Dan Lin’s Rideback, MRC Launch TV Drama Incubator

Dan Lin’s production company, Rideback, and Media Rights Capital (MRC) have partnered to launch the Rideback TV Incubator.

The incubator offers a paid, eight-month residency program to a group of eight writers who have each previously been staffed on series and want to create their own drama series for cable and streaming. The goal of the new venture is to support experienced TV drama writers from diverse backgrounds who are on the cusp of advancing their careers.

Writers will be paired with experienced showrunners and/or executive producers who will act as mentors, and also get feedback from their fellow participants. They will work out of Rideback Ranch, a new creative campus in LA’s Historic Filipinotown that provides dedicated workspace and other amenities.

“We based the Incubator—and Rideback—on our mission of serving and giving back to the creative community,” Lin said. “We want to help creators who can benefit from our culture of creativity, collaboration and community to get their shows to series. We are bringing together a diverse mix of voices in an inspiring space to encourage and challenge each other, and to create television that will shape culture.”

The goal is for each participant to generate a market-ready, straight-to-series project. Each project will be produced by Rideback with financing and other studio support by MRC, which is funding the program. Those whose projects successfully move to series become executive producers and are awarded writing credits as determined by the WGA. Producer-mentors will be attached to their respective projects as non-writing executive producers. Rideback and MRC will jointly bring projects to market, with an option of adding other elements. The program will also provide significant financial support to writers, allowing them to focus on development of their projects

Kiri Hart, who established the Lucasfilm Story Group overseeing “Star Wars” development and now acts as a consultant for Lucasfilm, will serve as creative advisor. Elsie Choi, former head of development for Mad Rabbit, has been named executive director and will oversee the program.

“The Rideback TV Incubator will allow talented writers with unique perspectives to reach their fullest potential as creators,” said MRC. “We are proud to work alongside Dan, Elsie, Kiri and the Rideback team to foster an inclusive and creative environment. Bringing new voices to market through this innovative development format is fully aligned with MRC’s mission to finance and produce fresh, original content that reflects audiences today.”

The Rideback TV Incubator is currently identifying both creator and producer candidates. The program will begin on May 1 and run through December. Creator submissions can be made beginning February 7 and should be made through https://filmfreeway.com/RidebackTV.