The highly successful Creative Producer Indaba (CPI) is now accepting applications for its 5th edition, a professional development program for film producers. The initiative, which begins in November 2025, is seeking to select 15 producers to sharpen their leadership, entrepreneurial, and creative skills.
Created by the Cape Town-based Realness Institute, the CPI is a collaboration with multiple international partners, including EAVE, Projeto Paradiso (Brazil), Canada Media Fund, Telefilm, FOCAL (Switzerland), the Austrian Film Institute, and French organizations CNC and Institut français.
The program is structured around three workshops that will focus on key areas such as:
- Project development and planning
- Financing and legal frameworks
- Marketing and publicity
- Leadership and network management
Participants will benefit from a blend of group seminars, collaborative workshops, and one-on-one sessions with mentors and guest experts. The program is designed to provide producers with practical, tangible takeaways to apply to their projects.
In a first for the CPI, all three workshops will be held in the African and Indian Ocean regions. The first workshop is scheduled for November 14-21, 2025, followed by the second from February 8-12, 2026, and the final workshop from April 25-30, 2026. This year’s program will also feature two new festival partners, to be announced in the coming weeks.
The CPI is open to producers from Africa and the Indian Ocean regions, with or without a film project. Producers from outside Africa who are interested in co-producing with Africa are also encouraged to apply.
For this edition, Mehret Mandefro, an Ethiopian-American film/television producer, and Diana Elbaum, an award-winning Belgian film producer, will serve as group leaders and mentors.
While some program costs are covered, applicants should review the application forms to understand what expenses they will need to cover or secure funding for. However, a key benefit of the program’s partnerships is that one spot is reserved for a producer from each of the listed partner countries, with all program expenses (excluding per diems) covered for them.
Applications are open now and will close on October 5, 2025. To apply, go here realness.institute/creative-producer-indaba