The Kenya film Commission is partnering with M-NET Africa to sponsor special 6-day Screen-Writers Workshop to be held in Nairobi in March. This comes after a similar workshop held last year in conjunction with Kwani Trust and Charles Liburd.
Interested writers, producers and industry professionals from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda were called upon to apply for entrance into the fully sponsored event; KFC and M-Net are aiming to promote the continued growth of the region’s burgeoning television industry.
By investing in local skills development and by further partnering with M-Net the Kenyan Film Commission has expanded its ongoing efforts to nurture and foster local talent.
According to recently appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ms. Lizzie Chongoti, “In years KFC has deeply intensified its efforts across the country and this outreach has been warmly welcomed with positive support across the board. Increasingly the need to tell local stories, promote local stars and holistically involve local crew is becoming paramount to ensuring that good quality, relevant productions are created to meet the demand from millions of Kenya viewers for engaging and entertaining content.”
She goes on to say, “KFC is confident that this Screen-Writing Workshop is another step in the right direction, another brick in building on our strong foundations for marketable and relevant programming.”
To apply for entrance into the workshop, script-writers from any of the three participating countries must submit a copy of their original script-work completed within the last two years, which is not currently and has never been in production for any commercial television company. The script submitted should be a minimum of 20 pages and a maximum of 30 pages.
In addition, script-writers will also be requested to submit a one-page synopsis, character bible, an updated resume or biography, and a proposal of not more than 1500 words explaining why they would like to attend the workshop.
Thereafter an evaluating committee will shortlist the entrants who will be invited to a one-on-one meeting with M-Net and other stakeholders at which each will be required to write a 10-minute narrative in the format of drama, short story and/or sitcom. Finally, 25 writers will be invited to attend the workshop.
M-Net Program Manager for East Africa Wangeci Murage acknowledges that gaining entrance to the workshop requires entrants to complete a rigorous selection process.
“We’re investing heavily in this initiative and want to ensure we’re able to provide 25 truly determined writers with an innovative and unique opportunity to hone their skills and enhance their talents. For this reason, we want to select candidates who’ll be able to fully maximize on their learnings from this event. Ultimately, we’d also like to be able identify key partnerships for the future from this process as well as promote greater regional commercial television success.”
Comprising lectures and writing exercises, the Screen-Writers Workshop follows an initiative by KFC and M-Net in 2007 in which a contingent of Kenyan filmmakers were sponsored on an all-expenses paid trip to Lagos to share ideas and knowledge with Nigeria’s prolific Nollywood film making community.
This time round, selected participants will workshop on the grammar of film, story development, narrative point of view plus character analysis and scene structure. In addition, it will allow industry professionals from the three countries to network and construct multi-national relationships that they are able to use to their benefit.
