Regenerative Worldbuilding

Date: 28.06.2024
Hour: 10 – 14 h (TBC)
Place: Sala Z  Tabakalera (Pl. de las Cigarreras, 1, 20012 Donostia-San Sebastian)
Registration deadline: Before 27 June 2024, the name, surname and ID number of those who wish to participate in the event, motivation letter and short synopsis of an audiovisual project must be submitted to the Department of Thought and Discussion (eztabai@sansebastianfestival.com).

This is a practical and participatory group writing workshop to explore a regenerative world as a context or setting for narrative media. It will have an introductory part that will put into context the exercise that will follow.

World-building is used in film, television, video games and other media to create immersive alternate realities that often influence the real world. By creating rich narrative worlds in which humanity rises to the ecosystemic challenges we have set for ourselves, we hope to encourage creators to help inspire people and create through fiction a world we would actively want to live in. We will base the construction of narrative worlds on examples of the future that is already here, and work out a set of rules for you to learn from the patterns of the natural world.

In this workshop you will playfully visit the pioneers who are already making that future possible, co-create the world in transition in depth, develop characters according to new archetypes, and craft stories that illuminate that world in a compelling way. The exercises will help you better understand how to bring your stories into the narrative world of your choice.

To participate, it will be necessary to bring your own laptop (if possible), so that at least each group has one to carry out the exercises. It will also be necessary to attach a CV and a synopsis or concept of a project of a maximum of half a page.

Finally, this workshop will have a second part that will take place in September (during the dates of the San Sebastian Film Festival, still to be confirmed) in which the synopses or treatments of five of the participants will be studied in depth through the guidance of Eva Svenstedt Ward and Lucy Stone (this part will be given in English with simultaneous translation).

• Lucy Stone is the founder of Climate Spring, the global organization funding and supporting scripted and unscripted storytelling that changes the way society sees the climate crisis. Climate Spring works with all stakeholders in the industry as a funder, advisor, convenor and facilitator. Lucy is a leading narrative change expert and climate innovator having set up many successful organizations and initiatives. Lucy has been a leader in philanthropy, in social enterprise, advising UN organizations and governments.
• Gustavo Montes de Oca worldbuilds and builds the world he wants to see. He has experience working in everything from urban agriculture to electric mobility platform cooperatives and emergency response. He is a futurist, sci-fi writer and active member of Radar - a decentralised futures community with people around the planet discovering and creating wonderful futures.

Climate Spring is a global development fund and a screen industry insider organisation that works with production companies, talent and networks to identify and nurture stories that can change how society responds to the climate crisis in all genres. Climate Spring is currently funding, co-financing and supporting a range of leading production companies, screen writers and talent, on a range of genres from crime to thriller to romantic comedy.

By informing, inspiring and incentivising creatives, Climate Spring supports the creation of new screen narratives and stories about how we can navigate the climate crisis together, empowering us all to imagine a different future.