The Episodic Lab, presented by the Realness Institute was a three year partnership with Netflix where we invited writers from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, to apply to an intense 3-month content incubator. The selected writers spent 3 months in a ‘writers room’ where they worked with a story consultant and a creative producer to fully develop their story concepts into an episodic pitch. At the end of the three months they had the opportunity to pitch to Netflix.

A monthly stipend of 33 000 ZAR was paid to participants to cover living expenses as they dedicate their time to the process.  For the last week of the lab, writers gathered at the Coot Club in Stanford (South Africa) to pitch their incubated story to Netflix for possible further development. Each year one TV show was greenlit for production and our first shows will be premiering soon on the platform.

Eligibility

• Open to writers from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa

• Writers with experience in either film or television

• If writers are part of a writing team, only one writer - the applicant, will be able to participate if selected

• Story Concept must be set in Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa

• The language of the story must be in English and/or a local language

• Open to all genres

• No producer / production company attachment necessary

Apply

Please Note: The application process for this programme has ended, and we are no longer accepting any new submissions.

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Programme Partner

We are grateful for our partnership with Netflix.