“Falke Motors,” from “Pusher” co-scribe Jens Dahl, “Stick ‘Em Up” by the creators of Series Mania winner “Blackport” and “The Wonderful Golem,” from “The Cakemaker” director Ofir Raul Graizer, figure among a typically high-caliber, talent-studded lineup at this year’s third edition of Series Mania Seriesmakers.
A unique mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut – or seeking in the case of “Blackport’s” creators to hone their craft – 2025 also sees Seriesmakers adopting a new commercial edge as creators and Series Mania itself seeks to forefront shows which, without abandoning their artistic ambition, seek to cut through a still immensely competitive TV drama sector in a buyers’ market.
Speakers at this year’s edition have featured show runners, writers or producers of iconic titles which have shaped modern TV fiction: creator Christian Schwochow (“The Crown”), Quoc Dang Tran (“Call My Agent!”), multiple award winner Frank Doelger (“Game Of Thrones”), showrunner Bryan Elsley (“Skins”), Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files”) and Lila Byock (“Watchmen”).
Seriesmakers is led by the Series Mania Forum, the industry zone of Europe’s top TV festival, supported by European film-TV powerhouse Beta Group.
Dahl, who wrote “Pusher” with Nicolas Winding Refn, is developing “Falke Motors,” a gritty, humor-laced family crime drama set in Denmark’s windswept Western Jutland.
Written and directed by “Blackport” creators Gísli Örn Garðarsson and Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, family biopic “Stick ‘Em Up” is set in its same 1990s Icelandic fishing town universe of “Blackport, half family saga, half tragic farce which took top honors at 2021’s Series Mania.
After arthouse hit “The Cakemaker,” and braiding melodrama and conflicted identity in “America,” in “The Wonderful Golem,” Graizer returns to one of his first loves, horror fiction, with a genre bending series, working with “Eyes Wide Shut” producer David C. Barrot.
Of known series, there is also a good word on the reportedly bold AI-themed Spanish political thriller “The Interregnum,” from Oscar winners Tornasol Media; on “Pigs Disco,” a show admired for its authenticity from categorisation-defying British duo Joseph Bull and Luke Seomore; “Unequal,” from Brazil’s rapidly building TV scene of artistic ambition which has flowered in the last decade; and on “Le Bouton d’Or,” Mika Kaurismaki’s first venture into the nearly always attractive world – for audiences at least – of French haute cuisine.
Seriesmakers 2024-25 will climax at Lille’s Series Mania Forum this year on March 26 with the presentation to one winning team of a Beta & Kirch Foundation Award in collaboration with HFF Munich, carrying a hefty cash prize of €50,000 ($54,000). The winning team will then work closely with Beta’s Content and Co-Production Division to develop a pilot script and a full package
Over the last year, director-producer or director-writer teams from all over the world have been closely mentored and guided by experienced and awarded creatives while working on their series and developing a full pitch deck.
Mentors for 2024-25’s edition saw the return of Germany’s Janine Jackowski, a producer on “Toni Erdmann” and “Spencer”; the French-Danish development producer Isabelle Lindberg Pechou, a creative producer on Faroes Noir thriller “Trom” and former France Televisions and REinvent Studios executive; Brazil’s Felipe Braga, an envelope-pushing TV show creator (“Sintonia”) and writer-producer (“Lov3”) who has just moved back to film with “Nico,” and Israeli writer-script doctor Ronit Weiss-Berkowitz, creator of “The Girl From Oslo” and co-creator of “The German,” one of the buzz titles in 2025’s Series Mania competition.
The creative initiative Seriesmakers is headed by Series Mania General Director Laurence Herszberg and Ferdinand Dohna, head of content & co-production at Beta Group. Seriesmakers was initiated by Laurence Herszberg and Koby Gal Raday, CEO Janeiro Studios, and was first launched in 2022.
A brief breakdown of selected projects:
“A Person of Interest,” (writer-director Michael Kinirons and writer Fergal Rock, Ireland, crime thriller)
After an auspicious feature debut, “Sparrow” – exquisitely crafted, expertly performed, said The Irish Times – Kinirons takes on a procedural, penned with Rock (“Then Came You” starring Asa Butterfield). The boyfriend of a murdered woman vanishes, proving his guilt, thinks Detective Laura Aspel. Retired detective Martin McDaid links the case, however, to an unsolved triple homicide, sparking “a dangerous game — chasing a fugitive who may be a murderer or the only one who can expose the real killer,” says the logline.
“Le Bouton d’Or,” (director Mika Kaurismäki and co-writers Anastasia Pashkevich and Anna Andersson, Finland, 6×45’ drama-comedy)
Another international project and first venture into drama series from the cosmopolitan Mika Kaurismäki (“Tigrero,” “L.A. Without a Map”). A failed Finnish food influencer enrols in an haute-cuisine culinary school in France, meeting a woman she always thought dead – her mother. “A comedy with the Kaurismäki touch, appealing for any audience given its chef school in France, female protagonist and lighter tone,” says Capurro.
“Cow’s Tongue,” (director Aly Muritiba, creator-writer Marc Bechar, Brazil, crime thriller)
Maíra returns to her lawless Amazon hometown to find her brother’s murderer, uncovering a ruthless, politically entrenched crime syndicate behind the disappearance of hundreds of truckers, along with shocking secrets about her own identity. Inspired by true events, “Cow’s Tongue” explores “the cost of silence and complicity — and the blood-soaked path to revenge in a cycle of violence that refuses to die,” say Brazil’s Bechar behind indie web series hit “The Messenger,” and renowned social focused auteur and big fest regular Aly Muritiba (“Rust,” “Private Desert”), also a notable TV director (“The Evandro Case”).
(L-R) Aly Muritiba, Michael Kinirons and Mika Kaurismäki.
Courtesy of Beta Film
“Death Becomes Him,” (director Joseph a. Adesunloye and writer Gabriel Winter, Nigeria, fantasy dark comedy)
One of the most original concepts in the whole lineup, a Lagos-set half hour in which Jaye, described as “haphazard,” is killed by a car and resurrected with the powers of Jesus Christ. Having cast aside get-rich-quick temptations, he needs those powers to stop the devilish Lekan taking over Isale Eko, Lagos’ banking and commercial center. “Death Becomes Him” is directed British-Nigerian filmmaker Joseph a.Adesunloye’s whose “Vanilla,” starring and co-written by Winter, played Locarno First Look in 2023. Adesunloye was also nominated for a BIFA for his debut “White Colour Black.”
“Falke Motors,” (director-writer Jens Dahl and producer Anders N.U. Berg, Denmark, 6×45’, crime/drama)
22 year-old YouTuber Camilla battles to distance herself from her family and father’s start-up used-car dealership, a front for a stolen vehicles and drugs trade backed by ruthless gangsters. As Camilla’s online fame grows, she’s forced to choose between family loyalty and her own future. From Dahl, also creator of “Lulu & Leon.” Produced by Berg at Copenhagen’s Fredo Pictures which aims to create commercially-oriented genre series and auteur-driven films, both Danish and international.
“The Interregnum,” (creator-director-writer Simón Casal, producer Mariela Besuievsky,Spain, 6×50’, political thriller)
Expanding on Casal’s movie “Justicia Artificial,” also from Besuievsky at Spain’s Oscar winning Tornasol Media (“The Secret in Their Eyes”). 2031: the E.U. calls a referendum to legalize an AI system to replace human judges. “As Inma and Lyda, the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaign managers, battle for victory, a dark secret surrounding the death of the A.I. system’s creator, Alicia, threatens to revolutionize not only the campaign but everything they believed themselves to be,” says the logline.
“Pigs’ Disco,” (writer-director duo Joseph Bull and Luke Seomore, U.K., 4 x 60’, drama-biopic)
Real-life inspired, set in early ‘90s Belfast, a coming-of-age tale in which a young British paratrooper has to choose between the ferocity of military life and the euphoria of the burgeoning rave scene which unites Catholic and Protestants teens. The first series from the duo whose works span abstract and narrative cinema, winning fans for 2015’s “Blood Cells,” its visually textured British road movie scored by Seomore. “A miniseries where the music of this specific time plays a really central role. If it’s done well, the series can have a strong personality,” says Capurro.
“Stick ‘Em Up,” (writer-director duo Gísli Örn Garðarsson and Björn HlynurHaraldsson, Iceland, 8×40’, dramedy-biopic)
In “Stick Em Up,” as Iceland’s government seeks to reclaim recently privatised fishing quotas, Reykjavík fishing company owner Harpa Sigurðardottir realizes that the only way to secure her quota is to seize control of a bank. It’s a tall order. Garðarsson and Haraldsson “are incredible talents. They have a capacity to tell very local stories with universal appeal,” says Capurro.
“Unequal,” (director-producer Carolina Jabor, writer Cláudia Jouvin, Brazil, 6×45’, thriller/heist/drama)
“When a young girl from a humble background, skilled in small cons against the wealthy, encounters the millionaire who ruined her life, she decides to use her talents to seek revenge.” Teaming with top writers – Lucas Paraizo on “Liquid Truth,” Clarice Falcão on “Elected” – Jabor has consolidated as one of Brazil’s foremost female directors. Here, she’s joined by Jouvin, a writer on smash “Under Pressure” and a writer-director on L.O.C.A. “‘Unequal’ deals with a topic which is key to fight populist right movements: social justice,” says Dohna.
“The Wonderful Golem,” (writer-director Ofir Raul Graizer, producer David C. Barrot, (U.K, 8×60’, drama/fantasy)
Simon Low, a 26-year-old British runaway in Prague, awakens an ancient creature of immense power. “Yet, amid the rise of a new tyranny, Simon uses his monster to protect the city, finding himself at the center of a conflict far larger than he can grasp,” says the logline. “We were looking for a fantasy series and here you have a well-known myth modernized – that can often be successful – in a wonderful Prague setting,” says Dohna. “It’s a fantasy series with a very contemporary political message,” Capurro adds.
(L-R) Joseph Bull, Mariela Besuievsky, Luke Seamore and Carolina Jabor.
Courtesy of Beta Film
Variety also chatted to Dohna and Capurro in the run-up to the Series Mania Forum.
“Right now, the market is very much focused on reaching audiences.” Jens Richter, Fremantle CEO commercial and international, commented recently to Variety. I sense that this has always been a mission at Series Mania but is especially obvious in this year’s lineup…
Francesco Capurro: Definitely one of the biggest differences between film and TV is that TV is much more focused on audience, something Seriesmakers explains in its program. Sometimes film directors, especially from arthouse movies, haven’t completely taken on that perspective. It’s important and in challenging times like the current ones, even more important.
Dohna: In cinema, the audience comes to you as in cinema’s predecessor, theater. When you make films you create something which you’d expect the audience coming to you. In serial TV it’s the contrary, you are coming to the audience as it was with TV series’ predecessor, the novel. That requires a different kind of storytelling. The first edition of SeriesMakers was a novelty. Now filmmakers know the creative inititiative and are more familiar with TV storytelling.
At the same time, this year’s selection has far more directors who may have been at major festivals but could be described as open arthouse – Aly Muritiba, Ofir Raul Graizer, Carolina Jabor – or Jens Dahl, who co-wrote a box office hit, “Pusher.”
Capurro: That reflects a change of criteria. In the two first editions, it was mandatory to have been selected before in one of the so-called A-list festivals. This year we’ve opened up to submissions from filmmakers that have had at least one feature film commercially released but not necessarily selected in a festival. It’s changed a little bit the kind of applications we received which are more towards the mainstream, in projects and talents.
A large number of series showcased at the London TV Screenings could be described as crime thrillers. There are at least three in the Series Mania lineup….
Capurro: We’ve attempted at Seriesmakers to have a good diversity, we have science fiction, a little bit more historical series, some more political thrillers. We try at least to have a good balance. “Crime thriller” is such a large genre that it can be treated in many different ways and thrillers are linked to the nature of series themselves because you need suspense to encourage audiences to watch the next episode.
The challenge with crime thrillers, as Eagle Eye producer Walter Iuzzolino commented on “Bookish,” starring Mark Gattis, is to bring something original to the table. Could you drill down on the originality of “A Person of Interest,” “Cow’s Tongue” and Unequal”?
Dohna: “A Person of Interest” is a more classic crime show but its characters really jump out at us, and we know they’re capable of bringing them to life because they’ve proved that before. In “Cow’s Tongue,” the historical background [of spiralling violence in the Amazon] is really unique.
Capurro: “Unequal” may be a crime thriller but it’s very much focused on the lead character who’s a young woman. Its pitch deck is really entertaining and it’s a sexy show. It’s sex revenge.
Crime thrillers are also expected to say something about real human nature when many great series are essentially character thrillers, exploring why people do what they do, and what are the consequences….
Dohna: That’s why the other genre that always works in series are family relations, relational dramas, in a very large sense of a group of people that are strongly related. This is fundamental for every TV series. In theater and cinema, you can have a strong character, but they can be quite a loner. In a TV series, you have to figure out how characters are related to each other and can play with and reveal the relations. They have to be multifold, otherwise a TV show gets boring. And that’s why mafia dramas work very well for TV series because there you have both the family relations and the crime.