the incubator

an 8-month development program that turns treatments into production-ready screenplays. we select 8–10 writers per cohort and pair them with story analysts, a curriculum, and a distribution partner from day one.

program overview

palmtrees runs an annual screenplay incubator for emerging market writers. we source treatments through an open call, select a cohort of 8–10 writers, and put them through an intensive development cycle that produces scripts ready for a greenlight conversation.

the program runs for 8 months: 7 months of remote development with dedicated story analysts, structured curriculum sessions, and milestone-based deliverables, followed by a 1-month in-person retreat where the cohort works intensively toward final drafts.

our distribution partner has a first-look window on every project that completes the program.

program length
8 months
cohort size
8–10 writers
format
7 months remote + 1 month retreat
submissions
treatment (10 pg min.) + first 15 pages

who we're looking for

we are looking for screenwriters from africa, southeast asia, latin america, the caribbean, and the middle east with a story they need to tell and the discipline to develop it over 8 months.

disposition

what we expect from every writer in the program.

this is an intensive development program. it is closer to a boot camp than a retreat. the writers who thrive here share two qualities: curiosity and rigor.

curiosity means you are genuinely interested in what your script could become, not just what it already is. when our story analysts give you structural, sometimes difficult notes on your work, your first instinct is to lean in, not defend. you ask questions. you follow the thread. you are willing to take the screenplay apart because you want to understand how it works at every level. the best writers in this program will be the ones who treat every note, even the hard ones, as an open door.

rigor means you do the work. you hold yourself to a standard that has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with discipline. when a draft isn't landing, you go back in, restructure, rewrite, and come back with something stronger. you are not here to be told you're talented — we already know that. you are here because you believe your craft has another level and you are willing to put in the hours to reach it.

we welcome writers at every stage, whether this is your first screenplay or your sixth. but regardless of experience, everyone enters the program on equal footing. there are no seniority privileges, no deference to previous credits. what matters is your commitment to the work in front of you and your willingness to show up fully.

genre categories

what we're actively seeking.
🎯 thriller
the genre with the highest floor. every culture has corruption, secrets, and systems worth exposing. lowest budget-to-return risk on the board.
💰 heist / caper
the plan, the crew, the double-cross. emerging markets have shadow economies, informal systems, and hustles that hollywood can't invent. structurally bulletproof.
💘 will they, won't they
yearning as engine. two (or more?) people who shouldn't want each other — and can't stop. the tension isn't "will they get together." the tension is what it costs them to try. desire tangled with danger, class, loyalty, taboo, or something they can't name. the stories audiences are devouring right now are built on wanting that hurts.
⚔️ revenge / action
visceral, propulsive, globally legible. character-driven action with cultural specificity baked into the choreography, the stakes, and the moral calculus. blue ruin to a prophet territory.
🧬 lo-fi sci-fi / speculative
no spaceships. no armies. one concept, one world rule, real locations. ex machina was made for $15m and looked like $100m. we're looking for the $3m version of that — writers who use speculative premises to interrogate what's already happening in their world.
📖 public domain reimagining
a wave of major literary works entered the public domain in 2025 and 2026. we want writers who will take these texts — faulkner, kafka, hemingway, early agatha christie — and do something dangerous with them. relocate them. recontextualize them. give them the genre treatment their source cultures never would.

*we have not listed horror as we believe the market for the next 12–24 months is highly saturated and thus competitive for nuanced, breakout potential — however, if an exceptional project comes through, it will be considered.

rules & regulations

please read all articles before submitting your application.
article 1 eligibility

palmtrees is open to writers who meet the following criteria:

age — you must be at least 22 years of age at the time of submission.

citizenship & heritage — you must hold citizenship or permanent legal status in an eligible country, or have been born in or primarily raised in an eligible country. this includes dual nationals, refugees, and individuals who may no longer hold a passport from their home country due to legal, political, or safety reasons. we recognize that citizenship is not equally accessible everywhere and we will not penalize writers for circumstances beyond their control.

story — the screenplay must be substantially set in an eligible region, or if set outside an eligible region, must center on the people, community, and lived dynamics of an eligible culture. a thriller set in lagos qualifies. a story set in brooklyn that is deeply rooted in the rhythms, tensions, and specificity of its nigerian community qualifies. think andrew dosunmu's mother of george or lee isaac chung's minari: films that happen to take place in the west but are unmistakably about a particular culture's interior life. a story set in the west that happens to feature a protagonist from an eligible region does not qualify.

eligible regions: africa, southeast asia, the middle east, latin america, and the caribbean. a full list of eligible countries is available here.

article 2 submission requirements

all applicants must submit a treatment for a feature-length genre screenplay. treatments should be between 5–15 pages and must be written in english. we accept treatments only — no completed screenplays, short film scripts, or outlines.

applicants must also submit a logline, a statement of intent explaining the story's personal or cultural significance, a brief writing sample (up to 10 pages of any previous work), and a current cv or bio.

co-written projects — for our inaugural cohort, palmtrees is accepting solo-written projects only. each project must have a single writer who will serve as the sole program participant.

article 3 genre focus

palmtrees develops genre screenplays. eligible genres are defined in the genre categories section. we do not accept pure drama projects, documentaries, or non-fiction treatments. if your project blends genres, that is encouraged, but genre must be structurally central to the work.

article 4 program commitment

writers selected for the program commit to the full 8-month development cycle: 7 months of remote work including regular sessions with their assigned story analyst, curriculum participation, and milestone submissions, followed by a mandatory 1-month in-person retreat. travel and accommodation for the retreat are covered by palmtrees.

exclusivity — projects accepted into the program are exclusive to palmtrees and its distribution partner for the duration of the incubator and the subsequent first-look window. full terms are outlined in the program agreement.

writers who cannot commit to the full program duration should not apply.

article 5 award

development award — each writer in the cohort receives a $5,000 development award, paid at three milestones: outline delivery, first draft delivery, and final draft delivery. this mirrors the payment structure of professional screenwriting contracts and reflects our belief that development is real work that deserves real compensation.

the one-month in-person retreat is covered by palmtrees, including roundtrip airfare, accommodation, and meals.

article 6 intellectual property

writers retain full ownership of their work. palmtrees does not acquire rights to any screenplay developed in the program. upon completion, our distribution partner holds an exclusive first-look window on finished projects.

palmtrees remains attached as a minor participant on all projects developed through the program, regardless of where or how the project ultimately moves forward. full terms, including the first-look structure and palmtrees's ongoing attachment, are detailed in the program agreement shared with selected writers prior to commencement.

article 7 selection process

applications are reviewed by the palmtrees story team. selection is based on the quality and originality of the treatment, the writer's voice and potential, the commercial viability of the project within a genre framework, and the specificity of the cultural perspective.

palmtrees reserves the right to make exceptions to any eligibility criteria on a case-by-case basis.

article 8 language & communication

the working language of the program is english. all submissions must be in english. writers whose screenplays will ultimately be produced in another language are welcome, but all development work and curriculum sessions are conducted in english. fluency sufficient for detailed creative discussion is required.

article 9 application limit

applicants may submit one treatment per application cycle. applicants who are not selected may reapply in subsequent cycles with the same or a different project. there is no limit on the number of times a writer may apply.

applications open march 15, 2026

create an account to begin your application when submissions open.

application
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eligible countries

africa
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Republic), Congo (DRC), Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
southeast asia
Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam
middle east
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
latin america
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago