Having received 450 projects from 66 different countries, the goal of the Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions is to help these high-end European and International drama projects find potential financial partners. An international jury of industry professionals will determine the best project among the 15 projects and prize the Best Project Award €50,000 to help develop the winning series.
“We could not be prouder of the fact that this year we received a record number of submissions with increasing interest from African countries including Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria,” commented Herszberg. “Genres that dominated the selection process this year included thrillers and detective stories followed closely by historical dramas with a strong appeal to the 90s. We also received many women themed stories based on real life events. We greatly look forward to unveiling the winner of the Best Project Award with €50,000 on the evening of March 21 in Lille.”
The 2023 international jury of industry professionals includes:
Jury President: Caroline Hollick (United-Kingdom), Head of Drama, Channel 4
Michele Zatta (Italy), Commissioning Editor, RAI
Françoise Guyonnet (France), Executive Managing Director TV Series, StudioCanal
Jarmo Lampela (Finland), Head of Drama, YLE - Finnish Broadcasting Company
Lindsey Martin (United-Kingdom), VP, Development & Co-Productions, CBS Studios International
The following list of selected projects (in alphabetical order) will be pitched by their producers to a panel of potential financiers and are eligible for the Best Project Award of €50,000:
ASMA - 8 x 52’ - France
Genre : Biopic
Produced by Patricia Boutinard Rouelle for Nilaya Productions
Written by Antoine Vitkine
COOPER - 8 x 45’ - Australia, South Africa
Genre : Crime drama
Produced by Kylie du Fresne for Goalpost Pictures and Nimrod Geva for Quizzical Pictures
Written by James McNamara, Amy Jephta and Malla Nunn, based on Malla Nunn Books
DUST AND COAL - 8 x 52’ - Israël, France
Genre : Psychological thriller
Produced by Ronen Ben Tal for Bental Productions Ltd and Morgane Le Moine for First Love
Written by Ronen Ben Tal, Ron Ninio, Ofer Seker and Eleanor Sela
EXECUTIONERS - 6 x 60’ - Spain
Genre : Coming of age, Thriller
Produced by Alberto Rull for Vertice 360
Written by Pedro Garcia Rios and Rodrigo Martin
FORT APACHE - 8 x 50’ - Italy
Genre: Action, Crime
Produced by Fabrizio Donvito, Marco Cohen, Benedetto Habib, Daniel Campos Pavoncelli for Indiana Production Company
Executive Producer: Kim Gualino
Written by Ivano Fachin, Giovanni Galassi and Tommaso Matano
HIJACKING PARADISE - 6 x 52’ - Belgium
Genre : Geopolitical hostage thriller
Produced by Dimitri Verbeeck for Caviar
Created by Stijn Deconinck
Written by Stijn Deconinck & Nathalie Teirlinck
YOP- 8 x 45’ - Sweden
Genre: Drama
Produced by Moa Westeson, Cindy Hanson and Anni Faurbye Fernandez for Nevis Productions
Written by David Jassy
LETTERS TO LEONARD - 5 x 50’ - Greece
Genre : Drama, LGBTQIA+
Produced by George Linardakis for Stefi Productions
Written by Fotis Dousos and John Samaras on an idea of Pierros Andrakakos
MONITOR - 6 x 60’ - Germany
Genre : High-Tech Thriller
Produced by Fabian Massah & Marc Malze for Endorphine Production
Created by Nikolai Müllerschön
OUR FATHER - 8 x 55’ - Ireland, Canada
Genre : Comedy
Produced by Aaron Farrell for ShinAwiL and Dominic Scheiber for Reel One Entertainment
Written by John Cairns and Michael McCartney
THE BRONTE GIRLS - 6 x 60’ - UK
Genre : Historical, Coming of age
Developed by Parsonage Productions Ltd. with ZDF Studios
Written by Caroline Kelly Franklin
THE SALVATORE MUNDI CASE - 6 x 52’ - France
Genre : Thriller
Produced by Florent Gellie for Incognita and Nathanaël La Combe for Wonder Films
Written by Angela Soupe and Antoine Vitkine
THE UNQUIET DEAD - 6 x 60’ – Canada
Genre : Serialized Crime drama
Produced by Shaftesbury
Written by Abdul Malik, based on the book series created by Ausma Zehanat Khan
UNSPOKEN - 6 x 30’ - Ukraine, Poland
Genre: War thriller
Produced by Anna Rozalska, Dmytro Sukhanov and Natalia Liber for Match&Spark (Poland), Toy Cinema (Ukraine) and 2Brave Productions (Ukraine).
Written by Zhanna Ozirna and Filip Syczyński
VANISHED - 6 x 45’ - Germany, Iceland
Genre : Crime, Historical
Written by Mikael Torfason
Produced by Britta Hansen and Franziska Lindner for RED PONY PICTURES and Ragnheidur Erlingsdottir for Zik Zak Filmworks
Exec. Producers: Sven Sund (RPP), Thor S. Sigurjónsson (ZZ) and Wolfgang Feindt (ZDF)
“We could not be prouder of the fact that this year we received a record number of submissions with increasing interest from African countries including Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria,” commented Herszberg. “Genres that dominated the selection process this year included thrillers and detective stories followed closely by historical dramas with a strong appeal to the 90s. We also received many women themed stories based on real life events. We greatly look forward to unveiling the winner of the Best Project Award with €50,000 on the evening of March 21 in Lille.”
The 2023 international jury of industry professionals includes:
Jury President: Caroline Hollick (United-Kingdom), Head of Drama, Channel 4
Michele Zatta (Italy), Commissioning Editor, RAI
Françoise Guyonnet (France), Executive Managing Director TV Series, StudioCanal
Jarmo Lampela (Finland), Head of Drama, YLE - Finnish Broadcasting Company
Lindsey Martin (United-Kingdom), VP, Development & Co-Productions, CBS Studios International
The following list of selected projects (in alphabetical order) will be pitched by their producers to a panel of potential financiers and are eligible for the Best Project Award of €50,000:
ASMA - 8 x 52’ - France
Genre : Biopic
Produced by Patricia Boutinard Rouelle for Nilaya Productions
Written by Antoine Vitkine
COOPER - 8 x 45’ - Australia, South Africa
Genre : Crime drama
Produced by Kylie du Fresne for Goalpost Pictures and Nimrod Geva for Quizzical Pictures
Written by James McNamara, Amy Jephta and Malla Nunn, based on Malla Nunn Books
DUST AND COAL - 8 x 52’ - Israël, France
Genre : Psychological thriller
Produced by Ronen Ben Tal for Bental Productions Ltd and Morgane Le Moine for First Love
Written by Ronen Ben Tal, Ron Ninio, Ofer Seker and Eleanor Sela
EXECUTIONERS - 6 x 60’ - Spain
Genre : Coming of age, Thriller
Produced by Alberto Rull for Vertice 360
Written by Pedro Garcia Rios and Rodrigo Martin
FORT APACHE - 8 x 50’ - Italy
Genre: Action, Crime
Produced by Fabrizio Donvito, Marco Cohen, Benedetto Habib, Daniel Campos Pavoncelli for Indiana Production Company
Executive Producer: Kim Gualino
Written by Ivano Fachin, Giovanni Galassi and Tommaso Matano
HIJACKING PARADISE - 6 x 52’ - Belgium
Genre : Geopolitical hostage thriller
Produced by Dimitri Verbeeck for Caviar
Created by Stijn Deconinck
Written by Stijn Deconinck & Nathalie Teirlinck
YOP- 8 x 45’ - Sweden
Genre: Drama
Produced by Moa Westeson, Cindy Hanson and Anni Faurbye Fernandez for Nevis Productions
Written by David Jassy
LETTERS TO LEONARD - 5 x 50’ - Greece
Genre : Drama, LGBTQIA+
Produced by George Linardakis for Stefi Productions
Written by Fotis Dousos and John Samaras on an idea of Pierros Andrakakos
MONITOR - 6 x 60’ - Germany
Genre : High-Tech Thriller
Produced by Fabian Massah & Marc Malze for Endorphine Production
Created by Nikolai Müllerschön
OUR FATHER - 8 x 55’ - Ireland, Canada
Genre : Comedy
Produced by Aaron Farrell for ShinAwiL and Dominic Scheiber for Reel One Entertainment
Written by John Cairns and Michael McCartney
THE BRONTE GIRLS - 6 x 60’ - UK
Genre : Historical, Coming of age
Developed by Parsonage Productions Ltd. with ZDF Studios
Written by Caroline Kelly Franklin
THE SALVATORE MUNDI CASE - 6 x 52’ - France
Genre : Thriller
Produced by Florent Gellie for Incognita and Nathanaël La Combe for Wonder Films
Written by Angela Soupe and Antoine Vitkine
THE UNQUIET DEAD - 6 x 60’ – Canada
Genre : Serialized Crime drama
Produced by Shaftesbury
Written by Abdul Malik, based on the book series created by Ausma Zehanat Khan
UNSPOKEN - 6 x 30’ - Ukraine, Poland
Genre: War thriller
Produced by Anna Rozalska, Dmytro Sukhanov and Natalia Liber for Match&Spark (Poland), Toy Cinema (Ukraine) and 2Brave Productions (Ukraine).
Written by Zhanna Ozirna and Filip Syczyński
VANISHED - 6 x 45’ - Germany, Iceland
Genre : Crime, Historical
Written by Mikael Torfason
Produced by Britta Hansen and Franziska Lindner for RED PONY PICTURES and Ragnheidur Erlingsdottir for Zik Zak Filmworks
Exec. Producers: Sven Sund (RPP), Thor S. Sigurjónsson (ZZ) and Wolfgang Feindt (ZDF)
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