#vertical #social #story-telling
A creative space to develop bold ideas, experiment with new short-form languages and bring stories to life — in the setting of Mediterranean culture, light, and landscape.
Dalyan Shorts Lab is a creative development space for bold, original short-form projects that challenge conventional storytelling. We welcome short films, vertical videos, social media series, micro-narratives and other compact audiovisual ideas at any stage of development. Over the course of the Lab, four selected participants will work closely with a dedicated tutor and a group of visiting industry mentors, developing their projects through workshops, one-to-one sessions and collaborative exercises.
We encourage participants not only to develop their own work, but also to exchange ideas, experiment together and become part of each other’s creative processes. Depending on the needs of each project, the Lab will also explore production opportunities and practical support — including access to locations, equipment, crew, local resources and potential production partners — helping ideas move beyond development and towards the screen.
SNAPS is this year’s Shorts Lab theme, focusing on the rapidly evolving language of vertical and social media storytelling. We are looking for creators who think beyond the traditional short film: projects built around strong concepts, story universes, memorable characters and compelling situations that can unfold through short, episodic or vertical formats. Snaps is open to fiction, comedy, drama, experimental work and hybrid forms — from a single sharp idea to a larger world that could grow into a social media series.
We are particularly interested in projects that understand the possibilities of the format and use its limitations as a creative tool. Through the Lab, participants will develop their ideas collectively, test formats, characters and narrative structures, and explore how these projects can be produced and sustained in the real world.
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Four participants are selected for each programme through an open call. Eligibility, application requirements and selection criteria are announced with each call.
Selected participants spend 4 weeks in Dalyan. Shared living, communal meals, and evening screenings create a rare environment of sustained focus, exchange and creative connection.
Each participant works closely with a dedicated tutor and visiting mentors, while regular group discussions encourage participants to share, question and develop each other’s projects.
The Lab concludes with a presentation of the projects and their development during the programme. Where possible, we bring in professionals from the industry for a final pitch, creating an opportunity for feedback, connections and potential next steps.
Participants arrive in Dalyan, settle into their rooms and meet their fellow creators, the tutor and the Lab team. The first week is about getting to know the projects, identifying their core ideas and exploring what makes each story work in a short-form environment.
Through one-to-one sessions, group discussions and creative exercises, participants begin to challenge and reshape their ideas. Visiting mentors bring new perspectives, helping each creator explore format, characters, situations, visual language and the possibilities of short-form storytelling.
The focus shifts from developing the idea to testing how it can live on screen. Participants experiment with scenes, formats, characters and production approaches, while working with their peers, tutors and mentors to develop material that can move towards production.
The final week is dedicated to consolidating the work and preparing each project for its next stage. Participants refine their projects, production plans or prototypes and present their work, concluding the Lab with a pitch and exchange with invited industry guests where possible.
The Script Lab welcomes filmmakers from all backgrounds. We look for strong storytelling instincts, a distinctive personal vision, and projects that are genuinely alive — not finished but moving.
Apply NowOpen to creators of all nationalities working with short-form storytelling, including short films, vertical formats, social media series, micro-narratives and experimental audiovisual projects.
Project concept, treatment or draft, visual references where relevant, creator’s note, short biography, previous work or portfolio, and a letter of motivation.
Selected participants are expected to be present in Dalyan throughout the 4-week Lab and actively engage in individual sessions, group discussions, workshops and the final presentation.
A substantially developed short-form project, with its narrative, format and production approach clearly developed, already in production or ready for the next stage of production.
Selection results will be announced within one month following the application deadline.
Dalyan stands between two worlds — ancient and alive. A small town on the river, between the mountains and the sea — a place where time moves at its own pace, ancient history blends into the everyday landscape, and the natural world is a constant, quiet presence.
This is a place where time slows down and attention deepens. The Mediterranean light, the water moving through the reeds, the sound of the wind, the proximity of history — together, they create space to step away from the rhythm of everyday life and approach whatever you are working on with a different kind of attention. A story, an image, an idea, or something that has yet to become anything at all. This is why we chose Dalyan as a space for creative development.