SERIES MANIAANNOUNCES OFFICIAL “PROJECT EXCHANGE”
WITH THE BERLINALE CO-PRODUCTION MARKET AS PART OF ITS
DRAMA SERIES DAYS
From Berlin, Ms.Laurence Herszberg announces Iceland’s Black Port
to come to Lille
PARIS, FRANCE AND BERLIN, GERMANY – February 21, 2018 – For the fourth straight year, Ms. Laurence Herszberg, general director and founder of Series Mania, announced today that Series Mania and the Berlinale Co-Production Market (Berlinale), have once again formed a partnership agreement surrounding Berlinale’s Drama Series Days. As part of the partnership, Series Mania and Berlinale have set up a “Project Exchange”, whereby one project pitched at Series Mania is invited to pitch again in Berlin, and, in return, Series Mania will invite a Berlinale project to pitch in Lille as part of its European Project and Talent Forum. The project chosen in Berlin today and to be presented in Lille this May is Black Port, an 8 x 55’ drama series produced by Vesturport of Iceland. Partners already attached include DR Sales (Denmark), The Icelandic Film Fund, Nordvision, and Turbine Studios (UK).
"We selected Black Port today for many reasons,” commented Ms. Herszberg. “First, its inspired by true events and is a local project taking place in Iceland. Second, it has tremendous international potential due to its political themes, characters, and the dramatic tension of the series. Finally, we were very impressed with the entire team behind Black Port.”
A total of eight series were pitched from which Black Port was selected. The other projects included: Baby Alone (Akzente Film- und Fernsehproduktion, Germany); South (Arquipélago Filmes, Portugal); In A Heartbeat (Black Sheep Film Productions, Israel); Henkersbach (Cinecentrum Berlin Film- und Fernsehproduktion, Germany); Fury (Monster Scripted, Norway); Costigan (Shinawil, Ireland &Against the Grain Films, Ireland); and The Faction (Submarine, The Netherlands). The Faction was selected at Series Mania 2017 to be of this year’s Berlinale Drama Series Days.
Set in a rural Icelandic village in the 1980s, Black Port follows a group of friends who manage to build a small fishing empire. These are colorful and prosperous times for everyone associated with the village. But the introduction of a fishing quota system soon limits the fishing rights from the public domain to a few selected ships’ captains. Money and power struggles deeply corrupt the community, resulting in a feud of jealousy, greed and betrayal.
Series Mania and the European Project and Talent Forum are ramping up for the much-anticipated 2018 annual event which will take place in Lille, France from April 27 – May 5, with the Forum running from May 2 – 4. For more information and registration, please visit: seriesmania.com/en/industry/forum
ABOUT SERIES MANIA
Created by Laurence Herszberg in 2010, the Series Mania Festival brings the best international TV series on the big screen and offers its audience (over 50,000 spectators in 2017 with 1,200 industry professionals) the unique opportunity to meet and debate with renowned show-runners, directors and television talent. Series Mania has developed into a unique event with wide recognition, entirely dedicated TV series, and aimed at both the general public and industry professionals. For this ninth edition, the Festival is moving to the northern French city of Lille (Hauts-de-France) where it will once again organize a competition featuring world premieres judged by a prestigious international jury.
ABOUTEUROPEAN PROJECT AND TALENT FORUM
Launched in 2013, the European Project and Talent Forum (formerly the Co-Production Forum), the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival has become the place to be for all those involved in the creation of TV series around the world. The Forum has seen many projects become a series, including: Liar, Tabula Rasa, Stella Blomkvist, Keeping Faith, Banking District with many others currently in production or in advanced development. In 2017, over 1,200 accredited professionals from 35 countries attended the Forum.
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