Ololade Okedare, Founder & Lead Consultant at Emerge Story Lab
Seeks to Empower Female Storytellers in Africa
Lagos, Nigeria, March
2023
– After a highly successful first edition, the leading Story Development
Company – Emerge Story Lab has returned for its annual story development
conference aimed at empowering female storytellers across Africa.
The Emerge Story Conference holds every
year in the month of March and it is specifically designed for emerging female
writers who want to master the art of storytelling with a focus on developing
authentic African stories. The conference is divided into two parts — free
Masterclass sessions hosted by guest mentors across the African film landscape,
and an online story development workshop, facilitated by Ololade Okedare.
In line with the theme for this year’s
International Women’s Day celebration #EmbraceEquity, the goal is to celebrate
the work of female creatives and elevate visibility for commercial projects and
commissions.
The three-week long program will have
sessions facilitated by top women across different functions within the
industry including Emmy nominated Producer & Writer Mehret Mandefro,
Co-founder Realness Institute, South-Africa; Mimi Bartels, General Manager,
FilmOne Studios; Tracey-Lee Rainers, Story Development Practitioner,
Co-founder, SA Writers Guild & Founder Story Oasis; Nicolette Ndigwe-Kalu,
Award-winning Producer, Writer & Director and Yolanda Mogatusi, Writer,
Director & Creative Director, 1000 Hugs Production.
Participants will be trained on a number of
topics like Pan-African Storytelling and Creative Collaborations, Storyselling:
The Secrets to Landing the Perfect Pitch, Women in TV/Film Production, and The
Making of Female Storytellers for the Global Scene among others.
Speaking about the upcoming
conference, Ololade Okedare, Founder & Lead Consultant at Emerge Story
Lab said,
“Africa
is at the tipping point of an unprecedented move that has seen more women
rising to the top of their game in different industries. The media and
entertainment industry is right at the forefront of this move, and it’s
thrilling to see emerging talents and voices from Africa rise to the call. This
is why at Emerge Story Lab, we are focused on identifying and training female
storytellers and empowering them to develop stories worth telling. Last year, we had veteran
filmmaker Femi Odugbemi and other guest mentors who collectively inspired the
group of participating storytellers and I am so excited for our line-up this
year. I cannot wait to meet the next crop of storytellers.”
Ololade Okedare is a seasoned
storyteller, the first Realness-Netflix trained Story Development Executive in
Africa and the convener of the Emerge Story Development Conference. She founded
Emerge Story Lab,
as a way to contribute to the advancement of the film industry in Nigeria,
championing inspiring, female-led stories and empowering female storytellers. Her goal for this
year’s Emerge Story Development Conference is to spotlight more female-centric stories that
showcase underrepresented and marginalised perspectives, tribes, heroines, and
experiences.
The conference will be held virtually via
Zoom and run for three (3) weeks from 8th March — 24th March 2023 on weekdays,
between 11AM — 2PM WAT. To register for
the free masterclasses, click HERE
Follow Emerge Story Lab (@emergestorylab) on all social media
platforms for more updates.
