Lille’s Series Mania Forum is kicking off today with a packed schedule of talks, screenings and competitions.
Fighting it out in International Competition are the likes of Prime Video’s Toni Collette starrer The Power, Haven of Grace from Magnetic Beats director Vincent Maël Cardona, and Quoc Dang Tran’s Apple TV+ series Drops of God.
They compete against Greek series Milky Way, which opened the festival, Viaplay’s futuristic Russell Tovey drama The Fortress, Red Skies from Israel, The Actor from Iran and Fleeting Lies from Spain. Each will have its world premiere at the event.
The Power is a fantasy series set in a world where the physical balance of power between men and women switches when electric arcs emerge from the fingers of teenage girls all around the world. Debuting later this month, it comes from Sister, the UK producer behind Chernobyl and is based on Naomi Alderman’s sci-fi novel.
Drops of God is the latest series from Call My Agent and Nox writer Dang Tran. Set to launch shortly on Apple TV+, France Télévisions and Hulu Japan, the show is an adaptation of Tadashi Agi’s manga story about winemaking and a journey between Tokyo and the French vineyards. The show stars Japanese actor and singer Tomohisa Yamashita (Alice in Borderland S2, The Head), who was in town promoting the series over the weekend, and is directed by Oded Ruskin (No Man’s Land).
Haven of Grace, starring the likes of Olivier Gourmet, Panayotis Pascot and Pierre Lottin, tells the story of a unionist family who are confronted with drug trafficking in the docks of Le Havre.
Mediawan Rights is in town shopping the Arte drama this week. We hear certain VIP buyers were recently given a sneak preview and many are already planning to table offers.
The Series Mania jury is being led by Westworld EP Lisa Joy, who held a Masterclass yesterday evening before the Forum got underway and will be interviewed on stage by Deadline tomorrow. International competition has become an increasingly important selling tool for distributors and streamers over recent years, as investment in scripted content has risen in local territories.
“Progress in drama writing and production has led to increased competition,” Mediawan Rights Managing Director Valérie Vleeschhouwer told Deadline.
France Televisions’ Bardot and Split, OCS’s Aspergirl, Arte’s Polar Park and Under Control and TF1’s Six Women are fighting it out in French competition, while the likes of Prime Video Germany’s fantasy drama The Gryphon will be screened out of competition.
The Forum’s popular Co-Pro Pitching Sessions will continue to lure in industry professionals as well. This year, Series Mania received 460 applications from 66 countries, of which 15 were selected to get a chance to pitch their projects in front of a panel of potential financiers: broadcasters, distributors, producers as well as public and private funds.
On the panels front, the likes of Disney+, Sky Studios and super-indies Fremantle, Banijay and All3Media will be appearing. On Thursday, the strategy-focused Lille Dialogues will feature Beta CEO Jan Mojto, TF1 Group’s Rodolphe Belmer, France Televisions chief Delphine Ernotte Cunci, Sky Studios CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz, Amazon Studios international originals head James Farrell and HBO and HBO Max boss Casey Bloys.
Series Mania runs between March 21-23.