In the old days, TV was mostly like,
“Oh man, Jack Tripper scheduled dates with two different women on the same night! How’s he gonna pull this one off?” or “Heck yeah, Joe Friday, go violate that perp’s civil liberties!” or even “I know it’s Gilligan’s Island, but would the Harlem Globetrotters really be able to bounce a coconut like a basketball for the length of an entire exhibition game?”
It’s fair to say that the medium has come a long way—with serialized, small-screen storytelling largely serving as the first-choice destination for creators looking to tell sophisticated, multi-dimensional narratives covering a wide range of experiences and perspectives. TV isn’t even really TV anymore, either, with countless digital streaming platforms, broadcast networks and social media originals all vying for precious, precious eyeballs and engagement.
For aspiring creators, it can all be a little overwhelming. But the Film Independent Episodic Lab is here to help—providing a structured two-week intensive designed to help writers develop their pilot projects not just creatively, but provide mentorship and guidance in navigating an ever-changing industry.
And, for this year five of the Episodic Lab, all 2021 Fellows will get to shadow for a week in the writing room of a Netflix show, in addition to mentorship by Netflix executives.
“Film Independent is a tremendous advocate for artists within the TV industry and we’re so proud to be part of the journey with them through this program for emerging television writers,” states Peter Friedlander, Vice President, UCAN Scripted Series at Netflix. “The participants for the fifth annual Episodic Lab bring an incredible range of talent and unique perspectives. We’re looking forward to collaborating with them over the next few weeks.”
2021 Episodic Lab Creative Advisors and Guest Speakers include Sarah Carbiener, Cindy Fang, Seb Gibbs, Manal Hammad, Karen Horne, Carole Kirschner, Kimi Lee, Glen Mazzara, Vera Miao, Ildy Modrovich, Chris Mundy, Sue Naegle, Rammy Park, Robert Patla, Robbie Pickering, Kelly Kulchak, Loretta Ramos, Evan Romansky, TJ Ross, Ellen Shanman, Jiah Shin, Kendrick Tan, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Eliza Wheeler, and Rebecca Windsor.
This year’s Film Independent Episodic Lab projects are:
Title: Kintsugi
Writer: Lisa Sanaye Dring
Logline: When their mother dies, three vastly different third-generation Japanese Americans must come together to run the family restaurant and forge a new meaning of family.
Title: Known Associates
Writer: Razan Ghalayini
Logline: Known Associates is a half-hour comedy that follows Dima Baconi and her family as they navigate the bizarre experience of becoming targets of an FBI investigation.
Title: Mary Mallon
Writer: Anna Vecellio
Logline: Based on a true story. NYC, 1906. An ambitious doctor discovers the first typhoid carrier in America, sparking a conflict that will cement the name “Typhoid Mary” in history forever.
Title: Renaissance Girls
Writer: Carmen Brie
Logline: At the dawn of the Harlem Renaissance, the new President of a Negro women’s college struggles to stay afloat amidst the challenging social and racial climate of a post-WWI America.
Title: The Get
Writer: Steph Ouaknine
Logline: The Get is a one-hour drama set in the world of ultra-Orthodox Jewish divorces—and the women taking the law into their own hands.
Title: The Real & Magical Diaries of Luna Icaza
Writer: Marissa Díaz
Logline: Luna inherits her grandmother’s magic on the night of her quinceañera and uses her new power to tame the ancient Mexican mythological creatures that come to destroy her hometown.