Indigenous Series Lab
StoryBoard is pleased to announce the launch of a new collaborative Screenwriting Series Lab!
The Indigenous Series Lab is a program jointly developed and delivered by imagineNATIVE and StoryBoard Collective, with valued involvement from the Indigenous Screen Office and support from the Canada Media Fund and the Schmidt Family Foundation.
PROGRAM
The Indigenous Series Lab is a 6-month, multi-phase development and professional training program designed to support Indigenous writers in creating compelling scripted series for television and digital platforms. Structured around a series of residencies, online mentorship periods, festival engagements, and industry showcases, the Lab aims to provide participants with the creative tools, time to write, and market exposure needed to advance their projects toward commissioning, production, and international circulation.
The Lab will take place both online and in-person in Toronto, Canada and during a seven-week writing retreat in Geneva, Switzerland, and additional travel to Berlin in February 2027 for the Berlinale Series Market. All travel and accommodations will be covered.
FELLOWS 2026
Ajuawak Kapashesit is an Ojibwe, Cree, and Jewish actor, writer, and director. His credits include Indian Horse (2017), Bad Blood (CityTV/Netflix), Outlander (Starz/Sony), the short film Happy Thanksgiving (2023), and Anangong Miigaadiing, the Ojibwe language dub of Star Wars: A New Hope (2024). He was a story editor and contributing writer for the second and thirdseasons of the sketch comedy show, Tallboyz, on CBC. As a filmmaker, his films have been supported by Firelight Media, CAAM, PBS, and the Sundance Institute. He is an alumnus of the CBC Actors Conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre, a Vision Maker Media Shorts Fellow, a 4th World Indigenous Media Fellow, and a Mama Papaya FilmSparks Fellow.
Project: Sky World
Logline: An Indigenous family tries to drop their baggage and take a great leap forward when they start a space program on the reservation.
Erin Lau is a Native Hawaiian filmmaker Erin Lau explores empathy, redemption, and legacy through her work. She has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Film Independent, Tribeca Studios, and Ryan Murphy’s HALF Initiative. Her work spans documentary, narrative, and episodic storytelling and has been featured on the Criterion Channel, Netflix, and PBS. Erin also directed for FOX’s RESCUE: HI-SURF and contributed to multiple award-winning documentaries as a producer.
Project: Hapa Haole
Logline: After her mother’s death uproots her from the mainland to Hawaiʻi, sixteen-year-old Maile is thrust into the brutal, beautiful world of competitive hula, where tradition, sisterhood, and identity collide.
Kristi Lane Sinclair is a Haida/Cree filmmaker specializing in documentary film and children’s language programming. Her work is rooted in cultural storytelling, with a focus on revitalizing Xaad Kil (Haida) language through innovative and engaging media.
Project: Xuux Landing
Logline: Xuux Landing, puppet driven series telling the story of a Haida community that co-mingles among the “real world” and the supernatural Haida realm. Xuux is Haida, a loose translation to English means something different to everyone, but I would say “super deadly” asin AWESOME. And they are definitely that.
Stevie-Ray Strangling Wolf is a Blackfoot filmmaker from the Blood Tribe and one-half ofthe Strangling Wolf Brothers. With his brother, Shelby Strangling Wolf, they develop original filmand television projects that combine Indigenous storytelling with genre, humour, and socialcommentary.
Project: Untitled Vampire Hunter Lawyer Show
Logline: What if the fight for Indigenous land rights also meant hunting thevampires who started colonization?
MENTORS
Paula Devonshire has produced with acclaimed filmmakers such as Neil Jordan, Atom Egoyan, George Romero, and Alex Kurtzman. She was the first Canadian to participate in the Inside Pictures Producer Program in London, UK. Paula is member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation. Paula worked at eOne as a TV Executive, She has also produced on many series including “John Grisham’s The Firm”, “Vikings”, “People of Earth”, “Star Trek” and “Clarice” based on THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Paula’s films have screened at film festivals around the world including Venice, Sundance and TIFF. She produced on three films at TIFF 2025: BLOOD LINES by TIFF Top 10 winner Gail Maurice, STEAL AWAY by renowned director Clement Virgo and Eva Thomas’ NIKA & MADISON. Paula was presented with the CMPA Indie Screen Feature Producer of the year 2025. Paula Devonshire was on the Board of Directors for the imagineNATIVE Film Festival for ten years and continues to mentor and support emerging and established Indigenous talent across Canada as well as internationally with inter-Indigenous co-productions in development with New Zealand, Australia and Greenland.
Blackhorse Lowe is a filmmaker from the Navajo Nation whose non-traditional films focus on stories through a Native lens. He has written and directed multiple episodes for the Hulu/FX series Reservation Dogs and has directed episodes for Paramount (Joe Pickett), ABC (Big Sky), Starz (Blindspotting), and Prime Video (Outer Range). His 2019 feature Fukry won Best Film at the Terres en Vues/Land InSights Montreal First Peoples Festival in 2020. A repeat Sundance Institute alum, Lowe has participated in the NativeLab, Producers Lab, Screenwriters Lab, and was a 2012 Time Warner Native Producing Fellow. His feature directorial debut 5th World premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and screened internationally. He received the New Mexico New Visions Contract Award and Panavision Award for his short Shimásání, which premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and later screened at Sundance in 2010. He is currently developing a feature film script that appeared on the 2020 Blacklist and many other features. His 2023 short film Metal Belt screened at ImagineNative, Cine Las Americas, and Fantastic Fest.
FELLOWS 2026
Mona Ombogo is a globally recognized, award-winning Kenyan scriptwriter and best-selling author. Her exceptional talent has been honored with prestigious accolades, including the 2024 Women in Film Award for Best Script Writer and the Best Writing in a Series award at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) for the hit Netflix series 'Volume', which she head-wrote. Mona served as head writer for the popular M-Net series 'Salem' and 'Shanga', and as a writer for Showmax's'Single Kiasi'. She is also a development executive and trainer for Netflix and the Multichoice Talent Factory. As a director, her feature film 'Unseen, Unsung, Unforgotten' was nominated for eight Kalasha Awards, winning two.
Mona Ombogo is a globally recognized, award-winning Kenyan scriptwriter and best-selling author. Her exceptional talent has been honored with prestigious accolades, including the 2024 Women in Film Award for Best Script Writer and the Best Writing in a Series award at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) for the hit Netflix series 'Volume', which she head-wrote. Mona served as head writer for the popular M-Net series 'Salem' and 'Shanga', and as a writer for Showmax's'Single Kiasi'. She is also a development executive and trainer for Netflix and the Multichoice Talent Factory. As a director, her feature film 'Unseen, Unsung, Unforgotten' was nominated for eight Kalasha Awards, winning two.
Mona Ombogo is a globally recognized, award-winning Kenyan scriptwriter and best-selling author. Her exceptional talent has been honored with prestigious accolades, including the 2024 Women in Film Award for Best Script Writer and the Best Writing in a Series award at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) for the hit Netflix series 'Volume', which she head-wrote. Mona served as head writer for the popular M-Net series 'Salem' and 'Shanga', and as a writer for Showmax's'Single Kiasi'. She is also a development executive and trainer for Netflix and the Multichoice Talent Factory. As a director, her feature film 'Unseen, Unsung, Unforgotten' was nominated for eight Kalasha Awards, winning two.
Mona Ombogo is a globally recognized, award-winning Kenyan scriptwriter and best-selling author. Her exceptional talent has been honored with prestigious accolades, including the 2024 Women in Film Award for Best Script Writer and the Best Writing in a Series award at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCA) for the hit Netflix series 'Volume', which she head-wrote. Mona served as head writer for the popular M-Net series 'Salem' and 'Shanga', and as a writer for Showmax's'Single Kiasi'. She is also a development executive and trainer for Netflix and the Multichoice Talent Factory. As a director, her feature film 'Unseen, Unsung, Unforgotten' was nominated for eight Kalasha Awards, winning two.
ELIGIBILITY
Two Canadian-based and two US-based writers are selected. Artists must be Indigenous and 18+ to participate. Selected participants must have a valid passport.
The top 16 applicants undergo an interview process (due to capacity, we are unable to provide feedback at this time).
Applications are now closed!
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