Developed through Dingo Drama’s Vertical Voices Initiative, we invited Turkish-Australian writer/director Cigdem Serce to participate in a series of specially facilitated writers’ rooms designed to support the development of original screen projects and strengthen episodic storytelling skills.

Working collaboratively with story mentors and under the guidance of Ruth Estelle from Word Ninjas, the development process focused on building the creative foundations for two original 30-minute series concepts, Virgin Ghost and Deadly Threads. This included the development of character arcs, world-building, narrative structure, themes, and key storylines, while further advancing Cigdem’s screenwriting craft through a structured writers’ room environment. A proof of concept for Virgin Ghost was also completed as part of the initiative.

The initiative also supported Indian writer/director Julie D’Lima, who came on board as co-writer of Mumbai Runaway, alongside story mentor Ruth Estelle and Dingo Drama founder Kasiani Koutris. Together, they developed Dingo Drama’s first original micro-drama romance, Mumbai Runaway, set against the backdrop of the wild Australian outback. The team is now seeking development funding with the view of moving into production in the near future.

Dingo Drama is also collaborating with Nollywood series writer R.M Opara through the Vertical Voices Initiative to support the creative development and up-skilling of emerging vertical series writers and producers in Nigeria.