// LEARN — FILM SCHOOL
This is a part-time film school on a real 30-acre farm estate in Machakos. When you sign up, you are signing up for two things at once: to learn the craft, and to develop and shoot MITATINI, the estate’s 100-episode telenovela. Everyone who joins is signing up to work on the show — the curriculum is the production.
Hands-on filmmaking at Boondocks Lab. Physical / project-based / production experience.
Plainly: priority goes to youth from Mitatini, Malaa and Mutalia — the communities closest to the farm — but anyone can join if they can camp. Camping facilities on the estate are being developed now and will be ready when the first physical meetings begin. Until then, learning starts on WhatsApp: watch parties, script breakdowns, assignments.
- PART-TIME
- FREE TO LEARN
- NO GEAR REQUIRED
- WHATSAPP-FIRST
- YOU WORK ON THE SHOW
// WHICH ONE IS WHICH?
THE ACADEMY
GO THERE →Free, phone-first film education. Online / self-directed / AI-assisted.
FILM SCHOOL
YOU ARE HEREHands-on filmmaking at Boondocks Lab. Physical / project-based / production experience.
// WHO THIS IS FOR
Three doors in. One set.
DOOR 01
THE YOUTH NEXT DOOR
Priority goes to young people from Mitatini, Malaa and Mutalia — the communities closest to the farm. If that’s you, set is a walk or a boda ride away. No relocation, no camp fees, no excuses left. The show is about this soil; it should be made by the people standing on it.
DOOR 02
ANYWHERE IN KENYA
Not from the neighbourhood? You can still join — if you can camp on the estate when physical meetings begin. Camping facilities are being developed right now and will be ready before the first physical sessions. Until then, the whole class runs on WhatsApp, so you can start tonight from wherever you are.
DOOR 03
ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS
No camera, no experience, no film-school vocabulary? That’s the normal case here, not the exception. A phone is enough to start: the first assignments are watch, break down, shoot on what you have. Gear arrives when the work demands it — the estate has the kit, you bring the showing up.
THE HONEST PART: priority means priority. If applications outnumber places, the youth of Mitatini, Malaa and Mutalia come first — they can walk to set, and the show is about their soil. Everyone else joins on the strength of commitment: can you camp, and will you show up?
// WHAT YOU LEARN
The curriculum is the shooting schedule.
MITATINI runs 100 episodes in 10 movements of 10. Each movement is a craft module — you learn the skill, then you shoot the episodes that need it. Coverage and dialogue first, heavy spectacle last.
Movement 1 — The Grant · E001–E010
BL-1: Two Bodies, One Truth
Single-camera coverage, dialogue scenes, the 180° rule
Movement 2 — The Audit · E011–E020
BL-2: The Close-Up
Close-ups, inserts, intimacy, holding the frame
Movement 3 — The Kiosk Knows · E021–E030
BL-3: Noise Is Story
Production sound, location audio, reflective rooms
Movement 4 — Mwaitu’s War · E031–E040
BL-4: Shooting Ghosts
Flashback language, night exteriors, aging characters
Movement 5 — The Engagement That Wasn’t · E041–E050
BL-5: Ten Eyes, One Heart
Multi-cam events I, crowd blocking, live cutting
Movement 6 — Blood · E051–E060
BL-6: The Dark Takes Its Time
Suspense structure, night shoots, light discipline
Movement 7 — The Sale · E061–E070
BL-7: Rain on Cue
Multi-cam events II, rain continuity, directing grief
Movement 8 — The Third Name · E071–E080
BL-8: Heavy Metal
Vehicles, stunt-adjacent blocking, drones, safety
Movement 9 — The Stand · E081–E090
BL-9: The Harambee
The wedding masterclass + producing: schedules, call sheets, feeding 80
Movement 10 — Mitatini · E091–E100
BL-10: One Hundred Cuts
Full pipeline: plan, shoot, deliver a finale
Want the theory side? The Academy runs 20 professor-level modules — story structure, cinematography, directing, the business of film — free, phone-first.
GO TO THE ACADEMY →// HOW IT WORKS
WhatsApp first. Farm second. Set last.
APPLY ON WHATSAPP
Fill the form below — or just message us directly. One structured WhatsApp message is the whole application. No accounts, no portals, no fees.
JOIN THE WHATSAPP CLASS
Learning starts immediately on WhatsApp: watch parties of reference scenes, script breakdowns of upcoming Mitatini episodes, and weekly assignments you shoot on your phone.
FIRST PHYSICAL MEETINGS
When the camping facilities on the estate are complete, the class moves to the farm — evenings and weekends. Neighbours walk or boda in; everyone else camps.
GET SLOTTED INTO MITATINI
Students are slotted into real crew and guest-cast roles on the telenovela as movements go into production. The curriculum is the shooting schedule — you graduate by shipping episodes.
THE HONEST PART: the camp is being built, not built. Physical meetings begin when camping facilities are ready — not on a marketing date. We will announce real dates on WhatsApp and here the moment we can hold them. Everything you need to start learning works tonight, from your phone.
// APPLY
One message away from the season.
PREFER TO FREESTYLE? Send your name, home area, track and camping answer straight to +254 747 924 886 on WhatsApp.
TAP TO CHAT →WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The Lab reads every application and replies on WhatsApp with the class link. You join the watch parties, do the assignments, and get the call when camping opens — and when your movement goes into production.
// COST & COMMITMENT
Free to learn. Expensive to ghost.
PART-TIME
Evenings and weekends. The school is built around school, work and shamba life — WhatsApp classes run on your schedule, physical sessions are set around daylight and everyone’s day jobs.
FREE TO LEARN
No tuition, no registration fee, no “materials fee.” The Lab makes its money from production work for clients — the school exists because the show needs a trained crew, not because students are a revenue line.
YOU COMMIT TIME
Your tuition is showing up: watch parties, assignments, and call times when your movement shoots. Camping details — costs, what to bring, how long — are shared as the facilities complete.
IF A “FILM SCHOOL” IN KENYA EVER ASKS YOU FOR MONEY BEFORE IT SHOWS YOU A SET, WALK AWAY — INCLUDING FROM US. THIS ONE IS FREE BECAUSE THE ECONOMICS POINT THE OTHER WAY: YOU LEARN, THE SHOW GETS MADE, THE LAB BILLS CLIENTS.
// QUESTIONS
Before you ask.
The season shoots with or without you.
One hundred episodes. Ten movements. A farm that becomes a film set on evenings and weekends. The first watch party is one message away.