Hypewriter Pitch Forum Reveals 2022 Winner

The international jury of Paprika Studios and RTL’s fourth Hypewriter has selected The Unfortunate Rise and Fall of a Country Boy as the best of the nine presented ideas.

The winning title tells the true story of Zolika, a young man living in the countryside who works as a minimum-wage factory worker. One day, he wakes up to discover he has won half a billion forints in the lottery, and while he has the entire world at his disposal, everyone comes looking for favors. Two years later, he works for minimum wage at the factory again.

The concept was chosen by Péter Kolosi, deputy CEO and program director of RTL; Boris Bezic, creative director of Paprika Studios Slovenia; Victoria Yarmoshchuk, CEO of the Ukrainian FILM.UA Group; and Bence Trunkó, creative director of Paprika Studios. It received a grand prize of €10,000, as well as the opportunity to make a professionally produced pilot, which may later evolve into a full TV series broadcasted by RTL.

“Series are becoming increasingly important in television, and streaming service providers’ offerings,” said Ákos Erdős, CEO of the Paprika Studios Group. “Hypewriter plays an important role in identifying young talents who can present fresh ideas. ‘Content is king,’ as the saying goes, but the kingdom can only be successful if it is built on creativity that can constantly reinvent itself.”

“The winning concept is a story that Hungarian viewers can easily identify with,” said Kolosi. “Our strongest cards against large-service providers are local relevance and local content. I am confident that the winner’s idea can be turned into a successful series. Of course, winning is just the first step, but I am quite confident that it will be a successful series.”

At this year’s forum, the first full-length episode of Katalin Besenyei’s Angel’s Trumpets, winner of the grand prize in 2021, debuted. It was directed by Ildikó Enyedi (director of the Oscar-nominated and Golden Bear-winning On Body and Soul).

Erdős said, “We are extremely proud to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Ildiko Enyedi. Her participation confirms that Hypewriter is a significant forum for talented content creators.”