Young Horizons Lab 2026 rules for applicants

The Young Horizons Lab workshop is focused on live-action and animation film projects.

The upcoming 2026 edition is open only for projects from Poland. Participants need to be Polish citizens or Polish residents.

During 3 on-site sessions participants with the support of tutor Philip LaZebnik will develop and work on the best structure of their projects. It will focus on group work, individual online consultation with tutor, as well as individual work of the participants between the sessions.

REGULATIONS

Submission dates

17 November 2025: Submission starts
9 January 2026, 16.00: Submission ends

12-16 January 2026: Preselection
19-23 January 2026: Online meeting wih preselected creators (only selected applicants will be invited to the online meeting)
23 January 2026: Selection announcement

Who can apply?

• Screenwriters and people interested in writing and producing films for young audiences. Both emerging storytellers and experienced writers are welcome to submit projects. Participants need to be Polish citizens or Polish residents.
• You can apply individually or in a team of 2 or 3 people. The 3rd person needs to cover additional costs.
• You don’t need to have a producer on board.

Eligible projects

• Live-action feature films (minimum 60 minutes) at early development stage (with treatment)
• Animated feature films (minimum 60 minutes) at early development stage (with treatment)

Working language

The working language of all workshop sessions is English. Participants are also obliged to deliver all materials, such as treatments, drafts in English.

Session dates

Applicants must confirm their full availability for all the on-site sessions.

1st session: 18-20 March 2026
2nd session: 10-12 June 2026
3rd session: September 2026

All sessions will be held in Warsaw.

The date of online consultations will be confirmed later between tutor and participants.

Aim of the workshop

The aim for participant is to finish the programme with a first draft of the script*.

*It depends on a number of factors, including the advancement of the project, and the amount of work and time the participant put into developing the script during the workshop.

Fee

Submission fee is PLN 250 excl. VAT (PLN 307,50 incl. VAT).

Participation fee is PLN 1800 excl. VAT (PLN 2214 incl. VAT) for a team of max 2 people (Participation for a team of 3 is PLN 2700 excl. VAT (PLN 3321 incl. VAT). Once your project is accepted for the Young Horizons Lab programme, you will have 10 days to sign an agreement and pay the participation fee.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

1. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION – Preselection

1. Prepare all the required documents and complete the online application before 9 January 2026, 16.00. The link to the submission form will be published on https://industry.younghorizons.pl/lab/ website.

Required documents 

• Project description / synopsis (max. 4 pages)
• Short bio (max. half page)
• Motivation letter (max. 1 page)

2. Complete the payment for the submission (After submitting the form, you will receive a payment link within 2 working days.)

If you do not get a payment link, please contact -> Piotr Ogorzelski piotr.ogorzelski@nowehoryzonty.pl

IMPORTANT: We will inform the creators about the preselection results via email. Only creators of the preselected projects will take part in online meetings.

2. ONLINE MEETING – only for the preselected projects

Meeting with Philip LaZebnik and workshop organisers.

This is a chance for us to ask you some questions about your project and get to know each other better. You can also prepare your questions for us.

3. Acceptance of the project

We will inform preselected participants about the final selection results via email.

Contact to organisers: zofia.horszczaruk@nowehoryzonty.pl, magda.wylezalek@nowehoryzonty.pl