The Canary Islands Government launches the fifth edition of IsLABentura Canarias, the **screenwriting laboratory for film and television** that has generated more than fifty stories linked to the islands, twenty of which are on their way to becoming films or series someday, as they are working with different production companies in the country
This year, there are 16 spots offered to screenwriters from anywhere in the world, as long as they present a story idea in Spanish with the Canary Islands as the reference for their story.
Those selected will have six months to shape it into a screenplay, a task for which they will have the advice of some of the best professionals in the country. And, as always, the edition will conclude with a meeting with prestigious production companies that may be interested in bringing them to the screen.
Organized by the Directorate General of Cultural Innovation and Creative Industries of the Government, through Canary Islands Film and with the collaboration of the seven island councils and Proexca, the submission period will be open until February 22
Stories on Their Way to the Screen
Last year, Elástica Films, the production company behind the award-winning film ‘Romería’, signed a contract for one of the scripts from the lab, even before the editing was finished (‘Goda’, by Katia Klein, set in Lanzarote). Also during that session, another major national studio acquired the rights to an animated script, and there are also advanced contacts for others.
Several from previous years already have most of the funding to enter the production phase in the short term: this is the case of ‘Especies distintas’, by Laura Pérez, focused on La Gomera; or ‘Fiesta Negra’, by Guillermo Magariños, in Lanzarote.
Both feature films have received production grants from the Government of the Canary Islands (2025 call). Three others have received development grants: ‘Tierra’, by Arima León; ‘La Cathédrale’, by Eduardo Cubillo; and ‘Un supermercado en Tigaday’, by Javier Morala.
Team, deadlines, and training
The team of professionals is made up of: Sara Bamba, producer, director, and screenwriter; Yolanda Barrasa, script doctor and script coach, an international specialist in script analysis, consulting, writing, and teaching; and Borja Santaolalla, film and television director and screenwriter; all three debuting this year in the laboratory; and six others who are repeating the experience: Curro Royo; Gianmarco Serra and Isabel Herguera, Pablo Bartolomé, Arantxa Cuesta, and Alba Lucío.
Any screenwriter in the world who wishes to develop a fiction or animation screenplay based on the Islands (in Spanish) within a **six-month period** may apply for the call. The submission of proposals will be open **until February 22** and, thereafter, the mentoring team will have one month to work on participant selection
Of the 16 available spots, **8 are reserved for screenwriters residing in the Canary Islands**; also applying criteria of equality and balance of stories per island. After the selection, there will be three in-person meetings in the Canary Islands, which will take place in Tenerife (April); La Gomera (July); and Gran Canaria (October), the latter to present their scripts to prominent producers, as well as to receive awards that will be announced at the closing galaIn the training area, this edition's idea is to accompany screenwriters in their writing process, so they feel supported, proposing collaborative work with different disciplines. The **workshops** will be oriented towards group support in the creation process (led by María Elizaga); group script analysis (Elina Fessa); pitch and marketing (Cristina Merino); creative process (Enrique Buleo); editing and script (Emma Tussel); art and script (César Macarrón); character creation (Diana Rojo); character psychoanalysis (María Elizaga); directing actors and actresses (Natalia Mateo); and music in the script (Arturo Olea).On the other hand, a symbolic action will be repeated to offset the carbon footprint, which will allow for **the planting of 16 trees or endemic species**, with the collaboration of the Foresta Foundation, and will take place this time in Gran Canaria
