Series Mania Unveils 2022 Lineup And Guests Of Honor

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentMo Abudu, CEO of Nigeria’s The EbonyLife Group, will be celebrated by France’s upcoming Series Mania festival with its Women in Series Award. The prize, given in tandem with the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA Network) and advocacy group Pour Les Femmes Dans Les Médias (PFDM), honors a remarkable woman from the audiovisual industry for her vision and leadership.

ScreenSkills Invests £10M In UK High-End TV

Katherine Ryan and her husband Bobby Kootstral oozed glamour as they rocked The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer red carpet. The couple were among the stars in attendance at Roundhouse, London, and looked ready to celebrate the UK’s most brilliant comedy content and creators. Katherine was wearing a silky yellow dress with a plunging V-shaped neckline, with her partner Bobby dressed to the nines in a white shirt that featured leaves embroidered in black thread, and a black blazer.

Naman Ramachandran Ukrainian film producer and co-founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy Julia Sinkevych (“Heat Singers”) has been selected as jury president for this year’s Series Mania Festival and its international competition. “She has always been committed to supporting Ukrainian artists and the culture of her country from Kyiv, where she lives,” the festival said in a statement.

The Co-Founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy has been named Jury President for this year’s Series Mania.

HBO Max has unveiled the first footage for its upcoming Julia Child drama series Julia, starring Sarah Lancashire as The French Chef creator and host herself.

Veronica Carlson was a British actress known for her roles in Hammer horror films including “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.”Carlson began her career as a model, which led to acting roles. Her first Hammer film was 1968’s “Dracula Has Risen from the Grave,” in which she starred opposite the Hammer Horror legend Christopher Lee (1922–2015). She went on to star in “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed” (1969) with Peter Cushing (1913–1994) as well as “The Horror of Frankenstein” (1970) for Hammer.

Russian film and TV organization Roskino has been banned from next month’s Series Mania and Millennium Media exec Yariv Lerner has issued a call to help Ukrainian film professionals, as the media world continues to react to the conflict.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentRussia’s Roskino, the government-backed advocacy organization for the nation’s film and TV industry, has been barred from participating in Series Mania, the international TV showcase that will unfold in Northern France next month, Variety has confirmed.The Russian org was expected to host a presentation of buzzed-about content at Series Mania’s industry showcase in Lille, which runs from March 18-25. The festival disinvited Roskino after the French culture ministry vetoed its presence at at the event in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The news of Series Mania’s stand against Roskino was first reported by Screen.Roskino has in recent years ramped up its presence at key industry events, reflecting the emergence of new generation of Russian filmmakers on the international scene.

Encanto fever continues as We Don’t Talk About Bruno settles in for a sixth week at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart, racking up over 7.8 million UK streams over the past seven days.   The Disney movie’s grip on the UK Top 10 doesn’t slacken this week, either. Jessica Darrow’s Surface Pressure climbs back one spot to a re-peak of Number 3, while The Family Madrigal holds steady at Number 8.  

If she isn't already, Mimi Webb's on the cusp of becoming the UK's new Main Pop Girl. All the makings of a proper, bona fide super star are there. Viral TikTok hit? Check. Celebrity fans including actual Charli D'Amelio? Yep. Huge, Cirkut-produced hit song? You bet.

The first trailer for “Pachinko” has been released, offering a first look at the upcoming Apple TV+ adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s sprawling multigenerational saga chronicling how one family’s journey from Korea to America over the course of decades, told in three different languages: Korean, Japanese and English.

Mimi Webb's House On Fire scorches its way to the top of the Official Trending Chart today, becoming the UK's Official Number 1 Trending Song. 

Afternoon subscribers. Max Goldbart here with your weekly dose of International Insider news and analysis and it’s been as busy as ever over the past seven days. Scroll down for more.

Series Mania Forum’s 2022 Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.One of Europe’s most prestigious TV competitions, with titles competing for a €50,000 ($56,000) grand prize, this year’s Sessions form part of the Forum, which runs March 22-24.The lineup is rich in projects backed by top-tier producers and sales forces, while sluiced by large themes, such as racial and gender equality.The latest from top Italian company Fandango, producer of “Gomorrah” and “My Brilliant Friend,” “The Impossible She” turns on about the first woman to be selected for a Formula 1 race.