Call for Proposals: Film Lab Africa 2

Our colleagues in British Council Nigeria are looking for UK/Nigerian organisations, working in partnership to deliver Film Lab Africa 2 – Story Lab Edition.

Story Lab builds on the success of a pilot Film Lab Africa programme taking place over the last two years, designed to support and develop storytellers across Nigeria’s film and TV landscape. Story Lab will be an ambitious writers' residency, alongside a programme of support for directors and producers. There will be a focus on TV pilot development, alongside continued professional training, mentorship, and ultimately production support.

Story Lab now needs a Nigerian-led consortium, working in partnership with a UK-based organisation, to co-deliver this ambitious phase of the Film Lab programme.

The Detail

British Council Nigeria is looking for a consortium who will be responsible for:

• designing and delivering both online and face to face training targeting two groups: writers and filmmakers;
• supporting a shortlist through production;
• guiding industry engagement, showcasing and distribution

Training

For writers, a cohort of 30 emerging writers will undertake a wide ranging programme, before shortlisting reduces the cohort to 15 who will be awarded grants to take their next steps.

An initial virtual programme will focus on storytelling for screen, episodic structure, and script development. A subsequent face to face residential story lab including workshops, one-on-one mentorship, peer feedback, and industry sessions with both UK and Nigerian experts, will refine the 15 scripts.

Alongside this, an online training and capacity-building programme for 60 Filmmakers (directors and producers) will focus on episodic content development, pitching, production planning, and market readiness. A shortlist of 30 will receive further support, before a final seven are selected to receive production support.

Production of Episodic Content

• Selected filmmakers will receive grants and mentorship to produce pilot episodes of their projects.
• The consortium will be responsible for ongoing production supervision, technical assistance, and post-production support.

Industry Engagement, Showcase and Distribution

The consortium will support distribution and market access strategies for grant winners, ultimately aiming for selected works to be showcased or considered for broadcast or distribution.

A programme of creative hustles and film club activities will feed in to business development opportunities designed to expand the scope of the programme in Nigeria.

You can find out more information on this ambitious and exiting programme by briefly registering on our application portal here:

britishcouncilssa.grantplatform.com

Deadline to apply is 7 August 2025