Latest in Series Mania

Marti Noxon & Frank Doegler Among Showrunner Speakers For Series Mania And Beta's Seriesmakers Initiative As It Opens For Submissions Series Mania Forum and European content powerhouse Beta Group have opened their €120,000 Seriesmakers initiative for submissions and unveiled several high-profile speakers for its…

French hip-hop series Le Monde de Demain has scooped the Grand Prize at the Series Mania International Competition. Announced at a ceremony tonight and presided over by Jury President Julia Sinkevych, Arte/Netflix’s TV series about the birth of the French rap movement beat off stiff competition from the likes of…

Ukrainian filmmaker Julia Sinkevych, this year’s Series Mania Jury President, has spotlighted the strange juxtaposition of spending weeks helping with the war relief effort in her home country before flying to Lille for days of screenings, parties and dinners. The Ukrainian Film Academy Co-Founder returns home this…

Amazon Studios Europe Boss Georgia Brown has revealed how the streamer “completely turned storymaking on its head” for upcoming hybrid grime/drill musical Jungle.  The show, the first long-form TV series from new UK production company Nothing Lost, will launch soon and took a songs-first approach, with the cast, many…

WarnerMedia EMEA & Asia President Priya Dogra has talked up the U.S. media giant’s plan to “ramp up investment in local creative communities across Europe,” with 40 shows in the pipeline for 2023. Taking the Series Mania early afternoon keynote, the exec said WarnerMedia wants to “honour our 100-year legacy of U.S…

The head of France Télévisions Delphine Ernotte Cunci has said she “wouldn’t personally have applied censorship” to Russian news networks. Speaking at Series Mania, Ernotte Cunci, who is also European Broadcasting Union President, queried how the West can “condone censorship when practicing it ourselves” by blocking…

Major networks are “beginning to see the light” by commissioning entertaining content from Africa, according to EbonyLife Founder Mo Abudu, as the heads of production houses in some of the world’s biggest growing content markets spotlighted the challenge of attracting new talent. Abudu, whose pioneering outfit has…

Paramount International boss Raffaele Annecchino has talked up the streamer for “launching quicker than others” in key European markets, as he unveiled a tied-up with global Lupin and Narcos production house Gaumont and set titles from France, Argentina and Germany. Annecchino said the media giant’s global…

As competition for the best European talent ramps up, bosses at some of the continent’s biggest production houses are finding U.S. agents tricky to deal with. According to Christian Vesper, The Hand of God producer Fremantle’s President of Global Drama, agents are chasing too high a price for their clients which fails…

HBO Max Content Boss Antony Root has set out his team’s stall to “broaden the appeal” of the streamer “beyond the die hard Euphoria fan.” Speaking alongside his European commissioning and production chiefs at Series Mania, Root said the international team is looking to attract new subs to the platform who “might not…

Banijay Germany Hires Banijay's German labels have made a series of appointments. At Endemol Shine Germany, Panagiota Vafea has joined from ITV Studios Germany as Executive Director. She will be responsible for formats including Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and LEGO Masters. Tom Kühn has joined also joined Endemol…

Fanny Herrero, the showrunner of hit French comedy-drama Call My Agent!, discussed the genesis of the show's success during a panel at the Series Mania festival today. Herrero detailed how the series, which is returning for a fifth season and a movie as well as spawning several remakes in other languages, started life…