Kenyan screenwriter Mona Ombogo will pitch her romantic thriller series project Kanaan at the Series Mania Forum 2026, running from 24-26 March.
Ombogo is among four African screenwriters who are showcasing their original television projects to international industry leaders at the Forum in Lille, France following six months of intensive development through the Realness Institute’s AuthenticA Series Lab.
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Ombogo is known for penning Tosh Gitonga’s music drama Volume, distributed by Netflix, for which she won Best Writing in a Series at the 2024 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. Her credits also include Kash Money (Netflix), the third season of Single Kiasi (Showmax), and Maisha Magic Plus telenovelas Shanga and Salem. Most recently, she served as the head writer for the Citizen TV football drama Kito, created by Gitonga. Her series Generation A (with Louise Kamwangi) was among 38 projects presented at the Red Sea Souk Project Market 2024 where it won a grant, and a five-week summer residency at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
The other three African screenwriters joining her as the Series Mania Forum include Reem Morsi (Egypt/Canada) who will pitch Humanitarians!, described as a dark comedy. Morsi’s feature Banned is currently on the festival circuit. She has also directed the film Queen Tut and episodes of the Canadian web series Virgins! Her series Fish won the Canadian National Genre Competition by WIFTV and is currently in development, along with two other scripted projects.
Gamel Apalayine (Ghana) will pitch his mystery drama The Gospel According to Charlotte Nelson. Apalayine has worked alongside Shirley Frimpong-Manso on Ghana’s hit series Dede and two seasons of ENO, the first Showmax Original in Ghana. He is developing a dynamic slate of film, TV, and theatre projects through his creative company, Whistling Rocks.
Joladé Olusanya (Nigeria/UK) will present the sports epic Kid: The Hogan Bassey Story. Olusanya has been commissioned by the BBC and Barbican, and exhibited his work internationally. Through his company, By The Kin, he is developing short films and an original TV series while building community-led projects.
“At Series Mania Forum, we’re excited to showcase these four extraordinary talents from Africa on a global stage, where their rich and diverse stories can captivate the international industry,” said Francesco Capurro, Series Mania Forum Director. “We’re proud to champion their voices and look forward to the impact they will make worldwide”
The AuthenticA Series Lab is an episodic screenwriting programme run in partnership with The StoryBoard Collective, and with support from the Canada Media Fund and industry partners Series Mania Forum, the major international gathering for the development, financing and distribution of scripted television series.
Now in its fourth edition, the AuthenticA Series Lab supports African writers in developing globally competitive television projects, providing mentorship and industry access while preparing them to pitch to international partners, financiers and producers at Series Mania Forum.
“Providing African writers a safe space to develop the stories they want to tell with the resources they need to tell them, is still a rare intervention. These four writers are proof of what becomes possible when that space actually exists,” said Mehret Mandefro, Creative Producer and Managing Director at Realness Institute.
“Each year the AuthenticA writers are encouraged to tell the stories they have kept quietly hidden — the audacious, difficult, complex ones. With the support the lab provides, the writers consistently push the boundaries,” added Selina Ukwuoma, Script Consultant and Director of Writing Programmes at Realness Institute. “They find a way to tell these groundbreaking stories and in so doing they redefine the narrative about Africa.”
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