Celebrated novelist Pankaj Dubey launched a 12-day digital storytelling masterclass in Dubai, empowering students with cinematic tools, narrative craft, and real-world content creation skills for today’s platforms.
DUBAI: Dubai’s creative landscape witnessed a vibrant new chapter this November as acclaimed bilingual novelist and filmmaker Pankaj Dubey made a powerful foray into the city as a Literary Mentor, conducting an intensive 12-day Masterclass in Digital Storytelling for Rise N Shine in the Academic City. Known for his cinematic writing style, international journalism background, and bestselling novels with Penguin Random House, Dubey’s arrival added a fresh surge of energy to Dubai’s growing storytelling ecosystem.
A Visionary Module for a New-Age Creative Generation:
Dubey specially designed a new Digital Storytelling Module for this workshop—an engaging blend of narrative craft, audio-visual language, digital sensibilities, and practical content creation. The program enabled students to explore the shifting dynamics of storytelling across platforms such as OTT, social media, podcasts, and short-form video, empowering them with tools to become confident multipotential creators.
The sessions were hands-on and immersive, incorporating:
• Fundamentals of structuring stories for digital platforms
• Character and world-building for today’s fast-paced audience
• Cinematic thinking for short-form video
• Scriptwriting essentials
• Podcast and voice-based narrative design
• Visual grammar and social-media storytelling
• Live tasks, prompts, and creator-ready exercises
Students described the experience as “transformational,” “confidence-boosting,” and “the perfect bridge between creativity and digital relevance.”
A Phenomenal Response from Dubai’s Young Creators:
The programme drew enthusiastic participation from students across Academic City, many of whom saw the workshop as their first doorway into structured storytelling training under an industry expert. Dubey’s charismatic teaching style—rooted in clarity, humour, and deep emotional intelligence—made the sessions both memorable and insightful.
“It was an inexplicable experience to creatively collaborate with the Global Indian Novelist , Podcaster and Filmmaker Pankaj Dubey for this uniquely designed post modern curriculum in Digital Storytelling. We envision to ignite the imagination of all our learners with everything relevant and contemporary coming our way.” Dr Mohd Osama Ahmad, Academic Director, Rise N Shine, Academic City, Dubai, UAE.
A Grand Certificate Ceremony with Media Leaders:
The culminating day featured a celebratory Certificate Ceremony, graced by distinguished media personalities:
• Mr. Shaneer Siddiqui, Founder Editor of The Brew Media
• Ms. Ranjana Tripathi, from The Unmuted Media
Their presence not only honoured the students but also highlighted the growing media interest in nurturing young creative voices in the UAE. Both guests applauded the initiative for bringing global-standard literary and digital training to Dubai. They emphasised the importance of such programmes in preparing the next generation of storytellers for a rapidly evolving media world.
Strengthening Dubai’s Creative & Educational Landscape:
Pankaj Dubey’s workshop is being widely hailed as a significant step in strengthening Dubai’s positioning as a hub for future-facing creative education. As a novelist, filmmaker, and mentor, Dubey’s ability to blend traditional literary depth with new-age digital fluency makes him uniquely suited to shape aspiring creators.
His Dubai foray marks the beginning of multiple forthcoming collaborations, including:
• Expanded digital storytelling batches
• Creator bootcamps
• Script and filmmaking labs
• Inter-school literary mentorships
About Pankaj Dubey: Pankaj Dubey is a Mumbai-based bilingual (Hindi–English) bestselling novelist and storyteller published by Penguin Random House. A former journalist with the BBC World Service, London, he writes for screen, authors fiction with cinematic resonance, and conducts mentorship programmes across India and abroad. His foray into Dubai signals his commitment to nurturing talent at a global scale.
