Series Mania Forum takeaways

The 2022 Series Mania Forum (March 22-24) was a resounding success for director Francesco Capurro, Series Mania general director Laurence Herszberg and their team, that welcomed 3,300 accredited delegates on-site, against 2,700 in 2019 before the pandemic.

Exceptional warm weather, packed meetings for TV drama delegates enjoying physical interaction, and 60+ inspiration panels made it for a perfect setup.

Despite notable absentees among US heavyweights- Netflix and Disney who cancelled a keynote - US studios Amazon, WarnerMedia and its flagship platform HBO Max, Paramount, Universal International Studios took centre stage at Lille Grand Palais to discuss their strategies, next to European pubcasting commissioners and drama creators.

Here are some takeaways:

Covid-what Covid?
Back at its usual March slot, just after France had lifted all Covid 19-related restrictions, Series Mania Forum was a liberating event for professionals as a pleasant breeze of ‘back to normal’ swept the event, momentarily pushing away from people’s focus the dramatic events in Ukraine. However after three days of hugs and kisses and social interaction, the reality of the pandemic was back, with positive cases being reported.

How to be the best home for talent creators, talent producers
At a time of hyper-competitivity to attract the best IP and talents, key decision-makers pointed out that offering a safe creative space and support to talents at all levels were quintessential for them to distinguish themselves on the market.

“For our industry to be sustainable, we need creative talent, crew to be allowed to produce as best as possible, without time to market pressure” said Lars Blomgren Head of Scripted EMEA for French-headquartered leading indie group Banijay, who went on to say “talents all want their streaming experience, they have the choice and can go back to pubcasters anytime, but it is clear to us and producers that we have to treat talents well, otherwise they will go elsewhere.”

Lionel Uzan, Co-founder & Group CEO Federation Entertainment said: “We all battle for the same talent, but internal culture is key. Reflecting on elements that make a difference in talents' decision to select their ‘home’, he said : “It’s not only about money-it’s about the people, what you offer, your support and day to day care, client care, and legitimacy of the group.“

Co-panellists Christian Vesper (Fremantle), Julie Meldal-Johnsen (ITV Studios), and Marina Williams (Asasha Media Group) all said flexibility in striking the best deals for producers/creators is key, while making sure rights ownership is part of the equation.

Elsewhere, Beatrice Springborn, president of Universal International Studios who announced a first look deal with Call My Agent!’s showrunner Quoc Dan Tran, told Variety: “We are prioritising the culture of a studio and being value-add in terms of everything we do, whether that’s having executives or bringing a book or title to develop that [a creative] wouldn’t get anywhere else, or just having the level of one-on-one attention to detail.”

Pubcasters: distinctive and disruptive
On the public service side, standing out on the market, as summarised by Channel Four’s Caroline Hollick, means “being distinctive, disruptive, bold, focusing on young adults”.

For ZDF’s Simon Emmelius, it’s also about “identifying topics that resonate with audiences -including difficult topics-and presenting them in an entertaining way”.

SVT’s Head of Drama Anna Croneman said offering relevant stories “that audiences can’t find anywhere else” is key. Also, besides achieving good numbers, having reach is important, which means betting on a diverse slate. “It’s hard when you have about seven series a year, but it’s increasingly important. You have to take that risk,” she said.

US Studios ramping up volumes and footprint
Paramount’s international CEO Raffaele Annecchino said his group is betting on a ‘market to market’ approach to speed up its expansion into new markets. He said the plan is for Paramount+ and SkyShowtime to have a base in over 60 markets in Europe by late 2022, with Paramount+ offering 50 new international scripted originals this year.

In a ground-breaking deal, Paramount + also announced a three-year partnership with French group Gaumont to create high-end TV shows, via the US studios’ international studio, Viacom International Studios (VIS).

WarnerMedia Europe’s president Priya Dogra reiterated the US studios’ goal to invest in the local creative community in Europe, with 40 scripted and unscripted series lined up for 2023. The group’s flagship platform HBO Max is now available in 21 European countries, with another six lined up for the end of 2022.

HBO Max-Series Mania partner in training scheme
In a further sign of WarnerMedia’s plan to make Europe a cornerstone of its global strategy, the group’s platform HBO Max announced it is investing $ 1 million over the next three years in the Series Mania Institute, dedicated to training the professionals of tomorrow’s European TV series.

The initiative is also backed by French regional and national organisation including the CNC, the schools La Fémis and Sciences Po Lille and Creative Europe MEDIA programme. Opened in 2021, the school is the first of its kind for European professionals. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS.

To tap into top talents at the earlier stage and contribute to the development of the TV drama industry, Beta Group also teamed up with Series Mania in the new Seriesmakers training programme for feature film creators eager to enter the world of series.

Industry traction on Nordic projects
On Tuesday a packed room of delegates attended the session “Coming Next from Finland” organised by APFI (Audiovisual Producers Finland).

Among the projects that received a lot of attention were Nordic Horror Masters (Don Films) reuniting some of the Nordics' top genre directors, including Taneli Mustonen (The Twin), and Valhalla Project (Snapper Films), described by director Juha Wuolijoki as “a mix of drama, mystery and sci fi grounded in reality.” The reaction [from delegates] has been fantastic and we are close to signing a deal with a world distributor,” said Wuolijoki about his project commissioned by Elisa Viihde.

Two Nordic projects pitched at the Co-Pro Pitching Session - Denmark’s A Boy Disappears (Nimbus Film) written by Julie Budtz Sørensen (The Rain) and Sweden’s The Winter Pack (Nevis Productions) to be directed by Charlotte Brändström (The Unlikely Murderer) based on a script by Christoffer Örnfelt (Liberty, Rita) received similar positive responses.

Co-Pro Pitch Award to South Africa
After Iceland’s Blackport awarded last year, South Africa’s Paradys was this year’s winner of the coveted €50,000 prize for Best Project at the Co-Pro Pitches. In the series set in 1994, we follow the investigation of two black policemen in an all-white town called Paradys. Keshet International handles sales.

The TV drama festival Series Mania is due to close tonight, with an awards ceremony.