Big Light Selects Writers’ Apprenticeship Program Recipient

Big Light Productions (Leonardo, The Man in the High Castle) has selected Drishya Gautham, a writer, director and creative producer from Goa, India, as the recipient of its 2025 writers’ apprenticeship program.

Gautham previously completed the Serial Eyes postgraduate television training program for television writers at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin. Prior to that, Gautham held various roles in the industry, including as a development producer for Prime Video, where she helped commission the first slate of series and films in all four South Indian languages.

Gautham also spent several years working with Indian production companies developing and supervising series in-house and is currently a partner at Stray Factor (Nasir). Her credits include Meme Boys for Sony LIV and B. Selvi & Daughters.

Through her placement on Serial Eyes and Big Light’s apprenticeship, she is extending her ties with the European screen industry and is currently developing Kurkuma, a Berlin-based elevated horror short about immigrant alienation.

The placement with Big Light will allow her to hone her writing and development skills while working alongside Frank Spotnitz and his team.

This marks the eighth year of Big Light’s writing apprenticeship program, which helps emerging writing talent master their craft and gain insight into the industry. It provides practical experience in a writers’ room, collaboration on local and international projects and new series development.

“I’m thrilled and honored to be selected for this year’s Big Light apprenticeship,” Gautham said. “As someone who’s always been a nerd about the craft of screenwriting, being mentored by Frank Spotnitz during Serial Eyes was a career highlight. I believe that it is the perfect time for storytellers from all over the world to bring their unique perspectives to the global zeitgeist. This apprenticeship gives me an invaluable opportunity to understand the U.K. series industry and establish my voice there. I’m sincerely grateful to the teams at Big Light and Serial Eyes.”

“Each year, we look forward to welcoming a new apprentice to our program,” Spotnitz commented. “Now more than ever, it is vital to the lifeblood of our industry that we continue to support new voices and give them opportunities to hone their craft working alongside experienced writers and executives. These opportunities across the industry have been diminishing as mid-budget shows and returning dramas, which are key learning grounds, have been disappearing from our schedules. We’re proud to be doing our part to help establish new talent. Drishya is one of those exceptional new talents with a distinctive and exciting voice, and one that represents how global our industry now is. We are delighted to welcome her to the Big Light team as our 2025 recipient and hope the programme helps to support the next step in her career.”

Katrin Merkel, head of studies at Serial Eyes, added, “During her time at Serial Eyes, Drishya showed enormous creative energy and talent for storytelling wrapped in a great sense of humor. We are very happy that she is getting the wonderful opportunity to showcase and nurture her talent through the Big Light apprenticeship.”