EXCLUSIVE: TV Beats Forum, the drama series-focused industry element of Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, will this year host cases studies of international shows such as Netflix’s Stranger Things and German historical drama Deutschland 83.
Running November 23-27, 2020, in a primarily digital format, the event will welcome international guests to discuss a variety of topics related to drama production. Program highlights include:
- A case study of Netflix’s Stranger Things, which shot its fourth season in Lithuania, with Gary Tuck, producer and managing director of Baltic Film Services, interviewed by Deadline to share the challenges and triumphs of the shoot.
- Kateryna Vyshnevska and Olesya Lukyanenko from Ukrainian production powerhouse Film.UA will shed some light to their global crime thriller Hide And Seek, new series There Will Be People, animated series Hrafn Academy, and new international co-productions.
- Jörg Winger, the co-creator of Deutschland 83, will discuss the success of the long-running show in a session also moderated by Deadline.
- Madeline Di Nonno, CEO of Geena Davis Institute, will look into the latest trends in female representation in films and TV and see where the bright spots and challenges lay.
Also in the program: Estonian telecom Elisa will present their brand-new Estonian crime thriller Line Of Fire; 1-2-3 Production will share the story of their Russian thriller Dead Mountain –The Dyatlov Pass Incident; Aleksey Kiselev from Art Pictures and Irina Sosnovaya, Creative Producer of Yellow Black & White, will talk about production in Russia; three German screenwriters, Aron Lehmann (The Last Word), Thomas Stuber (Hausen) and Judit Banhazi, will discuss their creative process; and Guy Bisson, Research Director at Ampere Analysis, will share research on how the pandemic has influenced film and TV shoots in Europe.
Further speakers include Film i Väst head of production Peter Possne, ScreenSkills UK Head of Film and Animation Gareth Ellis-Unwin, NT Group EVP and Chief Content Officer Filippa Wallestam and attorney Christoph Fey.
“Series have become just as important as film in our programme now. TV Beats Forum has always aimed to act as a meeting point of creatives in the region to provide opportunities to share their experiences, to find new partners and ideas and to attract more international productions to shoot here. For the first time at TV Beats, MIDPOINT TV Launch presents nine exciting new series from Central and Eastern Europe in addition to the five projects taking part in Script Pool TV,” said Marge Liiske, head of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event.