With ‘Forever,’ Mara Brock Akil Wanted to Offer an “Apprenticeship Education” for Writers

By Mia Galuppo | May 30, 2025 | The Hollywood Reporter

Last July, inside an impeccably decorated Mid-Century modern home built on a Sunset Gower Studios, stood Mara Brok Akil. The acclaimed writer behind Girlfriends, The Game and Being Mary Jane was talking to a director on Forever, her latest show for Netflix, while a couple of yards away, a group of writers sitting at video village was watching the interaction on the monitors.

But the writers weren’t working on Forever.

The group was from a cohort of Akil’s Writer’s Colony, a residency program that was established in 2021. They were chosen to participate in Akil’s inaugural Shadow Program, which brings graduates from the writer’s residency to set to follow Akil from budget meetings to conversations with the art department and everywhere in between. The ultimate goal is to have the writers witness everything it takes to run a television set.

Read the entire THR article here.