A French navy thriller involving murder aboard a nuclear vessel, a Soviet-era gangster series and a Gen X dramedy about Latin dancing from Canada are the big winners at this year’s Series Mania Forum, the industry section of the international television festival, running in Lille, France, through Friday.
French series R91 took top prize at the Series Mania Buyers Upfront, as the most promising title for international buyers. The six-part action thriller, which SND Groupe M6 is selling worldwide, imagines a horror scenario involving a mysterious murder aboard France’s nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91). When a crew member is found dead and another goes missing, military investigators board the floating fortress, with its 2,000-strong crew and nuclear payload, to hunt for the truth before the murder becomes a global security crisis.
The Series Mania prize for best project at this year’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, along with a €50,000 ($58,000) bursary, went to Red Pants, a series pitch from Kyrgyzstan. Erke Dzhumakmatova of Studio Oymo and Pavel Feldman and Alexander Seliverstov of Human Films won for their pitch for a 10-part action series set in 1970s Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The drama follows Aisha, a military officer’s daughter who, in the wake of her father’s death, forms the notorious “Red Pants,” an all-female criminal gang created to challenge the oppressive regime.
The Canadian project Chachachá!, from writer/director Alison Fairweather Murray (Carny, Mouth to Mouth) and producer Jennifer Weiss of Toronto-based Nice Picture!, won this year’s SeriesMakers award, a prize designed to support theatrical filmmakers moving into small-screen fiction. The eight-part dramedy pitch centers on a Gen X woman who takes up Latin dancing in a bid to combat her sky-high blood pressure. The lifestyle change, however, ignites chaos in her family.
“Chachachá won us over with its light hearted, authentic, and sincere tone,” said Ferdinand Dohna, head of content and co-production at SeriesMakers sponsor Beta Film. “It tackles important universal themes of society with humor. We believe this is exactly the kind of story international audiences need right now.”
The SeriesMakers winners will receive €50,000 ($58,000) award to develop the pitch into a pilot script and a full package.
