Posted by Larry Gleeson
Berlin Drama Series Days 2017 Expanded!
Program / Series Events for Berlinale Market Attendees at Legendary Zoo Palast
The “Drama Series Days”, a joint initiative for series content co-organized by the industry platforms European Film Market, Berlinale Co-Production Market and Berlinale Talents, are set to celebrate their third annual edition this year. Building on the great success of the previous years, a third day has been added to the program for 2017, which runs from February 13 to the 15.
The new venue for the panel discussions and market screenings, which are offered by the European Film Market, is Berlin’s legendary Zoo Palast cinema, which will be transformed this year into the premiere meeting place for series content for members of the industry. “CoPro Series”, the pitching session organized by the Berlinale Co-Production Market, will also take place there.
The “Drama Series Days” are a vibrant, specialized platform, which invites filmmakers, buyers, salespeople, producers, editors and financiers of high quality drama series to come together to share their knowledge and ideas and present new series content.
“CoPro Series” creates an active space for networking and exchange between the film and series industries. At this event, the registered participants – producers and financiers from the pool of the Berlinale Co-Production Market – and the “Drama Series Days” industry guests have the opportunity to get to know the series’ creators and producers at the Networking Get-Together after the pitching session, where they can learn more about the pitched content. In previously arranged one-on-one meetings, participants can also engage in concrete talks with the aim of developing potential partnerships.
A portion of the “Drama Series Days” program for 2017 is already confirmed:
“CoPro Series” 2017: Seven International Series Projects Pitching Their Content and Searching for Partners
On February 15 the Berlinale Co-Production Market is inviting producers, television representatives, distributors and further series financiers for the third time to the exclusive series pitching session “CoPro Series”, which will be taking place for the first time this year at the new venue for the “Drama Series Days”, the fabled Zoo Palast cinema.
Seven select series projects will be on the lookout for co-production and financing partners here among the industry guests. The productions include for instance Cognition, a crime thriller concept from director Alex Garcia Lopez (Misfits, Utopia), which is being produced by companies from the United Kingdom and the USA. The team behind the French series Trepalium, which gained positive attention last year from critics and series audiences alike in France and Germany, will be presenting their new project Metro, a historical thriller set in the days of the first efforts to construct the subway system in Paris.
In the Austrian-German crime project Freud, the psychoanalytical skills of the titular hero are needed in the race to catch a serial killer. German author and director Till Kleinert’s Hausen on the other hand, a project produced in Bulgaria, combines elements of the mystery, horror and drama genres in a story set in a run-down high-rise estate.
The Belgian crime series Omerta, whose characters must constantly walk a fine line between trust and betrayal, is also searching for partners at the event – and the same goes for the drama series State of Happiness, in which a small Norwegian city gets caught up unexpectedly in the oil boom.
A further project will be presented in co-operation with the renowned Paris-based series festival and co-production forum “Series Mania”: the series Warrior, featured at the Paris festival’s 2016 edition and directed by Christoffer Boe, who has previously made a name for himself primarily as a feature film director (Reconstruction; Offscreen; Sex, Drugs & Taxation), has also been invited to Berlin. As in previous years, one of the six other series presented at “CoPro Series” will once again have the opportunity to meet additional potential partners at “Series Mania” in April.
The main partners for the Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 12 to 15, 2017) are the MDM – Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and Creative Europe – MEDIA, a program of the European Union.
The Networking Get-Together at “CoPro Series” at the Zoo Palast cinema is being held in co-operation with the Norwegian Film Institute.
Projects selected to participate at “CoPro Series” 2017 (in alphabetical order by production company):
- Freud (Bavaria Fernsehproduktion & Satel Film), Germany & Austria
- Cognition (Catalyst Global Media & A Better Tomorrow Films), United Kingdom & USA
- Omerta (Caviar), Belgium
- Metro (Kelija), France
- State of Happiness (Maipo Film), Norway
- Hausen (Tanuki Films), Bulgaria
Project in co-operation with “Series Mania”:
- Warrior (Miso Film), Denmark
EFM: 20 Series from Around the World in Market Screenings, Successful Industry Get-Together for the International Series Scene To Be Expanded with New Conference Program
20 new series from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, France, Island, Israel, Canada, The Netherlands, Sweden and the USA will be presented to series buyers from February 13 to 15 in the market cinemas at Berlin’s Zoo Palast. They feature a broad spectrum of subjects and demonstrate a high level of quality, as attendees of the event have come to expect. With established market players such as Global Screen, Red Arrow, Studio Canal, eOne, DR, Keshet, Lagardère, Sony TV, ITV, Dutch Features and TV Globo and producers like Vimeo and Left Bank Pictures on board, the specialist audience will be treated to a wide range of content.
For the first time, a multifaceted conference program will take place on February 13 and 14 at Zoo Palast, where the newest trends and developments – from forecasted shifts in genre popularity to new European funding options – will be presented and discussed by experts in the field.
The program is only accessible for accredited industry attendees in possession of a Market Badge and will consist of the following events:
Monday, February 13
1.00 pm Opening of “Drama Series Days”
1.30 pm “How to Make Your Series Go Global? Co-Production, Financing and Distribution Strategies for Binge-worthy TV” in co-operation with Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and The Hollywood Reporter
2.30 pm “New Frontiers: Creating Original Content in Mexico and Latin America” in co-operation with IMCINE
3.30 pm “European Series Funding At a Glance”
Tuesday, February 14
1.00 pm “Berlin on Screen: Zeitgeist in Serial Drama” supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
2:00 pm “Spotlight UFA: High-End Drama for the International Market” in co-operation with UFA Fiction
3:00 pm “Pay TV Expanding: What to Expect?” in co-operation with HBO Europe and C21
Official partner for “Drama Series Days” 2017 at the European Film Market is the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW; the platform is organised in co-operation with HBO Europe and made possible with the support of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
“Drama Series Days” @ Berlinale Talents
In addition, on Monday, February 13 (from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm at HAU Hebbel am Ufer 3), Berlinale Talents will present and discuss the production conditions for the spy series Berlin Station in a detailed case study with numerous members of the German crew in attendance. The series from the USA was shot entirely on location in Berlin last year.
The full program for the “Drama Series Days”, including all scheduled screenings, will be made public on January 31.
In addition to the “Drama Series Days”, series content will also be featured once again in the festival program of the Berlinale: in the framework of the Berlinale Special Series, a hand-picked selection of high-quality series will be shown again this year at Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
(Source: Berlinale Press Office)
