Québec to Participate at Series Mania

Nearly 60 Québec-based television industry professionals will participate at the Series Mania Forum under the SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles) “Québec Creates” banner.

This represents Québec’s highest attendance at the forum since SODEC made its appearance. Local series will compete officially at Series Mania at the Coming Next from Québec event, in the Forum Exclusives section and in the video library. In addition, producer Sophie Deraspe will sit on the International Panorama jury.

Two local series will compete officially at the Series Mania Festival, including Welcome to Soulshine, written by Sandrine Viger-Beaulieu and Charles-Alex Durand, directed by Mélanie Charbonneau and produced by Écho Média. It will have its world premiere in the Short Forms Competition category. Last Summers of the Raspberries (Le temps des framboises), written by Suzie Bouchard and Florence Longpré, directed by Philippe Falardeau and produced by Trio Orange, will have its premiere in France and will compete in the International Panorama category.

SODEC is once again partnering with CBC & Radio-Canada Distribution and Québecor Contenu, and will pair up with Bell Media for the first time, to present Coming Next from Québec. This event, attended by international broadcasters and buyers, allows each broadcaster to present and pitch two series that are ready to be shown internationally.

Presentations by Bell Media include A Criminal Affair (Une affaire criminelle) from Productions Sovimage and No Return (Aller simple) from Sphere Media. Québecor Contenu will present Dark Lake (Lac-Noir) from Pixcom and Motel Paradis from Zone3, and CBC & Radio-Canada Distribution will present Larry from Avenue Productions and Dear Flora (Pour toi Flora) from Nish Media.

Further, Series Mania has selected Sans rendez-vous (Aetios Productions inc.) and L’homme qui aimait trop (Duo Productions) for the Forum Exclusives section. Four additional local series will be accessible in the festival’s video library: Le monde de Gabrielle Roy (Zone 3 and Les Productions Rivard), Lou et Sophie (Passez Go), Piégés (Duo Productions) and VIRAGE (KOTV).

In collaboration with the Québec government office in Paris (Délégation générale du Québec à Paris), SODEC will take advantage of Series Mania to put together SODEC_Lab to support Québec-based producers in developing their business network in Europe, especially in France. Selected producers will receive coaching that will conclude with a Series Mania Forum, where business meetings will take place. The participating producers include Richard Jean-Baptiste (ArtJB), Benoit Lach (Blachfilms), Viviane Rheault (ComediHa!), Hugo d’Astous (Duo Productions), Camille Mongeau (Martine aimait les films), Vicky Bounadère (Passez Go), Mélissa Tétu (Trio Orange), Patrick Bilodeau (UGO Média) and Mélanie Ratté (Zone3).

Series Mania Forum is slated to take place in Lille, France, from March 22 to 24.