News

If you’ve ever tried to break into the world of writing for television, you know that it takes more than a great idea and some luck. It takes mentorship, guidance, industry connections — and yeah, still luck. If you already have your four-leafed clover, then Film Independent’s Episodic Lab has you covered for everything else.

This August, six talented writers will gather in Los Angeles for an intensive two-week program designed to help them refine their pilots and navigate the ever-changing television landscape.

Over the course of the program, they’ll receive personalized feedback from seasoned showrunners, creative producers, and executives, building the skills (and the relationships) needed to take their projects to the next level. This year Lab Creative Advisors and Guest Speakers include Christian Alvarez, Kj Booze, Wendy Calhoun, Sera Gamble, Emmeline Yang Hankins, Eric Heisserer, Anil Kurian, Marvin Lemus, Kyle Lau, Felischa Marye, Dani Melia, Caroline Mak,...

Exclusive: Film Independent has selected six writers for its 2025 Episodic Lab. Running in person this year from August 11-22, the lab’s participants are Bryce Cracknell, Spencer Jamison, Rom Lotan, Lilian T. Mehrel, Leah Sarbib, and Ida Yazdi.

Film Independent’s Episodic Lab is designed to provide individualized story and career development for writers with original pilots for television. Through personalized feedback from experienced showrunners, creative producers and executives, who will serve as advisors, Fellows will get help in revising and refining their pilots, along with tips on navigating a changing industry landscape. As Founding Sponsor, Netflix will provide opportunities to learn specifically from showrunners helming their series. A final networking and pitch event will offer Fellows the opportunity to introduce themselves and their work to studio and network executives.

Creative Advisors and Guest Speakers will include Christian Alvarez, Kj Booze, Wendy Calhoun, Sera Gamble, Emmeline Yang Hankins, Eric Heisserer,...

Exclusive: Fabel Entertainment, the company behind the Bosch universe, has a new SVP.

The company has promoted Jasmine Russ to the role following the departure of Melissa Aouate, who joined Blumhouse Television as President.

Australian Russ has been at Fabel Entertainment since 2018, having moved to the U.S. in 2014.

She will be responsible for leading the company’s creative direction and guiding its pipeline of original projects. She will work closely with CEO Henrik Bastin and Director of Development Christian Alvarez.

Fabel Entertainment, which Fremantle acquired a 25% stake in 2022, produces series such as Amazon’s Bosch, Bosch: Legacy, which just wrapped up its third and final season, and Ballard, the second Bosch spinoff focusing on the Renée Ballard character, which will premiere this summer, as well as NBC’s Brilliant Minds, which premiered in September.

“Jasmine has been a creative force at Fabel since day one, consistently delivering that rare...

Breaking down a script, working with actors, shot listing, guiding the edit – all crucial tasks for a director, but in the TV world, that’s just the start. TV directors have the unique challenge of having to put a personal touch on a long running story, while collaborating not only with the executives, cast and crew, but also the showrunner.

Oh and did you know, TV is becoming more cinematic, (just look at the amazing shows we honored at the Spirit Awards this year), Yes it’s great for us at home, but for those hard working TV directors, it still requires creating tens of hours of content per season, and usually at a budget that would make a studio director cry.

Beating the odds is something that indie filmmakers are used to, and that’s why it just makes sense that the Film Independent Episodic Directing Intensive brings together some seriously talented Fellows,...