The Sundance Institute has announced the 2026 cohort for its Episodic Lab, a program designed to nurture bold, emerging writers in the television industry. From May 15 to 20, ten fellows will gather at Dunaway Gardens in Newnan, Georgia, to refine their original series projects under the guidance of established showrunners and industry mentors. This year’s fellows bring a diverse range of stories exploring love, climate justice, family, and the limits of human ambition.
The 2026 Episodic Lab marks a pivotal moment for the Institute, which has long championed independent storytelling and supported the careers of artists like Paul Thomas Anderson, Barry Jenkins, and Nia DaCosta. The fellows—Carmiel Banasky, Jeremy Dauber and Olivia Krebs, Celine Foster, DeZell Lathon and Simone Williams, Michael Mount, Larry V. Santana, Liba Vaynberg, and Natacha Yazbeck—represent a cross-section of voices and perspectives, each with a unique project poised to challenge and expand the boundaries of television storytelling.
Among the projects is Wonderboom, by Carmiel Banasky, a climate-focused sci-fi series about a butterfly-human scientist and her mentor racing to save civilization by implanting an AI into Earth’s consciousness. Jeremy Dauber and Olivia Krebs’s Cupidity imagines a secret agency engineering relationships among the powerful, while Celine Foster’s Male Loneliness Epidemic blends comedy and social critique. DeZell Lathon and Simone Williams’s The Runaways reimagines the journey of enslaved friends seeking freedom, and Larry V. Santana’s On Death’s Precipice explores a husband’s desperate pact with death to save his wife.
This year’s lab also introduces a new home for the program, Dunaway Gardens, a venue that aligns with Sundance’s mission of supporting groundbreaking artists. The fellows will benefit from a yearlong continuum of support, including workshops, career strategy meetings, and exposure to industry professionals. The program is made possible by Founding Supporters Lyn and Norman Lear, Cindy Harrell Horn and Alan Horn, and Leadership Supporters including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Netflix, and Sundance Now.
Themes and Voices of the 2026 Cohort
The projects selected for the 2026 Episodic Lab reflect a deep engagement with the world’s most pressing questions. Carmiel Banasky’s Wonderboom grapples with climate justice and the ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence, while Jeremy Dauber and Olivia Krebs’s Cupidity dissects power structures through the lens of modern mythmaking. Celine Foster’s Male Loneliness Epidemic uses humor and satire to explore gender dynamics and societal expectations, and DeZell Lathon and Simone Williams’s The Runaways blends historical fiction with absurdist storytelling to address themes of resistance and liberation.
Liba Vaynberg’s Loupe delves into the tension between tradition and deception within a Hasidic community, while Natacha Yazbeck’s borderline_ weaves together themes of trauma, legacy, and the unexpected consequences of war. Michael Mount’s The Circuit examines the unraveling of family secrets during a weeklong Ivy League campus tour, and Larry V. Santana’s On Death’s Precipice grounds the supernatural in the everyday, drawing from real-world terrors.
Support and Mentorship
The fellows will receive mentorship from a roster of creative advisors and industry mentors, including Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights), Nick Jones Jr. (Tulsa King), and Liz Flahive (GLOW). Industry mentors such as Dante Di Loreto (Fremantle), Andrew McQuinn (Netflix), and Ashley Strumwasser (Hello Sunshine) will provide guidance on navigating the current television landscape. The program also includes pre-lab workshops led by figures like Daniel Chun (The Office), Adamma & Adanne Ebo (Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.), and Erika Kennair (Mediapro).
Jandiz Estrada Cardoso, Director of the Episodic Program, noted that this year’s cohort reflects a desire to explore stories of adventure, resistance, and emotional risk. “Every day feels like so much is on the line yet out of our control; and these projects are the cheat codes to risking it all,” she said.
Alumni Success and Future Prospects
The Sundance Episodic Lab has a proven track record of launching successful careers and projects. Alumni include Katori Hall (P-Valley), Barry Jenkins (The Underground Railroad), and April Shih (Fargo), among others. Past fellows have gone on to write for shows on HBO, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and more, with projects ranging from drama to comedy and everything in between.
This year’s fellows will continue to benefit from the Institute’s yearlong continuum of support, including ongoing project and career strategy meetings, in-person gatherings in Los Angeles, and access to the Sundance Institute ELEVATE program and Sundance Collab platform. The goal is to provide a robust framework for these artists to develop their craft and bring their visionary projects to life.
The next step for the fellows will be the in-person lab at Dunaway Gardens, where they will workshop their pilots and series pitches, participate in writers rooms, and engage in one-on-one meetings with advisors. The Institute will continue to provide support and opportunities for these artists throughout the year, with updates and gatherings scheduled in Los Angeles and beyond.
For more information about the Sundance Institute Episodic Lab and its fellows, visit the official Sundance Institute website. To support the Institute’s mission of uplifting bold artists and powerful storytelling, consider making a donation at sundance.org/donate.
What stories do you think will resonate most in today’s television landscape? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
