Call for Applications – Boulevard des Séries: The Factory – Los Angeles 2025

The Factory serves as a place for experienced French and Québécois writers to develop series with high international potential, while learning and sharpening their skills and know-how.

The Factory will take place from October 6 to 24, 2025  (dates are subject to change) in Los Angeles and will welcome six French writers and one Québécois writer. They will be accompanied by screenwriting specialists in English and individually, with whom they will develop their project, particularly the pilot script and artistic direction. 

This three-week immersion will also allow participants to share their stories with experienced writers and showrunners, and, through their discussions with professionals, get insider access to the landscape and practices of Hollywood. The cultural exchanges will be enhanced by organized group visits to studios and writers’ rooms, as well as opportunities for networking.

Program Objectives

• To offer participating writers the necessary tools resulting in a pilot script that meets the demands of the international market and incorporates a strong artistic direction, through individualized guidance from screenwriting specialists and grouped discussions and workshops with showrunners, producers, and experienced professionals. 
•  To facilitate the transfer of American skills and know-how in terms of series writing and show creation (including artistic direction), within diverse genres (fantasy, comedy, horror, teen drama, etc.), formats, and audiences, through discussions. 
• To encourage opportunities for international collaboration between French, Québécois, and American writers.
  
  

Working Language

The working language during the entirety of the residency is English. This means that all materials, written and spoken, at all points during the process, must be in English.

The final script could be multilingual, in French, English, or any other European language.

Support

 Villa Albertine, the SACD, the CNC, and the SODEC will cover, per author and per project:

• A mobility grant including travel fees, lodging, and per diem. 
• A lineup of group meetings and individual sessions led by local partners.
• The organization of networking opportunities.
• The communication surrounding residents and their projects.

Schedule – Dates are subject to change

March 24: Application deadline
March 25 – May 2: Application selection
Early May: Announcement of laureates
Early September: Onnline writing workshops with script doctors (two to four workshops of 1.5 hours per project)
October 6 – 24: Writers residency in Los Angeles

Application:

Complete applications are to be submitted before March 24, 2025, at 11:59pm (French time) on this platform: https://villaalbertinecallforapplication.wiin.io/fr/applications/appel-…

Project eligibility criteria (these criteria are cumulative):

• Project in English with strong potential for the international market. 
• Application materials provided, drafted in a bilingual version (French-English): Application form duly completed online; pre-bible* (three pages); note on the series’ artistic direction; the complete pilot script for dramatic series or one example of an episode for episodic series; a short video presentation of the applicant’s career and project in three minutes maximum (no editing is expected, but a simple video shot on camera; the candidate must not be reading a prepared text. The video must be uploaded on a platform such as Youtube, Vimeo or Dropbox and must be accessible only to those who have the viewing link) . 
• Original creation (adaptations are not considered).
• Must be fictional (live action or animation).
• Must include at least six episodes, with no maximum number of episodes.
• The length of the episodes must be at least 20 minutes.
• The presented project can already have been optioned by French producers, without any obligation. For the Québec authors, the project must be optioned by Québec producers.
• The project can be written by more than one writer: collaboration work but in this case, only one of the writers can take part in the residency, depending on the agreement between authors.
• The project could have already received a writing or development grant, notably aid provided by the SACD, the Association Beaumarchais, the CNC, the support of a regional collective (municipality, region), the SODEC, or the Fonds des medias du Canada;
• The project cannot have already been proposed during a previous call for application for the Boulevard des Séries: The Factory program. 

Writer eligibility criteria (these criteria are cumulative):

The application is presented by the writer. The writer must:

• Be a scriptwriter and/or director, French-speaking from France or Québec, and a member of the SACD or of the SARTEC for at least three episodes of a same season of a series broadcast on a TV channel or an on-demand audiovisual service in France or Québec between 2019 and 2024.
• Be the writer/creator of at least one series whose episodes are equal to or longer than 30 minutes, and broadcast on a TV channel or on an on-demand audiovisual media service in France or in Québec between 2019 and 2024.
  
  

  OR have participated in the Boulevard des Séries e-learning program – applies to French & Québec candidates –

  OR have previously obtained an audiovisual grant from the CNC (for support of the concept, writing, re-writing, or co-writing of fiction, animation, or documentary international co-productions), from a region or municipality (fiction, animation) – this only applies to French candidates –

• Be able to speak English fluently and send a short (maximum 3-minute) video in English, presenting the author’s career and project (no editing is expected, but a simple video shot on camera; the candidate must not read from a prepared text);
• Be available during the entire duration of the residency from October 6 to 24 – dates are subject to change.

Selection Process

Villa Albertine will announce the results of the official selection by email to candidates in May 2025. 

In the case of selection, a detailed agreement will be signed between the selected series writer and Villa Albertine.

Selection Committee

The applications will be examined by a selection committee composed of:

• At least three members from the Writers Guild Foundation and Villa Albertine
• At least two members proposed by the SACD
• At least two members proposed by the CNC
• At least one member proposed by the SODEC

Selection Criteria

The selection committee will take into consideration the following criteria:

• The artistic value of the project.
• The writer’s experience.
• The originality of the concept in comparison to other series already on the market. 
• The international potential of the project. 

The selection committee will aim to accept a diverse set of subjects among the seven projects selected and the writers who present them.

Intellectual Property

The candidates, or their producers, must possess all the rights of the proposed project.

Communication and Confidentiality

All documents and information provided in the application are strictly confidential and will not be published under any circumstances.

Only a single one-page summary of the seven selected projects will be printed in a booklet which will be distributed during the residency to potential partners such as producers, platforms, or broadcasters. A list of the seven selected projects, which will include the title of the project and the writer’s name, could be used for communication purposes and published in the press.

Contacts

For any questions, please contact:

Villa Albertine – Olivier Tournaud, Film and TV Attachée and Director of Villa Albertine in Los Angeles olivier.tournaud@villa-albertine.org

SACD – Valérie-Anne Expert, Deputy Director of Cultural Action valerie-Anne.expert@sacd.fr

CNC – Anouk Deiller, Head of department, Fiction/Animation Innovation Funds Anouk.Deiller@cnc.fr

SODEC – Brigitte Dupré, International Affairs Delegate brigitte.dupre@sodec.gouv.qc.ca

SODEC – Véronique Le Sayec, International Affairs Delegate veronique.lesayec@sodec.gouv.qc.ca

Partners

This program is made possible thanks to Villa Albertine, the SACD, the CNC, the Writers Guild Foundation, and the SODEC.

*A pre-Bible is a five-page presentation document of the project’s fundamental elements 

 The document must include: 

• The title, genre, and format of the series
• The series’ concept (subject, topic, type of plot) 
• Main characters presentation 
• Presentation of the series’ world 
• An overview of narrative arcs, particularly the series’ end point for serialized series.