-- PARK CITY, UTAH - The Sundance Institute announced today the 9 Fellows and 8 projects selected for their 2021-2022 Episodic Program. This year marks the Episodic Lab's return to in-person activities at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah bookended by a digital pre-lab story development curriculum and its first annual Episodic Pitch Parlor hosted in Los Angeles in partnership with XRM Media.
The selected Fellows are Aisha Bhoori (Pipe Dreams), Bridget McManus (The Family Pet), Corey Dashaun (Bottom Bitch), Elizabeth Palmore (Gives Good Death), Jeanette Lim and Marva Whitaker (Before the Apple), Jianna Maarten Saada (El Otro Lado), Mars Wolfe (The 1 & Only MJ Girls), and Meghan Ross (Here to Make Friends). Four of the eight projects are live-action dramas, three are live-action comedies, and one is an adult animation.
The Program is an entry point and sustaining force for early-career writers with original series IP who have yet to be produced, several without literary representation or preexisting industry access. The Episodic Lab is a keystone immersive six-day experience that gives writers an opportunity to workshop their pilot and expand their writing skills. Under the guidance of accomplished showrunners, producers, and executives, the Fellows participate in one-on-one story meetings, case study screenings, panels, and simulated writers rooms, which provide creative and strategic tools to shape their pilots.
Creative Advisors this year have included April Shih, Brandon Sonnier, Charles Eglee, Colleen Werthmann, Danny Chun, Dara Resnik, Elgin James, Erica Rivinoja, Jenny Bicks, Kevin Etten, Roch e Jeffrey, Vera Santamaria, Sanjay Shah, and Steven Canals.
Industry Mentors who participated at the Lab include Candace Rodney (Dreamville), Carolina Garcia (Netflix), Carrie Gillogly (AMC), Dante Di Loreto (FreeMantle), Kathryn Tyus-Adair (STARZ), Nancy Cotton (Epix), Neil Thomas (MRC), Sarah Timberman (Timberman Beverly), and Sue Turley (XRM).
Post Lab support focuses on navigating the business, including securing representation, staffing, and pitching skills. On May 4, Sundance will host its inaugural industry-facing Episodic Pitch Parlor presented by XRM Media. This is an invitation-only live event designed to be both launchpad and celebration to introduce the writers and their Lab projects.
The Sundance Institute Episodic Program is made possible by Founding Supporters Lyn and Norman Lear and Cindy Harrell Horn and Alan Horn. Leadership Supporters are AMC+, Epix, Netflix, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, MRC Television, STARZ, and XRM Media.
After completion of the Lab, the Episodic Advancement Fund provides additional monetary support to Fellows with grants for research, pitch decks, proof of concept videos, further development of the pilot post-Lab, and travel costs associated with scheduled meetings and opportunities.
On February 23-24, the Episodic Program will be launching a two day Intensive Workshop with the goal of increasing pathways of support for early career and emerging episodic storytellers. This Intensive is supporting 10 Fellows who are participating virtually from 6 states across the US (New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, Georgia, California, Oregon), and internationally from Bogota, Columbia, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. The selected Intensive Fellows are Kuamel Stewart, Kalen Feeney, Jennifer Dunn, Chad Charlie, Desdemona Chiang, Kimrie Lewis, George Perez, Trae Harris, Antonina Kerguelen and Giulia Jimenez. Creative guests and workshop leaders included Josh Feldman, Misha Green, Teresa Hsaio, Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier.
The Lab is overseen by Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs, Michelle Satter and Episodic Director Jandiz Estrada Cardoso.
This was a year of many firsts and I hope to continue reinventing new systems of support for bold creators who are going overlooked, said Episodic Program Director Jandiz Estrada Cardoso. Audiences and networks are insatiable, thirsting for untouched stories. So to any writer seeking to cut through and elevate their work, we have a mountain we can all scale together.
Episodic Lab Alumni include producers Katori Hall (PValley), Barry Jenkins (Underground Railroad), Rafael Agustin (Hipster Death Rattle), Desiree Akhavan (The Bisexual), and Heather Rae (Outer Range). Past Fellows have gone on to earn writing positions on shows including This is Us, Little America, Dave, Snowpiercer, You're the Worst, Better Call Saul, Silicon Valley, Fresh off the Boat, American Gods, and The Americans. Alumni have also set up or sold Lab projects at networks including HBO, Amazon, Hulu, FX, ABC, CW, AMC, TBS, and Netflix.
Application window is still open for the 2022-23 Program. Find information on sundance.org/episodic. Deadline to apply is MARCH 9, 2022.
More information on the projects and writers chosen for the 2021-2022 Episodic Lab & Pitch Parlor can be found below.
2021-2022 SUNDANCE EPISODIC LAB PROJECTS AND WRITING FELLOWS
Pipe Dreams
Pipe Dreams is a half-hour buddy comedy that follows two quarter-life Muslim-American women who live above a hookah bar in Brooklyn, navigating love, work, and their ever-elusive dreams one puff of shisha at a time.
Aisha Bhoori is a Pakistani-American writer whose credits include Staircase for HBO Max. She graduated from Harvard, where she was a three-time recipient of the Edward Eager Memorial Fund Prize for Best Creative Writing and the Harvard Monthly Prize for Greatest Literary Promise.
The Family Pet
In this hour-long family drama, a young woman hired by a wealthy psychiatrist to care for her precocious daughter, discovers the seven-year-old may be a serial killer in the making.
Bridget McManus is the creator and host of Brunch With Bridget (LogoTV), she is also recognized from her recurring roles on Transparent (Amazon) and The Queen Latifah Show (CBS). Sh
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
-- PARK CITY, UTAH - The Sundance Institute announced today the 9 Fellows and 8 projects selected for their 2021-2022 Episodic Program. This year marks the Episodic Lab's return to in-person activities at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah bookended by a digital pre-lab story development curriculum and its first annual Episodic Pitch Parlor hosted in Los Angeles in partnership with XRM Media.
