Series Mania Festival & Forum Details Unveiled

At press conferences today in Lille, details were unveiled for the upcoming Series Mania Festival, set for March 18 to 25, as well as for the Series Mania Forum industry arm, taking place March 22 to 24.

For the Series Mania Festival, there will be more than 55 series, 30 world premieres and 330 series screened from some 46 territories and six continents.

The jury of the international competition includes German actor Christian Berkel (Downfall, Valkyrie), Franco-Belgian actress Cécile de France (The Young Pope, Lost illusions), Israeli actress Shira Haas (The Unorthodox), Turkish creator and director Berkun Oya (Bir Baskadir) and French singer-songwriter and model Yseult.

Series Mania will welcome as guests of honor the British showrunner Michael Hirst (The Tudors, Vikings), who will come to present his new series Billy the Kid in the international competition and participate in the Series Mania Forum, as well as the French producer, director, screenwriter and actor Mathieu Kassovitz (The Bureau) and actresses Nathalie Baye (Call My Agent) and Isabelle Nanty (Munch).

The jury will award the Grand Prize for Best Series, the Prize for Best Actress and the Prize for Best Actor during the closing ceremony on March 25. Nine series from six countries are represented: Billy the Kid (U.S.), Fire Dance (Israel), Il Re (Italy), Le Monde De Demain (France), Soldiers (France), The Baby (U.K.), The Birth of Daniel F. Harris (U.K.), Transport (Finland) and We Own This City (U.S.).

The Series Mania Forum will feature the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions and explore the effects of the concentration of European audiovisual groups on creativity as well as the consequences of the appetite of global audiences to watch series in their original format/language. For the first time, the Forum will look at how a series must stand out and, finally, will question the expected effects of certain innovations and technologies on the industry.

The Forum will introduce the Book To Screen: Literary Adaptation Market, From Podcast to Screen and Forum Innovation Talks.

Key themes that will be addressed and explored through this year’s lineup of panels and conferences include sourcing stories, content showcases, creative business inspiration and marketing of series and innovation.

Taking place March 24, the Lille Dialogues, now in its fifth year, will bring together European lawmakers and international TV industry leaders for a day-long international trade summit to encourage joint reflection on the challenges facing the TV industry and to promote international cooperation. This year’s theme is: Empowering the Audiovisual Industry with Creativity.

From March 18 to 21, the Creative Bazaar is Series Mania Forum’s incubator for writing residencies, workshops and training programs, attracting screenwriters and producers from all over the world. Residents will have the opportunity to work both independently and in groups, coming together throughout the program’s masterclasses and networking events.

The 16 projects selected as part of the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions have also been revealed, chosen from 330 projects from 56 different countries. An international jury of industry professionals will determine the best project among the 16 projects (excluding the winner from the Berlin Film Festival Drama Series Days, which is out of competition) and prize the Best Project Award €50,000 ($56,800) to help develop the winning series.

The jury president is Antony Root, executive VP, head of original production for WarnerMedia EMEA. He will take part alongside Noel Hedges, executive VP of acquisitions, international distribution at eOne; Yi Qiao, director ZDFE.drama at ZDF Enterprises; Yaël Fogiel, producer, co-founder and co-director at Films du Poisson; and Daniele Cesarano, head of drama at RTI Mediaset Group.

The selected projects for pitching are A Boy Disappears (Denmark), The Accident (Israel), The Cuckoo Treatment (Canada), Dead End (Belgium), Detective Touré (Spain), Hormones (France), The Impossible She (Italy), Island of Youth (Germany), The Liberties (Ireland, Belgium), Little Hands (France), The Mars Project (Germany, France), Paradise (South Africa), Rank (Ireland, France and Australia), Salvation (Hungary) and The Winter Pack (Sweden). The Report (Germany) was selected out of competition (ineligible for Best Project Award), in partnership with Drama Series Days, sidebar of the Berlin Film Festival.