BIPOC TV & Film, in partnership with Bell Media, have launched the Unscripted Producers Lab to help emerging producers hit the ground running in unscripted production.

Sphere Media’s director of content Andrea Griffith (pictured) is the lead facilitator of the lab and will run a one-week intensive with Bell Media’s senior production executive Tina Apostolopoulos from Nov. 21 to 25.

The program was developed by BIPOC TV & Film in partnership with Bell Media. It is designed to help aspiring showrunners and producers working in unscripted, factual and reality series production to acquire the resources and mentorship needed to produce unscripted series.

The lab covers the end-to-end process of producing an unscripted series, exploring topics such as unscripted storytelling, management skills, casting, production and post-production workflows, financing and scheduling, and career development.

Participants will then be matched with a mentor following the one-week program for six months. The names of the mentors will be announced at a later date, according to a news release. The deadline to apply is Oct. 14.

Apostolopoulos said in a statement that Bell Media remains committed to developing diverse Canadian talent behind the scenes, adding that “we are hopeful that this initiative will be a game-changer for increasing access and professional opportunities for unscripted showrunners and producers.”

Kadon Douglas, executive director of BIPOC TV and Film, added that there is a “great need for BIPOC perspectives in unscripted, factual and reality content; from the stories we tell to the crews we hire—this is a space ripe for radical change and refreshing narratives.”

Image courtesy of BIPOC TV & Film