Series Mania Selects for Co-Pro Pitching Sessions

Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, has revealed the projects selected as part of the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, taking place on March 21.

Having received 450 projects from 66 different countries, the goal of the Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions is to help these high-end European and International drama projects find potential financial partners. An international jury of industry professionals will determine the best project among the projects and prize the Best Project Award €50,000 to help develop the winning series.

The selected projects are Asma (France), Cooper (Australia, South Africa), Dust and Coal (Israel, France), Executioners (Spain), Fort Apache (Italy), Hijacking Paradise (Belgium), Yop (Sweden), Letters to Leonard (Greece), Monitor (Germany), Our Father (Ireland, Canada), The Bronte Girls (U.K.), The Salvatore Mundi Case (France), The Unquiet Dead (Canda), Unspoken (Ukraine, Poland) and Vanished (Germany, Iceland).

The 16th project, to be announced on February 21, will also be presented out of competition in partnership with the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

“We could not be prouder of the fact that this year we received a record number of submissions with increasing interest from African countries including Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Nigeria,” commented Herszberg. “Genres that dominated the selection process this year included thrillers and detective stories followed closely by historical dramas with a strong appeal to the 90s. We also received many women-themed stories based on real-life events. We greatly look forward to unveiling the winner of the Best Project Award with €50,000 on March 21 in Lille.”

The 2023 international jury of industry professionals includes Jury President Caroline Hollick, head of drama at Channel 4; Michele Zatta, commissioning editor at RAI; Françoise Guyonnet, executive managing director for TV series at StudioCanal; Jarmo Lampela, head of drama at Yle; and Lindsey Martin, VP of development and co-productions for CBS Studios International.