Albantsho: The New Screenwriting Platform By African Screenwriters For African Screenwriters
Albantsho, the first screenwriting tool created by African screenwriters for African screenwriters, has launched its first feature – The Scriptwriter.
Albantsho
Julie Ako and Nikita Mokgware from Nigeria and Botswana founded Albantsho in 2020.
Their goal is to showcase the potential of African storytelling, foster authentic content representative of Africa, and empower creatives.
With growing global investment in motion pictures in Africa, a higher demand is placed on authentic stories from diverse voices.
Albantsho is a movement, and they’ve charged themselves with finding bold new narratives of Africa by Africans while empowering the screenwriters dreaming them up.
They aim to deliver technology solutions across filmmaking touchpoints that transform the African film landscape to compete favorably with global contemporaries.
The Scriptwriter Feature
Albantosho is looking to bring a change from the existing formatting scriptwriting features that are usually pricey with their free block-based script editor feature.
By providing simpler and more accessible tools, Albantsho aims to empower screenwriters to craft more stories and hone their voices.
“The creative aspect of screenwriting can be very mentally demanding, but that doesn’t mean professionals can afford to focus on that alone and shun widely accepted formatting standards,” said Ako, according to techeconomy.
“So it can be tricky to balance ticking boxes alongside properly formatting each story element.”
The feature will meet the growing demand from producers eager to bring such narratives to life, attract investors looking to fund projects, and cater to a global audience keen on consuming more African stories.
What Comes Next?
As part of its mission, Albantsho also has plans to introduce a script marketplace that will enable screenwriters to monetize their craft and producers to acquire quality scripts.
The feature, scheduled for launch in Q1 of 2024, will allow screenwriters to put their ready scripts up for sale and allow producers to bid or collaborate on them.
In the near future, the platform will also integrate a community feature that will enable writers to easily collaborate, share, and receive feedback and, as a result, create richer stories.
“We are big on building a thriving community of African screenwriters and filmmakers. We will make money for sure. But we’ve been patient all this while, and we’ll continue to be as we prioritize the needs of our users for now,” said Ako.
“Once certain things are in place, we’ll roll out paid plans, but even then, some features will still be available free of charge.”
