Netflix has announced the commencement of a three-month training programme in story writing and post-production for film and television professionals in Africa.
Netflix said the training was sub-divided into a three-month training program with 12 African participants and an APost Lab post-production workshop for film and TV professionals.
It added that the three-month training programme would run in partnership with Realness Institute and would be focused on Nigeria, South-Africa and Kenya.
According to the streaming giant, the selection process for the 12 participants commenced in 2020 as over 500 applications were received from candidates across sub-Saharan Africa.
It said the 12 creatives were chosen from Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe to participate in the inaugural training, which would run until September 2021.
“There’s an African humanist philosophy called ‘Ubuntu’, which broadly means, ‘I am, because you are’. This idea that ‘we are, because of others’ aptly captures the essence of Netflix’s approach to its partnership with Africa’s creative industries because, without the existence of our storytellers, our favourite Netflix stories wouldn’t be possible.
“Africa has an amazing pool of talent — both in front and behind the camera — and we are committed to investing in African stories and talent long-term. We also recognise that being part of the creative communities comes with responsibilities, in particular, the need to develop the talent pipeline and give new voices a chance to be heard.”