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24.03.2023 - 21:39 / variety.com
Series Mania, which wraps on Friday, looks like it’s succeeded in solidifying its place as Europe’s premier TV festival. The fest’s main competition was one of its strongest yet, and attendance at the industry-facing Series Mania Forum reached an all-time record of 3,800 delegates. Yet even Series Mania couldn’t escape the big-picture headwinds such as strikes and protests around France’s pension reform, nor the wider market turbulence as global streamers curb content investment around the world. Read on for Variety’s top takeaways:
Streamers Pull Back in Europe? One key concern among producers going into Series Mania was that global streamers may be pulling back from producing in Europe. But in fact, despite industry concerns over the financial health of streaming services, Netflix and Amazon aren’t stepping away from local content in key European markets: they and other streamers are simply becoming more cost-cautious and willing to split rights. First off, they’re required to: the European Commission has mandated streamers to invest a portion of their income on locally commissioned and acquired content. Secondly, they’ve realized that quality originals are good for branding and for driving subscriptions. “When you see the demand for local shows, it’s not surprising that we want to continue investing into that space,” Paramount+ executive VP Marco Nobili said at Series Mania.
The global streamers also also provided more specific detail about the kind of shows they’re looking for. Both Netflix and Amazon are chasing escapist fare. Amazon’s head of international originals James Farrell said the service is looking to do more comedy, romance and action in the veins of “Citadel,” the Russo Brothers’ spy thriller.
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Teenage tennis phenom Carlos Alcaraz defeats USA’s top-ranked player Taylor Fritz during the Miami Open tournament quarterfinals on Thursday (March 30) held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, the event’s founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival today.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwan has become a go-to destination for Chinese language series production over the past few years, as international streamers have taken the initiative and as the local content trend has become entrenched in Asia. While some of Taiwan’s advantage may have been handed to it as a result of regional political factors, the movement has led to greater interest in Taiwan stories, both historical and modern.Five Taiwan TV projects are being pitched at Series Mania, that are deemed to have international appeal according to Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), a government-backed agency that has become noticeably proactive over roughly the same period.
Series Mania on March 21 just after a Spanish series, “Wrong Side of the Tracks” from Mediaset España and Alea Media, had scored 149.6 million watching hours in three weeks on Netflix for Seasons 1 and 2. That platform connection and power of Spanish series threaded most of the series and much of the commentary at Tuesday’s Next from Spain, supported by Audiiovisual from Spain. At least in terms of titles now ready to hit the market, there’s little sign as yet of platform pullback in Spain. Rather, it remains a ground zero in the streamer wars.
Casey Bloys wants Kate Winslet to be venerated in the States.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While she retired prematurely at the age of 39, Brigitte Bardot has left an indelible mark on France’s popular culture in the 1960’s and 1970’s. With her wild blonde mane, smoky eyes and pouty lips, Bardot became a symbol of a modern and effortlessly sexy French woman, and a style emblem that continues to inspire current trends. The event series “Bardot,” which is penned and directed by Daniele Thompson (“The Queen Margot”) and Christopher Thompson (“La bûche”), world premiered at Series Mania Festival to unanimous praise and has been pre-sold by Federation nearly worldwide. “‘Bardot’ is like the French ‘The Crown’ because Bardot embodied France, and through her journey we reminisce about many parts of France’s history and popular culture in the 1950’s and 1960’s,” Federation’s boss and “Bardot” producer Pascal Breton told Variety.
Amazon Prime Video is exploring more global franchise opportunities following the success of the Russo Brothers’ Citadel.
Sky Studios CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz has called the plethora of shows on the market “really confusing” for viewers.
John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — Germany’s Beta Group is a company for our challenged times, Moritz von Kruedener, Beta Group managing director told an audience at Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues on Thursday. He also broke down Beta’s business model which takes elements which hark back to the past – a powerful, ultra connected territory-by-territory international sales apparatus combined with Beta’s biggest pivot in recent years: a move from picking up and selling finished shows into far larger production involvement, be its financial support or early upstream input on maximising a project’s international potential. Beta Group and Series Mania has also scored heavily at this year’s festival with the first edition go Seriesmakers, a mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut.
Rodolphe Belmer has made the case for TF1 Group as “the free entertainment reference for French citizens on TV and in streaming.”
France Télévisions boss Delphine Ernotte Cunci is looking to “debunk” and tackle major societal issues such as sexual violence via the public broadcaster’s shows.
Ben Croll LILLE, France – Producers, commissioning editors and creative talents from across La Belle Province took the spotlight at a Series Mania showcase of the best of recent Quebecois scripted offerings. Below are the seven series that drew whoops and appreciative hollers from a room full of international buyers. Late summer doldrums, young adult love, and the generally placid rhythms of suburban life take on additional heft and resonance for a group of friends all suffering from cystic fibrosis – especially once one’s condition takes a turn for the worst. Far from jerking tears, the offbeat comedy “Thin Air” finds irreverent and life-affirming humor following young adult characters that feel the pangs of mortality more acutely than most. Produced by Urbania and created by acclaimed writer Jean-Christophe Réhel, the bittersweet series offers another plum role to “Mommy” star Antoine Olivier Pilon.
“We all have to become a bit more Scandinavian,” Beta Film MD Moritz von Kruedener told a Series Mania audience this morning.
Netflix teased its slate of European series, including part 3 of its hit heist show “Lupin,” starring Omar Sy, during its showcase at Series Mania in Lille. The panel was attended by Katja Hofem from Germany, Damien Couvreur from France and Jenny Stjernströmer Björk from the Nordics, who each discussed their editorial strategies. The streamer also announced season 2 of its off-beat comedy series “Represent” starring Cesar-winning actor-director Jean-Pascal Zadi (“Tout simplement noir”) as an ordinary man from a project becomes President of France. The show, whose French title is “En Place,” launched earlier this year and was one of the service’s biggest local hits. Other new French titles in the pipeline include “Thicker than Water,” “Tapie,” “Fury” and “Anthracite.”
After the launch of its first original content in 2022, Disney+ France is expanding and announced a slate of new productions at the Series Mania festival in Lille Wednesday afternoon.
Paramount+ is well ahead of its target to greenlight 150 non-U.S. originals by 2025 but international boss Marco Nobili wishes the streamer could have rolled out quicker.
A project from Finland and a Belgium-Uruguay co-production have won the Seriesmaker initiative here at Series Mania.
John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — Paramount+ will be bowing “Drag Race Italia” Season 3 on the streaming service in Italy, followed by the U.S. and Latin America later this year. The Italian Season 3 follows on the recent announcement of three new “Drag Race” editions in Brazil, Germany and Mexico and a “Global Drag Race All Stars,” which will air on Paramount+ in their respective territories this year, Paramount+ announced Wednesday. “As we expand Paramount+’s global footprint, it was important to recapture ‘Drag Race’ in key international markets and also build an interconnected competition series with a new ‘Global Drag Race All Stars’ – it’s like a global Super Bowl for Drag,” said Chris McCarthy, president-CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks.
The issues Westworld was exploring went from “sci-fi to documentary film” through the years, according to co-creator Lisa Joy, who hinted at what a fifth season of the HBO smash could have looked like.