Series Mania Jury President Julia Sinkevych ‘Scared’ to Leave Ukraine

French hip-hop series Le Monde de Demain has scooped the Grand Prize at the Series Mania International Competition.

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Ukrainian filmmaker Julia Sinkevych, this year’s Series Mania Jury President, has spotlighted the strange juxtaposition of spending weeks helping with the war relief effort in her home country before flying to Lille for days of screenings, parties and dinners.

Amazon Studios Europe Boss Georgia Brown has revealed how the streamer “completely turned storymaking on its head” for upcoming hybrid grime/drill musical Jungle. 

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentPriya Dogra, president of WarnerMedia Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia (excluding China), took the stage on Thursday to deliver a keynote speech at the Series Mania TV fest in Lille, France, and the message was clear: the U.S. conglomerate is ramping up production in Europe.“Our industry is becoming more global,” said Dogra.

WarnerMedia EMEA & Asia President Priya Dogra has talked up the U.S. media giant’s plan to “ramp up investment in local creative communities across Europe,” with 40 shows in the pipeline for 2023.

The head of France Télévisions Delphine Ernotte Cunci has said she “wouldn’t personally have applied censorship” to Russian news networks.

Major networks are “beginning to see the light” by commissioning entertaining content from Africa, according to EbonyLife Founder Mo Abudu, as the heads of production houses in some of the world’s biggest growing content markets spotlighted the challenge of attracting new talent.

Manori Ravindran International EditorParamount is the latest studio to plant its flag in the ground at French TV drama festival Series Mania, where international CEO Raffaele Annecchino broke down the company’s international distribution and SVOD strategy.In a keynote moderated by Variety’s Italy and West Asia correspondent Nick Vivarelli, Annecchino detailed plans to focus internationally on premium SVOD service Paramount Plus and FAST offering Pluto TV, which has more than 64 million monthly users. Also in the mix to “compete with our ecosystem,” according to Annecchino, is Paramount’s JV with Comcast, SkyShowtime, which is launching in 20 European markets where Paramount Plus won’t be available.By the end of 2022, both Paramount Plus and SkyShowtime will be in more than 60 markets in Europe.

GSC Game World, the developer of Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, may be moving away from Ukraine following news that Russia’s invasion had brought work on the game to a halt.According to a report by Czech news site Vortex, GSC Game World is relocating the studio’s team to somewhere in the Czech Republic.The site claims that GSC Game World is already in the process of filing applications to set up business in the Czech Republic. According to journalist Pavel Dobrovsky, the move will include “everyone” working at the studio.Pavel Barák – chairman of the Czech Game Developers Association – has also commented on the move:“I can confirm that the GSC studio approached the Association at the beginning of last week, saying that they are looking at the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries.

Marta Balaga Returning barely six months after its 2021 edition, which wrapped in September, French TV festival Series Mania welcomed Jury President Julia Sinkevych,who arrived in Lille from war-torn Ukraine.“I didn’t know if I would be lucky enough to be here tonight,” said Sinkevych to a standing ovation, with Laurence Herszberg, Series Mania general director, observing that culture cannot be insensitive to what is happening.“The whole world is now admiring our resistance, the resistance of the Ukrainian people. But there is another battlefield, which is culture, and I want us to be noticed, recognized and admired on the cultural battlefield, too,” added Sinkevych.“This [conflict] has been going on for a long time and there have been many episodes in this TV series.

Series Mania boasts a plethora of riches, including, just for starters, the latest series from “The Wire’s” David Simon, and “Vikings’” Michael Hirst and “The Responder,” starring Martin Freeman, which is already being talked up as the European series of the year. And it bowed on BBC One in January. The following selection may well not rep the best 10 titles at this year’s Series Mania. Some of those will only be revealed in a final jury verdict, if then.

Marta Balaga Thanks to fresh takes on established genres and highlighting local elements, Finnish drama is commanding attention from international buyers. A Series Mania Focus on Finland will teasing more series to come, from “Nordic blue” to horror for kids and a Christmas fairytale crime story.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor“Saturday Night Live” once again zeroed in on the war in Ukraine in its cold open with a sketch that featured President Joe Biden and White House press secretary Jen Psaki consulting with TikTok stars on how to respond to the growing threat from Russia.James Austin Johnson was back in an Oval Office setting as Biden while Kate McKinnon limned Psaki. A clutch of six representative TikTok personalities were seated on the two divans in the familiar setting for presidential meetings.“I suggested it as a joke and then it actually happened,” McKinnon as Psaki quipped, looking around the room.Johnson’s Biden joked about his lack of familiarity with the cutting-edge of social media.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy, 42, recently seemed to try and relax while getting some fresh air on the balcony of his apartment in Malibu, CA, just days after he admitted that his Dancing With the Stars fame helped him to flee Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. The ballroom dance champion was photographed looking at his phone while wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts as he looked up at cameras for a moment during the outing. He also wore white wireless ear buds and appeared to be either listening to something on his phone or chatting with someone.

Marta Balaga Dutch Features has acquired international rights to Finnish streaming service Elisa Viihde’s crime series “Evilside,” a six-hour Archipelago thriller set in the Oulu region of northern Finland.Filming took place from Dec. 2021 through Feb.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy is planning on making a return to Europe, less than a week after he fled war-torn Ukraine and made his way back to Los Angeles, Fox News Digital can confirm. A source close to the "Dancing with the Stars" pro told Fox News Digital that Chmerkovskiy is "working toward helping the refugee assistance efforts along the border." On Sunday, Chmerkovskiy said that he has "survivor's remorse." "I spent the last couple of days with survivor's remorse, and I'm currently working on an opportunity to go back," he said during an interview with CNN.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy has revealed he is dealing with some survivor’s remorse after he was able to get out of his home country, Ukraine, and into Poland after Russia invaded the country.