Fiery Political Drama ‘Our People’ Wins Series Mania Co-Pro Pitch Sessions as Filmmakers Call For Truth Against Power

EXCLUSIVE: Canadian indie Boat Rocker Studios has struck a deal with Shark Teeth Films for a trio of upcoming unscripted shows.

J. Kim Murphy Awards courting, auctioning among distributors and corporate-sponsored parties can really take the “film” out of “film festival,” with moviegoing sometimes becoming an afterthought to more market-oriented activities at the industry’s legacy gatherings.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” — Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Kate Winslet — have reunited for a good cause.The film’s director, James Cameron, and Disney commissioned underwater photographer Christy Lee Rogers to photograph the actresses for the Nature Conservancy’s global Keep Our Oceans Amazing campaign. Wrapped in purple and blue flowy dresses, the famous trio keeps their eyes closed in the painting-like colorful shots, including snaps of them all together, in pairs and solo. Cameron, a longtime supporter of ocean conservation, said in a statement: “I have long admired Christy’s art and began collecting her works several years ago.

Courtney Love’s Women.The series will see the music legend share her “ultimate soundtrack to her life” as she reflects on the women in music who have “shaped her journey, her sound and her next chapter”.Across eight episodes that will air from April 8 to April 15, the Hole founder and singer will journey through the eras of her life and the music that made her alongside her friend and music podcaster and writer, Rob Harvilla.Love will recall the musical moments from throughout her formative years as part of the series, including when she discovered disco through the record collection at a childhood care home and recited Sylvia Plath poetry for a Mickey Mouse Club audition.She will also detail her love of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone and recall her time at an all-girl boarding school in New Zealand and in juvenile detention, before she reflects on couch-surfing across America and struggles with drug abuse.Other topics covered in the series will include her acting career, her attempts to creatively matchmake Stevie Nicks and Billy Corgan, hanging out with Debbie Harry at a Limp Bizkit album launch at the Playboy Mansion, Gwen Stefani – after years of public feuding between the pair – her relationship with Nirvana‘s Kurt Cobain, taking pandemic guitar lessons with The Big Moon’s Juliet Jackson and more.Samantha Moy, Head of BBC Radio 6 Music, said in a press statement: “Courtney Love is an icon and a trailblazer – her influence on music and culture over the decades is undeniable.

Annette Bening‘s first major TV series role has won the five-time Oscar nominee the Best Actress prize at this year’s Series Mania.

Series Mania was Warner Bros. Discovery’s European roll-out timeline for Max, announced Thursday at the climax of the Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues. The most keenly anticipated session was nearly Series Mania’ Forum first: a Netflix showcase hosted by a confident Larry Tanz who significantly proved the only goal streamer exec to drill down on volume commitment.

French commercial broadcast giant TF1 is taking its streaming service international. CEO Rodolphe Belmer told Series Mania on Thursday that TF1+ will start rolling out in the middle of this year before a wider series of launches in 2025.

Ben Croll Of the many politically-tinged projects premiering at this year’s Series Mania, French thriller “In the Shadows” could very well claim the best pedigree. While showrunner Pierre Schoeller has spent a career tracing his country’s corridors of power through films like “Versailles” and “The Minister,” he found a most opportune creative partner working with politician Edouard Philippe to adapt the latter’s 2011 novel. Perhaps the name rings a bell.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Netflix France’s campaign for Season 4 of the popular UK series, “Sex Education” was announced winner of Series Mania’s Best Marketing Initiative Award. Launched last year, the prize recognizes a company’s promotional efforts to consumers (BTC) as well as initiatives by producers and distributors to raise awareness of a show among commissioners and buyers (BTB). The jury included executives from BBC Creative Studios, Inédite Agency, and Make It Happen Studios, along with the Series Mania team.

Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald has won the €50,000 ($54,000) Series Mania Seriesmakers award.

Christian Schwochow has signed up to direct , the upcoming Constantin Film and Big Light Productions scripted series based on events surrounding the Nuremberg trials that took place in the wake of World War Two.

EXCLUSIVE: Sky Studios and Groenlandia are readying feature film director Sydney Sibilia’s first TV drama series. Someone Killed Spiderman – Accidentally Famous (working title) is for Sky Italia and is about a non-conformist teenager who becomes on half of successful musical duo 883.

Scripted formats were placed front and center of BBC Studios’ panel at Series Mania, as the Doctor Who seller confirmed it is making up to three more versions of Ghosts and has bought Spain’s Brutal Media.

Disney+ unveiled new originals out of France, Germany and Spain at Series Mania, with period drama and a pair of true crime projects added to a 70-part Spanish novella that will be stripped through the week.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fashion, East-West Asian identities, corporate espionage and romance are on the agenda in “Morning, Paris!,” a new mini-series project being pitched at Series Mania by veteran filmmaker Quentin Lee (“The People I’ve Slept With,” “White Frog”). “’Morning, Paris!’ is a heartfelt comedy about a young modern BIPOC Canadian woman discovering herself in the most romantic city in the world,” says Lee. “Or put another way, it is a limited television series about an aspiring female fashion designer from Vancouver who ends up in Paris Fashion week with a very unlikely companion because she wants to spy on her boss on whom she has a crush.

Callum McLennan Ancient Greek Aristotle got it right. The production whole is greater than the sum of its co-production parts. This was the sentiment at a Series Mania session titled ‘Fifty Shades of Co Pro’ on Tuesday.

Slovakian drama series Our People has won the Series Mania Co-Pro Pitch and taken home a €50,000 ($55,000) development prize.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor A panel moderated by the European Audiovisual Observatory at Series Mania Tuesday looked at four key trends in series production in Europe. Warning Signs?Gilles Fontaine, EAO’s head of department for market information, said there were warning signs of a downward trend in the number of seasons being produced, first in the U.S.

A small pro-Palestine protest formed outside Series Mania in France on Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: AGC Television is dropping a hot TV project into this week’s Series Mania market in Lille.