Markets

Ms. Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, together with M-K Kennedy, Executive Managing Director of TV Series at STUDIOCANAL and president of the professional jury, announced on Tuesday, March 25 , the winner of the Series Mania Forum’s annual Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.

Out of the 15 projects selected and pitched on the opening day of the Series Mania Forum—the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival—the jury awarded the Best Project Award to the comedy-romance Tokyo Crush, a French-Japanese co-production.

Joining Kennedy on the jury were André Béraud (Head of Scripted, Programs and Feature Films, ICI Radio-Canada Télé, Canada), Henriette Marienlund (Head of Drama, DR Drama, Denmark), José Pastor (Head of Drama and Fiction, RTVE, Spain), and Frank Seyberth (Head of Coproduction, International Fiction, ZDF, Germany). Together, they had the honor of presenting the €50,000 prize to the creators of Tokyo Crush.

“After much discussion, we chose Tokyo Crush because we saw so much promise in the story—both inside and outside the kitchen,” said Kennedy. “It felt fresh, with multiple entry points for audiences. The ensemble cast, cultural clashes, tradition vs. modernity, competition, and the classic will-they/won’t-they romance make for a series full of comedic potential. It stood out as truly unique.”

Herszberg added: “The Co-Pro Pitching Sessions are one of the most anticipated events at the Forum, and we’re thrilled to award the €50,000 prize to Tokyo Crush. In the challenges of today’s world, it’s heartening to see a romantic comedy take the top spot—just what audiences need right now.”

The project (8x30') is a comedy romance written by Clémence Dargent focused on Mona, a bold Parisian chef,  brought in to reinvent a struggling izakaya in Tokyo—if only Toshiro, the talented (and frustratingly charming) grandson of the founder, would let her.