated by, fables. At times assimilated into different cultures, evolving into yet another original story.

The journey of the fables follows the migration of the fables from India to Persia, Egypt, Spain and into Europe. Wandering Fables is the story one such journey that takes place from the East to the West.