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The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), the premier global business association for content producers, distributors, streamers and buyers across all platforms, and CEETV are proud to announce the three finalists for the fifth edition of Pitch & Play Live 2020, which will take place during NATPE Virtual Budapest - August 24th through 27th, 2020.

Following a remarkably close vote, the 3 finalists this year are: Children vs. Adults (CTC, Russia); Made in Quarantine (RTL Klub, Hungary) and Fashion Designers (Kanal 2, Estonia). The three finalist formats will be presented live by their creators during the Pitch & Play Live session on Monday, August 24 at 15:00 CET. The jury, consisting of Izzet Pinto, Founder and CEO, Global Agency; Daiva Andrade Gonzalez, Senior Content Acquisitions Manager, TV3 Group, and Taliah Shahar, Head of International Sales, Acquisitions and Partnerships, United Studios of Israel, will review the top finalists and vote for one winner of the competition which will be announced live during NATPE Virtual Budapest.

With 400 buyers and a slew of new exhibitors attending, the weeklong NATPE Budapest Virtual is the digital iteration of this year’s NATPE Budapest International. The marketplace and conference remains the ultimate meeting of the television industry servicing the MENA and CEE regions. The NATPE VIRTUAL platform, which has been created in partnership with RightsTrade, Perigon, and Vision Events, is a single portal destination that encompasses the most comprehensive ecosystem of customized tools to empower creators and distributors of all backgrounds and experience.

STUDIOCANAL is slated to present the first of their new draft The King of Warsaw. Produced by Aurum Film for NC+, The King of Warsaw is CANAL+ Poland’s biggest TV series production to date, featuring a prestigious Polish cast. Based on the bestselling novel by Szczepan Twardoch and directed by Jan P. Matuszyński, The King of Warsaw, is cleverly set at a powerful turning point in history rarely seen on screen – right before the onset of WWII and the Holocaust.

The key elements that make NATPE’s physical experience a must attend event were carefully considered when building out the virtual event strategy as online networking and marketplaces become commonplace. Utilizing the digital space created by NATPE VIRTUAL and its partners, exhibitors will be able to guide buyers through the content licensing journey from discovery, to screening, to signing terms all digitally.

Additional Information on PITCH & PLAY LIVE 2020:
This year Pitch & Play Live's Top 3 formats were selected from among nine brand-new original formats from CEE and EMEA, which were evaluated by the selection committee that included Darren Asamoa, Director of International Productions, SYCO Entertainment; Angelos Karagiannis, Acquisitions Manager at Antenna TV; Adva Avichzer, Head of Distribution at Gil Formats; Dann Novak, Content Executive, NATPE, and Georgi R. Chakarov, President and CEO of TVBIZZ and CEETV.

Each format was evaluated based on three criteria: originality (how original is the idea for the format); universality (does the format idea show flexibility for changes and development), and internationality (does the format have the potential to be sold internationally).