Realness Institute partners Netflix to launch Content Development Lab for Nigerian Writers

Realness Institute and global streaming service Netflix on Tuesday in Lagos announced a partnership to create an Episodic Content Development Laboratory for writers in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.

The partners said that through the partnership, Realness Institute expressed its commitment to foster a new wave of storytelling, while Netflix also brings its expertise in episodic content development, production and insight into global content trends.

“At Netflix, we believe that great stories come from anywhere and be loved everywhere,” said Dorothy Ghettuba, who leads African Original Series in Africa in a statement.

“We strongly believe that Africa has a wealth of untold stories.

“As we grow our slate of Originals in Africa, partnerships with organisations like Realness will help us achieve our goal of investing in writers who will bring diverse genres of authentic, local stories that cater for every mood and will ensure our members see their lives reflected on screen.’’

The statement said submissions into “The Writer’s Lab’’ would go live at the end of November 2020 on realness.institute/episodic-lab, and is open to writers with Film and TV experience in any genre (fictional or factual) or language.

“The Lab will select six writers to work on their projects to be developed and commissioned by Netflix.

“The selected writers will be paid a stipend of 2,000 dollars per month to participate and are expected to be available full time for a period of three months, from June to September 2021,’’ it said.

supreme reports that since Realness Institute’s inception in 2015, the Institute has delivered five editions of its Screenwriters’ Residency.

Recently, it held its first Development Executive Traineeship and Creative Producer Indaba, in which the artistic director of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Nigeria’s Chioma Onyenwe was a participant.

The Institute will also expand its offering next year to the episodic content space, thereby promoting its mission to empower African storytellers and improve the film industry.

“We had fun shaping the programme with the Netflix team. We all share a love for storytelling, and Netflix’s writer-centric approach is very much in line with our ethos,” said co-founder and creative director of Realness Institute, Elias Ribeiro.

According to veteran Ethiopian broadcaster and Realness Institute’s director of Development and Partnerships, Mehret Mandefro, the programme is a response to the dramatically-changing broadcasting ecosystem, which has a very important role to play in building a thriving media ecosystem in local markets and providing episodic creators with distribution opportunities.

“Over the past year, there has been a massively growing appetite for new and exciting African content to star on global streaming platforms.

“Netflix has recently enjoyed much success with its first two African original series, Queen Sono and Blood & Water.’’

The statement said that more information on the Episodic Lab, the eligibility criteria and submission process would be released with the call for submissions on realness.institute/episodic-lab on Nov. 30, 2020.

It added that further information on Realness Institute, could be got from realness.institute