Series Mania Digital Forum Hails “Great Success” with Viewership

The Series Mania Digital Forum achieved “great success” with its viewership, according to Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director, attracting 1,500 users (out of the 2,000 industry professionals registered for Series Mania at the time of the live event’s cancellation).

The online platform, which ran from March 25 to April 7, featured the key content from the annual Series Mania Forum, including Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, UGC Writers Campus, Drama Series Co-writing Residency Israel-France, “Coming Next From” sessions and more than 50 international series from the festival program or from the Buyers’ Showcase.

Of the 1,500 users, 60 percent were buyers, commissioners, producers, distributors and sellers; 40 percent screenwriters, programmers and journalists. Forty countries were represented, with France in the top position with one-third of the users, followed by the U.S. in second. Other countries with a high number of users included Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Russia and Canada.

There were 83 days of viewing in a cumulative total, and on average, users viewed 1.5 hours of content. The Buyers’ Showcase attracted 10,000 visits (approximately seven episodes watched per user), and there were 5,000 visits for projects in development (approx. 3.5 episodes watched per user).

Herszberg commented: “We are very proud of the great success of our first Series Mania Digital Forum. This global crisis prompted us to adapt our digital strategy urgently and the result was very positive. With 1,500 registered users, we were pleased to be able to create this virtual meeting place for our dedicated industry professionals. However, we know that this digital platform cannot exist alone, and nothing can replace the energy of the event in Lille which provides a unique meeting space where many face-to-face business exchanges and deals happen. In 2021, we will be sure to combine the two forms, digital and physical, to create an even bigger and better event in the years to come.”