AMILAB hosts its Inaugural Workshop
On September 8- 11, 2026, The University of Nairobi’s African Media Innovation Lab (AMILAB) trained over 40 kenyan creators through a workshop on, ‘Script writing, Film Budgeting and Financing’.
The four-day Workshop that was delivered in collaboration with Kenya Scriptwriters Guild, Talon Pictures and the University saw reimagining and seeking viability and sustainability from the conceptualization of a creative idea, writing the script, while considering the features of the target audience, budget of the film, the laws of the land and distribution.
Topics such as reimagining myth and folklore in writing, African audiences wants and needs, finances and story concept, the funds and concept originality, the collaborative compromise, characters and budgets, contested film themes and the law, creativity, techniques and the law.
Speaking during the Opening Ceremony, the Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Prof. Jack Odhiambo congratulated the team for bringing together innovators from the creative industry, Industry players and the academia together to link and bridge the gap between theory and practice. Prof. Jack invited more industry players to partner with the University to catalyse the growth of the Kenyan creative industry and emphasized on the choice to tell the authentic African stories.
Mr. John Orindi, Director Corporate Affairs elaborated on the establishment and mandate of the African Media Innovation Lab, invited the Innovators to write and create scripts and present to the Innovation hub for mentorship and guidance for scaling and growth. He appreciated the Industry partners that partnered with the Innovation Hub to realize the workshop that built their capacity and empowered them to tell African stories.
Dr. Fredrick Ogutu Oiye, Workshop convener and a Lecturer at the Department of Journalism, noted that, ‘its high time that Kenya repositions and reimagines its concept and identity regionally and internationally.’ He urged the creators to pick the lessons and insights shared and reflect back so that the lessons can be impactful.
‘AMILAB represents a fresh start for the Industry-academia collaboration,’ underscored Dr. Oiye.
Africa Media Innovation Lab (AMILAB) is an innovation hub based at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. It is a hub for creatives, film makers, writers, fintechs and digital app innovations. Its main goal is to foster and catalyse creators to contextualize and tell authentic African stories.
