SERIES MANIA FORUM develops its 7th edition from today to Thursday, at the Lille Grand Palais in the city of Lille in France. The initiative created by the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée) and Creative Europe Media, welcomes more than 4,000 professionals from 60 countries. It is held within the framework of the traditional SERIES MANIA FESTIVAL, that attracts about 80,000 people all in all. 'It is a special year for the industry, so today more than ever these spaces are necessary to boost business,' said Laurence Herszberg, General Director of SERIES MANIA.

This year's edition is marked by several themes that have defined the industry today. On the one hand, the war conflicts that have affected production units in regions of Europe, so this year there is a reduction in the presence of the affected countries. Also, the screenwriters' strike in Hollywood directly affected the premiere schedule at the event, since many projects from the United States suffered delays. On the other hand, the emergence of AI has proven to be very useful for the audiovisual industry, so based technologies and tools will have a great presence in SERIES MANIA FORUM as they begin to be incorporated step by step into productions.

This edition has several new features that respond to the current dynamics of the industry. One of the new initiatives is the focus on IP adaptation strategies, where literary sources, podcasts and short formats have been a trend. Also, due to the tremendous response to the “Series Mania’s Creative Campaign Awards”, the organization launched the new “Best Marketing Initiative Awards” program, an award that seeks to recognize the best marketing strategies to promote projects.

Today begins with the classic "opening remarks", where Herszberg and Anne Bouverot, President of Series Mania and Technicolor Creative Studios, offer details of the market and current scope. This is followed by the first two market trends conferences, organized by European Audiovisual Observatory (“Key Trends in TV”) and another by C21 Media's insights unit.

Today the international delegations have their respective “Coming Next from…” showcases organized by the local institutions that represent them. Among them: APFI (Finland), KOCCA (Korea), Audiovisual from Spain (Spain), Unifrance (France), Ukraine, Taiwan, and Telefilm Canada.

Meanwhile, as the main protagonists, Netflix presents new regional contents from its different units in Europe during this morning; meanwhile in the afternoon the adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic “The Count of Monte Cristo”, directed by Bille August and starring Sam Claflin, produced and distributed by Mediawan for France Television and RAI, will be screened at the opening premiere night, with seeking to reach new markets.

The first pitch sessions are also held today, having this year 15 projects that seek funding opportunities. Likewise, in alliance with Sam Spiegel School, seven scriptwriting producers and creators from Israel will be selected for a scholarship to develop their ideas on the final pitching event. This section arises after the success of the Israel-France writing residency last year. These events will be attended by more than 200 buyers attending the market, including: RTBF (Belgium), Netflix France, France Télévisions, Rai Cinema (Italy), Amazon France, Samsung TV Plus (UK), TV 2 Denmark, Disney France, WBD France, among others.

Alberto Buitron

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