Meet the12 participants for content development lab for African writers

Twelve creative industry professionals from Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were chosen from over 500 applications to participate in the inaugural three-month development lab for African Writers and Development Executive Trainees, which will begin on June 13, 2021.

The Realness Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a new wave of African storytelling, partnered with Netflix to debut the program on June 13th, and it will run until September.

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 idea.

The six the selected participants are:

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)

Writers will receive feedback from the Netflix team in addition to creative coaching.

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), which will allow them to thoroughly immerse themselves in the story development process.

The six the selected participants are:

Anneke Villet (South Africa),

Antionette Engel (South Africa),

Damaris Irungu Ochieng’ (Kenya),

Lara Sousa (Mozambique),

Ololade Okedare (Nigeria),

Thandeka Zwane (South Africa)

They’ll be there to support the development of six possible Netflix African Original Series.

The goal of this traineeship is to fill a significant gap in local media ecosystems’ capability, with the goal of 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.

“Because development is often the weakest link in the value chain when it comes to 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,” says Mehret Mandefro, Director of Development & Partnerships at the Realness Institute.

“We are ecstatic about the 12 individuals chosen to be a part of this initiative, which will provide our members throughout the world with fresh and exciting new stories. Allison Triegaardt, Netflix Manager for Grow Creative in Africa, says, “We’re looking forward to this opportunity to grow and nurture the talent pipeline for the next three months and, ultimately, give new voices from Africa a chance to be heard on our service.”

From June 13 through September 5, 2021, the Lab will be conducted remotely, with chosen participants receiving a stipend to allow them to focus only on their development.