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Published: 11 May 2023 390 views
The Writers Room is a new mentorship program launched by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) and funded by the broadcasting network OSN. The program is designed for series creators in the Arab region and aims to contribute to develop and support talents and compelling stories. The program focuses on the development of projects into full limited series during the program’s seven-month timeline, consisting of three in-person residencies, in-between mentorship, and follow-up, as well as input from experts in the field as well as from specialists in other fields.
Context
Series, whether they be in the form of books, TV shows, or films, are a vital and impactful art form. They allow the viewer to dive deep into characters, themes, and overarching narratives that cannot be captured in other formats. Television series also allow for a level of immersion that can draw in viewers, building engaged communities and fostering discussion and analysis around the work's themes. Through the course of a series, creators have the opportunity to shape their characters and their worlds, allowing for a more thorough exploration of complex topics, emotions, and relationships, bringing attention to important issues, and creating empathy and understanding in viewers.
About the Program
Building on the few existing initiatives for series development within the Arab region, the Writers Room will operate on four levels to bridge some of the still-existing gaps: incubating projects until the development of fully fledged limited series; providing mentorship support, follow up, and input from specialists and experts during the residencies and in between period; creating a framework that allows for peer-to-peer learning and participation in the creative process; and partnering with a streaming platform (OSN) that will have the right to a first look at the developed projects, with the potential of choosing a project or more to be further developed beyond the residency.
The program aspires to achieve the above through: setting up writers' rooms as an essential component of the program and as part of a strategy to grow talents who can ensure continuity in the development of new talents and quality content for the future; offering a timeframe for the series development and writing phase that allows for the creation of solid projects, hence increasing the chance of their commissioning; and providing a diverse pool of experts such as historians, social scientists, and researchers, who will enrich the development process and steer it toward the production of well-rounded, multi-faceted projects.
The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture - AFAC was founded in 2007 through the initiative of Arab cultural activists as an independent foundation to support individual artists, writers, researchers, intellectuals, as well as organizations from the Arab region working in the field of arts and culture. Since its launch, AFAC’s programs have steadily expanded to cover cinema, photography, visual and performing arts, creative and critical writings, music, documentary film, in addition to funding research, trainings and cultural events. Based in Beirut, AFAC works with artists and organizations al... continue reading
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| Application Deadline | 11 Jul 2023 |
| Country to study | |
| Type | Contest |
| Sponsor | Arab Fund for Arts & Culture (AFAC) |
| Gender | Men and Women |
In its first edition, the program will incubate up to 5 series projects to be developed over a period of 7 months. The writers will benefit from:
During the residencies, the writers will be required to work collectively on each others’ projects. Following each residency, each writing team will focus on writing the episodes of their project based on the work and feedback delivered during the residency and with the assistance of the program’s mentors and other experts where needed.
The Writers Room program accepts applications through an open call process. The program is open to Arab writers living and working in the Arab region, irrespective of age, ethnicity, gender, or religion. Applying writers must have prior experience in writing (preferably series writing) and must apply with a series project.
AFAC and OSN encourage the formation of teams of a minimum of 2 writers (and a maximum of 4 writers) to apply with a joint project. A project with a single writer is still eligible to apply. However, if selected, AFAC will assign co-writers to the project to work with the main writer. Potential applicants with a current open AFAC grant cannot apply to the program. Additionally, interested applicants who have an application that is in the process, should reach out to our grants management team.
Selected writing teams must commit to physically attending all three residencies and to abiding by the writing schedule in between the residencies to ensure the completion of all episodes over a period of 7 months. Failure to do so will result in the disqualification of the project and cancellation of the writers’ participation in the program. The first residency is scheduled for November 2023, the second residency for February 2024, and the final residency for May 2024.
To apply, the following supporting material is required:
Applications are only accepted through our online application forms available on our website. Applications submitted via postal mail or e-mail will not be accepted.
The applicant will receive a confirmation email once the online application has been received. AFAC will not contact applicants if any part of their application is incomplete. Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
To apply, please login with your username and password. Once you login, visit the program page and click ‘Apply’. In the event that you don’t have an existing account, please create one here.
For more details visit: AFAC website.