Series Mania 2020: Highlights, Trends, Market Challenges

By Elsa Keslassy

By Jake Kanter

Produced by Paris-based outfit Mother Productions and sold internationally by eOne, the six-part limited series “La Garçonne” offers a playful, gender-bending spin on the period potboiler. Set during the roar of the early 1920s, the show follows a one-time war medic forced to take on not one, but two new identities after she witnesses a murder performed by a pair of government officials.

Produced by Paris-based outfit Mother Productions and sold internationally by eOne, the six-part limited series “La Garçonne” offers a playful, gender-bending spin on the period potboiler. Set during the roar of the early 1920s, the show follows a one-time war medic forced to take on not one, but two new identities after she witnesses a murder performed by a pair of government officials.

Presented as part of Series Mania’s Coming Next from France showcase, the youth-skewing series “Derby Girl” offers a fast-paced, darkly comic portrait of a disgraced former-figure skater named Lola Bouvier (Chloé Jouannet), who is offered a shot at redemption when she joins a local roller derby league, the Cannibal Unicorns.

Arte France, a bastion of quality European TV, is looking to make its French series ever less French , as it consolidates its position as one of Europe’s most internationally-minded TV operators.

MADRID — One of Europe’s best-known genre auteurs, Jaume Balagueró (“[REC]” franchise, “Sleep Tight”) is teaming with fellow Spaniard Pau Freixas, writer-director of “The Red Band Society,” and creator of Mediaset España’s “I Know Who You Are,” on a small-screen version of “Los sin nombre” (“The Nameless”).

It’s hard to imagine that it’s been roughly eight years since audiences first met the Shannon family. Over the years, Mama June, 40, and her four girls — Anna Marie “Chickadee” Cardwell, 25, Jessica Louise “Chubbs” Shannon, 23, Lauryn Michelle “Pumpkin” Shannon, 20, and Alana Frances “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, 14 — have really gone through a complete transformation. Now, with the return of Family Crisis, we’re taking a look back at how the girls have grown up over the years.

MADRID — Omri Givon, one of Israel’s only true showrunners, wears his heart on his sleeve, bearing his series’ plot-drivers from the get-go.

With the world taking a seemingly dystopian turn due to the Cover-19 pandemic, “My First Family,” a high-concept series project set in an alternate world created by Maya Zaydman (“Our Boys”) and Ori Sivan (“In Treatment”), will likely strike a chord with audiences.

By Bruce Haring

Manu Dibango has sadly passed away at the age of 86.

Manu Dibango, who fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music, died Tuesday (March 24) with the coronavirus, according to his music publisher. He was 86.

Manu Dibango, the pioneering Cameroonian jazz musician whose song “Soul Makossa” was interpolated in Michael Jackson’s hit “Wanna Be Starting Something,” died in Paris Tuesday after contracting Covid-19, according to The Guardian and multiple news outlets. He was 86.

Manu Dibango, the afro-jazz great behind hits including “Soul Makossa,” died Tuesday morning (March 24) from COVID-19, the BBC and AFP report. He was 86. “A voice raises from far away,” a statement on his Facebook page began. “It is with deep sadness that we announce you the loss of Manu Dibango, our Papy Groove.” There will be a private funeral service before a tribute is held “when possible,” according to the statement.

PARIS -- Renowned jazz man Manu Dibango, to many the beloved “Papy Groove” who served as an inspiration and pioneer in his art, died on Tuesday with the coronavirus, his official Facebook page announced. He was 86.

MADRID — Argentina’s Pablo Trapero, one of the driving forces behind the renaissance of Latin American cinema, is teaming with El Estudio on two ambitious TV series: an English-language U.S. remake of his 2010 hit movie “Carancho” and true-facts inspired bioseries “Galimberti.”

On Wednesday, Series Mania hosts digital presentations of drama series projects developed during a writing residency attended by 12 writers from France and Israel, whose credits include leading shows like “The Bureau,” “Fauda” and “Braquo.”

It’s a sad day for fans and the Modern Family team as they have lost a very important cast member.