A new initiative is opening doors for writers from underrepresented regions to bring their stories to the international stage. Palmtrees, a screenplay development incubator, has announced its inaugural cohort in partnership with film distributor NEON. The program targets writers from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and Oceania, offering them an opportunity to develop feature-length genre scripts with dedicated mentorship and support.

Applicants from eligible regions are invited to submit a treatment along with the first 15 pages of a screenplay. Those selected will work closely with story analysts in a one-on-one format and receive compensation throughout the program. The incubator will culminate in a three-week in-person residency designed to refine and strengthen the participants’ scripts.

The program is open to writers at all career stages. Palmtrees emphasizes that prior experience or credits in film do not influence selection. “There is no advantage to having prior credits and no disadvantage to not having them. Selection is based on the strength of the project and the clarity of the writer’s voice,” the organization noted. Applications open on March 31, 2026, and close on June 1, 2026, via palmtrees.dev.

Founded by Funa Maduka, who previously led international original films at Netflix, Palmtrees draws on her extensive experience curating and developing award-winning projects across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Her credits include acquisitions and productions of acclaimed films such as Happy as Lazzaro, Roma, Divines, I Lost My Body, and Atlantics. As a filmmaker, Maduka also directed and produced the first Nigerian film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

“Tom and his team have built something rare. NEON has done more to expand the definition of world cinema in the last five years than any company in the business. They take real creative bets and that instinct is the basis for our collaboration,” Maduka said of the partnership with NEON.

NEON’s founder and CEO, Tom Quinn, echoed the sentiment, highlighting the importance of supporting underrepresented voices in cinema. “Some of the most vital voices in cinema today are emerging from places that have been historically underrepresented on the global stage. NEON is thrilled to partner with Funa and her team at Palmtrees to help identify and support this next generation of filmmakers,” he said.

The incubator emerged from Maduka’s conviction that compelling stories are increasingly coming from regions without the infrastructure to fully develop them. “The most seasoned screenwriters still fight writer’s block at 3 a.m. It is not a process that necessarily gets easier, but one that can remain exceptionally hard if you have never had attention—sustained, serious, skilled attention. We built Palmtrees to provide it. There are extraordinary writers in these regions. What they lack is not talent,” she explained.

With this initiative, Palmtrees and NEON aim to nurture new cinematic voices and bring fresh perspectives to global audiences, reinforcing the belief that talent exists everywhere, even if opportunity does not.