Series Mania, MipTV’s Virtual Marketplace: A Few First Takeaways

By Nellie Andreeva

The rapper will bring his gospel gathering online this Easter

Gloria Estefan has found a silver lining amid the coronavirus lockdown — the waters around her home in Miami have never been clearer.

By Elsa Keslassy

By Jake Kanter

By Emiliano Granada

Forrest Compton, most famous for his role in The Twilight Zone, passed away at the age of 94 after suffering from Coronavirus. According to reports in the US, the actor left for his heavenly abode on Sunday after battling with COVID-19. A local newspaper in New York reported the news of Forrest Compton's death. "Forrest Compton, 94, also died in the hospital at about 10 a.m. today.. Close friends of Mr. Compton confirmed his death," it claimed.

Virtual concerts have become the new norm, due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Many musicians are using technology to stay connected with their fans, now more than ever.

By Ted Johnson

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.

“Operation Buffalo” is a high-end series set in Australia in 1956, at the height of the Cold War. The action mainly takes place on a top-secret military base at Maralinga, in the Australian Outback, where the British are conducting atomic bomb tests, with the connivance of the Australian government.

MADRID – Originally planned to premiere alongside fellow Movistar Plus Original “La Unidad” at this year’s MipTV, “La Línea Invisible” will now instead screen for international buyers digitally in an online showcase hosted by the Spanish broadcaster on Monday.

Contrasting human paradoxes and complexities against the cold rationality of Scandinavian civic institutions, the Danish series “Cry Wolf” presents a searing social drama built from an initially ambiguous premise.

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.

Twice Oscar-nominated producer Alexander Rodnyansky is to present the Russian crime drama “Frozen Land” at the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions at Series Mania (March 25 to April 7), which is an all-digital affair this year. Rodnyansky spoke to Variety about the show.

Wild Bunch TV-sold “Albatros,” Turner Latin America’s banner title “Amarres” and REInvent Studios’ globe-trotting “Peacemaker” will feature at a 54 series-strong Buyers Showcase, which launches today March 25 as a backbone of Series Mania’s online Digital Forum, Europe’s first big festival experiment in a virtual marketplace.

Four upcoming premium drama series from German production companies—“Deutschland89,” “Wild Republic,” “Algiers Confidential” and “MaPa”—have been selected for Coming Next, a section that forms part of Series Mania’s Forum program. German Films, an agency that promotes Teutonic film and TV productions, compiled the selection.