Twelve creative industry professionals from Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were chosen from over 500 applicants to participate in the inaugural three-month development lab for African Writers and Development Executive Trainees, which begun in June 13, 2021. The program is being organized by the Realness Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a new wave of African storytelling in collaboration with Netflix.
Six of these candidates will be selected to participate in the Episodic Lab (EPL), where they will work with specialist Story Consultants and Creative Producers to develop their story concepts. Andile Ngcizela of Drummies (South Africa); Ayoade Adeyanju of Agent 419 (Nigeria); Dominique Jossie of Fafi (South Africa); Kehinde Joseph of Osupa (Nigeria); Kudakwashe Maradzika of Bad Influencer (Zimbabwe / South Africa); Mary Waireri of Sheitain (Kenya / United Kingdom) are among the selected participants.
In addition to creative training, writers will receive feedback from the Netflix team. Each writer will have the opportunity to pitch their incubated concept to Netflix to have their series further developed for production at the end of the Lab.
Six people will also participate in the Development Executive Traineeship (DET), allowing them to immerse themselves in the story development process. Ololade Okedare (Nigeria), Anneke Villet (South Africa), Antionette Engel (South Africa), Damaris Irungu Ochieng’ (Kenya), Lara Sousa (Mozambique), and Thandeka Zwane (South Africa) are among the candidates. They’ll be there to support the development of the six potential Netflix African Original Series.
The traineeship aims to fill a significant gap in local media ecosystems’ capability, spreading this knowledge across Africa to improve the quality of work produced. Professionals with this competence can collaborate with national film organizations, film commissioners, financiers, narrative consultants, and reviewers.
According to Mehret Mandefro, Director of Development and Partnerships at the Realness Institute, “When it comes to value chains, development is generally the weakest link in creating content. The opportunity to pay writers and development executives to be mentored as they develop local content for Netflix is a gamechanger for these markets.”
The Lab will be conducted remotely from June 13 to September 5, 2021, with chosen participants receiving a stipend to focus solely on their developments.
