EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent has named the six writers set for its 10th annual Episodic Lab: Lauren Ferebee, Kristian Mercado, Nikki Palumbo, Sam Schaefer, Val Tan and LaDarrion Williams.
An in-person, two-week intensive providing writers of original TV pilots with individualized story and career development, the Episodic Lab runs this year from Aug. 10-21.
Creative Advisors and Guest Speakers set to guide scribes through the process of refining their works and offer advice on navigating a fast-changing entertainment landscape include Akil Rashad Anderson, Olivia Blaustein, Mel Eslyn, JaNeika James, JaSheika James, Henry “Hank” Jones, Justin S. Lee, Montserrat Luna, Caroline Mak, Glen Mazzara, Colleen McGuinness, Robbie Pickering, Loretta Ramos, Gina Reyes, Beth Schacter, Ellen Shanman and Ligiah Villalobos.
In recognition of their pilot Personality Hire, Palumbo has been selected to receive the $20,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, awarded annually to a project that meaningfully incorporates science or technology themes and characters into a dramatic story.
Dea Vazquez, Film Independent’s Associate Director of Fiction Programs, told us: “We are thrilled to be celebrating 10 years of championing visionary writers through the Episodic Lab. We are proud to welcome the new cohort of bold and inventive storytellers to the Lab, where we will further hone their visions and support the advancement of their careers in entertainment.”
Descriptions of the 2026 fellows’ projects can be found below.
Title: Crescent SunWriter: LaDarrion WilliamsLogline: A precocious Black teen has his life turned upside down when he finds a supernatural amulet that awakens an ancient African demigod… who resembles his likeness along with a vengeful high priest that begins to wreak havoc on the modern world.
Title: Cult Like ActivityWriter: Sam SchaeferLogline: Following the sudden dissolution of their cult, two lost twenty-somethings realize they only have one option: start their own.
Title: Dancing in a Forbidden WorldWriter: Val TanLogline: In 1950s San Francisco, a disciplined Chinese-American ballerina secretly joins an Asian burlesque nightclub, but as her popularity rises, her double life becomes impossible to conceal.
Title: Family DynamicsWriter: Lauren FerebeeLogline: When scandal shatters a legendary New York music dynasty, a gifted cello prodigy and her ambitious family must choose between protecting their legacy and being true to themselves.
Title: The HustlerWriter: Kristian MercadoLogline: When a once-legendary hip-hop manager is pushed out of the industry by younger, data-driven execs, he gambles everything to rebuild his career by managing a reckless reggaetón prodigy, only to find himself pulled into a dangerous web of ambition and fame in modern-day Los Angeles.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant RecipientTitle: Personality HireWriter: Nikki PalumboLogline: An unlikely working relationship develops between an overzealous tech billionaire and a reluctant writer who realizes the only way to make artificial intelligence any better is to fix the broken real world it’s trained on.
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