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Film und Medien Stiftung NRW➝News➝Press➝Film- und Medienstiftung NRW main partner of the Berlinale Series Market & Conference for the sixth time

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW main partner of the Berlinale Series Market & Conference for the sixth time

  • Innovative market platform for international high-end series under a new name
  • Opening under the banner of "The Streaming Revolution
  • "Terms of Trade: Global Streamers Investing in Local Originals"
  • Series showcases from Chile, Germany, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and others
  • Filmstiftung-backed series at the market: "Höllental", "Unsere Wunderbaren Jahre"

This is the sixth time that the European Film Market (EFM) is hosting the Berlinale Series Market & Conference (formerly "Drama Series Days"), and it will also be the sixth time that the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW is serving as the official main partner of the innovative market platform. The event at the Zoo Palast will be offering keynotes, discussions, showcases and screenings on current issues affecting the international series market from Monday, February 24 to Wednesday, February 26.

Keynote
The conference will open on Monday morning with the official welcome by EFM Director Matthijs Wouter Knol and Filmstiftung CEO Petra Müller and a keynote speech by the US actor and creator Jason Segel ("How I Met Your Mother", "Dispatches From Elsewhere").

 

The Streaming Revolution
"The Streaming Revolution" provides the context for the conference’s first day. Rémi Tereszkiewicz (Beta Series) will analyse the current situation in the TV market which is undergoing a disruptive upheaval following the worldwide advance of the streaming providers. The competition between VOD and linear TV is intensifying, series production continues to boom, the battle for creatives, talents and production capacities is in full swing, new strategies are in demand. Whether niches are emerging here for European streaming services and how to fill them will then be discussed by Filippa Wallestam (NENT Group), Sergio Oslé (Moviestar), Soumya Sriraman (BritBox) and Arnim Butzen (Telekom Deutschland). Manori Ravindran (Variety) will moderate the discussion.

Other topics and presentations

  • The question of the "terms of trade" for producers has also become increasingly virulent with the ever dominant position of the streaming giants in the market. After an introduction from Christoph Fey (VON HAVE FEY), a roundtable with trade associations, represented by Alex Boden (Production Guild of Great Britain) and Philipp Kreuzer (Producers' Association), will address the question of what legislative stimuli are needed to maintain diversity and innovation in Europe.
  • Writers and producers (e.g. from "Dark", "Melancholia", "Deutschland 83") will provide insights about  their current experiences with the streaming giant in the "Producing with Netflix" panel, with Rachel Eggeben (Director, International Originals) from Netflix in attendance.
  • On Wednesday, graduates of European serial studies programmes will present their projects under the title of "Hot Contenders 2020: Discover the Next Generation", including alumni of the Serial Storytelling Master’s degree course from the ifs international filmschool cologne.
  • On Tuesday, the focus will be on the issue of diversity, among other things. The panel on "New Wave Australian Series" will explore the emergence of indigenous productions from Australia and the mainstream appeal of the series. And "The New Intimacy" addresses the effects of the #Me Too debate on the narrative of intimate scenes.
  • As ProSieben Sat.1’s VoD platform, Joyn is developing new strategies for the series market and relies on its own content, such as the Joyn Original "Uber Driver". The panel entitled "Dignity – How to Turn a Local Drama into a Global Event" shows how to tell local stories for the international market.

Showcases

  • Series showcases from all over the world complement the conference programme. The German Showcase will feature, among others, the Filmstiftung-backed true crime series "Höllental" by Marie Wilke (Kundschafter Filmproduktion, ZDF).
  • On Monday afternoon, the series "Shadowplay" (Tandem Productions, ZDF) will be presented with Nina Hoss and Sebastian Koch.
  • This year’s "Country in Focus" at the EFM, Chile, will be represented with five productions. Other showcases will show series by Constantin, Joyn and from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, as well as a showcase on "Killing Stereotypes about Central & Eastern Europe".

Market Screenings and Co-Pro Series Pitches

  • The market focuses on 28 new international series productions which are being presented to international distributors, including the Filmstiftung-backed series "Unsere wunderbaren Jahre" by Elmar Fischer (UFA Fiction, WDR, ARD) and "Dunkelstadt" by Asli Özge (Zeitsprung Pictures, ZDF neo).
  • The Co-Pro Series Pitches of the Berlinale Co-Production Market will be presenting ten selected series projects which are looking for partners for co-production and financing.

Berlinale Series
International series are celebrating their gala premieres at the Zoo Palast as a part of the Berlinale Series programme within the Berlinale Specials sidebar. This year will see screening of "Dispatches from Elsewhere", "The Eddy", "Freud", "Happily Married", "Mystery Road 2", "Sex", "Stateless" and "Trigonometry".

"Wild Republic"
The Filmstiftung-backed series "Wild Republic" (Lailaps Pictures, X Filme Creative Pool and handwritten in co-production with Deutsche Telekom, ARTE, WDR, SWR and ONE) by Markus Goller will be presented in the Magenta Lounge at the Zoopalast on Monday, February 24. Shooting of the series has been underway in Cologne and surroundings since February 6. Scriptwriters, producers and actors will share their first impressions of the production. As a new partner of the Filmstiftung, Deutsche Telekom GmbH’s MagentaTV will be making a financial contribution in 2020 and expects to focus on supporting the production of high-end series in NRW.

Berlinale Series Market & Conference is a joint initiative of EFM, the Berlinale Co-Production Market and Berlinale Talents. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW joined forces with the EFM in 2015 to launch the Berlinale Series Market & Conference (formerly known as the "Drama Series Days") as a new, professional platform for series. The European Film Market is one of the world’s most important marketplaces for the international trade in film rights and audiovisual content.

Events and screenings are accessible with the Market Badge, further information can be found here.
The current programme can be found here.