Film Independent Sets Episodic Lab Participants For 2024

Matt Grobar
·2 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent has named the eight writers selected for the seventh edition of its Episodic Lab, designed to provide individualized story and career development for writers with original pilots for television. The participants and projects are Desdemona Chiang (ZHIZHA! (紙紮!)), Giovanni Maldonado Chinea & Myles Hawthorne (The Machetero), Robert Cohen & Ioana Uricaru (Overcast), Catherine Durickas (Beige Is Not Dead), Azza Malik (Dear Azza,) and Robert ToTeras (Jourdain).

Cohen and Uricaru have been set to receive this year’s $20,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, awarded to projects with science or technology themes and characters, to support the development of their pilot Overcast through the Lab. Dear Azza,‘s Malik, meanwhile, will receive a $10,000 grant from the MPAC Hollywood Bureau, an organization working to elevate stories by and about Muslims in entertainment.

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This year’s two-week, in-person Lab will help to further the careers of Fellows by introducing them to industry veterans — including experienced showrunners, creative producers and executives — who can offer guidance on both the craft and business of writing episodic content.

Fellows are supported by Netflix and its Fund for Creative Equity. As a returning sponsor, Netflix will pair each with an executive to serve as their Industry Advisor, providing them with opportunities to learn from award-winning creative executives helming Netflix films and series. Creative Advisors and Guest Speakers set for the Lab include Wendy Calhoun, Linda Yvette Chávez, KD Dávila, Kelly Kulchak, Gina Kwon, Justin S. Lee, Missy Laney, Jennifer Levine, Glen Mazzara, Dani Melia, Marc Mounier, Van B. Nguyen, James Ponsoldt, Robbie Pickering, Gina Reyes, Erica Rosbe, Ellen Shanman, Jiah Shin, McKenna Stephens and Ligiah Villalobos.

“We’re delighted to support a group of innovative and authentic writers telling stories that are both entertaining and impactful,” said Dea Vazquez, Associate Director of Fiction Programs. “It’s an honor to be able to nurture their artistic voices and careers in the Episodic Lab.”

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