June 20, (THEWILL)- In a bid to strengthen the foundation of quality storytelling in Africa, 12 creative industry professionals from Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe have been selected to be part of an inaugural three-month development laboratory programme for African film and television producers. The programme, launched by the Realness Institute, a non-profit organisation committed to fostering a new wave of African storytelling in partnership with the world’s leading streaming service Netflix, kicked off on June 13, 2021. It is expected to run until September 13th remotely.
The two programmes:Â Â an Episodic Writers Lab focused on South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, and a Development Executive Traineeship (DET) for candidates across the Sub-Saharan Africa region saw over 500 applications, which was pruned to 12 creatives from Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe for the two inaugural three-month programmes.
At the end of the programme, each writer will have an opportunity to pitch their incubated concept to Netflix to have their series further developed for production. According to Alison Triegaardt, Netflix Manager for Grow Creative in Africa, the purpose of this traineeship is to build a critical missing capacity in the local media ecosystems with the hopes of expanding this expertise across the continent to help bolster the quality of work produced. This skill creates opportunities for professionals to work with national film bodies, film commissions, funders, story consultants and critics.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
