The Series Drama Lab is a five-day Lab developed with Script to Screen as a part of the NZ on Air and New Zealand Film Commission Raupapa Whakaari Drama to the World initiative. The initiative was created to support writer/producer teams to develop distinctive, high-end scripted series.
Stage 1 Ten selected teams attend the Series Drama Lab where international advisors give feedback on story and market to assist the teams to further develop their concepts and strengthen appeal to the international marketplace. The teams also receive an initial grant of NZ$10,000. Teams then resubmit their re-worked projects.
Stage 2 Following the Series Drama Lab and submission of the re-worked projects, four teams are selected to receive additional development funding of up to NZ$80,000 to develop a series bible.
The ten Stage 1 projects selected for Series Drama Lab in 2019:
(*Not Her Real Name)
Pip Hall / Carmen J Leonard / Deborah Cope
All of Me
Daniel Musgrove / Natalie Medlock / Shoshana McCallum / Peter Salmon
Chasing Pure
Carey James Carter / Gavin Strawhan / Rachel Lang / Steven Ivan Zanoski
Dreamhunter
Roxane Gajadhar / Angela Littlejohn
Drunk Poetry
Briar Grace-Smith / Victor Roger / Desray Armstrong
O
Donna Malane / Paula Boock / Carthew Neal
Rockburn
Hannah Marshall / David de Lautour / Gareth Williams / Kelly Martin
Ruatoria
Kath Akuhuta-Brown / Greg McGee / Philippa Rennie / Robin Scholes / Lee Tamahori
The Different Girl
Alison Maclean / Philippa Campbell
The Harder They Fall
Matthew Saville / Luke Sharpe / Gerard Johnstone
The four projects selected for Stage 2 further development funding:
All Of Me – Shoshana McCallum, Natalie Medlock, Dan Musgrove, Peter Salmon
Depressed and ready to end it all, Lauren orders an illegal clone to replace her. But when she messes up the process and gets three unsatisfactory duplicates, she is forced to stick around and deal with herselves.
Ashes and Prophets – Kath Akuhata-Brown, Greg McGee, Philippa Rennie, Robin Scholes, Lee Tamahori
Arson, kidnapping and murder engulf a small New Zealand town, as a Māori rastafarian sect exacts revenge for historical land theft.
Rockburn – Hannah Marshall, Gareth Williams, David de Lautour, Kelly Martin
Trauma experienced as a teenager on her family farm, Rockburn, reverberates throughout three distinct ages of Celia Ray’s life. Now, a social worker in her 50s, she must confront her past to save a young girl’s future.
Drunk Poetry – Briar Grace-Smith, Desray Armstrong, Victor Rodger
Newly separated and in her forties, Lizzie discovers she has the emotional brain of a fourteen-year-old. Now she has to grow up all over again.
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