By Iminza Keboge
Published February 2, 2021
An African film capacity-building initiative invites writers and development executives to apply for training.
The deadline for receiving submissions for Episodic Lab, the training for writers from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa is February 8, 2021 or upon receiving 150 additional applications, whichever comes first.
“The Episodic Lab offers African writers the opportunity to nurture their concepts into the series format, receive feedback and pitch them with the possibility of further production with Netflix,” the organisers, Realness Institute and Netflix, have announced.
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Realness Institute and Netflix say they are also running a Development Executive Traineeship (DET) for applicants from across Africa and the Diaspora that is ‘aimed at film professionals with an interest of being trained as story consultants or to gain insight into the story development process, working with writers and directors in the development of their stories’.
“Development is a crucial part of the creative process in storytelling. At Netflix, we’re fully committed to partnering with organisations like Realness Institute to achieve our goal of ensuring Africa’s creative professionals are equipped with all the skills necessary to deliver the quality best-in-class stories from our continent,” says Dorothy Ghettuba, Manager for African Originals at Netflix.
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Trainees will shadow and work alongside the creative producers and creative consultants as they run the Episodic Lab and be active contributors in the writers’ rooms. They will also engage with guest experts in story development and have separate sessions from the group of writers.
“The biggest strength of this initiative,” says Elias Ribeiro, co-Founder and Head of Creative Studies, “is the living breathing journey they will embark on. Different writers work in different ways and trainees will have the opportunity to witness and learn from this with projects in active development”
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“No one is thinking about training development executives in Africa yet these executives are critical for increasing the quality and volume of production in local markets. So this program is filling an incredibly important gap in the local media ecosystem,” says Mehret Mandefro, Director of Development and Partnerships.
DET trainees will receive a stipend of US$2000 a month for the three months, to be able to dedicate their full time to the programme. DET will take place at the same time as the Episodic Lab from 1 June until 31 August 2021.
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To qualify for DET, applicants will need:
● Development experience, as a story consultant, creative producer, commissioning editor, reader for a funding body, or a writer interested in becoming a consultant (either in Film or television)
● Open to holders of an African passport.
Apply online at realness.institute/DET
– 1 paragraph bio (max. 200 words)
– CV
– Note of Motivation – How your work would benefit from participating in this program and how your personality would fit with working with writers (max. 500 words)
– Max. 2 professional recommendations
– List of projects that you have worked on as a development consultant (if applicable)
– Proof of payment for 30 Euro Application Fee (ZAR550 Wire Transfer fee for South African applicants)
Applications to DET will close on the February 28, 2021, Midnight South African Standard Time.
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