Accelerator Program for German-Speaking Screenwriters From Impact and Netflix enters Next Phase →

• Together with the US creative network Impact, Netflix has identified five talents and storytellers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland from over 750 applicants.

• Now, an eight-week development phase with the support of renowned showrunners and screenwriters from the USA starts for two submitted films and three series.

• The partnership with Impact enables Netflix to discover authentic, previously unheard talents in the German-speaking region and to promote them.

Berlin, May 3, 2022 -- Following the successful collaboration between Netflix and the entertainment tech startup Impact to foster the talent of creative writers in Los Angeles, the two companies last winter called for applications for the joint accelerator program for promising screenwriters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

From over 750 applications from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, five writers with outstanding film or series ideas have now been selected in an open application process and accepted into Impact's mentoring program, including Alexander Seibt from Switzerland, Christian Kaps, Felix van Kann and Kai Gero Lenke from Germany, and Lisa Maria Kerschbaumer from Austria. They will be paired with mentors, including renowned and well-known showrunners as well as screenwriters such as Doug Ellin, showrunner of the HBO series Entourage, or Stuart Beattie, screenwriter Pirates of the Caribbean, from the USA, and will work on developing the scripts of their submitted film and series projects. The goal is to specifically promote the talents and give them access to a global stage. A writer's contract with Netflix has been signed with all five participants, whereby they will receive a writing fee for the screenplay they develop in the workshop.

In addition to the personal mentoring program, Impact will bring the talents together with other top-class film and TV managers, showrunners and screenwriters in weekly seminars and dialogue formats to gain an intensive insight into the fields of film and TV development and production. The program runs from May 2 to June 24, and in late summer it will be decided which projects will be developed further. Projects in detail:

Feature film

• The Cold Goodbye by Lisa Maria Kerschbaumer (Austria) with mentor Jason Smilovic, screenwriter of Lucky Number Slevin

• Welcome by Christian Kaps (Germany) with mentor Doug Ellin, showrunner of the HBO series Entourage

Series

• Fanatics by Felix van Kann (Germany) with mentor Jason Smilovic, screenwriter of Lucky Number Slevin

• Partisans by Alex Seibt (Switzerland) and mentor Stuart Beattie, screenwriter of Pirates of the Caribbean

• They Just Don't Like You Anymore by Kai Gero Lenke (Germany) and mentors Stacy Traub, screenwriter and producer Blackish and Glee, and Hunter Covington, screenwriter and producer It's always sunny in Philadelphia

Sasha Bühler, Director, EMEA Film, and Lisa Kreimeyer, Manager, Local Language Series DACH, Netflix: "We are thrilled about the many high-quality submissions, which did not make the selection of the five people for our mentoring program easy. It's great that we have found creatives from Germany, Austria and also Switzerland who want to go this way with Impact, the mentors and us, and of course we are very excited about the results and the development of the individual scripts. The specific promotion of screenwriters is essential for us in order to secure the future of high-quality entertainment."

Tyler Mitchell, CEO von Impact: "We couldn't be more excited to be working with our partners at Netflix DACH to bring Impact's innovative system of discovering talent and developing original IP to the German language market. Through our democratized process, we have found a group of five incredibly talented writers who deserve to have their voices heard and stories told. We cannot wait to begin the 8-week development journey, and work alongside our world-class team of mentors to take these creators' material and craft to new heights."

Promoting talent for a new generation of creatives

The partnership with Impact is another step for Netflix to discover authentic, previously unheard talent in the German-speaking world and to promote it. It is part of the global Grow Creative initiative, with which Netflix, under the leadership of Benjamin Harris in the German-speaking countries, is working to break down barriers to entry and create conditions and structures in the film industry in which creative talents from underrepresented groups in society can also realize themselves more easily in artistic professions. The joint accelerator program fits seamlessly into the measures already taken to promote talent. In doing so, Netflix is collaborating on projects such as the European Showrunner Program at ifs, the International Film School Cologne, the Girls Make Movies! Summer Program at Babelsberg Film University or the Virtual Production Lab at EPI / Babelsberg Film University. Netflix is also part of the Media Collective Berlin-Brandenburg.

About Impact

Founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and led by CEO Tyler Mitchell, Impact was created to solve problems in the entertainment industry. Through its accelerator programs, Impact discovers, cultivates and nurtures creative storytellers around the world through its innovative talent identification and mentorship system, which enables promising writers to break into the industry in a matter of months. Impact's talent identification system is able to quickly evaluate thousands of submissions while ensuring that all creatives receive equal access, opportunity and transparency.

Since its inception in 2018, Impact has built a network of more than 75,000 creators in over 140 countries, and developed 85 original projects, 43 of which have been acquired by leading entertainment companies, including Netflix, Sony, FX, Warner Bros., AMC, Amblin, Chernin, eOne, Village Roadshow, Legendary, Scott Free, Midnight Radio, Imagine, and many more. Last year, 33 Impact alumni either sold a new project or were hired as staff for shows at Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Disney+, HBO Max, CW, FX, Nickelodeon, Hulu and BET. Impact alums have had eight feature films greenlit and a series premiere this year on AMC. Impact was named 2021's #2 most innovative company in entertainment by Fast Company. The Impact x Netflix EMEA deal builds on previous work with Netflix's U.S. Studio Film division.

For more information, visit impact.net, via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

About Netflix

Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 222 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries, feature films and mobile games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

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